I wonder what the equivalent for current teens and tweens is to when your parents would surprise you with a movie... (vhs/dvd)
Because sometimes I'd have a sleepover planned and my mom would come back from a snack run with a new movie she saw for us - this is how we ended up with a Scott Pilgrim steelbook. She saw it at the store and thought it looked cool, I'd never even heard of the movie! Or going back to coming home from a sleepover with a friend to my brother running to the car and yelling at me for getting back so late because my dad brought home a surprise but he wouldn't tell my brother what until I got back - it was a VHS of the philosophers stone, and we were THRILLED.
But now, streaming is more of a thing, I don't know how much physical media kids use these days. The closest experience to this I've had in years was when my mom got the new Mario game for me for Christmas so my friend and I could play it together over the holidays, and it was fantastic!
So I wonder, is that the closest they get? A new game instead of a movie? This isn't an inter generational bashing or anything, I'm just thinking in text. I miss more physical media, I am glad every time I see a new dvd box set for an older show. I hope they make more for newer ones too... I don't trust any of these companies to keep media accessible