Going fully digital - is this a faux pas for retro gamers?

[vrikkgwj]

Over the years my collection has swayed from large to small, quality to quantity. However, I'm at the point of my life where I simply don't have the time or money to have a gaming collection like I did in high school and college.

However, I still want to game, and more importantly I still want to have access to games when the spare time hits me. I can't, and won't, go full cold turkey. It's just not in my nature - even if I become 40 years old I'll need at least a Wii with a hard drive available with a dozen SNES games on it for a rainy Sunday.

Here's my dilemma: with the advance of Virtual Console and the 360 and PSN having a vast swath of games (and years that they come from), is attempting to create a small gaming library (purely digital) ok in the hardcore retro niche's eyes? I've started to ponder this because a lot of the PS1 and PS2 classics are creeping onto the PSN, and I never had a chance to play them. I just don't think it's worth it to scour eBay for them anymore when it's usually easier and cheaper to just buy it for $9.99.

Thoughts?

[Solo_Skywalker]

I would say if buying digital makes sense and works for you then that would be a good decision. Me on the other hand would rater pay the extra to have a physical copy that I actually own and can play 10, 15, 20 years down the road. Who knows how long the servers will stay up and allow you to access the content that you purchased.

[bb_hood]

I've started to ponder this because a lot of the PS1 and PS2 classics are creeping onto the PSN, and I never had a chance to play them. I just don't think it's worth it to scour eBay for them anymore when it's usually easier and cheaper to just buy it for $9.99.

Thoughts?

The Ps1 and Ps2 games offered on the psn are great deals in my opinion. Sooo many good PS1 classics are offered, and paying 5-10$ is very reasonable for games like Castlavania SOTN and FInal Fantasy 7. Many if not most expensive ps1 RPGs are available for sale as downloads at or less than 10$.

The problem I think with expensive disc games is that if they get scratched or otherwise stop working, you can no longer play the game and the money you spent on that expensive collectible is just gone.

With the playstation network, if you have a buddy you can share downloads between 2 users. Me and my brother do this, when I got my ps3 a year and a half ago I was able to download all the stuff he had purchased for free, which seriously amounted to over 600$ worth of content. Now when something new comes out we just split the cost and we both will get the game on our own consoles.

With the Wii-U you cannot do this, I have read the downloads purchased are locked onto the system they are downloaded to. If your system breaks or you sell your system the games you bought are gone. With the ps3 you can download games you purchased as many times as you want.

[rob black]

build a pc just for emulation. :)

[ApolloBoy]

What about flash carts?

[marlowe221]

The simple fact is that digital is the future of retro gaming.

There, I said it.

I don't know when it will happen. It may be that no one on this board lives to see it. But there will come a day when the last NES utters its last gasp and dies (capacitor death I suppose?). Nothing lasts forever.

When that happens will people just forget the NES (or whatever system) and never play any of its games again? Of course not!

That's why I'm a fan of Virtual Consoles and emulation. Sure, there are some IP legalities to be sorted out down the line but it seems fairly certain that, ultimately, digital formats of some kind will be the primary means of preservation of the by-gone days of gaming.

When will it happen? Ask the Mayans.... ;)

[vrikkgwj]

build a pc just for emulation. :)

Have one - but I'd like to still buy games from the publishers themselves if possible.

[o.pwuaioc]

The simple fact is that digital is the future of retro gaming.

There, I said it.

I don't know when it will happen. It may be that no one on this board lives to see it. But there will come a day when the last NES utters its last gasp and dies (capacitor death I suppose?). Nothing lasts forever.

When that happens will people just forget the NES (or whatever system) and never play any of its games again? Of course not!

That's why I'm a fan of Virtual Consoles and emulation. Sure, there are some IP legalities to be sorted out down the line but it seems fairly certain that, ultimately, digital formats of some kind will be the primary means of preservation of the by-gone days of gaming.

When will it happen? Ask the Mayans.... ;)
Let the kids have the digital stuff then! I on the other hand will continue to enjoy my records, my books, and my video game cartridges. Whether anyone else wants to go digital is up to them. If I *were* to go digital, I wouldn't spend a dime on retro stuff on the VC/PSN, since that stuff is easily found in ROM/ISO format, and they lack much of what I want anyway.

[Edmond Dantes]

I don't know when it will happen. It may be that no one on this board lives to see it. But there will come a day when the last NES utters its last gasp and dies (capacitor death I suppose?). Nothing lasts forever.

My NES will never ever die.

[Aussie2B]

While I'm all about physical games myself, I'd say do whatever you want to do. Any retro gamer/collector who would look down on you for going digital is an ass and not worth paying attention to. And good for you for wanting to do it the legal way. I'm not much into emulating games myself (like I said, I want physical games), and while I don't think there's anything really wrong with emulating old games, it's always nice to see people support the publishers. And then you can actually lay some claim to your collection, having paid for it. The only time I have a problem with gamers going all digital with their retro games is when they brag about their "collection" of ROMs. That always makes me roll my eyes. So you downloaded a torrent for full ROM sets for NES, SNES, Genesis, etc., whoopty-freakin'-doo.

[Ed Oscuro]

Digital is nice, but it's not the same. Also, so far there aren't really good options for lightgun gaming, especially if you want to use original systems.

But really it does come down to what you want. To just play games you don't need anything more than emulation, really, and the keyboard + mouse combo will more or less play most games well (the only really notable exceptions being games with controls like steering wheels, analog thrust sticks, and rotary controls).

[Griking]

build a pc just for emulation. :)

and Steam

[Polygon]

Personally, I can't stand the digital distribution model. You don't own any of that media. They can take it away any time they deem fit. Even if that isn't an issue, one day the servers will go away and so will your game. Nope, it's physical copies for me or nothing and that not just with games.

[vrikkgwj]

Physical games won't last forever either. There's always chip rot, bit rot, etc...

Plus, saying that Steam and the other digital distribution platforms will one day take all your games away when they go down is a little much since no one really knows what the companies will do. I imagine that they will give players ample time to prepare if there's a Dooms Day clock.

[Ed Oscuro]

Physical games won't last forever either. There's always chip rot, bit rot, etc...
Way overstated, especially in the case of games that use Mask ROM. You might need to replace capacitors and maybe even some finicky components like RAMs but it's not impossible to keep them going with some ingenuity.


Plus, saying that Steam and the other digital distribution platforms will one day take all your games away when they go down is a little much since no one really knows what the companies will do. I imagine that they will give players ample time to prepare if there's a Dooms Day clock.
I don't think that's really overstating things much. You can't seriously believe that the average gamer has the skills to strip the DRM out of games in the case of a Steam shutdown. I do like Steam, but Good Old Games is the superior service as far as user-friendliness and long-term play goes, since you get the original thing without DRM. In the case of a Steam shutdown, I think there's an understanding that many titles will have DRM stripped from them - Valve ones that is. Anything from third parties would be up to whoever owns the rights. And then again, they could just say "well, hope you enjoyed the years of free service, but we owe yas nothin."

[Dr. BaconStein]

I don't see why one can't just have both... Lately I emulate games on my JXD S5110 but I still have a soft spot for physical carts and clone consoles as the cart-based systems are what got me back into old games in the first place. Now I realize that one can't really replace the other and they're basically totally different beasts.

I'm probably more interested in the hardware side of gaming these days so I've been jumping from console to console since around 2010, mostly clones. Physical carts are becoming more expensive but hold more sentimental/collector value. Digital is quick and cost-effective but can't really replace the sentimental value of a physical cart.

In the end I guess it really depends on what you value more.

[Polygon]

Way overstated, especially in the case of games that use Mask ROM. You might need to replace capacitors and maybe even some finicky components like RAMs but it's not impossible to keep them going with some ingenuity.

Exactly!

I can make my physical copies last as long as I do.



I don't think that's really overstating things much. You can't seriously believe that the average gamer has the skills to strip the DRM out of games in the case of a Steam shutdown. I do like Steam, but Good Old Games is the superior service as far as user-friendliness and long-term play goes, since you get the original thing without DRM. In the case of a Steam shutdown, I think there's an understanding that many titles will have DRM stripped from them - Valve ones that is. Anything from third parties would be up to whoever owns the rights. And then again, they could just say "well, hope you enjoyed the years of free service, but we owe yas nothin."

Yep, I agree completely. While I haven't seen this happen with games yet, I have seen it happen with other modes of media. Apple has clearly stated that anything you buy in the iStore isn't yours and that you're simply borrowing it. Amazon has said the same thing about the media they offer. Both have taken revoked a user's right to use ANY of their media. While it hasn't happened in the video game industry, I wouldn't put it past ANY company. Sorry, I just don't trust them. There have been recent talks about the fact that you won't be able to play games you bought on your PS3 on your new PS4. So, I guess we'll see. Yes, I hate the move towards digital distribution. However, I understand that's where things are going because people will sacrifice their rights for mere convenience. I find it rather sad. I was really excited to hear about the new DuckTales and Dungeons and Dragons games being announced by Capcom. I know damn well they won't be physical releases and that makes me very sad.

[BlastProcessing402]

Personally, I can't stand the digital distribution model. You don't own any of that media. They can take it away any time they deem fit. Even if that isn't an issue, one day the servers will go away and so will your game. Nope, it's physical copies for me or nothing and that not just with games.

Exactly.

And to anyone who thinks the servers will never go away, it's happened with digital music services before.

[Zing]

If you asked gamers 20 years ago if pure digital games were ideal, you would likely get few complaints. Games without the financial overhead of physical goods would have been a dream come true, with no barrier of entry for developers, no need for middlemen such as publishers or distributors, low consumer prices, and the ability to archive the games for eternity. Somehow, modern gamers have allowed the worst aspects of retail to be integrated with our digital games, with the added potential to permanently lose access to these games via DRM at literally any moment, for something as slight as a perceived EULA breach.

No thanks.