Digital libraries have been around almost as long as video games. For example, GameLine, which allowed players to download now-classics via modem in the 80s, and computer minigames embedded in their operating systems as add-ons in the 90s.
And while these have been adopted or transformed into larger platforms, physical copies have been a staple of the industry entering the new millennium and beyond, with players still debating that the move to digital is unnatural and pro-consumer, inherently anti-gamer.
This hybrid model has been a hot topic for the better part of a decade, especially during the pandemic, when its dependence peaked as one of the few alternatives to add to your collection and/or try something new for a change. The problem lies in when this stops being the alternative and becomes the norm.
With the option to switch titles with a couple of clicks, many players experience what I’d like to call “gamer paralysis”. Think of it this way: when browsing a streaming service, it can be overwhelming to choose among thousands of movies and TV shows to enjoy a meal that can be devoured within minutes.
Whether it's a date night, a lunch break, or even background noise while keeping busy, the illusion of freedom has made it harder and harder for gamers all over the world to commit to titles as isolated experiences rather than a constant, excruciating comparison.
The choice paradox, a term coined by American psychologist Barry Schwartz in his book by the same name, explains how more can sometimes mean less. The short version is that having more options leads to less user satisfaction.
This same principle isn’t exclusive to gaming; the paradox is constantly used in marketing for both luxury and everyday items. Too few options and the user wanders off to new horizons. Too many, and the user does not know where to start.
Whenever the user starts to pick and choose from the overwhelming variety you are offering, the pressure then is too grave to overcome. The burden of too many options becomes all too real, and the pressure for that single choice to deliver makes the single experience everything but a single one.
Commitment, nowadays, is difficult to conjure. For gamers, commitment used to mean renting or buying a physical game, sometimes just because they'd already driven all the way to the gaming store. It was making decisions based on the cover art, the back of the box, or even the printed manual. Even swapping discs from whatever was in the tray increased the intention of play.
This forced the gamer to commit to the title, investing in its content because of all the prior work required to boot it up. While it might not be the prettiest Start Screen or the music isn’t your cup of tea, all the work up to that point led us to the sunk-cost fallacy, which isn’t exclusively bad.
The sunk-cost fallacy explains that an individual (e.g., the gamer) is “less likely to abandon their course of action because they have invested heavily in it, even when it is clear that abandonment would be more beneficial.”
Yeah, the game might truly suck, but a fair chance needs to be given for the user to honestly tell if it was the game or just the first level. Digital catalogues and their three-button map to replace the experience have made it harder and harder for games to live or die in an honorable playthrough.
Add on top of that the very public pricing competition, the millions of opinions before and upon release, and the excessive weight put on reviews, forums, and discussion to make a call, and it feels like gaming window shopping has become far more interesting than actually trying what’s displayed on the window, so to speak.
This is not to say all hardcore gamers aren’t picking up games to try left and right, but it definitely is a testament to how passionate you have to be about the hobby to stay in it and not get shuffled onto something else.
“Is there anything I can do to fix this in my life?”, you ask. Brilliant question. The answer is to be a little dumber with your choices. Take some time to pick up a random game that has either caught your attention or that you’ve never heard of before, and dedicate a distraction-free hour to it. Maybe you find a new cult classic. Or maybe it just sucks, and you get to rant to your friends to never pick it up because you lived it, not because someone else said it online. Just saying.
For more like this, stick with us here at Gfinityesports.com, the best website for gaming features and opinions.