I remember when eBay was a new thing.  In the wake of a fresh and burgeoning public internet, with dial-up squeals and stilted page updates, the world suddenly felt connected in a new and unprecedented way.  It didn't take long for me to use this powerful collection of advanced tools to finally achieve a feat that had eluded me for what felt like forever:

I tracked down the import Final Fantasy IV soundtrack CD.

Spent way too much, in hind sight.  Didn't we all, the first time we realized we could bid on objects that had tantalized our imaginations?  Or replace that lost childhood toy?  Or prove that yes, Song of the South really exists but only on withered VHS tapes?  Before it became a store, in its infancy eBay felt like an untapped treasure trove, that fabled yard sale where everybody found something they were looking for.

But this isn't about eBay.  It is about what that described moment represents; connecting with a lost treasure, or finding a new one.  Few gamers over thirty wouldn't stop and look at a pristine collection of rare games from a few decades ago, if just to reminisce or wonder about what was never played.  Games back then represented a thing to buy and savor, from mining every secret and technique to staying up with a buddy to beat each other's high scores.  Before they were services, video games were products to own.



Which has me thinking lately.  You know how depending on your age, you view different "console war" eras as the sort of "golden" ones?  Maybe you are old enough to remember the ol' Atari 2600/5200/7800 vs. Intellivision and Colecovision, or NES vs. SMS.  For many of us, it was the eternal SNES vs. Genesis.  or PlayStation vs. N64 (and Saturn!), or PS2 vs. Xbox.  360 and PS3, with the Wii somehow bigger and not included. 

I think we all know there is no real "vs." when it comes to physical media and digital-downloads.  We know where the industry is headed.  Sure, there will continue to be holdouts (like me!) who will always buy a game on physical media, and pay more to do so, if it is available.  However, given that the last few games we purchased have had 8gb+ day one updates (and continuous updates) prove that even when a game is bought on disc/cart, it is rarely "finished" or even entirely on the disc/cart in the first place.  Even our last stalwart defender, Nintendo, is now on the lucrative "games as service" model.

EA, UbiSoft, Microsoft, and Sony have all ramped up talk of eventually switching completely over to a service not unlike a Netflix/Steam hybrid, where the need to buy a physical game will be eliminated entirely.  Many already offer a prototype.  Subscription models and digital-leasing is far, far more attractive (and let's be honest, profitable) for these content creators.

In fact we may finally be in the last years of actual, physical video game media.  Yes, pundits have declared this for at least the last ten years, but the technology and, more importantly, consumer habits finally support the weight of this death-knell.  I wouldn't be surprised if smaller niche game systems continue to support old fogey interests like mine, but by-and-large the change is visible and the market trends reflect it.

When my kids are my age, all of our gaming media and gaming habits will be represented as a different, by-gone era.  Even bigger than the jump from 2D to polygons, closed-box to online aware, right now us gamers are finishing up the Golden Era of physical media in video games.  Those of us with large physical collections and collector mentalities will represent an even greater curiosity to the then-modern gamer. 

If ever there were a time to be a collector, this is it!  Remember when NES, or PlayStation, or PS2 games were everywhere, and then they suddenly weren't?  As the gamer population grows and these finitely-produced products get ever older, pretty much every game will get at least a little more rare.  If you have a game system or pet collecting project you've wanted to develop, you may not find a better moment.  Many system libraries have already eclipsed their "cheap pickup" window but as we etch closer to physical media obsolescence, it likely won't get easier.

Which is where collector sites like ours become even more relevant.  Our database here is a love-letter to this rapidly passing era of physical video game media.  Not that we don't catalogue digital games, but it is even more invaluable to have a listing and details about all of these hard-copies from the beginning of the industry to weekly new releases.  And you wont find a more helpful and pleasant group of fellow enthusiasts than right here.

Personally, I think I've moved on to the "acceptance" stage of my grief over the death of physical media.  I play and enjoy Destiny 2 and Star Wars: Battlefront II, even as I know servers will shut down and I won't be able to play them with my grandkids.  But you better believe I'll pull out Super Mario 3 and sit down with them, and take them on in Street Fighter II!  Besides, if the PS5 and Xbox 2 (or Y, or Snugglebunny) doesn't ship with a physical media drive, I'll finally be able to make a dent in my backlog!



PS
OK, if MS named their new streaming game system the Xbox Snugglebunny, I'd buy it.

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