I and many others said before, but the cons are much bigger than the pros. I for one, want to still own the games i pay for, and i want to be sure i can play something that i bought today for the next decades. We can still play our snes, ps2, gamecube, etc... in the actual hardware and we also have the choice of emulators, but what happens when it becomes streaming only? we've seen studios closing all the time, so what happens when they make stream only games and then close? we lose that game forever. People that buy that wont be able to play again, and people that never played it will never have a chance.
We saw stuff like this happen, to a lesser extent since last gen, just look at games like Scott pilgrim, wich had to be removed from the stores. Sure, people that bought can still download it, but the only way new players can experience it nowadays is through emulators.
I and many others don't trust that publishers will think in our interests when the time comes, and i don't want my favorite hobby to become even worse than it is today, but by simply saying that "it's the inevitable future", we are just giving them a thumbs up to screw us whenever they feel like, and you can be sure they will.
You're right.
Hopefully the new experiences brought by this new tech will be worth the sacrifice of physical media.
Also, with the way remasters work, I think any popular series/game that people are willing to pay for will live on.
Look at all of the emulation going on in the consoles these days, back in the playstation 1 and 2 days, emulation was a dirty subject.
I think we have a lot to gain from this new way of digesting our games.
Streaming will bring advancements not possible or dreamed of today, it will bring us closer to those games we have in our heads, that we hope to one day play if the hardware allows.
But yes there are concerns.
What happens when the internet goes out?
What happens then the game studio shuts down?
What happens when the streaming service goes out of business?
What happens to all the data I invested in that i likely do not own?
I think most of the concerns people have will be solved as they come by technology, and will seem trivial looking back.
Streaming has the ability to do what the Xbox helped do for gaming, bring it to many many more hands.
And that has the potential to enrich the experience for everyone.
Maybe this is where the road splits for good?
the Hardcore Physicallites, V.S the Ethereal Streamers
