Digital Vs Physical 👊 | Episode 64 | Xbox Restructure, PS Digital Only + Much more!

🎙️ Join Heather, Stu, Tommy and Tom as this week's episode dives into gaming's biggest talking point: physical versus digital. With PlayStation reportedly moving away from physical releases from 2028, we unpack what a disc-free future actually means for gamers — plus the usual pickups, gaming news, and chaos. Stick around for the quiz at the end too! Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro & What We've Been Playing 28:30 - Gaming News 📰 39:53 - Questions from Discord ❓ 50:27 - Main Topic: Physical vs Digital Gaming 💿 1:37:41 - Gaming Quiz Time! 1:50:48 - Shout Outs and Goodbye! Find all of our links here: Linktree: https://linktr.ee/gameolder2024 Discord:   / discord   Twitter/X: https://x.com/GameOlderPod YouTube:    / @gameolder2024   Instagram:   / game_older_podcast__   Contact us: [email protected] Discount codes and shout-outs: Bitmap Books — 5% off all purchases: OLDER5 bitmapbooks.com Timeless Gaming Convention, Liverpool — 12th August. Use code OLDER26 for 15% off tickets! Please don't forget to rate and review us wherever you listen, along with hitting the follow/subscribe button! - - - - - - 🎮 What we've been playing: Tom had a big pickup week for his birthday: Grabbed three Wii games — Mad World, House of the Dead: Overkill, and Ghost Squad Picked up Road Avenger and a pricey PAL Sonic CD on the Mega CD, plus retro Master System title Basketball Nightmare Gifted an OSSC upscaler by a listener, and a Street Fighter diorama cart from his brother for his birthday Finished Yakuza Kiwami 3 (not thrilled with the changed ending) and is deep into Resident Evil Village in third-person Tommy has been quieter on PlayStation but busy elsewhere: Hooked on Pokopia, building alongside Stu in the Cloud World Completed Resident Evil Code Veronica via Dolphin emulator, door-skip mod and all Started Silent Hill 4 on PS2 emulator and GTA IV: The Lost and Damned on Xbox Shouted out the horror film Obsession — "go and watch it, please" Stu kept it lower-key: More Pokopia building with Tommy — "so addictive, so easy to play" Finished a short playthrough of Star Fox (aka Starwing back in the day) Played Replaced, a 2.5D sci-fi side-scroller — cool combat, but pacing left him wanting more Heather has been unwinding with something cosy: More Outbound, the campervan game — new beach map and a dog companion unlocked Picked up a rare 30th Anniversary PlayStation Panini sticker set (sealed, one of only 4,000 made) Also nabbed an Incredible Hulk Mega Drive cart 📰 Gaming News Highlights: PlayStation Digital-Only Backlash: Sony confirms physical discs end in 2028; a major Austrian disc plant is already being retooled for optical lenses Steam Machine Scare: An early adopter reported a GPU failure just 20 minutes in, drawing Red Ring of Death comparisons PS3 & PS Vita Store Closures: Sony will shut down digital storefronts for both platforms in July 2027, reigniting preservation concerns Xbox Restructure: Roughly 3,200 roles affected; Double Fine and Compulsion go independent, Ninja Theory and Undead Labs change ownership, and Arcane Studios remains under review 🎮 Upcoming Releases: Assassin's Creed Black Flag Remake — 9th July Palworld 1.0 — 10th July Heave Ho 2 — 16th July 💬 Side chats & moments: Would you commit to one ecosystem — PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, or Steam? 🤔