Video games have been a huge passion of mine since I was a kid. I have great memories of getting a game at the store, holding onto it during the ride home, so excited to plug it into my game console and play it. I would read the manuals that came along with the games, and I would practically put a magnifying glass up to the cover art. Physical games are a huge part of my life. So why can’t I find them anymore, and why is this a travesty for the video game industry?

First off, where is this all coming from? Well, earlier in the semester, I wrote an article about this topic titled “Physical Media Trumps Digital.” News came out that Best Buy would be removing certain physical media, including games, movies and shows to name a few. Why is this a big deal? Isn’t streaming the best way to go? Some people may prefer to watch a show digitally on Netflix, rather than having to plug a Blu-ray disc in, but that’s where the problem lies — digital ownership is just a farce.

Companies like Netflix and Warner Bros. are always moving around the shows and movies on their platforms to the point where it gets frustrating as hell. This isn’t just exclusive to streaming companies. On video game consoles and PCs, digital ownership is paramount for many when it comes to owning their games. With that said companies like Sony, owners of PlayStation, have recalled digital goods online. Yes, in the recent year, Sony’s contracts with certain companies ran out, so they recalled digital copies from various IPs. That basically meant if you owned a certain movie or television show digitally, you would no longer have access to that.

On top of this, in the past couple of years, Sony even tried to discontinue their online stores for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita and PlayStation Portable consoles. These systems are old, but very popular with fans. When Sony originally announced this, fans gave them so much negative feedback that they decided to take back their decision to shut them down. How insane is that? A multibillion-dollar corporation bucks the knee to a ton of fans’ feedback which is absolutely unbelievable. Do you see the problem here? Digital ownership is very easy and accessible, yet false. If you own something digitally, you don’t really own it. These huge companies can take that away from you at the snap of their fingers.

What is real ownership? Physical stuff. If you love watching “Kindergarten Cop” on Netflix, what will you do when it gets removed a couple of months from now? Hope it gets moved to a streaming service you have. If you had it physically? You have nothing to worry about. Pop it into your media player whenever you want. Hell, most devices nowadays play Blu-rays. Do you have a PlayStation or an Xbox from the year 2010 or beyond? You’re golden. I love this. I’ve always been a physical guy when it comes to my entertainment. When I was a kid and even now.

Recently, a couple of games I’ve really been looking forward to have been releasing. Games like “Tekken 8,” “Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth,” “Persona 3 Reload” and “Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth” are the main ones. Sheesh, writing it all out, my wallet is toasted this month. All of these games I want to play and enjoy and I vehemently fought to get them physically. I usually buy my games on Amazon and have them shipped to me. When I wanted to purchase both Tekken and Like a Dragon, I was shocked to see that they were out of stock on Amazon.

I got Tekken from Best Buy, which was well enough, but “Like a Dragon” wasn’t so easy. This game wasn’t in stock anywhere I looked, whether it was Amazon, Best Buy, or GameStop. I called GameStop and I spoke to a cashier about the game. I asked why they didn’t have any physical copies and the guy told me that GameStop gets physical copies in relation to how many preorders they have and this game got zero preorders. I was shocked. I had no idea that’s how it worked. I called Walmart and a store as big as Walmart had only two copies. What a world we live in.

Physical media is on the decline, whether it’s for movies or games. It’s bad. Particularly for games. Movies are always rereleased, on DVDs, Blu-rays, or 4K discs. Games on the other hand? There are literally thousands of games that came out in the past and now are unavailable to play on modern platforms. Game preservation is another column for another day, but I can’t stand that physical copies are going extinct. Look at a game’s cover and manual from the 2000s and compare it to a game from today. There used to be so much detail on the case, the manuals and the inside. Now? There are little to no details, most of the time there will be a legal warning and sometimes advertisements for other games.

The state of physical video games is just tragic. How do we fix this? Well, similar to what happened with Sony, game publishers must realize that physical media is essential. It is the most pro-consumer thing possible. Owning something physically will always be the way to go. Video games are an important medium. There are no other mediums that allow the audience to directly interact with the story and characters. If physical media is not taken more seriously, this medium will go the way of the dodo.

Nicolas Scagnelli is a senior majoring in English.

Views expressed in the opinions pages represent the opinions of the columnists. The only piece that represents the views of the Pipe Dream Editorial Board is the Staff Editorial.