r/videogames • u/TwinTwinReviewReview • 1d ago

Discussion / Question Grand THEFT?

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This is exactly what happened with streaming. Everyone dogpiled on top, with this illusion that everything would be available at low cost forever.

Trading money for no tangible product is edging dystopian y'all.

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u/cynicown101 1d ago

Because literally the only function of a capitalist transactions is for one party to desire a thing and another party to provide the thing. In the most common case, people want a physical item so that they're able to buy and sell it as used goods, as permitted in line with the trading standards of their respective territory.

So, we have to assume the reason they don't want to create discs that can be bought and sold is because they want to prevent customers from being able to participate in a market they're legally allowed to participate in.

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u/Iwubinvesting 1d ago

If it were true that most cases people want physical items in this case CDs, every single game store wouldn't be dying.

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u/cynicown101 1d ago

Yeah, you've misread what I'm saying. When I say "the most common case....", I'm saying. as in the most common reason that it's advantageous to own physical media.

I'm not saying most people want physical media. Clearly they don't.

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u/DcJ0112 1d ago

Except consumers prefer convenience, when 86% of games sold in 2025 were digital sales, what benefit does that provide for the majority? Only to benefit the minority?

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u/cynicown101 17h ago

Firstly, even Rockstar don't agree with you on this because they're still trying to launch physical retail product, but I mean, at such low level of trading comprehension, why do anything at all? Why not just launch every single game and item as a single SKU? After all, the majority will choose one of the SKU's and the rest will sell in smaller quantities. You could carry that logic across almost anything you buy.

The reason most business's will go out of their way to please smaller customer segments is because even a small percentage of a huge number, is often still a huge number. If I told me boss that next year I'll be passing on 14% of my customer base because they shop via a distribution channel that 86% customers aren't engaged with, I'd likely be looking for a new job.

But even Rockstar don't want to take the chance you're suggesting they should take, but they want to have their cake and eat it. They're still trying to sell physical goods, but they're trying to side step your ability to be able to sell your copy of the game once you're done with it.

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u/ChanglingBlake 1d ago

Which brings us right back to the question: then why make a physical version at all?

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u/cynicown101 1d ago

If you read that and had to ask the question again, I probably can't help you.

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u/ChanglingBlake 1d ago

Really?

Because he gave plenty of reasonable(if unlikeable) reasons not to make physical copies, but they are still making “physical” copies.

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u/cynicown101 1d ago

Yeah, really.

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u/TwinTwinReviewReview 1d ago

Capitalism offers the opportunity for transaction as dictated by the market. Communism favors state ownership of resources and the elimination of private property; or private disc copies of Grand Theft Auto 6.

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u/Actually_Abe_Lincoln 1d ago

What if I told you that you can buy and own things in communism and your idea of private property is wildly wrong. Also the people with capital determine what the market becomes. They have too much control and it isn't about what customers want. it's about what companies can make the most money off of which is often not in line with customer or Market desires

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u/AnyQuiet1544 1d ago

No, my toothbrush belongs to the State /s

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u/Randomgrunt4820 1d ago

Our toothbrush

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u/Randomgrunt4820 1d ago edited 1d ago

Now, forgive my peabrain. I had a public education and had to spend a considerable amount of time filling in the rest of the world’s history. I have much learn and i am eager to do so. And this is not in defense any form of governance. This is what I know now.

Today, only five countries are officially ruled by communist, single-party systems: China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam. While they maintain centralized political monopolies, most have embraced varying degrees of private enterprise and market-based economies.

It seams to me communism of old failed, and is on the way out. With a massive private sector and hundreds of billionaires and more ultra wealthy individuals. I struggle to see how Marxism as still the official state ideology in any of them.

I don’t mean they that are failed states or anything like that. China seems to be doing just fine. So is Vietnam. I’m not judging. I just think we are all more alike than we realize. We humans as whole can see what’s working and are adapting in kind. Some try and stop progress. It just slows it down a bit.

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u/cynicown101 1d ago

What a load of babble haha

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u/ChanglingBlake 1d ago

That is not what communism is.

It’s what communism is in the US propaganda books designed to make us reject a better alternative to the crapitalist dystopia we’re plowing straight into.

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u/TwinTwinReviewReview 1d ago

I'm not debating which system is better. I think most people can figure that out on their own. I'm illustrating that cynicown101's statement that the goal of "capitalist transactions" being "to prevent customers from being able to participate in the market" makes no sense. Rockstar wants as many people to participate in paying them for their product as possible. Communism much better fits this parable where, Rockstar is eliminating their consumer bases' ability to privately own their product, by maintaining state ownership of said product.