Physical VS. Digital, The Final Battle

So I touched a little on this whole digital movement in my last post.

It doesn’t just stop at manuals, oh no my friends.

In the futuristic utopia that is the future games will be available over vast wireless networks. No longer will we need to use polish quartz mediums to store data and... wait... what? It’s already going digital...DAMMIT!

Ok, so as you can tell from my last post I lean more towards physically holding something in my hands. This whole idea of paying real money for something that only exists so long as my hard drive is alive seems ridiculous to me.

Don’t get me wrong I do see some pros to it, never having to worry about a scratched disc, or misplacing it...no wait I’ve never had those problems because that’s why I own a shelf.

I think my biggest issue with the digital medium is that it costs the EXACT same amount as the physical, and I just don’t understand why. In essence you’re getting less. No great box art, no manual (grumble), not even a collectable. (Collector’s editions are my addiction...)

Though in all fairness both digital and physical copies have benefits, and an article I found here does a great job explaining them in a fair and unbiased way... Me...I can’t do that I’m afraid I’m far too passionate on this subject....and ill tempered.

 Ok fine digital isn’t all bad, rare games are usually pretty easy to find...and companies like Sony allow “classic” game downloads, which is an amazing idea.

Speaking of which it’s time to play Metal Gear Solid for PSone (Sony beat you to that name Microsoft!)

We Don't Need No Stinking Manuals!

So last week I hinted at a touchy subject for me, and that’s manuals.

They used to be this ancient manuscript written on high gloss paper. Within its pages these relics held the codex of infinite knowledge... for the included game anyway...

During the older generation of games (Nintendo-early Play station 3 era) these keepers of truth, would contain so much more than just control instructions. Each page would have information on the game you were about to jump into. 

This would be a world history, character biographies, hints and some stunning artwork to boot!

If you’re lucky enough to get a manual now, it mostly consists of about 3 pages. Most of it just legal information with one page dedicated to the controller layout.

Nowadays game companies tend to release manuals digitally on the game disc vs. physically in the game’s package. Companies claim they are doing this to be “environmentally friendly.” This could be true, and I wouldn’t even be mad about it...if the game wasn’t still full price.

Now I know it isn’t that big of a deal, but for me this is just another sign of the golden age slipping away.

As a collector (and a child at heart) I always enjoyed reading the games history, looking at its world map and reading about characters I would encounter. All this would be me so excited to jump in and play.

Pretty sure I learned how to read just because of these manuals...