Power Pro
Member
I'm really into physical game collecting. For the past few years I've been big into Nintendo Switch game collecting. Starting to reach saturation on what Switch games I want physically, but I still will get some new stuff for a couple more years probably.
Lately I've been looking to expand my focus on systems to collect for, and I've been feeling some nostalgia for the PSP and Vita systems. More so the PSP because I always just liked the games themselves. The cases, games still came with manuals, and UMDs were kind of a cool format for a portable. Small, but not too small like Switch and Vita. I had some digital stuff on both platforms from previously owning them, but honestly...if I go through official means, it is soooo cumbersome to try to redownload anything you may already own, even just DLC. The download speeds are so slow, sorting through purchased items is almost 1500 for me because you have to go through all PS3, PSP and Vita purchases when you look at your download list on either platform.
Where does this leave me? well, to even just get the stuff I own, the most ideal to try and reinstall them on new hardware is with custom firmware. I've been buying physical games because that's what I wanted to start doing, collect for the platforms (mostly PSP). Holy crap though, they made it so easy and so tempting to just download and install any game on these platforms with CFW. It's nice from a preservation perspective, but Valve is so right when they say that piracy is a services problem. They don't make accessing things you own any easier, and in the case of older systems, just let them age and rot.
People always talk like "i don't condone piracy" yadda yadda because they don't wanna get in trouble, but truth is so many people actually just do it. When I came to decide to collect for PSP and Vita, I was hoping to join like-minded communities, but much talk about either of these systems online is all about people bootlegging the games. I joined communities and discords for these systems, and most of it is just people who pirate. Very few actual physical game collectors. It's kinda sad that that's the state of any platform. Sony and Nintendo need to waste less money on lawyers to sue people distributing these games, and more on keeping the games on their old platforms alive.
I love what modern Atari is doing where they actually release new consoles that play Atari 2600 and 7800 cartridges. Why can't these much richer companies ever do something similar? Release some kind of device, even if it's just for enthusiasts and only sold online or something, as long as it's something that still plays the older games in their collections. It's crazy that this kind of stuff doesn't happen. What do you all think? is that too much to ask?
Lately I've been looking to expand my focus on systems to collect for, and I've been feeling some nostalgia for the PSP and Vita systems. More so the PSP because I always just liked the games themselves. The cases, games still came with manuals, and UMDs were kind of a cool format for a portable. Small, but not too small like Switch and Vita. I had some digital stuff on both platforms from previously owning them, but honestly...if I go through official means, it is soooo cumbersome to try to redownload anything you may already own, even just DLC. The download speeds are so slow, sorting through purchased items is almost 1500 for me because you have to go through all PS3, PSP and Vita purchases when you look at your download list on either platform.
Where does this leave me? well, to even just get the stuff I own, the most ideal to try and reinstall them on new hardware is with custom firmware. I've been buying physical games because that's what I wanted to start doing, collect for the platforms (mostly PSP). Holy crap though, they made it so easy and so tempting to just download and install any game on these platforms with CFW. It's nice from a preservation perspective, but Valve is so right when they say that piracy is a services problem. They don't make accessing things you own any easier, and in the case of older systems, just let them age and rot.
People always talk like "i don't condone piracy" yadda yadda because they don't wanna get in trouble, but truth is so many people actually just do it. When I came to decide to collect for PSP and Vita, I was hoping to join like-minded communities, but much talk about either of these systems online is all about people bootlegging the games. I joined communities and discords for these systems, and most of it is just people who pirate. Very few actual physical game collectors. It's kinda sad that that's the state of any platform. Sony and Nintendo need to waste less money on lawyers to sue people distributing these games, and more on keeping the games on their old platforms alive.
I love what modern Atari is doing where they actually release new consoles that play Atari 2600 and 7800 cartridges. Why can't these much richer companies ever do something similar? Release some kind of device, even if it's just for enthusiasts and only sold online or something, as long as it's something that still plays the older games in their collections. It's crazy that this kind of stuff doesn't happen. What do you all think? is that too much to ask?
