Going All-Digital and Its Flaws

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The rise of digital stores and streaming services for shows, music, and games is one I just can’t ignore anymore. I feel like streaming services and digital stores over the years have become garbage. They used to be pretty cool with stuff like Netflix and Spotify but now just getting flooded with them from every TV network to the point where we might as well just go back to having TV channels.

When streaming services for us launched they were pretty cool you were able to have everything at once. It started becoming a lot more problematic when more of them started showing up. It was fine before when it was mostly Netflix and Hulu as the big two services, in addition to specialty ones like Crunchyroll or Funimation. However, companies starting their own services so they don’t have to license out to the pre-existing services is when it starts to feel dirty. They’re just trying to get out money while we’re paying for services we were already using. One of my favourite childhood franchises, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, has shows and movies across different services and there isn’t one where I can get everything. The 2003 series is on Paramount, the 2012 series is on Hulu, and the 2007 movie is on HBO Max (which isn’t even available in Canada), I am not about to pay that much for 3 things. At this point, I would buy the stuff physically.

Ownership is a huge issue. When you pay for Netflix, you don’t actually own any of the shows. Once the licence for a show is taken away, the show gets taken off the service and you can’t watch it anymore. I don’t want the ability to watch a show taken away from me in a second. Also, if the entire service shuts down, everything gets taken away from you. Thankfully, physical releases of these shows are still a thing. However, the problem is when there isn’t a physical version. When Wandavision was initially reported to not get a physical release, people were freaking out. Once there’s no legal way to watch a show, people will have to resort to piracy. Morally speaking, it’s okay to pirate media in this case. However, people don’t like going in this direction for the most part. At least for shows, movies, and music, you can always run pirated copies without hardware limitations. Games don’t exactly get that same treatment. There’s no real way to just pirate a digital game without complicated software. The other stuff can just be recorded with screen recording software or even capture devices.

Region-locking is another thing. There are things that are only available in certain regions despite the fact it’s on the same service. People did start using VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) to get around this. However, companies are starting to crack down and can now detect when one is in use. It’s pretty dirty to do this in my opinion. You’re already paying for the service, and you’re already paying for the VPN. On top of this, people use VPNs to protect their devices whenever they are using public internet. How will people feel safe using these services at places like airports or coffee shops? The answer is quite simple. They just have to risk it. Especially since these accounts are usually linked to your banking information.

I’ve been in favour of physical copies for a long time. I’ve been against buying digital copies of games because I don’t want digital copies to take up room on my systems’ internal storage or resort to running off an external drive. There’s also something magical about opening up a game case and inserting the cartridge or disc. You don’t get that kind of experience with just selecting something on a digital store or a streaming service catalogue.

Digital releases have also ruined bonus content for me. It used to be fun to look at behind-the-scenes footage or even other weird things that would be included in physical releases. Nowadays, that stuff just gets uploaded to YouTube or somewhere else and it doesn’t feel special anymore. Also, liner notes have started to become scarce, especially with games. I used to read the instruction manual for games while playing them without being able to just pull out a guide. Nowadays, the manual is its own section on a game system. However, if I just open the manual on my phone, I’m more tempted to just pull out a full guide which isn’t fun for me.

Another main issue is having too many options. Back then, we were forced to make a decision when renting or buying stuff. That game or movie was your main entertainment for a few days which forced you to commit to it. We couldn’t just pause something and get back to it at a later date. You would have to renew or pay a late fee which at that point you might as well have bought the thing you rented. I rented games when Blockbuster was around and I played the life out of them. I actually still have one of them because I never returned it after Blockbuster closed. You can’t get that experience once a streaming service shuts down.

So what’s the solution for this? Keep physical releases around as much as possible. Fans of these things probably want to get physical copies anyways. Once the digital version is gone, people can rip their physical releases as a backup. People already back up their CD collection to high-quality FLAC files so they have something better than an MP3. Relying on digital versions being around is not a good idea because of stuff like licensing or keeping servers up. Licences and servers cost money which is why Netflix keeps raising their prices.

I don’t think technology is at a point where it can support an all-digital climate. There are too many weird difficulties that go alongside it. On top of that, it makes things feel less valued. I don’t get the same enjoyment anymore when something is released on Netflix or Disney+ anymore compared to a physical release. The physical release made it feel like something I can own rather than just be available at my own convenience. As long as these problems exist, I can’t support an all-digital future.

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