Let’s Get Physical

Why I Went Back to Physical Media and Older Games

Something has been gradually happening to me over the last few years. At first, I thought it was just a desperate attempt to regain my youth. Maybe I was simply getting older and trying to reconnect with the things that once made me happy. But the more I think about it, the more I realise it is something deeper than nostalgia.

I have started looking much more seriously at the world of physical media: CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, boxed games, and the shelves of things you can actually hold in your hands. I have also started buying more of them. At the same time, I have mostly stopped buying new games. Instead, I have been buying older games, and I have even got rid of my newer consoles.

I sold the current-generation machines and went back to older hardware, including an Xbox One X and a PS4 Pro. On paper, that might sound like a step backwards. In practice, it has made me much happier.

Part of the reason is cost. Everything now seems to be becoming more expensive, and not always for good reasons. New games launch at high prices, often with deluxe editions, subscriptions, season passes, updates, and extra purchases layered on top. It can feel as if the game itself is only the beginning of the transaction.

But it is not just about money. A lot of new games simply do not interest me in the way older games do. They can be huge, demanding, and exhausting. They often expect fast reactions, endless commitment, and boss fights that feel designed for people with more time, patience, and reflexes than I currently possess.

I am 54, which in the world of gaming makes me feel ancient. I have been playing video games since the 1980s, so I sometimes feel like a fossil from another age. I grew up with games that were challenging, yes, but also direct, contained, and understandable. They did not always demand that I keep up with an online economy, a battle pass, a patch schedule, or a constantly shifting meta.

Older games feel more in my wheelhouse. They suit the way I want to play now. I can buy them cheaply, own them physically, put them on a shelf, and play them at my own pace. There is a sense of control in that. There is also a sense of permanence. A disc is not perfect, but it feels more real than a licence hidden away in an account menu.

That is one of the biggest attractions of physical media. It feels like a small act of resistance against a world where everything is rented, streamed, subscribed to, or taken away when a service changes its mind. With physical media, I know what I have. I can see it. I can lend it, sell it, revisit it, or simply keep it because it means something to me.

There is also a small environmental satisfaction in buying older games and using older consoles. I am not pretending that I am saving the planet single-handedly, but there is something pleasing about reusing technology that still works. Instead of chasing the newest machine, I am making use of hardware and software that already exist.

So perhaps this is nostalgia, but it is not only nostalgia. It is also about value, ownership, comfort, and knowing what kind of player I have become. I no longer need to keep up with everything new. I do not need the fastest console or the latest release to enjoy gaming. In fact, stepping back has reminded me why I loved games in the first place.

On top of that I have been filling my bookcases with actual discs of films and TV shows, many of them in 4k but some on plain old DVD. It is sad that manufacturers no longer include extras on their discs, as they believe that physical media is only a niche market. However they are dead wrong. Just look at how many records and CDs are being sold these days. The youngsters are even buying tapes – the most hissy of formats. Hell, some of them are even collecting VHS tapes and paying a pretty penny for them too. I now regret dumping mine down the municipal tip in 2011. I might’ve be a hundredaire by now.