We should just go back to cartridges. I mean, how much would a 50GB SSD even cost in a few years mass produced? You could even save your game on the "cart" or internal storage.

Theoretically possible. The main reason they went to optical discs was probably because they offered WAY more space. Might have been cheaper, too. Cheap large flash storage is more feasible these days, although still nowhere NEAR as cheap per unit. But at least feasible.

That being said, I don't see it happening for consoles. I think it's more likely they'll forgo physical distribution entirely before they pivot from optical disc back to flash media. Just seems to be the way things are going.

I like game discs. I really do. But it seems like everyone is trying so hard to get me to switch to digital.

I mean, even when you have a disc the game installs fully to your HD. Today I have free, so I'm excited to try Horizon Zero Dawn… but oops. Not enough space. Really? I thought I had 1TB? Oh wow… it's totally full with game installs that I have discs for.

We should just go back to cartridges. I mean, how much would a 50GB SSD even cost in a few years mass produced? You could even save your game on the "cart" or internal storage.

I can only dream that's how the PS5 will work. I just hate deleting shit on my console when I should be playing.

Yeah, calling that a "dream" is naive in and of itself! You are already one of the last "holdouts" that still buys physical. The console manufacturers already toyed with the idea of ditching support of physical media this generation, and there was enough outcry that they didn't go ahead with taking that step. But, I think the general consumer is now ready, and I will actually be mildly surprised if the next generation of console hardware still has disc slots (or any other physical media support).

I hope you are able to get H:ZD installed soon enough to still spend most of your day diving in!

I like game discs. I really do. But it seems like everyone is trying so hard to get me to switch to digital.

I mean, even when you have a disc the game installs fully to your HD. Today I have free, so I'm excited to try Horizon Zero Dawn… but oops. Not enough space. Really? I thought I had 1TB? Oh wow… it's totally full with game installs that I have discs for.

We should just go back to cartridges. I mean, how much would a 50GB SSD even cost in a few years mass produced? You could even save your game on the "cart" or internal storage.

I can only dream that's how the PS5 will work. I just hate deleting shit on my console when I should be playing.

It's on a smaller scale, but this is how the Nintendo Switch works for physical games. You just plug in the cartridge and you're ready to go, barring any patches you want to download. Of the 25gb of built-in storage, I've only used 700mb.

The obvious downside is that Nintendo requires developers to chip in for the manufacturing cost of the cartridges, which is why many multiplatform games on the switch are $10 more than on other platforms.

I thought/hoped that the Gamestop/Amazon physical editions of Destiny 2 PC would have a disc included. I would have even been ok if the disc had ONLY featured a download for the BattleNet launcher, or a DRM license, or something-anything basic to tie the physical edition to the digital download. There is really no linking them at all.

Turns out that they did not include a disk at all, and instead included a paper/cardboard fake disc with the digital download code on it.

https://imgur.com/gallery/qkk4y
https://imgur.com/gallery/F9EY3

Also FYI: the Box Acronym for Destiny 2 PC Physical Editions features the same acronym as the console versions. It appears it is the same acronym across all platforms and across all editions. PC Box Acronym - ICDSIFD
I would post a small update to the original Acronym post from console launch, but it is locked up at this point in time.

So Wolfenstein and Hidden Agenda just came out…

WHY ARE THERE SO MANY GOOD GAMES ALL AT ONCE.