When is it cheaper to just ship the game on a USB stick? Optical

>physical games
>2016
lol

>>57189972

It costs <$1 per unit. Maybe an extra dollar for 5-6 DVDs.

Publishers pay for millions of copies of AAA games so the replication price is miniscule.

File: Star-Trek-Starfleet-Academy-FIGURE-PC-cd-rom.jpg (36KB, 400x298px) Image search: [Google]

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an ancient tradition that needs to be maintained and cherished

>>57189972
longevity

memory goes kaput for like a year on usb
while optical disc can last 50-100 years if stored correctly

Probably need to go to hundreds of discs first. Customer complaint and convenience will force it before it becomes cost effective from pure unit costs.

>>57190114
When they stopped selling games in huge boxes with thick manuals, I stopped caring about physical format

>>57190137

This is bullshit. Flash memory does not degrade or change state unless you're writing to it.

Optical media actually rots over time unless you seal it off air-tight.

File: 10612986_520274321408209_8118711134976991202_n.jpg (42KB, 520x552px) Image search: [Google]

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>>57190190
>How long an SSD can store data without power depends on a number of factors including the number of write cycles that have been used, the type of flash memory used in the drive, the storage conditions and so on. A white paper produced by Dell in 2011 http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/pvaul/en/Solid-State-Drive-FAQ-us.pdf stated that it could be as little as three months to as much as 10 years.

And similar limits with flash on thumb drives.

>>57190190
Thats bullshit. Flash drives either have the same shelf life or less. Disc rot is a meme. Everybody has cds from the 80s and psx games that still work. Discs will always be cheaper to make

>>57190224
Disc rot is very real for CD-R discs, pressed discs are much better though.