How Halo: CE Convinced Me to Start Collecting Retro Physical Media Again

After a conversation with Marty O’Donnell (Composer and Audio Director for the Halo video game series) I found myself wondering, “Does the rise of digital media and digital-only games threaten our grasp on the old games we know and love, like the Bungie Halo Trilogy with it's iconic main menu screens and loading screens being forgotten in the Master Chief Collection?” As a result, my wife and I began collecting the physical media we grew up with, and traveling the country to speak with employees and customers at retro game stores, vinyl record stores, video rental stores, and even the Last Blockbuster Video Store on earth! What we heard across the board was this… As our progressing technology and digital convenience shifts us further away from physical games and video rental stores we begin to lose some of the most vital pieces of art, history, community, and even liberty that we all too quickly took for granted.

If you were looking for a reason or a sign to start collecting physical media again in 2025, this is it.

Check out my original conversation with Marty here:    • Halo and The Catholic Church with @TheMart...  

Special Thanks to:
My Lovely Wife, Grace
Martin O'Donnell - ‪@TheMartyODonnell‬
WeLuvVideo
Hidden Xperia - ‪@HiddenXperia‬
Game Over Video Games
The Last Blockbuster Video Store in Bend, Oregon
Laper Larden - ‪@LaperLarden‬
Frogarchist - ‪@frogarchist‬
Jacob Hutton
Movie Madness in Portland, Oregon

SUPPORT PHYSICAL MEDIA!
Video Rental Stores:
https://www.weluvvideo.org
https://www.moviemadness.org
https://bendblockbuster.com
Retro Game Stores:
https://gameovervideogames.com
  / whiterabbitcollectibles  
  / 100063913996168  
Vinyl Record Stores:
http://www.recordguys.com

PHYSICAL MEDIA WORKS CITED:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/06/te...
https://www.vox.com/culture/23778245/...
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/02/strea...
https://www.playstation.com/en-us/leg...
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/p...
https://theconversation.com/streaming...
https://readwrite.com/sony-is-at-it-a...
https://nofilmschool.com/warner-bros-...
https://movieweb.com/movies-that-have...
https://www.avclub.com/films-and-tv-s...
https://screenrant.com/tv-shows-films...
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2024/1...
https://www.mcneelylaw.com/understand...
https://www.gamesradar.com/games/publ...
https://www.gamesradar.com/games/publ...
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-ra....

ALT TITLES:
The Importance of Physical Media
Why the Death of Physical Media is RUINING Video Games and Movies (and how to fight back)
Why the Death of Physical Media is DANGEROUS (and how to fight back)
The Art of Preserving Physical Media to Save Our Culture in a Digital Age
Why You Should Start Collecting Physical Media Again in 2025
How Marty O'Donnell Convinced Me to Start Collecting Physical Media Again
Fighting Against the Death of Physical Media
I Traveled the Country to Find Out Why Physical Media is Dying (and what to do about it)
Why I Traveled The Country and Visited The Last Blockbuster Video Store on Earth

Dedicated to Christopher Holmes