Rumor: Target supposedly will stop selling physical media in-store and online by 2025

[TheBryanJZX90]

That's an overly specific thing to focus on. Dedicated players have always taken a backseat to game consoles. It was actually a big killer app for the PS2 back in the day.

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Dang it's actually kinda amusing how you kept going back to the PS2 as evidence, as if a console that launched almost 25 years ago has anything at all to do with media consumption today. You're referencing a time when Blockbuster Video was still going strong, when people had 100 disc CD changers, when you had to shell out extra to buy a separate accessory to connect your console to the internet, none of that is relevant now. It wasn't even relevant 10 years ago. It wasn't even relevant 18 years ago when the PS3 launched. The Blu-ray capabilities of the PS3 were nowhere near the selling point of the PS3 that DVD was for the PS2. Your claim that "every console in someone's house is a physical media player" isn't even true any more! You've been able to buy xboxes and playstations without a disc drive for almost 5 years!

Physical media isn't "losing" the fight, it lost a long time ago.

 

[t26]

I am going to miss the buy 2 get 1 free. It is usually how I get most of my new release now.

 

[Mr. RPG]

We're losing the fight, physical bros......

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It was lost forever ago.

 

[Rosebud]

...yes?

The idea that Kindle would be the iPod of books and quickly become the preferred method of reading for almost everybody but a few analog purists never panned out. eBooks' share of the overall book market has basically plateaued for many years now.

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Kindle is actually pretty popular and always getting new editions, but people can buy ebooks to read at any device they want

 

[Kyougar]

I love watching videos in Japan with the floors and floors of just stuff to look at, almost like mini museums of visual-overload. I've never been though.

I do wonder if brick and motor will come back in a sense of companies popping up and wanting growth in terms of constant expansion, to appropriately place specialty stores around. I feel like Texas and the midwest is spoiled by an abundance of these places, that I alwsys see on videos. And Fry's are all gone, but now Micro Center is coming back to Santa Clara! A bunch of my friends, who sure, buy stuff online, are excited for it!

The bigger thing here with "physical movies etc are dying" is also the bigger talk of "physical stores are dying to internet shopping" and that's not entirely true either. I feel like both still has a place in the US, but more of a strategy is needed for it, but something that can survive.

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Ya, I completely agree. To make things worse, I just got back from Japan and shopping at stores there is like heaven by comparison to how stores are now here. I mean it was always better even a couple decades now, but it feels like the options shown to you compared to here has widen the gap because we're losing so many stores that focus on specific categories. Heck, it's amazing that the Tower Records in Shibuya is still there and it's just 7 floors of stuff to look through. I can't remember the last time I even saw or stepped foot into a music store around here now that most of them are gone in the Bay Area.

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But it's not "Japan" as a whole who has this awesome collection.
It is one or several stores in a specific part of Shibuya
in a metropolitan area of over 30 Million people.


Also, the decline of the retail space (for gaming) is also a consequence of AAA budgets and less AA games in the console space (PC was already nearly fully digital)
- There are fewer and fewer high profile game releases you could stack on a shelf.
- Even if more Indie games would get a physical release, what game would you pack on the shelf out of the thousands releasing every year?
- with digital stores, publishers and developers have more power in negotiations which makes it riskier and less profitable for retailers to sell physical media.


All in all, fuck Retail, though.
They were gatekeepers and arbitrary curators who had too much power in what type of genres and games would be displayed in their store. They basically killed CRPG's for a decade at the start of the 2000s because they decided that they are "not selling anymore"

Obsidian and BioWare veterans explain how retailers killed the isometric RPG: "Truly vibes-based forecasting"

A chicken and egg situation

www.gamesradar.com

We now have so many genres that are thriving because of digital distribution, so many developers who don't need a Publisher to sell their games.
Good riddance to Retail.

 

[ZeoVGM]

It was lost forever ago.

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My regular new purchases of physical games and movies says otherwise.

 

[dom]

But it's not "Japan" as a whole who has this awesome collection.
It is one or several stores in a specific part of Shibuya
in a metropolitan area of over 30 Million people.


Also, the decline of the retail space (for gaming) is also a consequence of AAA budgets and less AA games in the console space (PC was already nearly fully digital)
- There are fewer and fewer high profile game releases you could stack on a shelf.
- Even if more Indie games would get a physical release, what game would you pack on the shelf out of the thousands releasing every year?
- with digital stores, publishers and developers have more power in negotiations which makes it riskier and less profitable for retailers to sell physical media.


All in all, fuck Retail, though.
They were gatekeepers and arbitrary curators who had too much power in what type of genres and games would be displayed in their store. They basically killed CRPG's for a decade at the start of the 2000s because they decided that they are "not selling anymore"

Obsidian and BioWare veterans explain how retailers killed the isometric RPG: "Truly vibes-based forecasting"

A chicken and egg situation

www.gamesradar.com

We now have so many genres that are thriving because of digital distribution, so many developers who don't need a Publisher to sell their games.
Good riddance to Retail.

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Talk about being unhinged and a FUCK YOU GOT MINE attitude.

 

[Kyougar]

Talk about being unhinged and a FUCK YOU GOT MINE attitude.

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Talk about "I want to buy physical and fuck all those indies" attitude.

Digital is a net positive for the Industry.
And physical buyers lost the war the day they accepted digital codes in the box as a norm.

 

[Gay Bowser]

Kindle is actually pretty popular and always getting new editions, but people can buy ebooks to read at any device they want

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Okay? I don't really know what that has to do with my point?

eBooks' share of the US book market (which is generally considered to be the market with the most developed eBook market and which is, by a significant margin, Kindle's strongest market) has plateaued, for years, at around 10% of the overall market by unit sales, roughly comparable with audiobooks, according to the AAP's most recent annual report.

And eBooks' share in dollar sales is even lower, because eBooks tend to have lower list prices and a decent chunk of the eBook market is self-published books, many of which have very low (sub-$3) prices.

If you wanted to take issue with this report, you'd likely point out that it doesn't include eBooks that don't have ISBNs, which would include some self-published authors that exclusively sell eBooks on Amazon. I'd wager eBooks that don't have ISBNs are probably the least likely to sell in large volume, but even if you take the highest estimates for what percentage of the eBook market is self-published authors and assume that all of those authors are selling books without an ISBN and thus aren't being counted, you still get a scenario that lines up with what I first described: the Kindle hasn't led an "iPod"-like revolution that changed the way most people consumed books, eBooks plateauing at 10-15% market share, etc.

 

[dom]

Talk about "I want to buy physical and fuck all those indies" attitude.

Digital is a net positive for the Industry.
And physical buyers lost the war the day they accepted digital codes in the box as a norm.

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How is this a fuck indies? Indies also get physical prints.
It's about having BOTH options.

What is it with you digital only people that's always about FUCK PHYSICAL, I HOPE IT DIES when you can have both options and continue to ignore something you don't even bother with.

Overly antagonistic

 

[Kyougar]

How is this a fuck indies? Indies also get physical prints.
It's about having BOTH options.

What is it with you digital only people that's always about FUCK PHYSICAL, I HOPE IT DIES when you can have both options and continue to ignore something you don't even bother with.

Overly antagonistic

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barely 1% of indies get a digital release.

 

[Gay Bowser]

What is it with you digital only people that's always about FUCK PHYSICAL, I HOPE IT DIES when you can have both options and continue to ignore something you don't even bother with.

Overly antagonistic

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"Overly antagonistic" is a bit rich for someone who opened their proceeding sentence with "What is it with you digital only people" and upthread called someone "unhinged" and said they had a "FUCK YOU GOT MINE attitude."

You seem...pretty upset. Maybe take a few breaths, step away from this thread, and maybe get some self-awareness?

 

[Rosebud]

Okay? I don't really know what that has to do with my point?

eBooks' share of the US book market (which is generally considered to be the market with the most developed eBook market and which is, by a significant margin, Kindle's strongest market) has plateaued, for years, at around 10% of the overall market by unit sales, roughly comparable with audiobooks, according to the AAP's most recent annual report.

And eBooks' share in dollar sales is even lower, because eBooks tend to have lower list prices and a decent chunk of the eBook market is self-published books, many of which have very low (sub-$3) prices.

If you wanted to take issue with this report, you'd likely point out that it doesn't include eBooks that don't have ISBNs, which would include some self-published authors that exclusively sell eBooks on Amazon. I'd wager eBooks that don't have ISBNs are probably the least likely to sell in large volume, but even if you take the highest estimates for what percentage of the eBook market is self-published authors and assume that all of those authors are selling books without an ISBN and thus aren't being counted, you still get a scenario that lines up with what I first described: the Kindle hasn't led an "iPod"-like revolution that changed the way most people consumed books, eBooks plateauing at 10-15% market share, etc.

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Sorry, it was like 6am here and I read the comment as saying Kindle "never panned out".

That said I have about 400 physical books in my house but I'm completely unable to read them after getting used to the Kindle, people are missing out :p

 

[wingkongex]

people actually buy physical books still?

i feel like that's the biggest waste of space/resources. save a fkin tree

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lol wtf

 

[AHA-Lambda]

people actually buy physical books still?

i feel like that's the biggest waste of space/resources. save a fkin tree

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/s?

 

[blackMamba1187]

This is kinda sad. Have had many good clearance purchases over the years.

 

[elenarie]

No joke, 80% of my groceries are delivered now

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Not that high here, but I do deliveries for large quantities of nonperishable items. Why buy a can or two from the store when I can get 20 delivered and keep them in storage for a few years.

 

[snausages]

Boutique home media companies are thriving and keep popping up more and more, so they'll still be around on their own storefronts.

It's actually kind of hilarious. You can get a bunch of old Italian horror movies in 4K through boutique companies, but you're desperately hoping that movies up for Oscars get any kind of physical release.

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This shit is so crazy. Like, no physical release for Zone of Interest but the most lavish and lovingly restored Italian giallo special editions from the 60s all on 4k with tons of special features and a chunky booklet of essays

I'm not even a stickler for the 4k tbh, I grabbed Poor Things on 1080 blu ray and am happy with that. I just wanna own shit.

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

I mean that's part of what killed K-mart so good luck

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Being a complete dump in comparison to Target stores while failing to offer quality products at competitive pricing killed K-Mart, not refusing to stock DVDs. Also, physical media commands a vastly reduced market today than the final era of K-mart. Target's profits will continue climbing even without physical media sales, that's how little they matter today.

 

[Kusagari]

This shit is so crazy. Like, no physical release for Zone of Interest but the most lavish and lovingly restored Italian giallo special editions from the 60s all on 4k with tons of special features and a chunky booklet of essays

I'm not even a stickler for the 4k tbh, I grabbed Poor Things on 1080 blu ray and am happy with that. I just wanna own shit.

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We're coming on to May and Zone, American Fiction, and Killers of the Flower Moon have no American physical release.

I've got to assume A24 will eventually put out their own physical version of Zone of Interest at the least.

 

[FliX]

Maybe we can have this discussion with a better source next time.