![\"Nintendo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_294497161-50b4.jpg\")
\n\t\tCan Nintendo benefit from Sony and Microsoft\u2019s mistakes? (Nintendo)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tCan Nintendo benefit from Sony and Microsoft\u2019s mistakes? (Nintendo)<\/p>\n
The Monday letters page is still coming to terms with PlayStation\u2019s all-digital announcement, as a reader reveals the only video game to be released on vinyl.<\/p>\n
Games Inbox<\/a> is a collection of our readers\u2019 letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n Winner by default Sometimes all you have to do, to seem like you know what you\u2019re doing, is just not be as bad as your rival and I think this is a classic example. It\u2019s particularly good for Nintendo because they\u2019re not going to give up physical games<\/a> anytime. If those rumours about GTA 6<\/a> coming to Switch 2 are true then this could be a gift for them.<\/p>\n The biggest winner is going to be the PC but combine that with the Switch 2 and you\u2019ve got almost all bases covered. You\u2019d miss out on Sony single-player games but that\u2019s like one game a year and I know I can live without that quite easily. Especially if it means saving a grand on not getting a PlayStation 6<\/a>. Choice is overrated \t\t\t\tExpert, exclusive gaming analysis\t\t\t<\/p>\n Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter<\/a> for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning.<\/p>\n Should I be wrong, however, I do still have a good few months to keep collecting and they\u2019ll keep me going. This combined with the games I\u2019m getting free on Epic Games Store on PC means I\u2019ll have enough to keep me going until retirement. GC: A U-turn seems very unlikely, given they\u2019ve already repurposed the disc factory<\/a>.<\/p>\n Vinyl preservation If you\u2019re old enough, like me, you will probably remember being able to buy these cassette games right next to the ex-jukebox records in your local paper shop.<\/p>\n Yes, that\u2019s right, paper shops used to stock games and some of them had quite a selection, if I remember correctly.<\/p>\n It got me thinking, if games where available on cassette (which was primarily for music and audio) then wouldn\u2019t being able to get a game on a vinyl record be possible?<\/p>\n As it turns out, it has indeed been done and the vinyl came free with a 1984 Computer & Video Games magazine. It was called Thompson Twins Adventurne, The Thompson Twins being a popular music band at the time. The quality of the game is apparently questionable, but I digress.<\/p>\n That high pitched shrilling noise you would get on the loading screens was recreated to vinyl and was easily duplicated onto cassette at the time, much like the other cassette games if you had the means to do so.<\/p>\n What fascinated me even more was that it went back even further than vinyl records and apparently you could record off a dedicated radio<\/a> station or programme over the airwaves. A bit like the internet before the internet.<\/p>\n Anyway, as a retro gaming fan I just found this all incredibly fascinating and there is quite a few videos online delving a bit deeper into this subject if anyone else is interested too.<\/p>\n Turns out the download-only future started a lot further back than most of us realise. Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n The time has come I\u2019ve owned a couple of desktop PCs over the years, although I have always enjoyed the convenience that consoles have offered since the 1980s.<\/p>\n Owning cartridges from the Sega Master System and Mega Drive\/SNES and N64, to discs from the Saturn and PlayStation onwards throughout the generations, I have always enjoyed my hobby of collecting physical media.<\/p>\n I know it\u2019s inevitable for the gaming industry to become totally digital eventually, and I will admit I buy digital titles myself (only when they are on offer), but I feel that downloading a game for convenience is soulless.<\/p>\n Personally, I think it\u2019s a bit gung-ho for Sony to pull the plug on physical media this generation, especially as their current console has a disc drive.<\/p>\n Sadly, it all boils down to cutting costs and generating profit, without a care for their customers in mind.<\/p>\n Physical media is still important!<\/p>\n It\u2019s a sad state of affairs, and I hope there is enough backlash for a considered U-turn on their plans, otherwise Sony\u2019s reputation will be tarnished more than ever before. \t\t\t\tDon’t miss Gaming news! Add us as a Preferred Source\t\t\t<\/p>\n As a loyal GameCentral reader, we want to make sure you never miss our articles when searching for gaming stories. We have all the latest video games news, reviews, previews, and interviews, with a vibrant community of highly engaged readers.<\/p>\n Click the button below and tick\u00a0Metro.co.uk\u00a0to ensure you see stories from us first in Google Search.<\/p>\n \nAdd us as a Preferred Source<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \t\t Belated release Even if those discs are sitting on your shelf, if you\u2019re lucky enough to pick up a game that doesn\u2019t require additional downloads in the first place, the version of the software on the disc is usually missing patches to fix bugs and performance. Even Nintendo, the gold standard for collectors, had a day one patch for Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom because performance was so poor.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re popping these old discs into your PlayStation 5 in 30 years\u2019 time without an internet connection why do we think it\u2019ll still work like popping a cartridge into a Mega Drive? At best you\u2019re gonna get a buggy, poorly performing experience notably inferior to what you remember, and at worst the game will be incomplete or not work at all. I have a feeling in said 30 years you\u2019ll need to crack your old PlayStation 5 to access community servers to get even the games you own on discs to work properly.<\/p>\n In an ideal world, once a game has been fully patched for bugs, performance, and additional content, they\u2019d release a special edition that actually includes all the content on the disc(s). I know Game of the Year editions are a thing for some games but, again, they usually have a download component (looking at you Cyberpunk 2077). I think people would pay a premium for that, and possibly double dip if the initial purchase was a digital release, like music collectors with Spotify accounts do with vinyl. That would be the way to keep physical alive and be a better system than what we have now. Then and now I\u2019m pretty sure that it will be a PC when I do, with indie gaming, VR, and being less enamoured with Sony exclusives this gen being the main reasons.<\/p>\n So, I do find myself popping over to PC Part Picker now and then. Here you get a picture of the big increases in RAM and storage prices over the last 18 months. Prices that are predicted to go up further and maybe not normalise for years. Even then who knows what the normal will be.<\/p>\n Here is a PC build<\/a> generated 15 months ago. It shows the prices when the build was made but also the current prices if you click the build link at the top.<\/p>\n From Amazon, the 32GB of DDR5 Ram was \u00a391.99 and they still have the cheapest listed price now at \u00a3364.99, a 297% increase in 15 months. From Amazon, the 2TB SSD was \u00a399.98 and is now \u00a3269.99 from Overclockers, who have the cheapest listed price.<\/p>\n The CPU, by comparison, is \u00a3150 cheaper and now cheaper than the memory at \u00a3288 \u2013 top tier CPU too. It\u2019s no wonder the Steam Machine is the price it is. Valve pretty much said the RAM and storage makers had them over a barrel. Conspiracy theory I\u2019m very disappointed that they seem to be forcing an all-digital future instead of offering options for collectors. I\u2019d have thought there would be good money in limited run prints of their games, sold at a higher price than the digital version.<\/p>\n I also can\u2019t escape the feeling that this was all orchestrated by my wife to stop me cluttering up the loft with game cases. Welcome distractions First was playing Hell Is Us<\/a>. This game gripped me from start to finish. The world filled with mystery, the fantastic music that absolutely nailed the tone. Playing it reminded me of Dark, the superb Netflix show, in terms of setting, again music, and the mysterious time travel related story.<\/p>\n Yeah, the combat was basic and reminded me of a PlayStation 2 hack \u2018n\u2019 slasher, but I sort of enjoyed it; it was a welcome break from the endless Soulslike combat we\u2019ve had for ages now. Exploring every nook and cranny, finding all its secrets, has been a pleasure for me, I must say.<\/p>\n Second, and very different, is Super Robot Wars Y. A grid based Japanese role-player, think Disgaea or Vandal Hearts (two of my favourites) that features famous anime mechs fighting in a mad massive war.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve no idea who any of them are, aside from the Gundam Wing pilots I remember from Toonami back in the day. It\u2019s a chaotic mishmash of established characters getting thrown together for reasons, fighting many bad guys for other reasons. I\u2019ve no idea what\u2019s happening, but I\u2019m really enjoying it.<\/p>\n It\u2019s like watching a Japanese soap opera you walk into part way through, very dramatic yet silly, that\u2019s suddenly turns into a giant mech fight!<\/p>\n It\u2019s been a perfect fun game to play, as in turn my brain off, enjoy the silliness, engage in the tactical fighting side. For fans of anime it must be incredible, for me its silly fun which I\u2019d say we could all do with more right now! Inbox also-rans Not that it really matters any more but all that stuff about Phil Spencer wearing T-shirts with old games on them\u2026 he never rebooted or brought back any of them, did he? Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n The small print You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader\u2019s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page<\/a>, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.<\/p>\n You can also leave your comments below and don\u2019t forget to follow us on Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow
Interesting article on how the current upset<\/a> with PlayStation and Xbox<\/a> plays into the hands of Nintendo<\/a>. Like you said, it\u2019s not because of anything they\u2019ve done \u2013 I think most people would agree the Switch 2<\/a> has been at least mildly disappointing so far \u2013 but compared to the mess at Xbox, and Sony<\/a> ditching physical media, it suddenly makes Nintendo look a lot better by comparison.<\/p>\n
Louie<\/p>\n
For a change, I\u2019m going to be positive regarding the threat of a choice-less future regarding discs. It\u2019s a year and a half away, so Sony could change their policy, especially if Xbox announce it first that they will continue to support physical media.<\/p>\n
Bobwallett<\/p>\n
I was reminiscing the other week about old Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum games.<\/p>\n
freeway 77<\/p>\n
I must agree with many gamers, that I think it is time to eventually deviate from consoles and purchase a PC.<\/p>\n
G4RBO<\/p>\n![\"GameCentral](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEC_278479390-558f.jpg\")
\n\t\tGameCentral has been delivering unique games news and reviews for over a decade<\/p>\n
Not to defend the current moves away from physical media at al\u2026 I do still buy discs, but usually second-hand for titles I\u2019d not look to keep. Those seven or eight out of 10 games I can take to CeX in 12 months time to swap again. In the future, if those games are purely digital, well I\u2019d pick them up for \u00a310 three years later in a sale. However, to look at it from a game preservation point, isn\u2019t there an uncomfortable truth here that physical ownership of games has been pretty flaky since the PlayStation 4 era?<\/p>\n
Marc<\/p>\n
I\u2019m lucky to have a PS5 Pro, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch 2, so don\u2019t have to think about new hardware until at least 2030.<\/p>\n
Simundo<\/p>\n
Interesting point you make about Sony controlling PlayStation Blu-ray disc production. Surely that\u2019s another profit stream for them, and if it isn\u2019t profitable enough they could just increase the price they charge to third parties\u2026<\/p>\n
Magnumstache<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
So, with all the negativity about gaming recently I thought I\u2019d write in about two positive experiences I\u2019ve had in the last few weeks.<\/p>\n
Liam<\/p>\n
Closing down studios to put more people on Halo<\/a> sounds exactly like the sort of thing Microsoft would think is a good idea. It\u2019s 16 years since Bungie moved away from Halo and the best idea Microsoft can come up with is another remake of the original\u2026 without multiplayer?
Gazza<\/p>\n
Shobe<\/p>\n
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers\u2019 letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.<\/p>\n
\nMORE: Games Inbox: Giving up consoles because of PS5 going digital-only<\/a><\/p>\n
\nMORE: Games Inbox: Why is Sony going digital-only with the PS5?<\/a><\/p>\n
\nMORE: Games Inbox: Will there be a definitive PS6 version of GTA 6?<\/a><\/p>\n