If you were to ask me five years ago, I would have a way different answer than what I would tell you now. Thing is, I used to believe that you didn't own something unless you had a physical copy of it. Later, I realized that, if I unplug my internet and I can still, in fact, play it, I own it about as much as I do having it as a physical item collecting dust on my shelf. The second thing I realized is that, like a vehicle bought and taken off the lot, everything I buy immediately starts to decrease in value (not necessarily from a money standpoint, but my own personal value of it).
For example, I have owned three copies of Dead Space over the years. I owned a copy on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, but both of them now have no value to me now that I have a remade version of Dead Space on the PlayStation 5. I would equate this to owning a copy of a film on VHS that can now be bought at a rummage sale for a couple quarters versus owning the DVD version (which is even then obsolete when you factor in the Blu-Ray).
On this same line of reasoning, I ask myself why exactly I want a physical version of something more than a digital version. Is it more convenient? No. Oh, but you can pop it in whenever you want! If I bought it and own it digitally, I can do the same at any period. The truth was, I discovered, was that the only reason I wanted a physical version was so I had something to fill my shelves.
That realization was liberating, really. Because then, I stopped buying physical copies (except for special occasions) and I reallocated my savings to buying knickknacks, action-figures, and other memorabilia instead, which I think, looks much cooler.
