The Video Game Critic

I'm heard a few people mention how they are phasing out physical media. They don't want the clutter I suppose. Or maybe they just don't like messing with discs. Are there other reasons?

Me, I'm stocking up on old movies and CDs. I've noticed a lot of music CDs are becoming harder to come by. For example, I had to buy a copy of 10,000 Maniacs greatest hits used off Ebay because it wasn't available new. Likewise, if there are any old movies I like I'm trying to secure a physical copy, even if it's just DVD. That way, even if physical media goes away I'll be covered more or less.

So what are you doing?

I love physical media, but I keep my collections small. My cd collection is by far my biggest at about 1200, but doesn't take up too much room. I live in a small semi (probably about 1200 square feet), and as a result, keep my collections in the basement.

My video game collection is about 12 consoles and maybe 250 or so games. I only collect games that I like and will most likely play again. I get that some people are collectors, but never understood why people want to keep games that are crap and will not want to play again. Video games take up so much space, I don't want a room full of games, it just seems too much. (just me though, everyone is different!). I keep my retro games in separate boxes, out of the way. Each box has it's own system games (1 box for nes, another for SNES, etc).

I got rid of most of my books, as I realized I never re-read them. so, it's only the library for me now.

Movies is a bit of a weird one. I love streaming, but you never know when Netflix or other streaming services will pull a movie off their service. Because of that, I like to keep a physical copy. But, again, I only do this for my favourites. I don't need to keep dvds of movies that I found okay, but don't really have a desire to watch again. But it's strange. For instance, I have the first 10 seasons of the Simpsons. Will the Simpsons ever not be on a streaming service? I doubt it, but I still need to hang on to my dvds, just in case.

250 games & 12 systems is a small collection?

I'm not stocking up per se, but I'm not cleaning out DVDs, CDs, or carts either. Still buying what I like, or what I may like.

pacman000 wrote:250 games & 12 systems is a small collection?

I'm not stocking up per se, but I'm not cleaning out DVDs, CDs, or carts either. Still buying what I like, or what I may like.

Comparatively speaking, yes. Other collectors seem to have much more than that.

12 systems and 250 games is averaging 20 games per system.

Perhaps I shouldn't have said a small collection, but I should have said a small collection vs other video game collectors!

Cool topic. I guess my answer is neither. I have my own “rules” that make sense to me.

Video games—cheap and small (under $20, under 1 gig) get downloaded, bigger and more expensive games get physical copies. I figure the cheap/small stuff has very little resale value anyway. I buy about 5 games a year.

Music—albums get purchased on CD for the car, typically used on amazon, Unless a new copy is only a few bucks more. Individual songs destined for my running playlist get downloaded. I buy about 2 albums and about 5 songs a year.

Movies—can’t remember the last time I bought a physical copy, but I rarely “buy” them anyway. Just typically rent for a few dollars when I get the urge to watch something that’s not on a streaming platform. Which doesn’t happen often. Though box sets are something I’d buy physically.

Books—always physical, usually used if it’s available.

I’m not a collector. If I haven’t used it in a year, it gets sold or given away for someone to enjoy. I’m much closer to a minimalist.

I still look for physical media...and CDs are really interesting these days. Much harder to find used, lots of stores won't trade/stock them anymore, many catalog titles which used to be common/cheap are now out of print and becoming incredibly expensive (I saw a complete used copy of "Gun-Shy" by the Screaming Blue Messiahs sell for $150 online this week) and lots of albums on CD are never going to be reissued. On the upside, since many people can't sell/trade CDs anymore they donate them...try your local "Friends of the Library" bookstore. Before the pandemic, I used to regularly find out of print CDs which were in pristine condition for only .25 each! Also, PS1, Dreamcast and (occasionally) 3DO games sometimes end up in the CD racks, too!

DocHix makes a good point.

In the past, I always thought "if I wait I can always get that movie or CD cheaper - and probably on a better format". That no longer holds.

Now, if you think you want a movie or CD, get it while you can. As Doc said, even some popular albums are going out of print. I still look for stuff new, but I've had to buy more CDs used lately out of necessity.

I’ve moved home 5 times in the past 14 years (4 in the last 8!) and lemme tell ya, there ain’t nothing like having to box up your possessions and then unpack them that many times to truly make you realise how much stuff you don’t need or use, not just physical media. It really made me evaluate how much space it all takes up too.

My main collections used to be DVDs and music. I eventually realised I used to buy albums, upload them to my computer and then never touch the physical copy again. My wife and I have downsized our dvd collection almost every time we’ve moved. There’s so many movies/shows I know I won’t bother watching again for a very long time, if at all. If I wanna watch something again that bad and I can’t stream it, I can pick it up super cheap somewhere and then sell it on. We aren’t getting rid of all our DVDs, we’ll still have a small collection. But we’ve had to make some very harsh decisions to cut it down.

Another factor is my wife and I love board games - that’s one of my favourite forms of physical media and the experience absolutely can’t be replicated digitally. Board games take up a lot of real estate, so that already eats into a big chunk of our available space. I’m also slowly building a small graphic novel collection too, which also just isn’t the same in digital format.

I do miss that sense of ownership, but it’s just way more convenient digitally if it’s an option. Not having to mess about with discs is definitely another factor.

Excuse the double post but just had an interesting thought...

You can still retain some sense of ownership digitally - how important is that for you?

So for example with movies and tv shows, I’m happy just streaming what’s available on the services I subscribe to. If I want to own my own version, I like a physical copy. But with music I like having my own digital copy of songs in my iTunes, I don’t like using subscription services to stream music.

If I was to ever get back into modern gaming the thought of using Stadia always seemed a bit redundant to me. But after seeing it advertised several times on YouTube, I think I’d be tempted as I wouldn’t have much more than a casual interest.

TheEagleXIII wrote:You can still retain some sense of ownership digitally - how important is that for you?

good question. I use Steam for modern gaming and I love the fact that even though I've downloaded a title to my current PC I have the right to do so again if/when I replace the PC in the next handful of years. In that regard I feel like I retain a small part in ownership of my purchase. Not being able to resell or trade my games through Steam is why the feeling of ownership remains small. However I don't feel like it's a necessity as I'm content to pay for monthly subscription services for my movies and music.

To the topic of phasing out or stocking up..I'm somewhat in the middle. I have a decent collection of classic consoles and games, and while it's been a few years since I've added to it I certainly haven't started downsizing and selling off items. As stated above I use streaming services for movies and music so I'm not purchasing physical media much these days.

However..here is the kicker. I've started picking up VHS tapes at the local thrift stores over the past two years. I just can't say no to 90 cents a tape. One of the local thrifts even had a sale where they marked VHS tapes down to 10 cents a piece to move out the stockpile they had formed (score!). I feel like I'm not the only one picking up tapes lately as more often than not the stores are picked clean when it comes to horror and science fiction. All that's typically left are westerns. This may be a topic in itself but I've got a new found love for the western film genre, and have quite the shelf forming of them.