Magpie Gamer

When selecting a game you can easily look up whatever you want, whenever you want, thanks to that little phone in your pocket: reviews, trailers, online plot summaries. But in the past that wasn't an option. In the store it was the art on the box that would catch your eye, lure you over, and expose you to something you probably didn't know existed. The art, the back of the box, and the manual inside may be the only information you got about the game before deciding to play it. Those boxes could contain imagery so eye-catching that it was an art piece in its own right and something you would be proud to have in your home. But that all changed with the switch to digital. Online marketplaces and streaming services use small thumbnails with a simple portrait; almost background imagery - an afterthought. The logo often takes up half the space. Sometimes the thumbnail is only the logo. Their purpose is to make scrolling more convenient and clean looking, but we lost something along...

What This Is About: On July 1, 2026, Sony announced they will be ending production of new physical discs for all PlayStation 5 games starting January 2028. All new game releases after this date will be digital only, either as a direct download from their storefront or as a download code sold inside of a plastic box. At the same time Sony announced the closure of their digital storefronts for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita, as well as the deletion of over five hundred purchased movies from their customer's libraries (for a second time). No one was offered refunds or store credit of any kind. Had these movies been physical DVDs and Blu-rays it would have been illegal for Sony to take them, but because they were digital goods, as far as the law is concerned, it wasn't a crime. A disc is something you own - at least until it degrades (which I have yet to happen). You can lend it to a friend, trade it for other games, resell it on the second-hand market, gift it to someo...