We need laws stating that companies cannot revoke access to a digital purchase without issuing a full refund for that purchase. That would go a long way toward fostering the preservation of digital content. A while back, I discovered that an anime series I had purchased had been wiped from Google Play. I could no longer access it, and customer service flatly refused to issue me a refund. That shouldn't be allowed. It amounts to theft. It would be like buying something from Best Buy only to have a Best Buy employee walk into your home months later and take back what you purchased with no offer of compensation.
I'm older so I grew up with VHS and DVDs and CD and cassette tapes. It was like badge of Honor for your friends to come over and see your collection of games music tapes and so on.
It was always hype when the game case, or vhs tape came out the backpack. One time I got a boost of dbz movies. When I played coolers revenge for my friends they was hooked. I let one borrow it for a while. His sister was so mad cause it was all he'd watch.
These fools care more about money than making their own product imagine if every drug dealer cared more about their product then selling the drugs to their own customers they would be getting high on their own Supply thank God I have a Game Exchange in my town
@@alexwalters35lol Pandora Tomorrow can be played on any Xbox up to the Series X, currently. Every console Splinter Cell game is backwards compatible for Xbox Series X.
I appreciate this video as an retro game enthusiast. Preserving these games are so important. The fact that we don’t own our music, movies ect is a scary thing
@@shinmigami5664 Is this sarcasm? We absolutely care about old books. The burning of the Library of Alexandria is considered one of the most catastrophic cultural losses in Western history. It arguably heralded the Dark Ages.
@@axt2 as well as saving all music and movies ever made? There are media that is being lost right now. The books in the library you speak of, you are assuming they all are of importance. In which they are not. We are talking about all. Time also went on without that library and humans were able to move past it. So, it wasn't necessary to save that library.
@@shinmigami5664 What are you even trying to argue here? Yes, it's extremely important that we, as a species, archive our historical works in all forms of media including websites. How many Gilgamesh or Beowulf tier epics were lost when the Library of Alexandria was burnt? Where would our scientific knowledge be if it were still intact? We "moved past" Alexandria by living through the Dark Ages. I would not recommend repeating that. No offense, you sound like an edgy teen or an Activision rep.
I literally had a problem on my xbox series x. My xbox would not load my game list. Only play the ones I had already downloaded. I have almost 400 paid games. Let me play "my" games. One of my great fears of going digital happened. It took 3 days to fix. Some people online have been having problems like this for months. MONTHS!
Well, I think an important point of clarity on that is that is an issue of DRM, not going digital. I admit the two are a bit intertwined (in no small part because of the sheer obsession of iron-grip control of IP usage by companies to the extent they would rather lose sales on an excessive DRM or lawsuits) but they are ultimately separate things. Anything that you have in some physical form (whether disc/cartridge or digital) *should* be playable, but nearly all DRM methods have mechanisms that can and do in fact fail. IMO the migration to so many online checks has actually been very harmful to us all (there are a significantly higher number of failure scenarios -- including just simply if your connection is having a bad day as most do from time to time) which is actually why I was kind of unhappy to see so many migrate to platforms that centered so strongly around it (such as Steam which used to not even have a working offline mode until very very recently and even still has severe limitations when switching to it.) The problem in such cases is really not the switch to digital, but merely the obsessive IP usage limitations that companies insist upon along the way. If the same games had no DRM mechanisms (including in that case the console's system itself just automatically applying a universal DRM) then you could just run them any time without exception (short of hardware failure of course.) The solution isn't a switch to physical media (which still usually has some form of DRM that can ultimately fail) but a consumer demand for companies to just calm the frick down already with this obsession of theirs on what we can do with what we paid for. I might add here that even cartridges without direct online mechanisms still sometimes have DRM methods -- methods which can sometimes fail the end-user. Nintendo had an issue a while back with illegal clone carts of various NDS games in particular (not sure if 3DS games were similarly cloned) and implemented actual cartridge blacklists in the 3DS that would get updated sometimes with firmware updates. While that could hurt the companies selling such fakes, it mostly translated to hurting the users who bought them without knowing what they were since most such companies just churned out a bunch of mass fakes, sold them off as fast as possible and then just disappeared anyway. 999 on the NDS itself even had a copy protection mechanism where the game would straight up freeze if it thought you had an illegal copy (I think it checked for read latency or something. Not sure.) It was rare to trigger on a real cartridge, but did happen. There were a few others with the same DRM mechanism, though I forget what they were. Copy protections on discs are even worse. Get a scratch in the wrong place and it can stop working (and those of us who have used discs with copy protections can tell you all too well how you can take perfect care of your disc, never touching the bottom, never setting it on an unclean surface, only just going straight from the case to the system and then back to the case still somehow results in scratches... No I don't know how it happens, it just does. Maybe dust in the drive's tray or something.) In each case the DRM is the problem, not the data storage mechanism.
That’s why you shouldn’t uninstall a game you buy for any reason whatsoever. Sure you’ll need to update your storage periodically, but your collection will be safe until you die. People who buy games just to uninstall them as soon as they’re done should never expect security in a digital marketplace.
So unfortunate that this is happening. This is why (as a personal choice) i do not by digital games or support games that are "always online". I find it odd that a developer can make a game (Diablo 4) and charge "real money" but not give me true ownership. It's like having a game with a string attached. They can take it away at anytime. If that's the case, shouldn't I also be able to recover my money? I miss the former days. I give you money; you give me a game...transaction complete!
Problem is the physical copies also work that way,the have a license and if that platform goes offline you lost the game,only way to circumvent this is trough piracy.
This is why I stopped playing Destiny 2. It was crushing when I realized that those 2000 hours could just disappear in the blink of an eye. Not worth the investment.
@@StoneAgeWarfare I dipped out of Destiny 2 a while back only to find out recently that my characters are just gone. I missed a window of time where players had to go through a process due to the publisher/client switch, and that, apparently, was my only opportunity to recover my characters and time. In nearly 30 years, I've never experienced something as pathetic as this. It's almost always automatic, and there is usually a backup somewhere - even in the cloud - so not everything is lost. I'm very glad I never spent real world money on it.
Thank you for highlighting this. As someone who works in the games industry, this is incredibly frustrating. Half the games I worked on are no longer accessible, either removed from app stores, offline or out of print. Building a portfolio of commercial games feels like trying to stay afloat in quicksand.
This is an aspect that I was curious about. For all the development team who work on media that is stored and accessed online, how do you include that part of your work experience in your resume/portfolio? I'm guessing screengrabs or official documentation confirming that you worked on the project has to be enough.
I remember back in the day (Almost two decades ago) when the UK retailer Gamestation (RIP) after merging with GAME was forced to destroy literal tons of their pre owned retro games and console stock nationwide. They had an ever rotating collection of classics from the SNES era to the Dreamcast, and I'd imagine it was worth a fortune in today's market. There was a huge outcry but nothing was done. I remember rescuing a copy of Final Fantasy VII in mint condition destined for the scrapper. Video game preservation versus short sighted corporate greed, a tale as old as time crisis.
This is exactly why the entire gaming industry & community should be supporting full game ownership (which means whenever you buy a video game, physically or digitally then you should own the entire game, not the license to play it) & game preservation
Myself and many others have been saying this for years now... in particular when streaming of music and film took off. Ownership of products is important but too many sheep just don't see that.
As long as companies only treat their own games as a business expense, preservation is not going be a major concern for them. If they find out that preserving their older games suddenly makes them boat loads of money, then they will care.
I still buy Blu-ray’s, CDs and physical games, jailbreak my consoles, backup everything on multiple hard drives. Got 3 CRTs, 2 plasma tvs, multiple xboxes, PlayStations, Nintendo consoles. Got my own little preservation project going.
Some people mocked the practice of physical media, and hailed digital distribution as the Second Coming. Good thing that for the last 3 decades I filled rooms with catridges, CDs, DVDs etc and kept maintaining the equipment to use them. I still buy physical if possible, even if it's more expensive. You can keep your 6000 game-Steam libraries, they mean nothing.
Part of why my entire video game collection is physical AND I have hard copies of my favorite books, vinyl records, and movies. "I'm all digital." "It's hard not to be." = part of the problem
Clued into this a while back and is the reason I buy vinyl copies of my music these days. I still by digital copies of music , video games and movies but knowing I have to be connected online just to access what I bought has encouraged me to buy physical copies of things I truely love and want to enjoy on my terms without being patched in.
Exactly, I'm physical media only as well, the day they start doing digital only, I'm done with video games. Don't know why it took people this long to realize something that you can't actually touch doesn't belong to you 😂
Unfortunately that’s not really the case anymore. Modern discs are often just a portion of the files and a license to play the rest… a license that can be revoked just like a digital download.
I remember back in the early 2000s when all the piracy talk was being spurred on and many people didn't have legitimate ways to access some of their favorite media.
I've got over 2000 CDs of music and probably 500-600 DVDs/Blu-ray disc for movies and shows. I won't sell, because I knew this would happen. Try to find an old movie you like on streaming services, and quickly find out how they monetized it to the point of pure greed. As long as I've got a CD and DVD player, I'm good.
Lucy, Tam... maybe I'm biased but you guys are consistently the coolest, most refined and well thought out voices in the industry and it's always refreshing to hear the topics you're passionate about. thanks, kids!
And this why it’s best to buy the game on disc (while it’s still available). I knew this was coming when they started removing the disk drives from laptops and started doing this with consoles.
Yeah but the disc is just a hyperlink to install the game from a server for anything from the last decade, maybe more. The disc is nothing more than a key to access the download, additionally you won't be able to access any patches, which are usually kinda important..
Been saying for years digital only isn't smart so I'm just waiting for it because then I'll stop modern gaming and start catching up on all the games i have physically that haven't played yet or finished
Any form of media is at the mercy of these evil corporations. Imagine Google one day deciding to pull the plug on TH-cam without prior warning. Highly unrealistic, but just imagine
Mixing the internet into gaming was the worst thing that could ever have happened. What came from it? Toxic online DRM and the loss of proper storytelling due to multiplayer. Not to mention games literally disappearing forever. Physical media means we can play the game we BOUGHT whenever we want to because we own it, not because Steam says we can.
For most games I truly love, I like having a physical copy - although with so many games requiring massive downloads and online-only even if you do own the disc, it’s still dicey. So what happens if/when the online features of the game are no longer supported? That said, nothing can take away the Mass Effect steel book Jennifer Hale signed for me at this years emerald city Comic-Con. Priceless.
Buy hard copies of games that have offline modes. Make sure that those copies are as close to playable out of the box as possible so as to not need a day one patch. Stop buying digital and paying full price.
I've been a gamer for 30 years, incredibly grateful and fortunate to have started off with the Genesis/Master System, so I'd like to think I hold some credence in saying this is an incredibly entitled position to take. Developers have *zero* obligation to their customers to continue an old product and keep it alive for "historical purposes". This shift to digital was always going to be a result of technology evolving and we have very little right/claim to complain about it, especially when we can also (shamelessly) proclaim how convenient and easy it is now to just download a game we want
I agree. Preservation of my games is my responsibility I feel. Nothing lasts forever. Making companies foot the bill for preserving goods sets a dangerous precedent. That’s why I take good care of all my physical goods. Never trading my collection for an all digital future. The day that arrives is the end of present gaming for me.
@@NostraSamus and it's as simple as that man. Until things go full digital (and I do rue that day as a pure physical copy collector), we still have full agency to buy whatever games we want. Older games are understandably going to cost more but that's simply the cost of being a collector. I don't fully support developers yanking games completely from servers but I understand they have no obligation to serve us once they've moved on to a new product
Unless it’s only digitally available or a game I already own I will ALWAYS buy physical media. Have all my games all the way back to the SNES and I won’t change that
for modern games we need laws that if a game has to connect to servers in order to even play, especially single player games, that when they turn off the servers they have to patch it first to still make it playable without those servers. and if its multiplayer it has to be patched to allow private servers when they turn the servers off
Games media is partially responsible for this. During the 360/wii/ps3 generation we all invested in digital libraries assuming they would carry over. It was unfathomable that digital ps1 classics wouldn’t work on ps4. But they didn’t and it was never brought up by the people who had enough access to be able to confront the console makers to their face. I kept waiting for articles explaining why this was the case and they were never written. They were never even asked in interviews or podcasts. Kudos to Microsoft at least.
Many Xbox games did carry over, but 360 Arcade largely speaking disappeared. A fun fact though: you can STILL buy some 360 games and have them carry over to recent consoles (One/Series). I've done it with Mortal Kombat 9 and Jet Set Radio for instance. If you've bought a game digitally in the past, you may still be able to download and enjoy it today.
Microsoft did a remarkable job with back compatibility, and for two generations now, Sony has totally steamrolled them. Instead people have been tripping over themselves to buy remakes to The Last of Us, Dead Space, Resident Evil 4. Money voted and preservation in the console space lost.
A way more recent game I was surprised I HAD to pirate if I wanted to play it (on PC, not sure about consoles) was Mortal Kombat 9. For some reason, that game is just not available for purchase on Steam anymore and it's quite puzzling. And with the amount of online-only games that have appeared in recent years, I wonder what's going to happen with most people's libraries in the near future.
The worst is probably, the xbox eco system - most games are download only and nothing but cd keys on discs. Lets say your xbox goes in for a repair in 15-20 years and it comes back in factory reset state - you might not be able to connecr to the internet to even sign in on the console let alone download games from there servers again.
Well that's why I still rock it old school style, disc all the way. Haven't bought a digital game in over 2 years. I can pop any disc into my console (offline) and just play it anytime I want. Just yesterday I finished the entire God of War saga on PS3, pure bliss man. And I just flat out refuse to buy these games nowadays that come out half on the disc, and half download. I'd rather just skip it entirely than waste my money on a product I only own 50% of.
Getting into retro gaming is also really expensive currently. SNES and GameCube games are EXPENSIVE. Even PS2 games that couldn’t be given away are running for like $20. No wonder people turn to piracy.
Ive been playing games since the 80's. Its terrible how many games from 20 years ago have gone but id guess most of the games i played as a child have just disappeared completely and your not going to be able to buy and run so, so much.
We’re a little too confident in believing The Internet is a concrete foundation in gaming with the XBOX one having resorted to Internet Connections to play games only which I feel is why The Titan Towers of it all let go of the old way of creating Games, but not everyone has Great Internet and it’s why Xbox One’s Idea 💡 failed! Preservation is the way to go in Video Games!
Hey I largely agree but did the original ideas of the xbox one really fail? I mean gamepass is literally the original xbox one idea repackaged with the addition of paying a subscription for a bunch of games. It can't work without a connection, can't trade the games and requires a check-in to make sure you're subscribed. The xbox one was just too far ahead of its time and its crazy that here we are in 2023 seeing how successful it has been for Microsoft.
For the reasons mentioned toward the end of the video, physical copies aren't important, but DRM-free games are. Refuse to spend your time or money on games that disappear when their servers are turned off. That's the biggest threat to preservation right now. Overwatch 1 is gone forever for no good reason. Hyperscape and Lawbreakers may not have been good games or what the market wanted, but we should be able to boot them up and see that for ourselves at any point in the future, but we can't. As long as we put time and money into games that are online-only, we tell those companies that it's okay to keep throwing away the medium's history.
@@initial_kd I'm all for open sourcing games, and it's not even at odds with making a profit, as old Id Software games have shown, but it's a harder pill for the industry to swallow and not strictly speaking necessary for preservation.
Also they don't entice you to want to go full digital digital is never on sale You can't trade it in You can't let someone borrow it You can't resell it You can't return it once you buy it it's yours until they want to take it away. It would be different if digital games were half price because you don't own anything.
before deciding to reinstall Elden Ring on PS5, taking the console offline confirms the game does exist on the disc itself "you never owned the game" is one of the most successful gaslights of a self-fulfilling prophecy the industry wants to happen
Yes, but what does one do when games in question are server-based and once the developers pull the plug it is literally forever dead. RIP Deathgarden, you were so much frantic joy to play.
@@GeodudeSpitsFacts I don't want to pay exorbitant prices for a 20+ year old game that is no longer even sold by the publisher, they are not making money on the game anymore, they don't sell it. For example, when you buy a physical copy of Halo 2 for the original XBOX today, Microsoft does not make money, 343 does not make money, Bungie does not make money, Gamestop does not make money. I don't want to pay some nerd who buys a thousand copies to drive prices up an insane price, when I could just emulate it.
I would love to see a world where you can have access to classic games legally and cheaply. Imagine going to your local library and checking out a Super Nintendo for a week.
You still own the games if you buy physical switch games. Most of the data for them is on the cartridge with no install required unlike the other consoles for some reason.
All things published, even books that you buy as ebooks. Which is annoying. Publishers are moving towards the subscription with lame agreements that you might have access to it for a year, but if you want to keep it.. gotta pay to re-up access to it. Very prevalent in scientific publishing.
i really miss the games i used to play gta san driv3r and many others but now they tryna erase my nostalgia and other peoples childhood. this is worst thing that can happen
The problem is, companies want to reserve the rights to release anything in their decades long catalogues at any point in time in future to make money. So there's no way they'll allow copies of their IP to be out there for free/rental, when it could affect a future release. Even if there is 0.0005% of that game getting re-released.
Now when all run on license i can see this as Big problem. Look at DBD they remove dlc content that they introduce as they run out of license. If you didnt buy it at the right time, Well you will not do it now.
@@BryACamfind a source of files that you trust, and then often you can just download and play. If there’s extra steps they’re usually listed. Not gonna give you any actual links though for obvious reasons.
I have over 500 CDs, so I still own plenty of copies of licensed music. And you don't need an Internet connection to watch physical copies of movies, which I hope doesn't change.
You haven't owned games since the advent of various platforms like steam. Even the user agreement says that access is literally a lease that can be revoked at any time.
Video games preservation is more relevant to the source code then the physical media. You people seem to forget that companies do preserve their games on a company level. That´s real preservation, people may have their personal definitions of preservation, but in the end its all about the access within the source code that is worth preserving. Physical medium are not meant to last either, its just a disc with the copy of the game, not the source code. But in the end, i agree with needing to preserve video games, I hope one day we´ll see a storage facility with preserved and protected source codes archived safely and secured. But also that games remain digitally accessible for the decades to come, so something needs to be figured out that all gaming companies need to commit in order to keep games accessible and playable. Also keep in mind the licensing issues, especially music, yes of course remastered games will not use licensed music if its meant the game to be preserved, or else developers need to offer the licensing songs separately for people to buy instead. CD Projekt worked around that issue by providing their own Cyberpunk music instead of licensed music.
This is something I’ve been so bothered by lately! I wanted to get Ribbit King as a gift for someone after seeing the Game Grumps play it only to find out that it’s far too expensive to obtain and was only ever available on consoles I (and the person I wanted to get the game for) don’t have. I wanted to get back into Dr. Lunatic since it was one of the first games I enjoyed as a kid, only to find out that the original is basically unobtainable and the only available version is the “Supreme With Cheese” one that added a bunch of goofy junk that ruins the game for me personally. There was also a LEGO game I enjoyed as a kid that can’t be run on a current operating system and trying to find a way around that kind of issue is way beyond what I’m comfortable doing on a computer. I also keep wishing I could play Hunt: Showdown in its pre-release version that I originally bought, which was drastically different (and better, in my opinion) from what it is now. Using Steam to get all of my games is fairly convenient since I don’t have to go get a physical copy of the game, but it’s also annoying when Steam does it’s weekly maintenance and I can’t play any online multiplayer games during that time. It’s also concerning when Steam says my save files are at risk of damage or something because it can’t connect to its save cloud during this time, making it seem like my save files are so dependent on their servers and not on whatever I may or may not have saved on my own device.
This is exactly why I refuse to pay full price for a digital game. I wait for an awesome steam sale and pick it up for $20 or less. And I tell myself in the back of my mind you don't own this, you're renting it on a prolonged basis. This is why I still have discs from gamecube/wii/wiiU(I know) ps3/4 and all physical for switch. I have discs for pc from when physical pc games were a thing. I haven't tried getting them to run on Windows 10... Digital is convenient sure but it can be taken away from you when said company decides to remove it. Or heaven forbid they go out of business. You're outta luck.
I knew that a long time ago, streaming has its benefits of instant gratification but anything that's on a cloud system could disappear at any moment. Noone understands why I download all my movies and music....Usually my excuse to have everything on flash drives and hard drives is because I travel and I dont always have internet or wifi, so its just better I have hardcopies of everything. I did have a game on steam once, it was an WW2 RTS I forgot the name, and one day it just disappeared from my library due to legal issues. After That i knew better.
You realize that for the most part that has been the case for the last decade? If you own something you have the possibility to sell it, so everything you can't sell (like digital games) you don't really own. Also if they would shut down those portals like Steam you lose all those games. But nothing about this is new.
That's why i love the emulation community. Doing what the big companies refuse to do. Also, if there is ever a blocking of a use of product i know the amazing "preservationist" community will do a great job of making any game accessible again
I'm less about artistic preservation than I am about fairness justice. I'm of the mindset that If I buy a product like a game, cd, or movie I should be able to play this years into the future if I look after it. What's happening now is that companies are charging exorbitant amounts of money for entertainment products that will only play unless it remains profitable for them to keep a computer running. There are multiple companies that have their content embedded into a specific game and it only takes one of them to not renew a contract or have a falling out and your game is gone regardless of how much money you paid. I'll only go digital if the files are DRM free. Failing that if it doesn't come on a disc it has no value.
i definitely don't have as much stuff as many other people do, but i DO own my games and music, and I've never paid/used a streaming service like netflix. Everything i have are physical cartridges, discs, tapes and CDs. Nothing digital or needing of updates whatsoever. i will die on my hill of owning what i've spent my money on.
Remember the whole point of going digital was supposed to be cheaper with no cases, manuals and discs. Looks to me to be getting more expensive, especially with multiple “editions” of the same game. Whilst I’m complaining I’ll also say the new generation consoles has been a remake rip off so far.. and I feel like some have settled for that.. maybe I’m just in a mood lol
Laptops being too slim for cds (even chunky gaming laptops?? Crazy) is at least the excuse for steam-esque online only pc games but the moment you needed to be online for practically whole game updates for console games???? Ridiculous
Never buy digital if there is a physical alternative. I always buy physical discs of movies and CD's. I am very angry at how the gaming industry has managed to pretty much force everyone into a digital ecosystem (even for those who DO buy the physical disc due to enormouse day 1 patches because so many games are broken at release). This is where champions of ownership like GOG come in. it may be digital but you can download the installer files for back up and play off-line. Granted MP may be off-limits after a while if companies turn off their servers but at least you still have the product you paid for. I do also thin that if companies turn off MP servers that they should patch the game prior to this so that they can support private user servers. props to CD projekt Red for keeping GOG going. Digital is convenient (if you have a decent internet connection) but thats it. People are lazy and big corps know this. Everythig is sold to you as convenience (and this is not tin foil hat territory). With digital, if you read the EULA/small print, you will see that you dont own the game but are licensing its use. they can switch anything digital off and deny access at the flick of a switch. This is why it is vital that we do not move to digital programmable currency. This means not only can they see and track every penny/cent you spend but what you spend it on and even dictate what you can spend it on and to what degree. Maybe they decide you shouldnt have access to your money becayse you have done something they dont approve of? say goodbye to freedom.
Nice to see someone mention Metal Gear Ac!d! One of my favorite entries in the franchise, and Konami seems determined to erase 1 and 2 from history for some reason.
We really going to feel it when all games go digital and all we are allowed to purchase is the super deluxe version that costs 100 bucks, five years after its release.
We need laws stating that companies cannot revoke access to a digital purchase without issuing a full refund for that purchase. That would go a long way toward fostering the preservation of digital content.
A while back, I discovered that an anime series I had purchased had been wiped from Google Play. I could no longer access it, and customer service flatly refused to issue me a refund. That shouldn't be allowed. It amounts to theft. It would be like buying something from Best Buy only to have a Best Buy employee walk into your home months later and take back what you purchased with no offer of compensation.
As far as I know this is the case in Europe, yet corporations doesn't seem to care.
I'm older so I grew up with VHS and DVDs and CD and cassette tapes. It was like badge of Honor for your friends to come over and see your collection of games music tapes and so on.
It was always hype when the game case, or vhs tape came out the backpack. One time I got a boost of dbz movies. When I played coolers revenge for my friends they was hooked. I let one borrow it for a while. His sister was so mad cause it was all he'd watch.
the 2023 version of this is flexing with your media server
@@axt2exactly. Scrolling through everything will make all your friends jealous.
I hear that. I still reminisce about this often…
I wish companies would care more about preserving their products, rather than just letting it all disappear into the annals of history...
These fools care more about money than making their own product imagine if every drug dealer cared more about their product then selling the drugs to their own customers they would be getting high on their own Supply thank God I have a Game Exchange in my town
annals ,,,given enough time it will lucky at all to be footnotes.
Welcome to capitalism, baby.
@@alexwalters35lol Pandora Tomorrow can be played on any Xbox up to the Series X, currently. Every console Splinter Cell game is backwards compatible for Xbox Series X.
I appreciate this video as an retro game enthusiast. Preserving these games are so important. The fact that we don’t own our music, movies ect is a scary thing
I disagree. How many books from the beginning of print are still around?
Do we still care about those early books?
@@shinmigami5664 Is this sarcasm? We absolutely care about old books. The burning of the Library of Alexandria is considered one of the most catastrophic cultural losses in Western history. It arguably heralded the Dark Ages.
@@axt2 as well as saving all music and movies ever made? There are media that is being lost right now.
The books in the library you speak of, you are assuming they all are of importance. In which they are not. We are talking about all. Time also went on without that library and humans were able to move past it. So, it wasn't necessary to save that library.
@@shinmigami5664 What are you even trying to argue here? Yes, it's extremely important that we, as a species, archive our historical works in all forms of media including websites. How many Gilgamesh or Beowulf tier epics were lost when the Library of Alexandria was burnt? Where would our scientific knowledge be if it were still intact? We "moved past" Alexandria by living through the Dark Ages. I would not recommend repeating that. No offense, you sound like an edgy teen or an Activision rep.
You know what's scary?: You don't own your life. Soon it'll be over, and all you did is worked as a salve most of the time.
I literally had a problem on my xbox series x. My xbox would not load my game list. Only play the ones I had already downloaded. I have almost 400 paid games. Let me play "my" games. One of my great fears of going digital happened. It took 3 days to fix. Some people online have been having problems like this for months. MONTHS!
Well, I think an important point of clarity on that is that is an issue of DRM, not going digital. I admit the two are a bit intertwined (in no small part because of the sheer obsession of iron-grip control of IP usage by companies to the extent they would rather lose sales on an excessive DRM or lawsuits) but they are ultimately separate things. Anything that you have in some physical form (whether disc/cartridge or digital) *should* be playable, but nearly all DRM methods have mechanisms that can and do in fact fail. IMO the migration to so many online checks has actually been very harmful to us all (there are a significantly higher number of failure scenarios -- including just simply if your connection is having a bad day as most do from time to time) which is actually why I was kind of unhappy to see so many migrate to platforms that centered so strongly around it (such as Steam which used to not even have a working offline mode until very very recently and even still has severe limitations when switching to it.)
The problem in such cases is really not the switch to digital, but merely the obsessive IP usage limitations that companies insist upon along the way. If the same games had no DRM mechanisms (including in that case the console's system itself just automatically applying a universal DRM) then you could just run them any time without exception (short of hardware failure of course.)
The solution isn't a switch to physical media (which still usually has some form of DRM that can ultimately fail) but a consumer demand for companies to just calm the frick down already with this obsession of theirs on what we can do with what we paid for. I might add here that even cartridges without direct online mechanisms still sometimes have DRM methods -- methods which can sometimes fail the end-user. Nintendo had an issue a while back with illegal clone carts of various NDS games in particular (not sure if 3DS games were similarly cloned) and implemented actual cartridge blacklists in the 3DS that would get updated sometimes with firmware updates. While that could hurt the companies selling such fakes, it mostly translated to hurting the users who bought them without knowing what they were since most such companies just churned out a bunch of mass fakes, sold them off as fast as possible and then just disappeared anyway. 999 on the NDS itself even had a copy protection mechanism where the game would straight up freeze if it thought you had an illegal copy (I think it checked for read latency or something. Not sure.) It was rare to trigger on a real cartridge, but did happen. There were a few others with the same DRM mechanism, though I forget what they were. Copy protections on discs are even worse. Get a scratch in the wrong place and it can stop working (and those of us who have used discs with copy protections can tell you all too well how you can take perfect care of your disc, never touching the bottom, never setting it on an unclean surface, only just going straight from the case to the system and then back to the case still somehow results in scratches... No I don't know how it happens, it just does. Maybe dust in the drive's tray or something.) In each case the DRM is the problem, not the data storage mechanism.
That’s why you shouldn’t uninstall a game you buy for any reason whatsoever. Sure you’ll need to update your storage periodically, but your collection will be safe until you die. People who buy games just to uninstall them as soon as they’re done should never expect security in a digital marketplace.
So unfortunate that this is happening. This is why (as a personal choice) i do not by digital games or support games that are "always online". I find it odd that a developer can make a game (Diablo 4) and charge "real money" but not give me true ownership. It's like having a game with a string attached. They can take it away at anytime. If that's the case, shouldn't I also be able to recover my money? I miss the former days. I give you money; you give me a game...transaction complete!
Problem is the physical copies also work that way,the have a license and if that platform goes offline you lost the game,only way to circumvent this is trough piracy.
Not a PC player I assume
9:25
This is why I stopped playing Destiny 2. It was crushing when I realized that those 2000 hours could just disappear in the blink of an eye. Not worth the investment.
@@StoneAgeWarfare I dipped out of Destiny 2 a while back only to find out recently that my characters are just gone. I missed a window of time where players had to go through a process due to the publisher/client switch, and that, apparently, was my only opportunity to recover my characters and time. In nearly 30 years, I've never experienced something as pathetic as this. It's almost always automatic, and there is usually a backup somewhere - even in the cloud - so not everything is lost. I'm very glad I never spent real world money on it.
Thank you for highlighting this. As someone who works in the games industry, this is incredibly frustrating. Half the games I worked on are no longer accessible, either removed from app stores, offline or out of print. Building a portfolio of commercial games feels like trying to stay afloat in quicksand.
This is an aspect that I was curious about. For all the development team who work on media that is stored and accessed online, how do you include that part of your work experience in your resume/portfolio? I'm guessing screengrabs or official documentation confirming that you worked on the project has to be enough.
@@shrineguard2778 Screenshots, videos, link to the work and, rarely, linking to the credits on something like Mobygames.
I remember back in the day (Almost two decades ago) when the UK retailer Gamestation (RIP) after merging with GAME was forced to destroy literal tons of their pre owned retro games and console stock nationwide. They had an ever rotating collection of classics from the SNES era to the Dreamcast, and I'd imagine it was worth a fortune in today's market. There was a huge outcry but nothing was done. I remember rescuing a copy of Final Fantasy VII in mint condition destined for the scrapper. Video game preservation versus short sighted corporate greed, a tale as old as time crisis.
Love the Time crisis reference, hate that y’all went through that.
This is exactly why the entire gaming industry & community should be supporting full game ownership (which means whenever you buy a video game, physically or digitally then you should own the entire game, not the license to play it) & game preservation
Physical > digital. A digital-only market is wholly anti-consumer and it isn't spoken about nearly as much as it needs to be
Myself and many others have been saying this for years now... in particular when streaming of music and film took off. Ownership of products is important but too many sheep just don't see that.
Nope, GAMEPASS is the greatest thing happened to gaming.
@@arjun220 No its not, in fact its the main driver of "quantity over quality". That's not good for gaming anymore than Netflix is good for film.
This show is spot on. Especially on the topic of game preservation. I love it!
Do not forget the great artwork that most have done on their covers
As long as companies only treat their own games as a business expense, preservation is not going be a major concern for them. If they find out that preserving their older games suddenly makes them boat loads of money, then they will care.
I still buy Blu-ray’s, CDs and physical games, jailbreak my consoles, backup everything on multiple hard drives. Got 3 CRTs, 2 plasma tvs, multiple xboxes, PlayStations, Nintendo consoles. Got my own little preservation project going.
Some people mocked the practice of physical media, and hailed digital distribution as the Second Coming. Good thing that for the last 3 decades I filled rooms with catridges, CDs, DVDs etc and kept maintaining the equipment to use them. I still buy physical if possible, even if it's more expensive. You can keep your 6000 game-Steam libraries, they mean nothing.
but if you have a housefire then you lose everything.
People should be pushing companies to start releasing games fully on disc and hold them accountable if they don't.
Part of why my entire video game collection is physical AND I have hard copies of my favorite books, vinyl records, and movies.
"I'm all digital." "It's hard not to be." = part of the problem
Clued into this a while back and is the reason I buy vinyl copies of my music these days. I still by digital copies of music , video games and movies but knowing I have to be connected online just to access what I bought has encouraged me to buy physical copies of things I truely love and want to enjoy on my terms without being patched in.
Video game history is important, because history is important. If we don't remember our history, we are doomed to repeat it. *Gives side-eye to Gex*
they purposely do this so that history does repeat itself..its a never ending loop
Get what a classic !
If you want it forever, then you need to get a physical copy.
It's depend. GTA physical copy is still licensed.
Thank you for covering this! More people need to be aware.
Took you long enough to notice digital games aren't really yours. But well, I'm only physical, so I own my games completely.
Exactly, I'm physical media only as well, the day they start doing digital only, I'm done with video games. Don't know why it took people this long to realize something that you can't actually touch doesn't belong to you 😂
not all but ok
you 3 times the price? how smart.
Unfortunately that’s not really the case anymore. Modern discs are often just a portion of the files and a license to play the rest… a license that can be revoked just like a digital download.
@@unchpunchem8947that's not true, physical still needs to install on your console but you can play offline
Who thought digital piracy will end up providing a better user experience than if you were a legit consumer.
It’s always been the answer, what u talkin ab lol
I remember back in the early 2000s when all the piracy talk was being spurred on and many people didn't have legitimate ways to access some of their favorite media.
I've got over 2000 CDs of music and probably 500-600 DVDs/Blu-ray disc for movies and shows. I won't sell, because I knew this would happen. Try to find an old movie you like on streaming services, and quickly find out how they monetized it to the point of pure greed. As long as I've got a CD and DVD player, I'm good.
Lucy, Tam... maybe I'm biased but you guys are consistently the coolest, most refined and well thought out voices in the industry and it's always refreshing to hear the topics you're passionate about. thanks, kids!
(thanks for saying this so I could take a break from spontaneously blurting it out in the comments to all of these videos 😅)
And this why it’s best to buy the game on disc (while it’s still available). I knew this was coming when they started removing the disk drives from laptops and started doing this with consoles.
Yeah but the disc is just a hyperlink to install the game from a server for anything from the last decade, maybe more. The disc is nothing more than a key to access the download, additionally you won't be able to access any patches, which are usually kinda important..
Been saying for years digital only isn't smart so I'm just waiting for it because then I'll stop modern gaming and start catching up on all the games i have physically that haven't played yet or finished
While digital is convenient I will always go physical. Thankfully we have companies preserving games like strictly limited and limited run.
Any form of media is at the mercy of these evil corporations. Imagine Google one day deciding to pull the plug on TH-cam without prior warning. Highly unrealistic, but just imagine
I definitely own Final Fantasy 16. Loved the game so much. What a masterpiece 🤗
Getting old hardware and discs/cartridges is great; but they will degrade over time, even the best cared for pieces won't last forever
Nintendo fanboys fuming while reading this
It is frighteningly easy to rewrite history in the internet age. I'm glad there are people trying to combat it.
Mixing the internet into gaming was the worst thing that could ever have happened. What came from it? Toxic online DRM and the loss of proper storytelling due to multiplayer. Not to mention games literally disappearing forever. Physical media means we can play the game we BOUGHT whenever we want to because we own it, not because Steam says we can.
For most games I truly love, I like having a physical copy - although with so many games requiring massive downloads and online-only even if you do own the disc, it’s still dicey. So what happens if/when the online features of the game are no longer supported? That said, nothing can take away the Mass Effect steel book Jennifer Hale signed for me at this years emerald city Comic-Con. Priceless.
So in conclusion: Bring back Blu-Rays disks.
they never left
We need a better medium... small hard disk similar to switch games.
Buy hard copies of games that have offline modes. Make sure that those copies are as close to playable out of the box as possible so as to not need a day one patch. Stop buying digital and paying full price.
Whats going to happen when downloads reach 1tb? Our online infrastructure here can't support it.
Exactly 😂
Preservation is important! I wholly support this video!
I've been a gamer for 30 years, incredibly grateful and fortunate to have started off with the Genesis/Master System, so I'd like to think I hold some credence in saying this is an incredibly entitled position to take. Developers have *zero* obligation to their customers to continue an old product and keep it alive for "historical purposes". This shift to digital was always going to be a result of technology evolving and we have very little right/claim to complain about it, especially when we can also (shamelessly) proclaim how convenient and easy it is now to just download a game we want
I agree. Preservation of my games is my responsibility I feel. Nothing lasts forever. Making companies foot the bill for preserving goods sets a dangerous precedent. That’s why I take good care of all my physical goods. Never trading my collection for an all digital future. The day that arrives is the end of present gaming for me.
@@NostraSamus and it's as simple as that man. Until things go full digital (and I do rue that day as a pure physical copy collector), we still have full agency to buy whatever games we want. Older games are understandably going to cost more but that's simply the cost of being a collector. I don't fully support developers yanking games completely from servers but I understand they have no obligation to serve us once they've moved on to a new product
This is important to save gaming history. Video games must be preserved
It's why people need to stop buying digital buy and get a physical copy.
Unless it’s only digitally available or a game I already own I will ALWAYS buy physical media. Have all my games all the way back to the SNES and I won’t change that
for modern games we need laws that if a game has to connect to servers in order to even play, especially single player games, that when they turn off the servers they have to patch it first to still make it playable without those servers. and if its multiplayer it has to be patched to allow private servers when they turn the servers off
Games media is partially responsible for this. During the 360/wii/ps3 generation we all invested in digital libraries assuming they would carry over. It was unfathomable that digital ps1 classics wouldn’t work on ps4. But they didn’t and it was never brought up by the people who had enough access to be able to confront the console makers to their face. I kept waiting for articles explaining why this was the case and they were never written. They were never even asked in interviews or podcasts. Kudos to Microsoft at least.
Many Xbox games did carry over, but 360 Arcade largely speaking disappeared. A fun fact though: you can STILL buy some 360 games and have them carry over to recent consoles (One/Series). I've done it with Mortal Kombat 9 and Jet Set Radio for instance. If you've bought a game digitally in the past, you may still be able to download and enjoy it today.
@@rsolsjo ya I’ll eventually get a series x just to play my back catalog and game pass.
Microsoft did a remarkable job with back compatibility, and for two generations now, Sony has totally steamrolled them. Instead people have been tripping over themselves to buy remakes to The Last of Us, Dead Space, Resident Evil 4. Money voted and preservation in the console space lost.
A way more recent game I was surprised I HAD to pirate if I wanted to play it (on PC, not sure about consoles) was Mortal Kombat 9. For some reason, that game is just not available for purchase on Steam anymore and it's quite puzzling. And with the amount of online-only games that have appeared in recent years, I wonder what's going to happen with most people's libraries in the near future.
I still own my physical copy on ps3
Preservation will only get worse / impossible with the rise of Cloud Gaming in the near future.
loving these videos of yall just talking candidly about these things
Appreciate this convo. Hopefully it brings more attention to the issue!
The issue is when you pay for something and then they may try and take it from you
The worst is probably, the xbox eco system - most games are download only and nothing but cd keys on discs. Lets say your xbox goes in for a repair in 15-20 years and it comes back in factory reset state - you might not be able to connecr to the internet to even sign in on the console let alone download games from there servers again.
Well that's why I still rock it old school style, disc all the way. Haven't bought a digital game in over 2 years. I can pop any disc into my console (offline) and just play it anytime I want. Just yesterday I finished the entire God of War saga on PS3, pure bliss man. And I just flat out refuse to buy these games nowadays that come out half on the disc, and half download. I'd rather just skip it entirely than waste my money on a product I only own 50% of.
Great Spot On episode Guys. Great Topic. Thank you.
Getting into retro gaming is also really expensive currently. SNES and GameCube games are EXPENSIVE. Even PS2 games that couldn’t be given away are running for like $20. No wonder people turn to piracy.
Ive been playing games since the 80's. Its terrible how many games from 20 years ago have gone but id guess most of the games i played as a child have just disappeared completely and your not going to be able to buy and run so, so much.
We’re a little too confident in believing The Internet is a concrete foundation in gaming with the XBOX one having resorted to Internet Connections to play games only which I feel is why The Titan Towers of it all let go of the old way of creating Games, but not everyone has Great Internet and it’s why Xbox One’s Idea 💡 failed! Preservation is the way to go in Video Games!
Hey I largely agree but did the original ideas of the xbox one really fail? I mean gamepass is literally the original xbox one idea repackaged with the addition of paying a subscription for a bunch of games. It can't work without a connection, can't trade the games and requires a check-in to make sure you're subscribed. The xbox one was just too far ahead of its time and its crazy that here we are in 2023 seeing how successful it has been for Microsoft.
For the reasons mentioned toward the end of the video, physical copies aren't important, but DRM-free games are. Refuse to spend your time or money on games that disappear when their servers are turned off. That's the biggest threat to preservation right now. Overwatch 1 is gone forever for no good reason. Hyperscape and Lawbreakers may not have been good games or what the market wanted, but we should be able to boot them up and see that for ourselves at any point in the future, but we can't. As long as we put time and money into games that are online-only, we tell those companies that it's okay to keep throwing away the medium's history.
@@initial_kd I'm all for open sourcing games, and it's not even at odds with making a profit, as old Id Software games have shown, but it's a harder pill for the industry to swallow and not strictly speaking necessary for preservation.
Also they don't entice you to want to go full digital digital is never on sale You can't trade it in You can't let someone borrow it You can't resell it You can't return it once you buy it it's yours until they want to take it away. It would be different if digital games were half price because you don't own anything.
GameSpot has been on fire!! lately. I hope you see this comment and continue your great work!
before deciding to reinstall Elden Ring on PS5, taking the console offline confirms the game does exist on the disc itself
"you never owned the game" is one of the most successful gaslights of a self-fulfilling prophecy the industry wants to happen
This is why Emulation is so important for games.
Yes, but what does one do when games in question are server-based and once the developers pull the plug it is literally forever dead.
RIP Deathgarden, you were so much frantic joy to play.
Nope that’s why owning all the original consoles and games are important.
@@SuperCaveman16 Absurd.
Stop lying to yourself. You don't care about preserving anything. You just want things for free.
@@GeodudeSpitsFacts I don't want to pay exorbitant prices for a 20+ year old game that is no longer even sold by the publisher, they are not making money on the game anymore, they don't sell it. For example, when you buy a physical copy of Halo 2 for the original XBOX today, Microsoft does not make money, 343 does not make money, Bungie does not make money, Gamestop does not make money. I don't want to pay some nerd who buys a thousand copies to drive prices up an insane price, when I could just emulate it.
1:30 I remember when a couple of scratches would put the end to something I loved😂
I would love to see a world where you can have access to classic games legally and cheaply. Imagine going to your local library and checking out a Super Nintendo for a week.
You still own the games if you buy physical switch games. Most of the data for them is on the cartridge with no install required unlike the other consoles for some reason.
All things published, even books that you buy as ebooks. Which is annoying. Publishers are moving towards the subscription with lame agreements that you might have access to it for a year, but if you want to keep it.. gotta pay to re-up access to it. Very prevalent in scientific publishing.
This is why I still endeavor to buy physical games even today and why I stick with the 5th-8th console generations.
I'm glad major gaming executives like Tamoor Hussain finally care about video game preservation
Which is why my main preference for games are hard copy....I do have my downloaded games saved to an external hard drive though.
Yes to gaming preservation
i really miss the games i used to play gta san driv3r and many others but now they tryna erase my nostalgia and other peoples childhood. this is worst thing that can happen
The problem is, companies want to reserve the rights to release anything in their decades long catalogues at any point in time in future to make money. So there's no way they'll allow copies of their IP to be out there for free/rental, when it could affect a future release. Even if there is 0.0005% of that game getting re-released.
The sad truth is that only the pirates can be relied upon to archive absolutely everything.
Now when all run on license i can see this as Big problem. Look at DBD they remove dlc content that they introduce as they run out of license. If you didnt buy it at the right time, Well you will not do it now.
...that's why I pirate them! 🤣
How in the world do you pirate games? I know it's possible of course but how?
@@BryACamfind a source of files that you trust, and then often you can just download and play. If there’s extra steps they’re usually listed. Not gonna give you any actual links though for obvious reasons.
Ahoy
@@BryACamnice try FBI
I have over 500 CDs, so I still own plenty of copies of licensed music. And you don't need an Internet connection to watch physical copies of movies, which I hope doesn't change.
This is why I don't ever want video game systems to go full digital.
You never go full digital!
You haven't owned games since the advent of various platforms like steam. Even the user agreement says that access is literally a lease that can be revoked at any time.
Video games preservation is more relevant to the source code then the physical media.
You people seem to forget that companies do preserve their games on a company level.
That´s real preservation, people may have their personal definitions of preservation, but in the end its all about the access within the source code that is worth preserving.
Physical medium are not meant to last either, its just a disc with the copy of the game, not the source code.
But in the end, i agree with needing to preserve video games, I hope one day we´ll see a storage facility with preserved and protected source codes archived safely and secured.
But also that games remain digitally accessible for the decades to come, so something needs to be figured out that all gaming companies need to commit in order to keep games accessible and playable.
Also keep in mind the licensing issues, especially music, yes of course remastered games will not use licensed music if its meant the game to be preserved, or else developers need to offer the licensing songs separately for people to buy instead.
CD Projekt worked around that issue by providing their own Cyberpunk music instead of licensed music.
This is something I’ve been so bothered by lately!
I wanted to get Ribbit King as a gift for someone after seeing the Game Grumps play it only to find out that it’s far too expensive to obtain and was only ever available on consoles I (and the person I wanted to get the game for) don’t have.
I wanted to get back into Dr. Lunatic since it was one of the first games I enjoyed as a kid, only to find out that the original is basically unobtainable and the only available version is the “Supreme With Cheese” one that added a bunch of goofy junk that ruins the game for me personally.
There was also a LEGO game I enjoyed as a kid that can’t be run on a current operating system and trying to find a way around that kind of issue is way beyond what I’m comfortable doing on a computer.
I also keep wishing I could play Hunt: Showdown in its pre-release version that I originally bought, which was drastically different (and better, in my opinion) from what it is now.
Using Steam to get all of my games is fairly convenient since I don’t have to go get a physical copy of the game, but it’s also annoying when Steam does it’s weekly maintenance and I can’t play any online multiplayer games during that time. It’s also concerning when Steam says my save files are at risk of damage or something because it can’t connect to its save cloud during this time, making it seem like my save files are so dependent on their servers and not on whatever I may or may not have saved on my own device.
This is exactly why I refuse to pay full price for a digital game.
I wait for an awesome steam sale and pick it up for $20 or less. And I tell myself in the back of my mind you don't own this, you're renting it on a prolonged basis.
This is why I still have discs from gamecube/wii/wiiU(I know) ps3/4 and all physical for switch.
I have discs for pc from when physical pc games were a thing. I haven't tried getting them to run on Windows 10...
Digital is convenient sure but it can be taken away from you when said company decides to remove it. Or heaven forbid they go out of business. You're outta luck.
I knew that a long time ago, streaming has its benefits of instant gratification but anything that's on a cloud system could disappear at any moment. Noone understands why I download all my movies and music....Usually my excuse to have everything on flash drives and hard drives is because I travel and I dont always have internet or wifi, so its just better I have hardcopies of everything. I did have a game on steam once, it was an WW2 RTS I forgot the name, and one day it just disappeared from my library due to legal issues. After That i knew better.
All of my video games, tv shows, movies, and music are stored on hard drives that I bought and own. So they can't take anything from me.
You will own nothing, but you will be happy.
Piracy helps preserve games
Yes I just said that
very important subject. thanks for bringing it up.
i've never loved piracy this much.
I still have PT and i want to be able to play it 20 years from now
Good one! 👏
**looks at my pysyical collections**
Mmmmyeah, i do own them lol
You realize that for the most part that has been the case for the last decade? If you own something you have the possibility to sell it, so everything you can't sell (like digital games) you don't really own. Also if they would shut down those portals like Steam you lose all those games. But nothing about this is new.
when pirates are doing a better job, you can't help but thank them
That's why i love the emulation community. Doing what the big companies refuse to do. Also, if there is ever a blocking of a use of product i know the amazing "preservationist" community will do a great job of making any game accessible again
I'm less about artistic preservation than I am about fairness justice. I'm of the mindset that If I buy a product like a game, cd, or movie I should be able to play this years into the future if I look after it. What's happening now is that companies are charging exorbitant amounts of money for entertainment products that will only play unless it remains profitable for them to keep a computer running. There are multiple companies that have their content embedded into a specific game and it only takes one of them to not renew a contract or have a falling out and your game is gone regardless of how much money you paid. I'll only go digital if the files are DRM free. Failing that if it doesn't come on a disc it has no value.
i definitely don't have as much stuff as many other people do, but i DO own my games and music, and I've never paid/used a streaming service like netflix. Everything i have are physical cartridges, discs, tapes and CDs. Nothing digital or needing of updates whatsoever. i will die on my hill of owning what i've spent my money on.
Remember the whole point of going digital was supposed to be cheaper with no cases, manuals and discs. Looks to me to be getting more expensive, especially with multiple “editions” of the same game. Whilst I’m complaining I’ll also say the new generation consoles has been a remake rip off so far.. and I feel like some have settled for that.. maybe I’m just in a mood lol
This topic is so crucial for gaming and the community as a whole.......
Laptops being too slim for cds (even chunky gaming laptops?? Crazy) is at least the excuse for steam-esque online only pc games but the moment you needed to be online for practically whole game updates for console games???? Ridiculous
Never buy digital if there is a physical alternative. I always buy physical discs of movies and CD's. I am very angry at how the gaming industry has managed to pretty much force everyone into a digital ecosystem (even for those who DO buy the physical disc due to enormouse day 1 patches because so many games are broken at release). This is where champions of ownership like GOG come in. it may be digital but you can download the installer files for back up and play off-line. Granted MP may be off-limits after a while if companies turn off their servers but at least you still have the product you paid for. I do also thin that if companies turn off MP servers that they should patch the game prior to this so that they can support private user servers. props to CD projekt Red for keeping GOG going.
Digital is convenient (if you have a decent internet connection) but thats it. People are lazy and big corps know this. Everythig is sold to you as convenience (and this is not tin foil hat territory). With digital, if you read the EULA/small print, you will see that you dont own the game but are licensing its use. they can switch anything digital off and deny access at the flick of a switch. This is why it is vital that we do not move to digital programmable currency. This means not only can they see and track every penny/cent you spend but what you spend it on and even dictate what you can spend it on and to what degree. Maybe they decide you shouldnt have access to your money becayse you have done something they dont approve of? say goodbye to freedom.
I really like this show and format
Nice to see someone mention Metal Gear Ac!d! One of my favorite entries in the franchise, and Konami seems determined to erase 1 and 2 from history for some reason.
We really going to feel it when all games go digital and all we are allowed to purchase is the super deluxe version that costs 100 bucks, five years after its release.