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   xianc78@gameliberty.club's status on Thursday, 02-Jul-2026 09:59:46 JST xianc78

   I love how for years now that console gamers always bring up how they still get physical games while PC gamers only get digital releases now, which is untrue as indie games occasionally get physical releases on PC. Now, PlayStation is going digital only, PC gamers can actually make that argument, even if it's just indie games. As long as computers have some form of removable storage, physical releases will always be possible even if it's very niche.

   Also, the whole physical vs digital debate has always seemed like a false dichotomy to me. People say that you always own your copy if it's physical and you never own it if it's digital, but that is entirely untrue. I own all my MP3 files on my MP3 player and no company can take those away from me. I can back them up on multiple devices. And physical media can have DRM and revocable licenses where you can lose ownership at anytime. The real argument should be whether or not the medium in question has DRM, not whether it is physical or digital.

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     ?? Humpleupagus ?? (humpleupagus@eveningzoo.club)'s status on Thursday, 02-Jul-2026 09:59:45 JST ?? Humpleupagus ??

     in reply to
     I copied roms back when the SNES was the big system. Physical carts are just a medium to hold intangible data. Being able to make copies and use those copies is the real key.
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     iced depresso (icedquinn@blob.cat)'s status on Thursday, 02-Jul-2026 10:01:04 JST iced depresso

     in reply to
     @xianc78 when the argument was relevant, the DRM at least was attached to the physical media. it was still transferrable and irrevocable even if (diegetically) unreplicable. NFTs had an extremely narrow argument to replicating this behavior in the network era, but were one of the few times the public actually bothered to woodshed executives over a red line.
     
     Gabe has allegedly mulled about ways to decommodify Steam but afaik none of them have gotten any traction internally.