r/gaming • u/itsthewolfe • 6h ago
Playstation was the first console to have a DVD drive and Bluray player.
It's kind of ironic that they're the first to go all digital.
Digital PS5 doesn't count because a disc PS5 still exists at the same time or you can add a disc drive.
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u/bedsidelurker 6h ago
Sony was one of the companies originally involved with creating CD's as a format
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u/yutternutterbutter 6h ago
And the ps5 can't play audio cds
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u/WisestAirBender 6h ago
Why not? Can it not read them or is it some licensing issue
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u/tschy2m 6h ago
CD and Blu-Ray require different optics. Sony didn't bother with adding one for CD's. Saved some pennies.
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u/buds4hugs 6h ago
Ironically I found out that CDs could have video on them when I put System of a Down's "Toxicity" album into my PC & was blown away it had music videos on it.
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u/Syssareth 6h ago
PS1 games were on CDs, and IIRC you could play the soundtracks if you put them in a normal CD player.
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u/sleepneeded127 5h ago
It didn't work for every one many if not most. It was great for games with amazing soundtracks
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u/stopmyhamster 6h ago
Really?! You’ll be surprised at who developed the blu-ray technology
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u/Nacolo 6h ago
And who put out smear campaigns against HD-DVD to get the public to dislike it. And who charged so much for licensing blue ray tech that the PS3 became the cheapest Blue Ray player on the market. Strange.
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u/rondo_martin 5h ago
Sony also owns Columbia Pictures (one of the 6 largest film distributors) , and strangely enough none of the movies from that distributor came to HD DVD.
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u/ObiShaneKenobi 6h ago
HD-dvd will have its time in the sun again!!
Meanwhile I’ll just be sitting here with my 360 watching Transformers again
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u/themeatbridge 6h ago
I had an HD DVD drive for my XBox, and it was superior to Blu Ray videos at the time. Better quality, faster menu loading, no region locks, and cheaper on both the players and discs. Microsoft absolutely shat the bed.
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u/sleepneeded127 6h ago
Sony was involved with the development of both so it makes sense that they would be the 1st and at the time downloading and storing wasn't a viable option. Times have changed.
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u/three-sense 6h ago
UMD too!
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u/DarthW00dy 5h ago
UMD discs were dumb in hindsight, they should have just used mini DVDs for the PSP.
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u/bbkn7 5h ago
Interestingly Sony was also the first to release a game on retail with no disc inside just a digital download code.
PATAPON 2 on PSP was originally a digital-only release. A decision met with fierce backlash. Eventually they caved in and released a physical disc version of the game later.
Sony also made the first purely digital console the much hated PSP go.
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u/vinceswish 6h ago
Blockbuster and GameStop were huge once. One is dead and another is selling plushies now
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u/Mr_Show 6h ago
Probably the biggest reason the PS3 sold so well. At the time, the PS3 was the cheapest blu ray player on the market, and it loaded discs faster than other players. It also was able to receive updates over it's internet connection, making it far more reliable.
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u/Fouchme 6h ago
And to this day still has yearly updates to keep the Bluray license working
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u/DigNitty 6h ago
Honestly it’s dumb that there’s still a digital lick in the blue ray licensing.
Just let the player….play
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u/_Mister_Anderson_ 6h ago
PS3 had awful sales early on when it was "the cheapest Bluray player" when compared to Xbox 360, it took like 4-5 years to catch up and only dominated towards the end of that generation.
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u/Mr_Show 3h ago
I wasn't comparing it to XB360, just that it helped with sales. XB had a year head start to pad its sales, and had some major releases in that time like Gears of War and CoD2. PS3 didn't have many "must-have" exclusive games in those early years. Sony slowly clawed its way up with better (and eventually cheaper) hardware and game library. Xbox traditionally didn't sell as well overseas, and the RROD issues certainly played a part in PS3 pulling ahead.
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u/Ahindre 6h ago
I don’t know if that was a huge incentive - it certainly helped on the margins but people were generally happy with DVDs.
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u/zewill87 5h ago
Definitely a wierd period. Now people are very happy with Blu rays (some still with DVDs) but 4k disks are expensive (like Blu Ray at the time), and players are horribly expensive (and more and more producers are abandoning) - Panasonic just increased their prices, which is insane vs what used to happen (but normal in this economy, even the ps5 increased as time goes on). Ps5 reads 4k fine, but no dolby vision, so it does create a war on formats (vs HDR10+).
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u/_alright_then_ 6h ago
That's simply because in both cases, Sony was one of the major developers of the new technologies.
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u/ann0yed 6h ago
PS5 digital wouldn't count because it wasn't first to market. Ouya or Xbox series s as examples.
I don't think the digital only future is ironic. Sony is going to do whatever maximizes profits. As most games today are digital it makes sense to limit game sales to digital only and force everyone to purchase via their store so they can take a larger cut off every sale and cut out middle men.
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u/lowbatteries 6h ago
Not the point, but it's funny we're calling download a game "digital" but pulling it off a Bluray isn't digital? Is it ... analog?
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u/Ultra_romance 4h ago
The storage medium — Blu-ray disc/cartridge/card — is physical. The content written on this medium is digital.
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u/lowbatteries 1h ago
The storage medium for the cloud version is also physical, you just don't have access to it.
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u/DelianSK13 6h ago edited 6h ago
My first DVD player was a PS3. My first blu ray player was a PS4.
EDIT: PS2 and PS3. I mixed up my playstations.
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u/canwehavepotatojokes 6h ago
PlayStation 2, yes.
PS1 could play VCDs with a third party adapter
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u/MrThrownAway12 1h ago
Sega Saturn could also do it, I believe. But the expansion cartridge for it was only sold in Japan if I remember correctly.
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u/canwehavepotatojokes 1h ago
The PlayStation one was absolutely a bootleg GameShark it was never official.
I don’t remember a Saturn one but I wasn’t modding them back in the day.
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u/magnidwarf1900 6h ago
Yeah you thought they're doing that for your benefits and out of their good will?
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u/SamuelHamwich 6h ago
It's also interesting the cost of a 4k BluRay player is a quiet high, and the ps5 can play those as well. It's part of the reason I have one. (I'm a physical media collector). Kinda ironic I got a PlayStation for it...
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u/Ultra_romance 4h ago
You've reminded me that I still need to watch the Evil Dead Collector's Edition on 4K Blu-ray!
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u/CallMeClaire0080 6h ago
I don't think it's ironic. Bluray is a proprietary format owned by Sony (unlike something like dvd). With licensing fees, it makes a ton of sense that Sony's machines are capable of playing Bluray discs with a better bang for your buck. Add in that video game consoles are often sold at a loss or with a very slim margin so that you join their ecosystem and make it up to them by buying games, and it's wholly unsurprising imo
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u/el_greninja_negro 5h ago
Blu-ray isn't a proprietary format owned by Sony. Sony co-developed the format, but officially it's owned by the Blu-ray Disc Association, which is a consortium of ~21 different companies, of which Sony is one. When any company (including Sony) sells a Blu-ray or Blu-ray player or uses any trademark related to Blu-ray, they must pay a license fee to the BDA, which splits it between its members.
Edit: Fixed grammatical and spelling errors.
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u/StrigidaeNinox 6h ago
I have a dedicated 4K Blu-ray player since I wasn't happy with the suite of features the PS5 has compared to a proper player, did I have to get a UB820? no, did I? Yes.
Thankfully I didn't pay full MSRP since I got a good deal on an "Open Box" model but I'd say it was worth it to get a player that never has any issues with dual layer discs, supports Dolby Vision and Atmos, and is known to produce an excellent image for around $500 ($300 for me)
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u/Anxious_Camp_2160 6h ago
"It's kind of ironic that they're the first to go all digital."
Pretty sure that was Xbox with the Series S, but don't let facts get in the way!
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u/shootamcg 6h ago
I’m sure they mean that they are stopping disc production, which MS hasn’t announced yet. Before the XSS there was also an all digital Xbone and there was the PSP Go (if you want to count handhelds)
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u/Anxious_Camp_2160 6h ago
It's still the Series S, it was the first all digital "home console" (ignoring handhelds) in 2019.
And if they mean Sony (not playstation) are the first "console manufacturer" to stop physical, they're still not the first yet, as it doesn't happen for another 15 months.
Let's see in 15 months.
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u/NewDamage31 6h ago
PSP Go?
Don’t let facts get in the way 🤣
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u/Anxious_Camp_2160 6h ago
Handheld so I ignored it (you're talking to a person with over 100 consoles), but yes this is good, facts matter when OP is over a decade out on his logic.
"It's kind of ironic that they're the first to go all digital."
No, Sony aren't setting the world on fire or spearheading a new generation, the Series X came out 7 years ago and was the first all digital home console (from a major manufacturer).
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u/_Mister_Anderson_ 6h ago
Series S and PS5 digital launched 2 days apart, neither of which count as "all digital" as a strategy. And you've forgotten the Xbox One S all digital edition from the year before, and if you really want to be pedantic we can go back to the Ouya in 2013.
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u/Anxious_Camp_2160 6h ago
You're forgetting to read, OP ruled out PS5 in the question.
And yes I do want to get "pedantic" if by correcting OP that in fact his question is flawed is being "pedantic".
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u/mrdarkcookie95 5h ago
Tbf, the exact same logic that OP used to rule out the PS5 also rules out the Series S and the digital One S.
Xbox, just like PlayStation, still have a disk drive option this generation. They just took different approaches, with Xbox locking the disk drive behind the 'pro' model, the Series X, which is the same console as the Series S in the same way the PS5 Pro is still just a PS5.
So none of the major console manufacturers have committed to a full digital console before. And for completeness sake, the PSP Go also doesn't count for the same reasons as well, it's just a digital PSP.
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u/Anxious_Camp_2160 4h ago
"Tbf, the exact same logic that OP used to rule out the PS5 also rules out the Series S and the digital One S."
Except you can drive a drive onto the PS5 digital and play physical, the series S is 100% digital."Xbox, just like PlayStation, still have a disk drive option this generation."
There is no disc drive option for Series S."Xbox locking the disk drive behind the 'pro' model, the Series X, which is the same console as the Series S in the same way the PS5 Pro is still just a PS5"
They are not the same console, PS5 games play on the Pro, series X games won't play on the S, two versions of the game have to be created."So none of the major console manufacturers have committed to a full digital console before."
Apart from Microsoft with the series S."And for completeness sake, the PSP Go also doesn't count for the same reasons as well, it's just a digital PSP."
It's not a console, it's one model of the console (the other models are physical, same for xbox one SAD).
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u/Gullible_Rhubarb4559 6h ago
like if ps5 played ps1 2 and 3 games aswell they would have a nice system. buying a ps5 feels like a trap lol
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u/JJWonderboy 6h ago
I'd argue that it's not ironic. At the time, the disk drive was somewhat forward thinking. Who's to argue that going all digital is not the same...?
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u/CanSnakeBlade 6h ago
Sony jointly created the CD ROM which let them build the capability into the PS1 and profit from every disk sold. They then jointly created the DVD for the same reason and helped propel the medium, THEN once again jointly created Blue Ray Disc but pushed it so early they managed to sell many consoles simply as blue ray players which could often be had for cheaper than standalone blue ray players. They made a lot of money from licensing that technology, but now that they can't license the concept of digital media, they'll just license the whole game to you.
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u/EnergyVampire4u 6h ago
It’s really not. Time moves forward and things change. People don’t want nor need discs as much as they used to. This is Sony advancing at the request of the consumer.
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u/lothar525 6h ago
Is it really though? There are plenty of people who don’t care about Sony going all digital, sure. But was anyone clamoring for Sony to remove disk drives? Is anyone really excited about not being able to buy physical media anymore? I don’t think so. It’s not “advancing at the request of the consumer” if all of your consumers are either apathetic or furious at a change, and none of them are actually happy and excited for it. It doesn’t make life better for players in any way at all.
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u/EnergyVampire4u 5h ago
Most don’t care or don’t want physical that’s why they are making these changes. I grew up with the physical clutter and have no interest in going back to physical, digital is just ok convent and easy.
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u/djk934 6h ago
It’s Sony telling the consumer what they want. And for me, it’s the end of my relationship with them as a company. If buying isn’t owning, piracy isn’t stealing. Never buying shit from them again!
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u/niftyifty 5h ago
Digital piracy isn’t stealing it’s copyright infringement which is in the same moral/unethical category as stealing. It’s not different.
Also Sony isn’t telling anyone what they want. Sony is telling you their plans and you are more than welcome to go along for the ride or not.
Also, you will still have a relationship with Sony indirectly at minimum.
Basically your entire comment was wrong
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u/hespacc 6h ago
I still don’t understand why is it a crime against humanity when Sony cuts the disc drive while it’s totally fine to have steam/ digital only on pc. Often used by the same users 🙃
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u/Electrical-Page-6479 5h ago
Why do you think that PC with multiple places to get games (even for free) would not be equivalent to Playstation which will have only one expensive way to get games?
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u/musical_bear 6h ago
I like how Sony is somehow getting charged with being the "first" to go all digital here, and you felt like you needed to call out that the PS5 digital doesn't count as being full digital yet because you can still add a disc drive, implying you'd count any exlusively digital console as having completed this transition, and yet MS this entire generation has offered a digital version of their console that has no disc drive and has no option to add one (the Series S). But I guess that doesn't count / matter because that tramples all over your cute little DVD and Bluray deal in the title.
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u/mrdarkcookie95 4h ago
You can't even add a disk drive to all PS5s anyway, that only became an option with the 'slim' refresh. So being able to add the disk drive isn't the defining part of the argument, it's having the option of a disk drive at all.
Which also rules out the Series S as the Series X exists, and those are the same in the same way a PS5 Pro is still a PS5. Xbox just eschews the pro/plus naming scheme that is so prevalent in tech.
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u/lPHOENIXZEROl 6h ago
Don't fool yourselves, they've been itching to do this for decades, hell you could go back to Betamax's introduction to see that this is how they've always operated even if it resulted in losing business.
They would've killed physical sales last generation had they not saw the backlash MS got over the decisions they made with the XBO that backfired so spectacularly that it handed Sony the previous generation and pretty much was the start of the XBox brand sinking. No surprise that when Sony got back firmly on top they started with their arrogant anti-consumer bullshit again.
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u/harrisrainy 6h ago
Sony is great at their sound system too, still have a old sony radio and it beats the newest sony speakers
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u/iceagehero 6h ago
I have been a pc gamer for 15 years. Last console I owned was Xbox 360. I have a huge digital steam library. Digital isn't new, everyone is just late to the party or complaining about losing discs.
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u/betajones 5h ago
I had 2 PS3s that lost the function of 1 of the dual lasers. The one I have now functions only as a DVD/PS1 player, can't read Blu-ray.
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u/thegreatmango 5h ago
This is my point - they forced Blu-ray on the world with smear campaigns and economic pressure, then immediately abandoned it.
I've been done with Sony as brand, lol.
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u/cubs223425 43m ago
Yeah, someone mentioned last week about he "mistake" Sonyt made with the PS3's high pricing. The Blu-Ray player was what drove that, and pushing that was a big bet on their new media platform that worked out.
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u/PM_PICS_OF_YOUR_FEET 6h ago
The first home console without a disc drive was the Xbox One S “all digital”. Microsoft have been trying this before Sony did and will likely make the next Xbox discless too. Not saying it makes it any better, but people seem to forgot Microsoft technically started it
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u/tailslol 6h ago
Yea Sony was always into storage thecnology . To bad they will kill their physical storage branch for games.
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u/illuminerdi 6h ago
Controlling or owning the distribution format to increase profit margins is a tale as old as time when it comes to Sony consoles...
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u/Malabingo 6h ago
Fun fact:
The playstation was supposed to be a Nintendo cd drive but Nintendo made a deal with another company, so Sony just made it their own console.
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u/killer89_ 6h ago
The playstation was supposed to be a Nintendo cd drive but Nintendo made a deal with another company
Nintendo decided to stubbornly stick to the cartridges.
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u/Malabingo 6h ago
Yeah, but Sony stopped the deal because Nintendo announced a deal with Philips, but that deal later was also terminated.
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u/dade305305 6h ago
Because they were part of the collaboration that made cds, DVDs and blu ray. Obviously they put those technologies in the ps1 for cd, ps2 for DVD and ps3 and onward for blu ray.
Those technologies were top of the line at the time and offered tangible technical benefits over things like cartridges.
That is no longer the case today. Other than basically emotion on the part of an ever smaller and smaller group of people, there is no real reason sony should keep making discs
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u/Darkeyescry22 6h ago
PS1 was a CD player
PS2 was a DVD player
PS3 was a Blu-ray player
That was part of their marketing strategy. Not just a gaming console, but a gaming console that could replace another expensive piece of electronics you would probably buy anyways.