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[Durante]

I wrote something about this in my post about open platforms.

Preservation

For any serious medium (and fans of that medium) preservation of classic experiences is an important issue. Think about the collective loss for all of us if any books or musical compositions older than 40 years were no longer available, or only readable or available to listen to with lots of effort and highly specialized equipment.

Games are unique in that they are interactive, which makes their preservation significantly harder than anything that can simply be recorded and played back. To experience an old game on a proprietary platform, you need a working instance of that hardware platform, its accessories, and the game, as well as all the other devices (such as displays) from roughly the same time period so as to be compatible. Already today, the most convenient and viable way of playing old classics is via software emulation, usually on open platforms. However, modern hardware-assisted DRM schemes, highly complex hardware/software architectures and slow down in the progress of sequential CPU performance may make emulation an almost impossible task for current and future platforms.

Conversely, games on open platforms are usually compatible with a wide variety of hardware, and over long periods of time. Even if a point is reached where no directly compatible hardware is in circulation anymore, emulation is usually greatly simplified by documentation and a lack of hardware-level DRM schemes.

For anyone concerned about preservation of the medium, closed hardware and software platforms (and worst, both) are terrible. What's even worse are streaming-exclusive games -- luckily this hasn't happened yet.

 

[Lynd7]

I know I wouldn't.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who treats games as consumables. Would you really be upset if the food from your fridge disappeared?

Personally, for me, once a gen is over, I'm done with those games. I never feel the need to replay a game because there's always a great game which I haven't played. Sure, there are games which I've bought multiple times like the PS1/PS2 FF games or some of the PS2 HD games but it's not the end of the world if I don't get to replay them.

What about people who aren't even born yet, or are too young right now even? This industry needs to take preservation of titles more seriously. 50 years from now, there will be people who want to experience the games.

 

[water_wendi]

I'm inclined to think this is fake, but out of curiosity I myself have submitted a ticket to Support. I do vaguely recall Gabe's post on SPUF many years ago but it was before Steam began selling third-party games so naturally it was easy for Valve to assuage such concerns regarding its own titles.

ill take something in writing. If its not stipulated in the EULA then they have no obligation (not like having it in writing would mean anything anyways due to them being able to alter it at any time for any reason). A screenshot with the tech support name blanked out (wtf?) or a memory of a question in an interview from Gabe prior to the release of HL2 is not an assurance to me. Thats just me though.

 

[Zeyphersan]

It's not really meant to help, but yes, at some point, the servers WILL shut down and you WILL lose access to the games you bought digitally. It's just going to happen. Unless the consoles going forward use the same architecture and same APIs as the current ones (and assuming the same companies stay in the market) you can reasonably expect to keep your purchases, but barring that, going all digital means living with the fact that this is an inevitability.

Depending on the implementation of Playstation Now this could eliminate this, but it's sort of a shoddy solution to a very real problem. Hell, thinking incredibly long-term, even Steam will shut down at some point. Probably not soon, definitely not sooner than either of these consoles, but it will.

People are less afraid about it on PC because as long as Windows sticks with DirectX and x86 and a lot of legacy support, we could reasonably be expecting to play our Steam games 20 years from now, just like how I was playing the original Tomb Raider through a DOSBox the other day.

We treat digital PC games as these permanent things when they are really not, but they will have more staying power than console purchases. That being said, if you are willing to accept that, I think you can go forward with a peace of mind. Instead of thinking "I own this game forever" you think "I own this game for the next ten years, hopefully more. And I'll be able to stream it after that."

Nothing is permanent. There are tons and tons of old games sitting in landfills at this moment. Discs get scratched or lost. You go to pull out your favorite PS1 game only to learn that the console's laser has gone out or the disc is scratched or any of the million things that can happen.

At this point in time physical lasts longer than digital, going by how Microsoft treated the original xbox and their GFWL marketplace (which was the only place to get legit, digital copies of Viva Pinata, Gears of War, and Halo 2). But that may not always be the case. As companies move beyond hardware and into cloud solutions (mock it all you want), there's no reason to think that in 30 years if Sony is still around, you'll be able to log in and access your single-player campaign of Killzone: Shadow Fall.

Don't fret about it. Enjoy the games as they come. They're games, they're not meant to be an investment you soak thousands of dollars into. They're not a savings account you're accruing. They're fun. They're entertainment. They can be moving and thought-provoking and life-changing, yes. But at the end of the day, you're in this hobby because you enjoy it. I'm not saying don't take it seriously, but I'm saying if you spend more time worrying than you do enjoying, you're missing the point.

 

[Durante]

ill take something in writing. If its not stipulated in the EULA then they have no obligation (not like having it in writing would mean anything anyways due to them being able to alter it at any time for any reason). A screenshot with the tech support name blanked out (wtf?) or a memory of a question in an interview from Gabe prior to the release of HL2 is not an assurance to me. Thats just me though.

I wouldn't even take a contract, it could be immaterial if the company actually goes under.

What I do take is the secure knowledge that I can probably crack just about every game which uses Steam DRM in the unlikely event of a shutdown.

 

[Doombacon]

You can back up your ps3 system state (including all downloaded games) onto a external drive. Theoretically you could repeat this process with different games installed until all your content is backed up.

Or buy a 3 TB hard drive and slot it into the PS3.

 

[notBald]

For anyone concerned about preservation of the medium, closed hardware and software platforms (and worst, both) are terrible. What's even worse are streaming-exclusive games -- luckily this hasn't happened yet.

Nintendo had that Satellaview thing, and I believe at least one of those games are lost.

Personally there's nothing on the PS3/Xbox 360 that I would miss if every such system spontaneously combusted tomorrow. The PS360 games I'd want to replay 20 years from now have PC ports.

So no, I'm not worried. But then I don't bother with MP games or MMORPGs, nor will I ever throw money at streaming services.

 

[Marty Chinn]

It's not really meant to help, but yes, at some point, the servers WILL shut down and you WILL lose access to the games you bought digitally. It's just going to happen. Unless the consoles going forward use the same architecture and same APIs as the current ones (and assuming the same companies stay in the market) you can reasonably expect to keep your purchases, but barring that, going all digital means living with the fact that this is an inevitability.

Depending on the implementation of Playstation Now this could eliminate this, but it's sort of a shoddy solution to a very real problem. Hell, thinking incredibly long-term, even Steam will shut down at some point. Probably not soon, definitely not sooner than either of these consoles, but it will.

People are less afraid about it on PC because as long as Windows sticks with DirectX and x86 and a lot of legacy support, we could reasonably be expecting to play our Steam games 20 years from now, just like how I was playing the original Tomb Raider through a DOSBox the other day.

We treat digital PC games as these permanent things when they are really not, but they will have more staying power than console purchases. That being said, if you are willing to accept that, I think you can go forward with a peace of mind. Instead of thinking "I own this game forever" you think "I own this game for the next ten years, hopefully more. And I'll be able to stream it after that."

Nothing is permanent. There are tons and tons of old games sitting in landfills at this moment. Discs get scratched or lost. You go to pull out your favorite PS1 game only to learn that the console's laser has gone out or the disc is scratched or any of the million things that can happen.

At this point in time physical lasts longer than digital, going by how Microsoft treated the original xbox and their GFWL marketplace (which was the only place to get legit, digital copies of Viva Pinata, Gears of War, and Halo 2). But that may not always be the case. As companies move beyond hardware and into cloud solutions (mock it all you want), there's no reason to think that in 30 years if Sony is still around, you'll be able to log in and access your single-player campaign of Killzone: Shadow Fall.

Don't fret about it. Enjoy the games as they come. They're games, they're not meant to be an investment you soak thousands of dollars into. They're not a savings account you're accruing. They're fun. They're entertainment. They can be moving and thought-provoking and life-changing, yes. But at the end of the day, you're in this hobby because you enjoy it. I'm not saying don't take it seriously, but I'm saying if you spend more time worrying than you do enjoying, you're missing the point.

I've created quite the collection of games for my library. This library is my history of gaming and is an extensive collection that spreads across several generations. It feels nice to look at this library and to know that at any point I can play any of these games once again. To only think about the present would be like taking a film collection and ignoring the great films like Casablanca, Lawrence of Arabia, Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Goonies, Back to the Future, and so forth all because they are not current movies. One day I plan to pass this library of games to my kids so that they too can enjoy the great games throughout the history of this hobby. It is something that is important to me. They by no means are required to take it up or enjoy it, but I would like to think it's available to them. Digital could rob them of that.

You can back up your ps3 system state (including all downloaded games) onto a external drive. Theoretically you could repeat this process with different games installed until all your content is backed up.

Or buy a 3 TB hard drive and slot it into the PS3.

What happens if your PS3 dies? You lose everything. Backups are tied to a specific console and cannot be transferred.

 

[SnakeEyes]

OPs post is why I flatly refuse to go Digital for full retail game. At least with disc-based versions, there's always the option for PC emulation down the track should your console eventually die. Not so for digital only on a closed marketplace like PSN and XBL.

 

[SmashN'Grab]

I agree with the sentiment of this thread, as I naively bought many digital games across the Xbox 360 and PS3 over the past generation. I never really thought too much about it, and as a result was shocked when the lack of backwards compatibility came to light.

I guess if you really care (like I do), you should just play on PC from now on (as I am). Or stick with physical games on console if that's where your interest lies.

I used to feel very protective of my PSN/XBL libraries. Used to feel that they were very valuable. But now I realise that they came with an expiry date, and that they'll be lost sooner or later. I haven't bought a digital title in about a year now, and that feeling of value and protectiveness over it is gone too.

 

[Yuripaw]

One thing that might seem trivial also is has Sony ever said if they're going to add PS1 games playable on PS4? I really feel like it makes no sense technically why they wouldn't, but as far as money wise...I feel like they have plenty reason. PS1 games have gotta be the easiest thing for them to emulate.

 

[Sentenza]

I wouldn't even take a contract, it could be immaterial if the company actually goes under.

What I do take is the secure knowledge that I can probably crack just about every game which uses Steam DRM in the unlikely event of a shutdown.

Exactly. A contract wouldn't be of any help in that case; In fact, given the topic, I find somewhat more reassuring that at least they stated some good will to address the issue that if anything happens, in comparison; especially considered their track record.

Not that I'd like to do it, anyway. I don't pay for my games just to have to crack them anyway... But at least it's a safety net for some *extremely* unlikely scenario.

 

[Amir0x]

Is it really a big deal if they shut down and you lose access to your games?

Man there really is always a defense force for everything on GAF. A consumer willing to completely give up any right to ownership of the $60 products he buys for no real appreciable benefit to himself other than the short five-to-ten year convenience of not having to use discs.

Thank the gods the community was willing to fight against this very point of view earlier in the year


For me, I don't mind going digital for some of my purchases, but the deals have to be there for doing that (Steam offers such deals, and it is a service highly unlikely to shut down for decades, so it is far more likely to be persistent). The deals are hardly ever there for digital games on consoles. Second, given what we know Microsoft wanted to go with this direction, I cannot trust these companies to have that sort of control over my content. That they can simply ban you and you'd lose access to all your shit, with no real way to even dispute the ban adequately? It's happened before. That they can just remove a game from the service and ever after you have no way to get it again? That they can simply choose to end a systems life, destroying your hundreds-of-dollars-in-games investments? The fact that legacy game support is hugely damaged in this if preservation of media is key?

There's just so many downsides, and when major companies like Microsoft wanted to push it, was hugely nefarious and fucked with consumer rights all over the place. No way.

 

[Chinbo37]

I just wish consoles were just a bit more up front about it. And Im not talking about the fine print buried in a license agreement.

Imagine if the head of XBOX One Marketing had to say - "Ya we have tons of DLC and games available on Xbox Live!!! Just remember, these games will be supported and functional for at least the next 5 years whereby after that Microsoft cannot guarantee you will have access to these games or they will be playable"


I can imagine digial games taking a small nosedive.

 

[Lusankya]

What I do take is the secure knowledge that I can probably crack just about every game which uses Steam DRM in the unlikely event of a shutdown.

No need to crack anything, you could just play in Offline mode.

 

[Liamario]

Is it really a big deal if they shut down and you lose access to your games?

Wiiu owner?

 

[FlyingSaucer]

OPs post is why I flatly refuse to go Digital for full retail game. At least with disc-based versions, there's always the option for PC emulation down the track should your console eventually die.

For the last generations of consoles (PS3/360, heck even Xbox) maybe not, or at least it probably won't be as easy as it has been in the past.

 

[flaxknuckles]

No need to crack anything, you could just play in Offline mode.

Until you need to upgrade your motherboard or something and have to re-install your operating system.

 

[jimi_dini]

For the past few years, I warmed up to the idea of going digital in a pretty big way.

...

Slowly but surely, over the past 3 or 4 years, my purchases of retail games over their respected networks started to increase.

I can't help but think there's gonna be that day where the switch is flipped, and you can't even log in anymore. I still am a little concerned that maybe these platforms WONT be supported for that long

... but I still like the idea that I own my games, and if I buy something, and I want to play it today, tomorrow, or 10 years from now...I'd like to be able to, and continue having access to it. I still got my original Nintendo, I still got the commodore 64, and even my parent's old Atari 2600 which is older than me...those games are so old, but because we bought them, we can play them, and pass them on as long as we want.

So this is basically you:

 

[IncandescentPrecept]

Man there really is always a defense force for everything on GAF. A consumer willing to completely give up any right to ownership of the $60 products he buys for no real appreciable benefit to himself other than the short five-to-ten year convenience of not having to use discs.

Thank the gods the community was willing to fight against this very point of view earlier in the year

Really? So, it does not occur to you at all that it is possible that not everyone is attached to everything they purchase? I have not kept a single NES, SNES, Sega Master System, PS1, PS2 or PSP game - I just gave them away. I'm actually surprised that so many people are attached to their games.

As for the community being willing to fight - I fought too. We are willing to fight as long as it's not more than a few tweets but that's a bit off-topic.

 

[Yuripaw]

.

hahaha! yeah, I guess you could say that.

 

[SmokedMeat]

It's definitely a risk, especially when you don't trust the platform makers. its hard to tell what Sony or Microsoft will do to the old consoles when the release a new one. i'd assume they would either keep it open until the console has a extremely small playerbase or shut it in order to get people to get the next one.

as for those wondering what happens if steam shuts down

So what happens? A promise that hey, we've got your back? That's reassuring.

OP, if you like owning your games than physical is the ONLY way to go.

 

[manzo]

I'll always buy physical copies of games that I plan to keep for either collection purposes or for replayability.

I'll only buy a game as a downloadable copy if it's a "throwaway" game, like Battlefield 4 (A game that loses it's meaning after a new version comes out, yearly sports titles, FPS games without decent single player etc.)

 

[denshuu]

I'm not too worried about the Steam side, but I don't trust the XBL/PSN side anymore. For one reason basically: OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast.

Sega's contract with Ferrari expired in 2010, so they couldn't sell the game online anymore. It was removed from the Steam store, and the HD version with online functionality (OutRun Online Arcade) was removed from PSN and XBL. Thing is, if you already owned the game on Steam, you could still download it if you'd uninstalled it. The game till sits on the Steam servers so you can grab it whenever you want. On XBL and PSN though, the game is gone. Had to reformat your PS3? Tough break, that game is gone forever now.

I still play games digitally if I can, since I'm pretty much done with discs for all forms of digital media. Just not for console related stuff. And that includes Nintendo, since I"m not entirely convinced that those guys understand how e-commerce works yet.

 

[RooMHM]

Is it really a big deal if they shut down and you lose access to your games?

Phil Harrison is that you ? Or Major"PR"Nelson ?

 

[Mman235]

Really? So, it does not occur to you at all that it is possible that not everyone is attached to everything they purchase? I have not kept a single NES, SNES, Sega Master System, PS1, PS2 or PSP game - I just gave them away. I'm actually surprised that so many people are attached to their games.

As for the community being willing to fight - I fought too. We are willing to fight as long as it's not more than a few tweets but that's a bit off-topic.

You know there's more to it than "lol vidya gaems" and people losing stuff like their console or PC libraries would be thosands of dollars down the drain for many people?

 

[Cizard]

What happens if your PS3 dies? You lose everything. Backups are tied to a specific console and cannot be transferred.

They're not actually. You can make a backup on one ps3 and restore that backup on another.

Edit: Actually it seems you may be right, you can transfer things but not the games?

 

[grap3fruitman]

I have Xbox 1 DLC that's useless. It's made me reconsider a lot of "purchases."

Also, can we, as a community, stop using the term "digital download?" We never had analog downloads. There's no reason to distinguish between the two.

 

[I H8 Memes]

Don't buy digital games on consoles. Or should I say don't rent digital games on consoles? If I thought there was a legitimate chance that Steam wouldn't be around 15 years from now I wouldn't buy games on Steam either.

I would tell PC gamers the same thing. Dont buy games that require Origin or Uplay. Those services are as likely to be around in 10 years as GFWL is.

 

[family_guy]

I don't see what the problem is, at least on PS3. You can fully backup all your purchases to a hard drive, even multiple hard drives if you like. Most people don't do it because it's slow as molasses or they may not know about it but it's better than nothing.

 

[Petrae]

Is it really a big deal if they shut down and you lose access to your games?

Yup. Video games are not a charity industry and I have never considered it as a rental service. Observing this "you never owned the game but only had a license" line only became a reality for consoles once they became connected to the Internet; I've never had any restrictions (short of hardware failure) in playing any game for any platform in the first six generations of consoles. Then, I spent money on games/content in Gen7 that I'll eventually have nothing to show for when the services to download them go away and I no longer have access.

I know digital is where the console gaming industry is headed. All of the complaining and concern in the world isn't going to alter that future. By choosing to abstain from Gen8 (and beyond) consoles, I don't have to worry about when it happens; it won't concern me. I've learned my lessons from Gen7. When I bought PS3 and X360, it was understood that I'd have to have some digital content-- as that is how some game content was distributed-- and have seen some things discontinued already. I won't spend $400+ to make that same commitment again.

 

[Diablos]

I'm not worried about Steam at all.

I do worry about my PSN purchases though.

As for the limited time that I used XBL, well, I don't even care since I haven't plugged in my 360 in over 3 years. Most of my games for it are physical anyway.

 

[Amir0x]

Really? So, it does not occur to you at all that it is possible that not everyone is attached to everything they purchase? I have not kept a single NES, SNES, Sega Master System, PS1, PS2 or PSP game - I just gave them away. I'm actually surprised that so many people are attached to their games.

People have listed the myriad of substantial reason why they would not want to let go of physical releases, none of which you've done a good job disputing. You're also talking to a game enthusiast forum, where people actually care about legacy games and preserving the media for future audiences.

But this doesn't even have to be about that. The point i was making is that you seem perfectly willing to give up all your consumer rights, even defend the practice, with no appreciable return of that self-sacrifice other than being to avoid discs for a console lifecycle. 'Cause there's no evidence whatsoever that the game prices are going down on consoles for digital releases, so that's the whole argument in a nutshell. That's what is crazy to me. People so willing to up and give all the control to these faceless corporations, despite past behavior, for virtually no return benefit that is even close to balancing out what is lost. It's a behavior I have difficulty comprehending is all.

As for the community being willing to fight - I fought too. We are willing to fight as long as it's not more than a few tweets but that's a bit off-topic.

except we fought with our wallets as well as early pre-order numbers were catastrophic for MS, which was the ultimate final catalyst for their 180s. But I digress

 

[JaseC]

Don't buy digital games on consoles. Or should I say don't rent digital games on consoles? If I thought there was a legitimate chance that Steam wouldn't be around 15 years from now I wouldn't buy games on Steam either.

I would tell PC gamers the same thing. Dont buy games that require Origin or Uplay. Those services are as likely to be around in 10 years as GFWL is.

Yeah, the key thing to remember about Origin and Uplay is that they'll only be around for as long as EA and Ubisoft each have a tentpole franchise to support them as virtually nobody uses either for third-party titles. At this juncture the former has Battlefield and FIFA and the latter AssCreed and Far Cry.

 

[Lime]

What's even worse are streaming-exclusive games -- luckily this hasn't happened yet.

Oh my god, the nightmares

 

[OuiOuiBa]

not much you can do about it, sadly, out of your control.

except maybe going back to physical copies.

Not completely out of your control.
As yourself have suggested, you can favor physical copies (over DRM-heavy downloads).
There is more you can do:
- Favor DRM free PC stores (GOG, Humble Store) and PC/console downloads. Vote with your wallet.
- Spread the word, discuss it with the people you know, etc so that more people get aware of it and think about it when considering a purchase
- ...

On a related note, I am very disappointed with the current legal offer of very old games. It is a shame than unpaid individuals could dump entire ROMsets for preservation (like Byuu did with the Super NES), whereas companies only release a few games from time to time, selling them with a rather high price tag and very low reusability (probably hoping to sell it to you again one or two generations later, or just not caring at all).
Even Steam emulators are closed software which do not give you free usage of the dumped game data...
I am surprised video games are so poorly preserved/redistributed by companies compared to movies or music.

 

[Dead Man]

Really? So, it does not occur to you at all that it is possible that not everyone is attached to everything they purchase? I have not kept a single NES, SNES, Sega Master System, PS1, PS2 or PSP game - I just gave them away. I'm actually surprised that so many people are attached to their games.

As for the community being willing to fight - I fought too. We are willing to fight as long as it's not more than a few tweets but that's a bit off-topic.

Has it not occurred to you that it is possible that other people are attached to their purchases until they are finished with them? Not when a company tells them they are done? Bloody hell.

 

[IncandescentPrecept]

Has it not occurred to you that it is possible that other people are attached to their purchases until they are finished with them? Not when a company tells them they are done? Bloody hell.

And has it occurred to you that not everyone is as attached to video games as you are? Servers get shut down for multiplayer all the time and yet no one complains. Whether it matters or not is a matter of opinion.

 

[Kai Dracon]

In the case of the Sony digital platforms at least, Sony appears to continually re-commit themselves to Playstation as an ongoing format. The Playstation Now stuff indicates they plan on keeping mass storage for past media active for some time - PS1, 2, and 3 master software copies.

The thing is this is a question many companies will have to answer moving forward. Apple must deal with keeping music files on-hand so iTunes users can access cloud purchases however far into the future Apple exists for instance.

If you have a lot of console digital however this is definitely a good reason to protect your purchases and backup hard drives though. In the same way you'd take steps to protect physical media collections.

 

[chrislowe]

My 4 year old daughter didnt believe me, when I told her that when dad grow up, he didnt have a iPad when he was 4.
Also, I told her that my first gamemachine couldnt even show colors, she was more amazed.

I have shown her Super Mario Bros 3 on my old NES that I have in the closet, and she loves it, almost more then Super mario 3d on her 3DS.

If games were only downloadable, I couldnt be showing her this stuff today.

 

[SmokyDave]

I'm not too worried about the Steam side, but I don't trust the XBL/PSN side anymore. For one reason basically: OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast.

Sega's contract with Ferrari expired in 2010, so they couldn't sell the game online anymore. It was removed from the Steam store, and the HD version with online functionality (OutRun Online Arcade) was removed from PSN and XBL. Thing is, if you already owned the game on Steam, you could still download it if you'd uninstalled it. The game till sits on the Steam servers so you can grab it whenever you want. On XBL and PSN though, the game is gone. Had to reformat your PS3? Tough break, that game is gone forever now.

I still play games digitally if I can, since I'm pretty much done with discs for all forms of digital media. Just not for console related stuff. And that includes Nintendo, since I"m not entirely convinced that those guys understand how e-commerce works yet.

That's not true. I've replaced my PS3 since 2010. Outrun and Afterburner are always the first two games I install. You have to grab them from your previous download list in the store. Not sure if that's the case for XBLA.

 

[Brazil]

My 4 year old daughter didnt believe me, when I told her that when dad grow up, he didnt have a iPad when he was 4.
Also, I told her that my first gamemachine couldnt even show colors, she was more amazed.

I have shown her Super Mario Bros 3 on my old NES that I have in the closet, and she loves it, almost more then Super mario 3d on her 3DS.

If games were only downloadable, I couldnt be showing her this stuff today.

Maybe you could.

 

[Kai Dracon]

That's not true. I've replaced my PS3 since 2010. Outrun and Afterburner are always the first two games I install. You have to grab them from your previous download list in the store. Not sure if that's the case for XBLA.

XBLA still hosts de-listed games for owners.

AFAIK the only times a console digital title has been truly removed from these services is: Sony (temporarily?) removing PSP games due to security holes, and Nintendo removing a NES game due to unusual licensing issues stemming from an outside party.

 

[Dead Man]

And has it occurred to you that not everyone is as attached to video games as you are? Servers get shut down for multiplayer all the time and yet no one complains. Whether it matters or not is a matter of opinion.

Holy shit, this is the worst post I have seen in a while. Of course it is a matter of opinion, that is the point you have missed in your rush to cry 'Who cares?'. You have just explained why you look so stupid.

 

[a.wd]

Don't fret about it. Enjoy the games as they come. They're games, they're not meant to be an investment you soak thousands of dollars into. They're not a savings account you're accruing. They're fun. They're entertainment. They can be moving and thought-provoking and life-changing, yes. But at the end of the day, you're in this hobby because you enjoy it. I'm not saying don't take it seriously, but I'm saying if you spend more time worrying than you do enjoying, you're missing the point.

Actually they really are, if you buy what 5-10 games at say 50 dollars each over maybe conservatively 5-10 years? how much does that add up to?

I am not buying the new consoles because apart from their lacklustre (IMO) performance gains over last gen, they seem to want to move everything to a fun license rather than property that you own like any other art form. and breaking up each generation and removing BC is a way to achieve this (also Playstation now? Are you fucking kidding me? the PPV of gaming is the archive gamer saviour? GTFOH).

 

[enanogrande]

XBLA still hosts de-listed games for owners.

AFAIK the only times a console digital title has been truly removed from these services is: Sony (temporarily?) removing PSP games due to security holes, and Nintendo removing a NES game due to unusual licensing issues stemming from an outside party.

What about the recent MvC removal? Are those still hosted for owners?

 

[dcx4610]

I think the biggest problem going digital is not having a physical record of the product years from now.

Indie game stores will cease to exist since there is no product to sell. "Retro" collecting will be dead and people will no longer have collections to show off.

I would warm up to digital a lot more if each company had a full digital archive of each system of every single game. I want every single game released for a system to be available digitally for a lifetime.

Just recently I started getting back into Game Boy Advance games. If we had an all digital world, I would be screwed. I would have to wait for Nintendo to add the games I want to the Virtual Console and chances are, the games I want (Ninja Five-O) are never going to be added. I may have to pay a premium for it but because there are physical copies, I can track down the game and play it no matter how old the system is.

Until there is a library/archive of all games on every format that can be accessed, no thanks on digital.

 

[Tain]

I'm pretty sure all Steam and Xbox de-listed games are still hosted for owners.

Well, at least on PS3, you will always be able to play the games even if logged off, as long as they exist in your hard drive. If the games are deleted, there will be no way to redownload them, though.

Same case with 360.

 

[Riposte]

Is it really a big deal if they shut down and you lose access to your games?

Guy who doesn't like videogames all that much struggles to understand that people like videogames more.

 

[Lightning Lord]

Is it really a big deal if they shut down and you lose access to your games?

I dunno, is it really a big deal if you lose what you spent your hard earned money on? C'mon.