The internet has done many wonders for the gaming space, but it’s also had some hindrances over the span of its time. For example, if you look at the quality of video games now versus what they were in the pre-internet era, there were no “day one patches.” Developers and publishers had to work hard to get the game out in a good way, or else they would suffer for it. But with patches and updates, that fear is now gone. The other thing that could impact the PS6, if one report is to be believed, is the divide about whether the gaming space is heading towards a solely digital platform or remaining with physical copies of games.
The debate itself is deep and complicated. After all, there are pros and cons to each side. However, one industry insider seems to think that Sony will follow the path of Microsoft by having its next console, the PlayStation 6, be a completely digital platform and not have any discs involved with playing video games.
Indeed, the Xbox line has played with this idea in the past, and it’s something that could appeal to many gamers. The catch is whether this is the right move for Sony. There are some who will cite charts and other analyses about how more and more gamers are shifting to having digital copies of their games versus storing physical copies in their rooms. To counter that, those who love physical titles will note that they don’t have to continuously download games when they first buy them. They just have to pop in the disk or cartridge and then play them. The only downloads they have to worry about are for updates or DLC.
The problem with being a fully digital system, regardless of the publisher who made it, is that there are going to be gamers who simply don’t want to purchase digital copies of video games. As such, they’d basically be excommunicated from the gaming community. Or, at least, “thrown out” of that group. Many people fear what will happen if something with server data gets corrupted or lost, and then suddenly, all the digital games that they had are gone. It’s not an unreasonable fear.
And while it’s true that stores don’t always have the newest games anymore, sites like Amazon still get heavy traffic for physical video games, and they can sell out quickly.
Whether the PS6 will go this route is unclear, but it is something to ponder.
