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[Celcius]

Over the years I've been trying to reduce my physical media and convert more to digital media. I just don't like the look of having shelves full of tons of disk cases, having to go get a disk to put it in, risk losing stuff or having to move it around, etc... I also really like the concept of having few physical things but then having basically infinite digital capacity for storing all my data, games, etc... so I'm thinking about starting the new year by getting rid of much of my physical media.

For movie disks I've really cut down on these over the years. I don't watch movies again and again like I used to and now mostly just watch the latest releases by renting them once digitally online and then I move on. There are some classics that I like to watch like once a year but otherwise it's just the new releases these days. Many of my physical movies I also own a digital copy of the movie on Apple TV due to the physical copy coming with a free digital code. I could just keep those 2 or 3 physical movies that I like to watch annually and don't already have a digital copy of, but they are UHD movies and my PS5 disk drive sounds like a jet engine so I don't even like to use it. I could buy a dedicated UHD BD player but it doesn't seem worth it to buy and have it just for a few movies... it would be cheaper to just sell the disks and then either buy or rent a digital copy for that 1 time a year when I want to watch them.

These days I buy all of my games digitally and have been for many years now. For PS3 I had a ton of physical games but over the years as remasters, remakes, PC versions, etc... have come out then I've been getting rid of the original disks and just buying a digital version. For the games that never got a modern port I just bought the PS3 digital copy on the PS store and then sold the disk. However, I do have 5 PS3 games that aren't available digitally:

3D Dot Game Heroes - great game, will keep until it gets a modern port.
Metal Gear Solid 4 - will most likely sell when/if MGS master collection vol 2 comes out and then buy that version.
Gran Turismo 5 and 6 - if I had bought GT6 digitally back before it was delisted then I'd sell both of these. will keep since I really like GT.
Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs. Full Boost (japan import) - fun but I could sell it as I never play it anymore. actually, I probably will sell this one.

On the Switch I have a single physical game (japan import) but my switch has a cart slot so I just leave that cart in the switch and it's basically like having it digitally. I have no plans to buy any other physical games for it.

I don't think I'll regret this since like I mentioned I rarely watch old movies these days and I hardly ever boot up the ps3 anymore either. Have any of you done this or are thinking about doing it? Or are any of you going in the opposite direction and stocking up on physical media to own as much as you can without relying on services? Just curious what others are doing with regards to physical vs digital these days...

 

[ThatStupidLion]

I finally purged most of my physical media collection atari up through ps3 a couple years ago.

Kept some gba, genesis, n64, and sega saturn games though. Will purge the rest in the near future, except for saturn most likely.

Havent looked back or regretted it yet.

It took me awhile, but i got tired of keeping it lying around unused, taking up space, and traveling with it moving houses etc. most games can be played elsewhere these days, plus its only getting harder to play the old original stuff properly anyways.

That said im big into physical media on current gen systems. So im not abandoning physical media. I tend to skew more towards digital purchases if the game is on the smaller side or on a handheld like switch. Ill get physical media for bug budget games like mario zelda etc. because i know i can resell them.

 

[AJUMP23]

I would never do this. I want tangible things. especially from my childhood.

 

[Mistake]

I've been going mostly digital too, but I still have yet to convert my dreamcast, ps3, wii, and gcn collection. My 3ds is done, and my switch is digital except larger games to save SD card space

For media I keep a hard drive full of stuff. I should upgrade it to solid state though

 

[Days like these...]

I'm thinking about castrating myself but that doesn't make it a good idea.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Only for PlayStation games. Switch I prefer on a cartridge, after reading almost exclusively on Kindle I got back to paper books. I don’t listen to streaming music, I listen to vinyls.

 

[Bashtee]

In terms of gaming, I'm transitioning back to PC from consoles. Nintendo will stay physical only for me but with GamePass and other ports hitting the PC...

Nonetheless, I still buy some movies or series I enjoy on Bluray, and the same goes for books. An exception is job-related materials, IT is moving way too fast to buy anything without a fireplace.

 

[Doom85]

I like owning a physical collection, and also as the recent Sony/Discovery shenanigans showed, your digital “collection” can be murdered at any moment and all the digital media you purchased is now gone forever. And of course streaming isn’t reliable either, with shows constantly hopping between services and putting pressure on viewers to hurriedly get through a series at times which probably hurts the enjoyment of watching it if you feel like you’re on a timer.

I get not everyone can afford the space for a physical collection, but for myself and those who can, I see no reason to stop. And for the wise guy about to chime in with “well, your house could burn down” or ”those discs don’t last forever”, yeah, I consider an unfortunate accident (fire)* or the passage of time (discs going bad) to be a less anger-provoking reason to lose access to a show, movie, or game as opposed to “rich guy didn’t want to renew a contract or made some deal”.

*Unless it was arson, in which case that motherfucker better prepare themselves, because I will be out for revenge!

 

[RJMacready73]

I had a massive VHS collection, then double dipped when DVDs came out and ended up with a massive DVD collection, they both took up far too much space and where eventually replaced with better technology, so when Blu-ray came out I knew it was only a matter of time before there was another bump in resolution so just give up and went full Yaarrrr Shiver me Timbers and bought few multi terrabyte hardrives hooked to a media system with Plex on each TV.

Now I have Disney+ (got another yr free with my Samsung phone, after I got a free year when I purchased it.. don't know how that happened) I have Prime and because I've bought the kids iPhones/iPads I now have about a years free Apple+, so that covers most of my TV streaming and for everything else I use Kodi, basically I just stream anything I want to watch, hell the only UHD disc I have is Lord of The Rings.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Feel like this is a solution

 

[HAYA8U5A]

 

[Faust]

I tried to move to a minimalist style and switch to digital. I ended up losing thousands of dollars when my account was hacked, banned, and 700 steam games were lost. Valve had no interest in returning my account.

Then the Wii online shut down. And my Wii broke, losing another 500 games.

I moved back to physical whenever possible and just do routine yearly clear outs for games that I don’t love or intend to ever replay.

 

[sedg87]

I tried to move to a minimalist style and switch to digital. I ended up losing thousands of dollars when my account was hacked, banned, and 700 steam games were lost. Valve had no interest in returning my account.

Then the Wii online shut down. And my Wii broke, losing another 500 games.

I moved back to physical whenever possible and just do routine yearly clear outs for games that I don’t love or intend to ever replay.

This is what I do, too. Just keep my absolute favourites such as Final Fantasy and Resident Evil.

 

[Sushi_Combo]

I keep all my physical media in a storage bin in the garage. I do enjoy having a clean setup so digital does help with that. Definitely not selling off my previous gen games tho.

 

[Valonquar]

Digital only! If I ever lost everything I PAID for, I'd just pirate myself back to where I was, though overall I find most crap I rarely go back for another playthrough beyond a few minutes\hours if that.

 

[Celcius]

Just to update the thread: I ended up selling a few blu rays that I was never going to watch again but kept my favorites and then also sold one of the ps3 games that I was never going to play again and then kept the rest of what I have. It doesn't cost anything to keep what I already have and I just keep them in a small clear storage container. I still don't plan to buy physical media going forward though.

 

[Tams]

Whatever Nintendo console and films are physical where I can. I might occasionally double dip on some.

PC would partially be, but you just can't these days. The convenience is nice, but I miss the tactility of it all.

Playing on my Switch or watching a film feels like more of an occasion; to be appreciated. Playing on PC... feels just very throw away.

 

[Jayjayhd34]

I made nearly 10 grand selling all my old games some consoles now have supernatural blu Ray and spiderman 4k that's it for physical never ever buying another disk ever again

 

[diffusionx]

I still cling stubbornly to physical media, but, then when I think about it... I signed up for Steam in 2005. The first game I loaded into it, like most people, was Half-Life 2, which I got in a box from a store (actually it was a deluxe edition with a T-shirt), but the first game I bought directly from Steam was VTM Bloodlines. I can go and play those games in five minutes right now if I wanted, on any PC in my house. If I want to play the PS2 and Xbox games I bought in 2005, well... it's probably not happening and a pain in the ass. I was just going through the Apple Music app on my phone and realized I have songs in there I loaded from CDs onto iTunes around the same time, and those CDs are long, long, long gone.

I realize it can all come crashing down, and look at the recent thing with Discovery for Sony, and Nintendo hasn't really earned our trust, but at the same time, it feels like this is just a better way.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

I did this years ago, such a liberating experience! Just a box and a TV, glorious.

I would never do this. I want tangible things. especially from my childhood.

I do kind of get the appeal of this, but it’s just too much tacky looking clutter man.

 

[InterMusketeer]

I started decluttering a couple years back too. I wasn't quite ready to let go of my games then, so I boxed them up and put them in storage. But after a while I realized I didn't care enough to even hook up a console to play those games. Decided to sell everything I wasn't actively using and I haven't missed any of that stuff.

As time passed I've become more strict too on what I keep and what I bring into my home. I still have a couple favorite CDs and books in my bookcase but I've gotten rid of plenty of stuff otherwise. It's an ongoing process.

 

[AJUMP23]

I did this years ago, such a liberating experience! Just a box and a TV, glorious.

I do kind of get the appeal of this, but it’s just too much tacky looking clutter man.

All my stuff is on shelves.

 

[rkofan87]

i am all digital for games and all physical for tv and movies.

 

[BossLackey]

I'm drowning in physical media. I can't stop.

DVDs are in storage, but between books, manga, comics, art books, blurays, games, vinyl. There's just too much.

I need to declutter bad and this is AFTER I put a few thousand comics in storage and sold a ton of books.

Help.

 

[Punished Miku]

I'm drowning in physical media. I can't stop.

DVDs are in storage, but between books, manga, comics, art books, blurays, games, vinyl. There's just too much.

I need to declutter bad and this is AFTER I put a few thousand comics in storage and sold a ton of books.

Help.

DVDs are next to worthless now. What is that, 480p? Trash it.

 

[Winter John]

I buy cds and records all the time. They sound better and I find it a lot easier just picking something off the shelves. I actually started buying Blu Rays again because of these fuckin streaming services. They're nothin but an over priced pain the ass.

 

[March Climber]

Only Vinyl and Laserdisc (R.I.P.) look good on display with minimal clutter.

I would have been more of a physical collector if Laserdisc had it’s own timeline that lasted to this day.

 

[BossLackey]

DVDs are next to worthless now. What is that, 480p? Trash it.

Wrong. I have many DVDs for niche movies or TV that simply aren't streaming somewhere and especially not without renting or buying it digitally.

Fuck that.

I'm just going to put all disks in a handful of binders after ripping them all and making a media server.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

All my stuff is on shelves.

Well yeah, I didn’t think you had games just scattered about your house!

But it’s still just rows of brightly coloured boxes in a living space to me, it’s just not something that I’d like.

Plus, I like my consoles hidden away too, so having to access them with a disc every time I want to play something else, nah…

 

[FeralEcho]

So you don't like owning things I guess? That's pretty dumb but....I can't wait for the countless threads of surprised faces of realisation in 10 years when companies are gonna start delisting your shit from your digital collections.

 

[Platinumstorm]

4kUHD > streaming. Problem is there is little worth watching.

 

[Meicyn]

So you don't like owning things I guess? That's pretty dumb but....I can't wait for the countless threads of surprised faces of realisation in 10 years when companies are gonna start delisting your shit from your digital collections.

hey google whats kodi

 

[simpatico]

Highly recommend it. I moved last year and had multiple massive boxes of DVD, Blu Rays and CDs. I gave them all to my brother. His problem now! Feels great. If I kept them, they would just be taking up space in my basement. I've legit rented movies on Amazon of stuff I own on disc. $4 or a walk to the basement? Many times the $4 wins.

All you need to replace the stuff you have now is a VPN and a 4TB hard drive. It can never be delisted either.

EDIT: I did keep all my books and I have been rebuying retro cartridge games. This might extend to PS2 stuff as well, haven't decided. All that stuff was long gone years before I purged the DVDs, CDs and Blu Rays tho. Pretty much, if a patch even exists for a game, I have no intention of saving a physical disc of it. PS2 gen would be as recent as I would go for physical collecting. Right now it's just NES, SNES and Genesis. I just love using the original hardware and a CRT TV for things from that era. Looks dreadful on my HDTV and monitor.

 

[ReBurn]

 

[Panajev2001a]

Highly recommend it. I moved last year and had multiple massive boxes of DVD, Blu Rays and CDs. I gave them all to my brother. His problem now! Feels great. If I kept them, they would just be taking up space in my basement. I've legit rented movies on Amazon of stuff I own on disc. $4 or a walk to the basement? Many times the $4 wins.

All you need to replace the stuff you have now is a VPN and a 4TB hard drive. It can never be delisted either.

EDIT: I did keep all my books and I have been rebuying retro cartridge games. This might extend to PS2 stuff as well, haven't decided. All that stuff was long gone years before I purged the DVDs, CDs and Blu Rays tho. Pretty much, if a patch even exists for a game, I have no intention of saving a physical disc of it. PS2 gen would be as recent as I would go for physical collecting. Right now it's just NES, SNES and Genesis. I just love using the original hardware and a CRT TV for things from that era. Looks dreadful on my HDTV and monitor.

Sorry, but that sounds like a (physical media) addict speaking …

 

[diffusionx]

Wrong. I have many DVDs for niche movies or TV that simply aren't streaming somewhere and especially not without renting or buying it digitally.

Fuck that.

I'm just going to put all disks in a handful of binders after ripping them all and making a media server.

“I need to declutter but also I don’t want to get rid of my clutter”

Life is a series of choices

 

[Celcius]

So you don't like owning things I guess? That's pretty dumb but....I can't wait for the countless threads of surprised faces of realisation in 10 years when companies are gonna start delisting your shit from your digital collections.

There's nothing wrong with disagreeing with someone's choices but there's no need to call folks dumb for having a different opinion than you.

 

[NeverYouMind]

Funny. I am thinking about expanding my DVD collection. I have a bunch of CD booklets to keep them from harm and taking up too much space.

 

[Punished Miku]

I let physical go. I now think one of the ugliest things in existence is stacks of shelves of discs. Dont get me wrong, in a perfect world I would love to preserve everything that way in an immaculate library. I get it 100%. But when that ideal meets the reality of my life of finite space, finite opportunity to have compelling aesthetics in each room of the house, finite opportunity to play old content on old systems that must be hooked up, digital convenience finally won out.

 

[Leonidas]

For the games that never got a modern port I just bought the PS3 digital copy on the PS store and then sold the disk. However, I do have 5 PS3 games that aren't available digitally:

I don't think I'll regret this since like I mentioned I rarely watch old movies these days and I hardly ever boot up the ps3 anymore either.

Why not play the PS3 games on RPCS3 on PC and run the games at higher resolution/framerates?

 

[Celcius]

Why not play the PS3 games on RPCS3 on PC and run the games at higher resolution/framerates?

That is one option, but for me I prefer playing ps3 games on the original hardware since I already have it. (And my saves and trophies are there too)

 

[BossLackey]

“I need to declutter but also I don’t want to get rid of my clutter”

Life is a series of choices

I guess you completely missed the second part of my reply.

 

[Mr Hyde]

Why not play the PS3 games on RPCS3 on PC and run the games at higher resolution/framerates?

RPSC3 is unreliable and lots of games suffer from graphical glitches and bad framerates. Original hardware is still the way to go when it comes to PS3.