I do want to point out that about 10 years ago, there was one manufacturer still pressing vinyl records left in the U.S. But since the resurgence of this format, multiple pressing facilities have opened, or reopened, and now vinyl is the most common form of physical music on the market. CDs and cassettes are also making a comeback.

Sony claims it’s using sales trends as a reason to phase out physical games. Corporations do actually care about making money. They follow these trends. I’m not saying panic buy all the physical media right now, but when it comes to owning things you can hold in your hand, you have to actually buy them.

i have a better suggestion

i feel like it's important to point out that a major reason physical game sales have declined is because games manufacturers intentionally hold back the physical releases of new games for months after the digital releases, thus leveraging FOMO and spoilers to force gamers into buying digital copies instead. And it's not just Sony. "Family-friendly" Nintendo has done this for many new games too, if they even bother to release a physical copy at all.

this "trend" of consumers "not buying" physical games is not a trend: it's a manipulation of numbers and consumers in order to give game companies what they want: your data.

they want you to have a digital copy that you have to play with a cloud save on an internet connected console. because, if you do this, they can see which of their games log the most hours/engagement after purchase, they can see which profile/account on your console plays which games, how and when you play in relation to your console's set timezone (is this an after-work or late night game for grownups? an after school game for kids?), they can see who you game with, what other games you play, what you favourite in the game store, what game/store pages you look at or come back to most, etc.

whereas if you did what was possible in the 90s/00s and buy a physical game with cash at a local game store and plug it into your non-internet connected console, they don't have any of that data. and they want it. badly. because it means they don't need to rely on their customers answering consumer surveys and providing them with that data. they can just have it, automatically. every time you log on.

they can also sell that data

🗣️ Hey, young Americans:

Old Millennial American speaking here. I need you to adopt this mentality as early as possible and hold to it. The older you get, the harder it is to begin this practice and claw back the extremely unhealthy effects of a workaholic lifestyle. I am speaking from 20 years of experience.

This does not mean having a shitty attitude at work, or not doing your job, or relying on co-workers to carry your water.

This means you do what it says above. It also means not making work and productively your entire personality; not tying your productivity to your value; and not becoming so emotionally enmeshed in your work and workplace so that you are living and dying by what happens there.

Good luck out there. American workplace culture is mostly designed to work you to death. Moving against that tide can be challenging, so having a healthy mindset is important to living a life not consumed by your paid labor.

It's called the Global Justice Report, it is here. This is an actionable plan which can be sent to legislators and demanded of political parties. We could save the world within our lifetimes.

It has always been possible. It is still possible.