Despite the title, bear with me, this is a topic for classic gamers. Strictly modern gamers couldn't appreciate, or perhaps even understand, this concept and the threat to classic gaming for our children and future generations. I reference Xbox One merely as an example in order to present the issue. .. Anyway:

These days, I don't care much about new games and systems. I've grown out of it and don't have time to play 30-hour games anymore. But I still care about retro/classic gaming... so I am concerned about "the future of retro gaming" and whether Xbox One (and other new consoles) will spell the end of retro gaming as we know it for future generations of "retro gamers".

At this very moment, we think of systems like Atari 2600 and Sega Genesis as the past-- systems of a bygone era -- and systems like Xbox One and PS4 as the future of gaming. When we were kids, we played Atari, Sega, etc. Now we collect for those systems and others consoles from our youth because, almost invariably, nostalgia is the #1 driving factor in retro gaming.

And, at this very same moment, there are millions of 5-15 year old boys (and girls) in America eagerly anticipating the launch of Xbox One and other future consoles. One day those same boys will be 20-35 year old men-- and they won't care about our Atari 2600s and Super Nintendos... instead, they will long to relive the days when they rushed home from school to play their Xbox One with their friends. Although we don't often look at it that way, fact is that someday Xbox One will be the past -- a system from a bygone era. A classic system, only available on ebay. But, the question is, when they're 30 and when our children are 30, will they be able to relive their gaming memories in the same way we can today?

Or will the Xbox One and similar digital distribution models end retro gaming as we know it? As many of you know, the Xbox One will require games to be linked to your Xbox Live account; you must own the "license" to use the game. And while shops like Gamestop can re-sell the used games through a special deal with Microsoft, we likely will no longer be able to sell used games privately amongst ourselves (i.e., the used game won't work if you sell or give it to a friend). I don't like that at all, but I guess I can live with it for the next several years.... BUT... what happens when the lights go out?.. when Microsoft closes up shop on the Xbox One and Gamespot takes the games off their shelves? We know by now that these online-based games and systems don't get supported forever-- someday the Xbox One servers will go down. Do all the games go down with it? Will an Xbox One game sold on ebay 15, 20 or 30 years from now be useable at all, or will it be nothing more than a showpiece? In other words, will the Xbox One literally cease to exist, games and all, once Microsoft pulls the plug? And even if this doesn't happen with Xbox One, isn't it inevitable that someday the digital distribution model will kill retro gaming for this very same reason? Downloaded games don't last forever like a physical disc. So, with the birth of the next generation of consoles, does it spell the death of our hobby for the next generation of gamers?