Game preservation leader agrees that piracy is the only preservation option for a discless future

I remember a time when software developers encouraged people to make backups of the software you bought to ensure that you always had access.  This was during the early years of home computers before widespread Hard drive availability and the 5.25" and 3.5" floppy disks were known to become corrupted after repeated use.  

The solution, make a copy of that floppy.

It is funny how something innocent as making a personal backup would trigger a worldwide software piracy problem because society can no longer trust individuals to do reasonable things.  Honestly, I blame leaded gasoline along with a great number of socioeconomic factors in the modern world.

Sony sees things differently and was one a pioneer in the physical media space and created some of the greats.  Remember the Compact Disk? Sony did that, Remember the DVD? yep, Sony did that too.  Blu-ray, the beloved optical storage system for the modern world? Yep, Sony created that.  Well, now Sony is pushing to kill these inventions and has created some backlash in the process.

The biggest is PlayStation.  

Sony drove another nail into the coffin of physical videogames today, announcing that it'd cease production of PS5 discs in 2028. The future of the leading videogame console is total digital licensing, and according to the director of the Video Game History Foundation, that means the future of preservation, for the moment, must be piracy.

In addition, Sony announced earlier that they would stop releasing movies on Blu-ray, which hit me especially hard given that I prefer a physical copy of the movies I watch, no need to have Internet access, picture and sound quality is better and I don't need to be concerned if a streaming service has it available.

It would seem that we all might need to embrace the ways of the software pirate if we want to preserve the things we love.

Related Web URL: https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/they-refus...