big mean bunny mentioned collecting 4K films in another thread, and it got me wondering who else still buys physical media?
I started (in a very hipster/loved ones had run out of gift ideas sort of way) buying vinyl a few years ago, although that has now turned into an actual appreciation of it. I love coming home with a couple every time we visit a second-hand tat shop.
And I've just bought a CD player to sit alongside my amp. I had hundreds of CDs growing up, but rather annoyingly sold them all dirt cheap, because I figured it's the exact same file as an MP3. So why bother keeping them. But I've really missed owning stuff.
There's a brilliant HMV near me, which I only discovered recently. But walking in brought back a flood of memories, and the CDs are still so cheap. £6.99 for new stuff! Whole, actual albums. Not just the top 10 catchiest songs that Spotify invariably feeds you. And it's music you'll actually own once your subscription runs out.
And when Microsoft made Game Pass hugely more expensive, it just hammered home how much you're paying to literally rent stuff these days.
Now I just need to free up some bookshelf space for the incoming hundreds of CDs.
My ex basically stole my entire vinyl collection, lovingly put together in Scotland and full of Belle and Sebastian, Delgados, BMX Bandits and Teenage Fanclub stuff it would cost a fortune to replace. I still have my CDs (and a CD player) in the spare room in my flat and it can be nice just to play one for old time's sake. When I lived in Leamington I was right next to a small music shop and would amass loads of CD singles for next to nothing, many I still have with B-sides and other stuff that's never reached Spotify.
I have a full collection of every HD-DVD ever made. And a player that just about still works. I enjoy the tactility of watching them that way and also all the extra bits and commentary you get. And a few DVDs and BRs of stuff it's hard to find on streaming (not porn).
In terms of games, I sold out of anything retro (and not really regretted it). I also sold my PS2 stuff and Gamecube (which I slightly regret). I have a full original Xbox collection, including a lot of Japanese oddities. I sold out of DS/3DS but still have a few things, PSP I sold out of which is annoying. Vita I still have a collection for. I have nothing physical left on 360. I eventually sold out of my Japanese 360 stuff to a guy who paid half, and then didn't pay the remainder (on rllmuk). But hey ho. PS3, 4 and 5 I have quite a few disks for. Nowt for the Xbox One I don't think.
I still buy Blu-rays, UHD ones if I can get them. The selection of movies on streaming services is really piss poor (and the quality of them equally bad) so if I want to watch something I'd rather have something I actually own. Also I know it's a cliche but the picture and (especially) the sound quality is just so much better on disc.
I've also recently rediscovered the DVD collection I built up 20-odd years ago, really glad I didn't throw them out, the picture quality obviously isn't that great on a modern TV but I've got so many movies that just don't come around ever on streaming services. In particular if you want to watch anything older than say the mid-80s or anything in a foreign language then you don't really have much choice but to track it down on physical media.
Sold off my CD collection ages ago though and haven't looked back, I don't think I even own anything that can play CDs any more. I buy books on Kindle and games as digital purchases. So it's really only the movies that are still tying me to physical media in that way.
I want to get as many physical GBA cartridges as possible, a lot of fakes swimming around though, not sure I even trust CEX to not have been duped. I had to take all my current cartridges apart to see inside and thankfully only one game is fake.
Does hoarding ripped media on external huge HDDs count as "physical"? (And yes, I need to upgrade to external SSDs.) Because that's what I do. Got tired of keeping up with and maintaining actual physical media ages ago and I'm not a huge fan of streaming. If I could go to my parents' place and rip every single Netflix and Disney+ show/movie to a real, actual file I can watch, I would.
