Square Enix Confirms Final Fantasy VIII Remastered Will Be A Digital-Only Release

oh boy... this is not going to be pretty here

Ow.....
I really wish FF 8 & 9 Switch version have physical release so i can play them without changing the discs from PS1 version.

@Dayton311 yep. I can just hear the cry babies and haters already.

Plus side, FF8 coming soon so yay. ^^

@Dayton311

Really can't understand it, either.

I don’t understand why anyone would want physical for a game like this anyways. You wanna boot this baby up as fast as possible!

Not much of a surprise tbh

@Dayton311 @Spudtendo what?

@Robzilla
Some gamers are collectors.
Owning games without physical is like eating virtual foods without real food presence.
And also keep remember if digital download only games fate are never happily every after.
Once the eshop discontinued, so does with the eshop games. They will be disappeared forever.

@Aaronnnnn We are just joking that every time an article is published that says a game will be Digital only the comment section turns into a very volatile place.

Personally I agree with @Robzilla, that I want this bad boy on my switch forever and don't want to replace carts to play it

Am mixed about it am happy it is coming but at the same time would have been nice to have a physical version.

Boooooo. Cool that it's coming but come on.

@LaytonPuzzle27
Well....
The PS1 version with 4 Discs is the only Option to play FF VIII in physical.

That's OK. All I want is the game. I will pay 20 bucks for this classic.

@Anti-Matter By the time the eShop has gone offline, we'll have played the game twice over. Once ya beat a game, ya never go back to it.

sad now people will have to make space for the game.

@Robzilla

Lol are there some games you prefer to boot up slowly then?

Guess I will have to wait for a sale since it's priced a little high for a digital game imo.

Digital only?! Stupid! This is a f***ing outrage. I’ll buy it only because of it being my favorite JRPG of all time, but reluctantly. Figures. Why am I surprised when I shouldn’t be. Nothing is tangible anymore.

@AstralSoul13 do u realize how long it’s been since it’s gotten any kind of treatment past a rerelease on Vita? This game is solid gold and very important, at least in my opinion. I’m probably in a minority, who knows.

@Shade_Koopa
Depend on the games.
Sometimes i still want to explore or collecting something before facing with Final Boss.
Even i have finished the games, there is a time i want to continue again.

Unlikely digital games will disappear forever considering they are already available from your fave torrent site right now... relax I’m not saying you should go down that path but I dont see preservation being a problem in the future...

Thank you for telling us you don't want extra money Square Enix. I would had bought a physical version even if I already got it digital.

@AstralSoul13 I do, I was hoping it would be release as a physical collection along with FFVII and FFIX. I mean they did it with the Collection of Mana, World of FF Maxima, FFX/X-2, and FFXII: The Zodiac Age so I don't get why they couldn't just do the same with FFVII, FFVIII, and FFIX.

Too bad! Would have been nice to get that on a cart. I think the price is a little high for me digitally so I'll wait and see if there is a big sale during Black Friday or something like that.

Wouldn't it be rad if Square Enix put VII, VIII, and IX on a cart? A PS1 FF Collection of sorts. I'd pay full retail for that!

please, stop calling this thing a remaster ...several enhanced characters dont do a remaster

@Anti-Matter Well.... The PS1 version with 4 Discs is the only Option to play FF VIII in physical.

Not really (unless you only game on console), a physical PC version exist too ya know. This is a reminder that FFVII and FFVIII were never truly PS1 exclusives back in the days.

@Anti-Matter The original PC release (from like 2000) was released physically.
Was there no other physical versions, I can't even remember.
If because I remember the PS1 version was easily available sealed for like the next decade.

@BlackenedHalo It's called a remastered cause you're no longer playing the game in blob style graphics anymore.

@Anti-Matter Not everyone has the time or patience to play through a full game again. Especially an RPG game.

@Shade_Koopa You may not want to go back to it but me once I do complete a game I tend to go back and replay it again. Sometimes a game had new game plus feature, sometimes it unlocks a certain mode or extra story quest, sometimes it unlock certain section in the game that were not previously accessible, sometimes you'll find other secrets in the game that you missed or were not aware of your first time of playing it, sometimes you get a different ending depending on how fast or slow you complete the game or what paths you had taken within the game, etc. There's always many reasons to replay a game after the first playthrough no matter what genre that game is.

I knew it. Well it's what it is

@retro_player_22 that looks beautiful. Thanks for sharing

@Averagewriter not if you are smart enough to keep it saved. 10 years from now, we will probably be able to copy switch game files and just download them from some site run by said guy who was smart enough to keep things saved.

I’m a major physical media dude but for indie games and ports of classic titles I’m totally content with digital only. It doesn’t really feel right for old games to require physical treatment for me.

A shame. Would be nice with VII, VIII and IX in one package.

@Shade_Koopa If we never played games twice, I would have zero reason to get this since I own the PS1 version and played it quite a lot.

YOU may not play games twice. You might never read the same book twice. Others do.

After having my collection wiped out x2 (Wii and Wii U eshop, with 3DS to follow. $2000 down the drain), I rarely buy digital on my Switch and would rather get it on Steam unless its a Nintendo only game. I still haven't bought Blaster Master Zero 2 because I'm waiting for the physical.

Waiting for an eventual Cadence of Hyrule physical too.

Will just keep my FF collection on PC along with the RE series.

I got this one hanging out in my steam catalogue as well. I really hope whenever they being us a switch successor, eshop games can finally transfer from one console to another!

Positive point: I can finally play `that game that looks like pokemon, but with a cool story` I saw at a friends house when I was 10. (I recognised rpg mechanics, but didn't know any other games that used it!)

Well, there goes the hobby for enthusiasts.

Huh, I'd imagine this is a popular enough remaster for SE to make a physical version.

On the bright side, it's only $20. Still very interested to play this.

@Quarth I’d like to see that but each game on different cartridges or all on one, i’d hate to see FFVII on cartridge and rest as download codes.

@Maccish Yeah, of course! On one cart would be nice. I hate the practice of download codes in a physical release. That's why I imported the Asian version of FFX/X-2 from Play-Asia.

I'm hoping it's been Square Enix's plan to release all 3 FF PS1 games physically, only on a "trilogy" cartridge! That would make the most business sense, since the 3 titles separately are not full retail price. All together they will add up to about that magic $60!

Seems to be the trend. The best indie game makers especially release digital then wait to release physical until all the content is ready to put on the cart complete. I prefer that to "partial digital release" like what happened to poor Mega Man.

And I almost exclusively buy physical too! I refuse to give into the "digital only" stuff, because I want to actually own my games.

@companyoflosers people are already backing up digital switch games and making available.. so I agree it’s not going to be hard to get them in future

@retro_player_22 this is my Final Fantasy VIII collection below is the PC version (however the box cover i had to make myself), on the left side is the PAL PlayStation version, and on the monitor you can see that I bought both games on Steam, Final Fantasy VIII (long ago) and Final Fantasy VIII Remastered (two days ago)
https://cdn1.imggmi.com/uploads/2019/8/24/9362b61798d49f86c59de6e7b5c256fd-full.jpg

@BlackenedHalo I don't see anything here... did you upload the picture?

@Alucard83 I thought so, but i was wrong it seems...how can i put here a picture? I just put here a link

@Anti-Matter Exactly. I think your reply sums it up but for many of those wanting physical releases it is to guarantee that the game will be available years down the road when it's unavailable digitally.

I've got a potentially crazy idea for those who want a physical version. How about getting yourself a micro SD card, slapping the game on there and swapping that out when you want to play certain games?

It's nice to have the physical version, of course, I too like having a stack of shiny game cases on the shelf. But the cart is just a glorified SD card, in a way.

Maybe all the years of clever marketing have worked on many of us, and we feel this 'desire' to have the official case and cart in our hands, even if it costs us a lot more for the privilege!

@retro_player_22 @dskatter As I said, not everyone. Meaning some people would and some people wouldn't.

@BlackenedHalo thanks. just saw the link. Nice collection!

@Kintypoo121 Your idea works pretty well for the here and now. But for those wanting a physical version it doesn't help years down the road if you are using a different version of the hardware that isn't able to validate the game purchase digitally. I've dealt with swapping from one microSD card to another larger on the same console even and I ended up just having to redownload everything as copying the data directly wasn't validated by Nintendo.
I'm not one pushing for this game to get a physical release but I can see why some would.

@Nico07 Ah fair enough, that's a good point! I didn't think about having to revalidate it and whatnot.

It is a sorry state of affairs, it's good to cut down on the plastic pollution and manufacturing of plastic, but it seems the consumer is the one who ends up suffering in the end.

7 and 9 were digital only so why would they all of a sudden do a physical just for 8?? Wouldn’t of made any sense .

The idea of physical lasting forever makes sense to me until I think of patches for those games that get saved to the system or your SD cart (not the original cart)

At that point you have a kind of hybrid physical plus digital game.
The digital element will then have to be preserved in some way for the physical game to last forever....

How many physical games are never patched?

When I saw the digital version was £15, I knew there’d be no physical copy.

If there’s demand for it, digital
Games for the Switch will be preserved I think. I remember in the Wii modding days you could get hold of digital wiiware titles after that eshop closed thanks to the mod community etc. I see someone who lost their Wii u stuff I’m not familiar with the system enough to say those digital games are also “out there”

People care about preservation, so if the need is there it will happen

The truth is being digital only I can wait for FF8 to get put in a sale.

As with Oninaki or Onikaki or Okeykokey or whatever.

What I want is 7-9 on one cartridge.

Sad!! They can change their minds in the future!

Wouldn’t this be a great opportunity for Limited Run Games to release this (or perhaps all titles) physical for Switch? Given that SquareEnix approves, ofc.

Mean spirited opinion:

The best character in final fantasy VIII was the dog, and even he wasn’t as cool as the dogs in previous Final Fantasy games.

@Anti-Matter eShop on the Switch won’t go down before the “Switch 3” is released. Maybe even later.

Don't care, will buy.

I was planning on buying this anyway, being digital does not affect my choice. Currently, I have120 GB's free on my sd card.

They'll release it physically in about 6 months I bet

Well damn. Was really hoping for this to release physically. Guess it was to be expected though... the digital-only age is coming closer and closer and honestly I dread that very day.

@Robzilla I see why people want them. For a game as old as FFVIII, it doesn’t make a lot sense to do it for Square unfortunately. Those people who love to have complete shelves of games, music (which I tend to do with CDs and vinyl), movies and books; they want to admire, hold and touch them.

For their sake, I was holding out hope for their shelves. Since VII and IX were digital only, I figured it was going to be strictly digital.

Day one download for me. I’m pumped!

I doubt the demand for physical is great.

This is one person who will not get it. I am tired of the digital only releases. It forces you to continually buy larger sd cards. I get that it is an older release and I do buy digital when it makes sense but it gets old.

FFVII and IX remastered were never physical...why did anyone think this one would be any different?

@Yosher I’m 100% digital only these days, but even I kind of dread an all-digital future. People should have the convenience of options.

@imgrowinglegs because there is nothing like FF7 Remastered or FF9 Remastered....

I'm honestly not surprised, since 7 and 9 were only available digitally as well. Heck, part of me is surprised that X-X2 got a physical release.

@BlackenedHalo ...I don’t follow what you’re saying. Those were remastered games, just like this one. Right?

I never took the time to really get into this game, so I may bite once it goes on discount. Still, this news sucks for those that wanted physical.

@Anti-Matter you can go back to you're PS1 copy once the switch version vanishes forever.

so did they remaster this but ALSO rework the resolution/aspect ratio? black bars are for chumps, why i would want to play any game on only 70% of my TV is beyond me

played FF7, 8 and 9 in middle school, the perfect ages, really

and all 3 games were amazing new experiences but 8 and Squall/Rinoa/Seifer really stuck with me

these games and Legend of Dragoon are my childhood, so i wish they got proper remastered releases

physical copies with clean 16x9 aspect ratios and 1080p resolutions would've been much more respectable tbh

Good, less of our dying planet’s resources will go towards promoting nolstagia cancer and boredom.

Personally I'd love to see a Final Fantasy 7, 8 & 9 collection. Since the games are $20 a piece, they could charge full price for a 16GB cart with all three games on.

Grab a xxGB MicroSD (closest size to the game) + “write FF VII only” on it= have fun with your physical FF VII edition and stop crying like babies.

I don't get why people act surprised about this. I would have been surprised if there was going to be a physical release.

The surprising part is people expecting physical release of a Remastered PS1 Game, why would that happen? Also, I'm just happy the Remaster exists in the first place, one of my favorite games of all times.

Is a shame but not surprised. Stupid Squeenix.

What I want is one cartridge with all one to nine, HA HA HA HA yeah right, if only

Physical games are the cause of autism.

Just grateful we r even getting the game on switch. FFVIII was my favorite of the series. Cant wait to go back to the school and running out of hot dogs in the cafeteria and fighting that random t-rex in the school training ground! Oh yea, Fishermen's Horizon! Super excited for FFVIII! 9/3/19 needs to hurry up and get here!

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

I came just to see the hilarious outrage and wasn't going to say anything, but one of the first comments I saw was amazing in that it complained about the lack of physical release for Switch whilst simultaneously complaining about the inconvenience of the previous versions physical release. That's comment section gold, right there.

@imgrowinglegs Probably because FF VII's been re-released all the time, and FF IX has been re-released before, but VIII is the one game they've hardly touched since release.

To people complaining that these digital only releases will be gone forever in 10 years or whatever: download it to an SD card. Hell, all of the FF releases will fit on a single SD card cheaper than the combined cost of physical copies. Sheesh. Bring me your down votes.

@Shade_Koopa By cry-babies, do you mean intelligent consumers—unlike you—who aren’t happy to be shafted by a huge AAA publisher like Square Enix?

Don’t be so easily manipulated.

@HappyMaskedGuy Thanks for proving my point. People like you who complain that digital only releases are a bad thing. Whether that is true or not, digital releases is becoming the mainstream for videogames. Get over it and let progress happen.

@Robzilla maybe because physical versions dont kill the storage so fast like digital games do.

@Robzilla dude theres no need to resort to insults and theres nothing wrong having physical copys of games get over it.

@RiasGremory I assumed the straight emoji face would make it clear to everyone that I was being facetious. I was wrong.

@Robzilla
"Physical games are the cause of autism"

Don't you ever say that i am an Autis for collecting physical games ! 🤨

@graysoncharles i do remember correctly someone stated that even with big harddrives like 500gb to 1TB on the xbox and ps4s filled up so dam quickly because of all the big updates and other stuff but somehow nintendo manages to compress all the update data for switch without sacrificing a big chunk of space on storage.

@Shade_Koopa
"digital releases is becoming the mainstream for videogames. Get over it and let progress happen."

NO!
I refuse to embrace digital games become a mainstream trend.
Physical All the way for me or Busted !

@Anti-Matter Then your getting left behind. Physical releases are slowly being fazed out. Got move with the times, old timer.

@Shade_Koopa i hardly doubt it even some of the game experts have stated its too soon to go all digital and there be serious consenquences if they rush it out down the road and lets not forget not every has the best internet which is a known fact.

@Shade_Koopa
Not really.
There are some Switch games going physical after being digital only.
I will hunt them if there are some interesting games to play.
Price doesn't matter for me as long i can get the physical things.
I still hunt from Ebay or playasia for old games or rare games i want to play.
Physical All the way.

If this were getting a physical release, Squeenix would be charging $40 or $50 for this on the eShop, so I am very thankful for it being digital only!

Not surprised. Easier for the devs. I'll wait for a HARD sale, end of story. So glad I picked up a PlayStation Classic for $15, so that'll take care of me playing FFVII at least. What else is new...?

I still own the original physical PC release. For my money, the improved graphics offset the poor music quality making it the best physical version of this game.

@Shade_Koopa Enjoy your cheap game rental service.

@MeloMan How's the emulation on that, lately? I grabbed one at launch for a good discount but the emulation was extremely tedious to set up and very inconsistent.

@Shade_Koopa lol Really? The PS5 will still play physical games, and Nintendo pumps out physical carts all the time. But, I guess some people enjoy cheap game rental services. I'll still be able to play my games, after Nintendo turns off their download server in a few years.

@graysoncharles Makes you wonder what the working conditions are for the people who made the device you just typed your message on. Hm.

@Charinzardon Kinda makes you wonder why the remastered Turok games got physical releases through Limited Run. People still like carts and such!

@telepathy2000 I wonder about the patching, too. All my modern games that required patching still run without the "day 1" patch and onward. So, as long as my hardware holds out I'll be able to play those things as long as I am able. If I remember right, Mega Man X Legacy Collection didn't require a patch, and there are a few others. I see others on here are resisting the "all digital" age. I'll definitely be skipping it, as the last console I planned on buying was the Switch. If they do an update with stronger hardware I'll get that if it has significant improvements, but with the push for more digital stuff the less inclined I am to support modern consoles. Eh, I have enough to play, anyway. Sorry for the mini rant! Enjoy your day!

@Anti-Matter actually,this would be like eating food but not keeping the wrapper for posterity.
The actual experience of playing the game is no different.

I came here just to see man babies cry about the lack of a physical release,and I wasn’t disappointed.

One thing that does confuse me is the insistence that once Nintendo stops operating the storefront,the games will disappear off your SD card.

@Mr_Muscle Unfortunately I haven't started it just yet, but I have a feeling it won't be that great. I'm sure it lacks the QoL enhancements the digital Switch version has, but... Eh.

@Mr_Muscle In a few years, a new game or console will have been out for awhile. We'll be too busy playing with something new to worry about the old. With the exception of remakes and such.

I'm not one for nostalgia and have too many games on my backlog already. Beat a game and move on. Times doesn't slow down for anyone.

@Shade_Koopa
Some peoples still live in nostalgia and even they have finished the game, they still keep the games. They are (the games) belong to part of family members. They are Ohana (Family).

@rxchrisg
Not for me.
I have Dillon Dead Heat Breakers 3DS USA version in digital download for my new 3DS XL USA, but i still unable to feel the presence of the game. It felt hollow in my heart like it doesn't exist in actual presence.
But after i got the Europe version in physical, i felt the presence of that game. Later i have to buy new 3DS XL Europe version to play that game in physical.

@BeefSanta To people complaining that these digital only releases will be gone forever in 10 years or whatever: download it to an SD card. Hell, all of the FF releases will fit on a single SD card cheaper than the combined cost of physical copies. Sheesh. Bring me your down votes.

Even if the downloaded games are on the SD Card, the card itself had to be plug onto the primary console to which the account is link with in able to play it. If the primary console is ever brick or goes kaput then the digital download game will not work even if you put that same account and SD Card for use on another Switch. It's the same problem with the PSP Go and any consoles that prioritize digital download. Every games download to that system will work on any PSP as long as the same account is use on all of them but there are restriction to how many you can use and at the end of the day it all goes back to the primary system to make any changes.

If the primary system ever bricks or can't access online anymore, that means no more verification of that same account on other systems so if those also goes kaput, even if you had the games downloaded on the memory stick, those too will not work as those will need to be verify through the account and if the online server for that is not working anymore, there will be no ways to verify account therefore no way to play those games again.

@graysoncharles

Rolls eyes

I honestly don’t think you understand the argument for ownership. It’s not an ‘OCD’ thing (nice of you to use a genuine mental health problem as an insult, by the way, classy) but more of an issue of lasting access.

Have you ever heard of a little demo called P.T? The problem with digital is that a publisher can either choose to remove the content for access, or the publisher goes down the toilet—meaning that YOU, super smart consumer, will not be able to play the game, or even access it, despite having paid for it.

So yeah, think the whole thing through first, before fanboying and insulting CLEVER PEOPLE.

@BarefootBowser Too many people on here assume that they will be able to still access a digital version of games even if a publisher sinks.

You won’t be able to. A physical copy however, can still be backed up outwith the publisher. Digital? Nope.

@Shade_Koopa
I find it so weird when people pro-actively set out to ruin things for themselves by shilling for companies like SE who have zero interest in their customer’s best interests.

Here’s an allegory:

Rhinos are on the verge of extinction. But they’re going to go extinct in the future, so let’s just get on with wiping them out—why fight?

Same ridiculous logic.

@Robzilla Ugly comment with a seriously tone-deaf sense of ‘humour’.

@BarefootBowser Shame that you’ll need this to blow up in your face before you recognise the problem.

@Patron Hard to take anyone seriously who uses disabilities as insults.

Go eat some cereal or something.

@BarefootBowser
‘I don't see games as the be all and end all. If at some point in the future I can't play super mario odyssey I won't worry about it.’

Honestly, that is such a tired rebuttal. To strawman my position by implying that ‘playing games’ is the only thing that I care about, or that it features remotely high in my priorities, is weak and disingenuous.I can have an opinion on something as trivial as games, as well as disagreeing with bigger topics like, say, eating meat.

Physical videogame production doesn’t tend to feature highly in the worst environmental activities. If you’re going to use that as an argument, I’d expect you to also be vegan, never fly in a plane, never use disposable plastics, never drive, and choose not to have kids. Maybe you do qualify in that regard. But otherwise, it would be hypocritical to use environmental impact as an argument in the discussion.

@BarefootBowser I agree, less plastic and packaging and waste is definitely the future. Absolutely. But the prospect of losing anything culturally significant because of a company shutting down, or a government easily censoring a product, doesn’t do much for me either. What about the people who never get to experience Odyssey? Is depriving them of that fair? Of course the environmental element takes priority, no question. But all the same...

Umm...which number is that? I'm terrible with Roman numerals.

@Shade_Koopa Hold my NES. Jokes aside, lots of us still have legacy systems. Heck, I just played Actraiser for the first time on my SNES, and just attempted the new SA-1 enhancement for Gradius 3, yesterday. Meanwhile, my PS4 hasn’t been booted up in a few months.

@graysoncharles Glad you are self aware enough to realize that. I’m in agreement with you, but I’m also afraid that the machine has been rolling for far too long to be stopped or even slowed down at this point. It would take a momentous disaster for these people to recognize that the planet is more important than the money they earn!

@rxchrisg Maybe try to understand their position, instead of wrongly assuming everyone is a man baby (tons of women have played FF8) and poking fun at them for wanting something other than the digital offering.

@graysoncharles Also, it’s really hard to use death as an argument for “importance” because literally nothing would be important because of an individuals passing away. The point of it is to recognize that our actions matter a lot, and that everything we are doing right now is figuratively and literally passing the torch to the next group of people that will be here after we pass. You can argue that for the individual, death makes all things lose importance. Yet, here we are, with the capability to ENJOY wonderful things like games and such. Are games the penultimate of importance? Obviously not, but to come in and just call people idiots because they enjoy something that you don’t doesn’t push the conversation ahead. Don’t use death as an excuse to shut down arguments!

@graysoncharles
"Only IDIOTS would think that conserving video games in the future would make them more important or something like that. In the end, you will die, and your things will stay."

Do NOT call me Idiot because i am a games collector !
I have a lot of physical games, placed tidily inside my book shelf with my handheld devices.
It's so nice to see my collections placed nicely like library books.
I keep my games safely so it will not wasting the plastic or whatsoever.
It will only contaminating our Earth if we throw away on the ground and rotten by years.

I would have purchased the physical edition, but it always would have bothered me that there wasn't one for VII and IX, so the problem already existed. I'll get it. I'm excited to play it again! This was my favorite back in the day, but I doubt it will retain that place. IX is so good!

As painful as this comment thread is I have a few sales facts for the clearly unknowing in the thread

The Nintendo switch is a primary physical console, this accounts for up to 75% of ALL games sold on Nintendo switch.
For every switch game that switches to digital a equal game is sold physical so there is little to no decline.

Secondly indie titles make considerable more money digitally, this is why we should be happy with limited editions and print runs as it’s not necessary and is simply a thank you to the fans.

Square Enix has now a limited store selling physical media, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this game pop up in 6-8 months time after the day one digital dollar has subsided.

Now the overall video game market is seeing a digital shift and this is inevitable, however this process is nowhere near as clear as internet experts make out.

I’ve studied this and have spoken with numerous sales analysts, npd employees , Ive also spoken to console publishers and I myself have been in the industry in the form of sales for a decade.

Take ps4 for example, it is now 50% digital.
However over the last 5 years the physical drop has only been actually 9%.

What does this mean,
Well to put it simply every digital game sold does not mean one less physical copy sold. And more games are selling now than ever.
Do not confuse a growing digital number with hard sales.

Digital has seen exponential growth but In 2018 more physical games sold than previously.

Ps5 will be a physical system, switch 2 will also and most likely the ps6 and Nintendo follow up will also.

There are numerous factors including
Global internet infrastructure, isp prices , data caps , emerging markets , Middle East etc , Asian markets high presence for physical media, collectors and the fact that more physical games are selling than any previous generation.

These statistics can be backed up by numerous experts including the npd.

This market is not zero sum , it’s healthy
The best market is one that supports multiple consumers

That market is a mix of digital , physical and streaming.
Publisher know this, and as long as physical gaming is worth even a small fraction of its current value I guarantee it’s not going anywhere

And worst case we get 10 more years of physical games. Hardly dead

Vinyl , Blu ray and books are all tiny compared to physical game sales, and yet vinyl is continuing to grow, Blu Ray is shrinking daily and so much worse than games and yet still takes 200 million a year, and has a easy 10-15 years of being mainstream and then after that becoming a market like vinyl

The industry will shift more and more over the next gen.
Expect more limited editions to increase box cost to compensate for declines and also the gen after imagine this to continue further.

Do not believe click bait telling you physical is dead, Ive spent years studying this and it most certainly is not anything but a giant exaggeration

@Mr_Muscle I would argue a physical copy of a game on my shelf permanently is better than a fleeting experience driven by mass server farms that are offered by both the isp , the publisher etc
I would rather the tangibility of a life long product, than a instant that is doing equal amount of damage to the planet.
My copy can be passed along for others to enjoy and once it’s made it’s permanent not temporary

@HappyMaskedGuy if the publisher removes the content from the storefront,it won’t erase from my SD card or HD

@Anti-Matter it felt hollow in your heart? Please tell me this is a joke

@Morfidplays That’s exactly what I think, and it is for this reason I stopped buying digital releases altogether. It’s not a business practice that I support, and it’s the reason I maintain a small collection of legacy systems.

@rxchrisg You’ve never had an SD or HD crash, have you?

@rxchrisg
I'm old school gamer.
Playing games without physical cartridge / disc felt like i don't play with real thing.
I need the presence of the game cartridge / disc, not the convenience.
I would rather swapping my cartridge / disc everytime i want to play different games rather than having multiple of digital games with one click to play.
I don't like to follow the trend like that.
I refuse to follow the method like that.

Personally, I knew that was going to be the case. I'd say Square should do a trilogy set of the PS1-era Final Fantasy games and release that physically rather than sell separately when physical.

@graysoncharles Yep! Easily replaceable.

Heretoforth to be known as 'The Item'.

@telepathy2000 I have to strongly agree with you. Preservation is pretty easy thanks to online storage. Personal clouds etc... hell there is a website called internet archive, I’ve just download 60 original Xbox games to send over to my modded console.

I know it doesn't make up for the lack of an actual physical release - but this Etsy seller put together boxes for Final Fantasy VII, VIII Remastered, and IX, and you can't tell the difference between one of these and an actual Switch box. I picked up all three, and they look great on the shelf - very high quality.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/714247107/final-fantasy-8-custom-game-case-for-the?ref=shop_home_active_5&crt=1

@AstralSoul13 That was my knee jerk reaction talking, sry. I agree with your logic. I guess I just got hyped because it seemed like it was gonna happen, what with the Play-Asia preorder listing and all.

so why can't I pre-order it yet, like Xbox and PSN offer?

I hope this is 20 bucks or less, but they definitely been charging quite a bit for the re-releases on switch. So probably going to be like 22-24 bucks instead, not that there is a huge difference between 20-22 so I'll probably still eventually get it, but I think I'll wait for a sale to drop it down to around 15 or so.

@Averagewriter The eShop will disappear eventually, but the majority (if not all) of the games will be preserved.

The only problem at that point is that to download stuff you've purchased, you'd have to commit copyright infringement.

@BenRK An SD card with the digital games that are licensed only to your Switch is not the same as a game cartridge that can be used on any Switch, lent, or sold.

@DanTheMan827 Nothing lasts forever, not even physical media (there is such a thing as disc rot). However what I was getting at was that there was no reason for people to expect this to have a physical release, not that them wanting everything digital to be released physically is invalid. Squareenix has not released the updated PS1 games physically, only digitally.

What!? You're telling me I have to use about a GB of my 128gb disk. Preposterous! Damn you Square Enix!

@Averagewriter that’s great except it’s a big expense just to satisfy the minuscule percentage of gamers who care about this issue.

@jameswarrensaid so they’re selling a case for an item that doesn’t exist?

@BenRK But this is different than FFVII and FFIX. This was pitched as a remaster, more along the lines of FFX and FFX-2 - which did receive a physical release.

@jameswarrensaid that's not quite true. It's more along the lines of FFIX. It also had lost source code and needed to be remastered just like FFVIII is now. But FFIX didn't get a physical release.

Look, I'm not saying that it's stupid or something to want a physical release of a game. It's perfectly fine to want one. I personally am not bothered that this isn't getting one. If some day in the future these get a physical release, then cool! All I'm getting at is that I feel like it's odd that people thought this one would get a physical release when the other PS1 Final Fantasy games did not.