>>47557PS2 was a great console, to be sure, but that doesn't really have anything to do with physical media; it was because the PS2 had a huge catalog of diverse and quality games from a variety of different devs. I mean, just off the top of my head, it had
>okami>god of war 1,2>sly cooper>mgs 2,3>gta vc, sa>shinobi, nightshade>silent hill 2,3>resident evil 4, code veronica>katamari damacy>ace combat 4, 5, 0>final fantasy X, X-2, XI, XIIand dozens of others, PLUS it was backwards compatible with the PS1, so it was like having two consoles in one.
the who conversation around physical media is just old school gamers who grew up during the time prior to digital distribution being a more effective delivery system, having a knee-jerk reaction and kvetching against the oxymoron of a console that takes no discs. now, I AM NOT SAYING that you shouldn't be mad about it, but like…
…there's nothing wrong with digital distribution; the problems are:
<1. digital media was supposed to be cheaper and it's not, and in fact, games are getting more expensive<2. digital media comes loaded with DRM and always online bullshit which prevents people from feeling like they really "own" their games<3. DRM makes game preservation unnecessarily challengingsee, in terms of storage capacity, there's not much difference between a printed disc and a hard drive; they both operate in the same manner. so, in the digital era you can still have physical backups of games (the important part of ownership), if only those games are fully up to date and don't come bundled with DRM. there are plenty of older games that have DRM free versions on GOG, or you can just archive a cracked copy of a game and it's effectively the same as "owning" it on a disc, minus the plastic and paper that comprise the boxart and booklet, which you can have in a digital format anyway.
but, yes, you're right, they're also robbing you of the experience of "bargain bin diving" to take a chance on some obscure and trash game you found at a thrift store or whatever; arguably, you can still do that on PC, as there are thousands of games on steam that nobody has ever even played or given a shit about, just begging for some enthusiast to come along and give them a chance. ever play fields of mistria? what about eastward? what about wanted:dead? and on and on and on, AND this experience doesn't have to be localized to steam, because even though they have a huge monopoly on digital distribution, that doesn't mean even half of its games can't be acquired elsewhere, or that there are some games that haven't even been released on steam but that exist somewhere online.