After you beat a physical game, do you...

[Exhuminator]

I got my copy two weeks ago for $30. Thanks Amazon.

I should mention the copy I sold was in 100% mint condition.

I won't even tell you guys what I got for Melee. It will only hurt feelings.

[touchofkiel]

Of course with digital games you don't really get much of a choice so a huge portion of the games I own are stuck with me until they get delisted by the publisher in 5 years.

The nice thing about GOG is that even when the games are delisted from the store, you keep your access to them if you had purchased them previously. I thankfully still have the Descent trilogy and the likes of XIII on my account thanks to this.

As for me, I tend not to sell games I've acquired, though recently I've begun looking into it and sold some Saturn titles to noise. But the reason for this isn't actually because I want to hoard the games. It's actually that I hate going to the post office.

Which services actually remove them from your library? Besides a few instances of PSN doing it, I can't recall losing access to a digital game I paid for.

I'm curious, what games have you lost access to? All I know of recently is the Silent Hills demo - but then again, that was just a demo that wasn't accessible anywhere else anyway.

I believe I've lost access to some 360 games I got from XBL Arcade way back in 06/07. They were mostly Midway games, after they folded. I could access them but some weren't able to download. I dunno, I didn't care much when I last tried it in '13 (the 360 has since died on me and I have zero interest in replacing it).

side note: not only are GoG games kept in your account, but in case something ever happened to the site itself, you can download all of them (with the goodies) and keep them stored yourself. very awesome.

I'm a big digital guy myself, actually... though I'll buy the retail version if it's (up to) $10 more expensive. But I live in Japan, and buying US games is not very cheap... so digital is better for me all around.

As for physical games, I keep them after beating them these days. Just in case I want to play it again, mostly. I used to sell many of them though - back in the PS2/school days, but that was mostly because I didn't have the steady income of an adult...

[Ack]

Oh, I haven't been locked out. I actually don't own any modern consoles.

The most recent example of folks getting locked out of games they purchased that I know of was Arkham Knight for Xbox Live owners. And then there are the weird PS4 issues with games being locked over license issues, such as the Restoring Licenses Error "NP-34993-8" problem...

[Tanooki]

All 3 of them are guilty of it usually over licenses or companies tired for whatever reason for serving up something. When Konami lost TMNT to Ubisoft, the game got jerked right off the Wii VC some years ago. I've seen the cases of stuff with PSN and XBL too and once it's gone it's gone if you need to get it back with a big tough shit read the EULA type feeling to it. It's why aside from GoG I call them all digital rentals/leases as you have no rights other than what they grant you for as long as they're in the mood to grant it.

GOG, licenses or not, if you bought it when active, even removed, you still can get it back out of your locker and yes obviously downloaded installers you keep so both are pluses. I think the console maker children of download games need to learn that lesson and follow it.

The only one I know of where it got ugly big time was when the 1984/Orwell rights were lost to Amazon in the earlier days of the Kindle (pre-keyboard era) and they via wifi ripped the books right off peoples kindles like real d-bags. They got sued hard, lost, and had to give anyone with a kindle a credit for another book and an apology over it plus whatever other legal damages and lawyer fees. They haven't tried that crap since.

[alienjesus]

All 3 of them are guilty of it usually over licenses or companies tired for whatever reason for serving up something. When Konami lost TMNT to Ubisoft, the game got jerked right off the Wii VC some years ago. I've seen the cases of stuff with PSN and XBL too and once it's gone it's gone if you need to get it back with a big tough shit read the EULA type feeling to it. It's why aside from GoG I call them all digital rentals/leases as you have no rights other than what they grant you for as long as they're in the mood to grant it.

GOG, licenses or not, if you bought it when active, even removed, you still can get it back out of your locker and yes obviously downloaded installers you keep so both are pluses. I think the console maker children of download games need to learn that lesson and follow it.

The only one I know of where it got ugly big time was when the 1984/Orwell rights were lost to Amazon in the earlier days of the Kindle (pre-keyboard era) and they via wifi ripped the books right off peoples kindles like real d-bags. They got sued hard, lost, and had to give anyone with a kindle a credit for another book and an apology over it plus whatever other legal damages and lawyer fees. They haven't tried that crap since.

TMNT on VC you can no longer buy, but it's downloadable if you previously purchased it. Same goes for most of those games removed from digital services.

Only examples I can think of of permanently lost content are PT and the Batman stuff mentioned earlier in this thread.

[Tanooki]

Hmm I never bought it on there when I had Wii, I just went by other people crying about it saying they lost it. They probably still had it on their system and were paranoid about erasing it and just spread the story it's toast. Figures.

I had it happen to me, Sony did it through T-Mobile years ago. I had this decent keyboard flip out phone and back when it was huge on PSP they did a handheld version for phones of Loco Roco. After about 9-12mo of ownership my phone broke, and I went and got a replacement, they said I wouldn't ahve to worry about data recovery as it would just go to the next. Loco Roco didn't, then I made a call about it, they said Sony pulled it so I lost my game as it was off the server. It's those isolated incidents that just don't make me trust digital stuff much unless I can back it up.

[TEKTORO]

I'm a little bit of everything except for a renter and hoarder. I normally collect to play (eventually) and get bit by game bugs hard, for instance I come across a system or whatever cheap then I dig more into it which leads to me wanting a bunch cause that's the mood I'm in. If I'm really impressed with something I discovered then I'm keeping it, if not no problem getting rid of it. Right now my PS1 and what's left of my Nes will probably never leave, then there's genres and specific franchises I enjoy and keep no matter what.

Once having 3000+ games at one point I can't do anymore, I like to have around 20 (top) games per system maybe 50 the most which is the case with my PS1/XB360.

[GSZX1337]

I usually keep it, but sometimes I'll sell a game right after beating it. It's kinda like a litmus test for the game in question; if it has replay value, I'll keep it, if I hate it or it has no replay value I'll sell it.

As for the other questions in the OP:

Do you think it's worth buying physical games today?

For the most part no. This is only about the 7th generation consoles since I don't have any of the new ones, so the situation might be a bit better unbeknownst to me. Most of the console games I've bought had the barest of packaging with some even having those stupid holes showing the recycling symbol. The manuals at times are even worse what with them only having a slip of glossy paper with some warranty information and an ad for something else. The ones that don't usually just have dry information that can be found out in the game itself. They lack the flavor or world-building of manuals for Donkey Kong Country or Sonic the Hedgehog 3. PC games usually consist of a disc with only a Steam installer and a slip of paper with legal information inside a cheap jewel case or DVD case.

Sure there are exceptions, but they usually come at a premium and are only worth it for a hardcore fan.

Do you think of buying games as an investment or just a hobby?

Hobby. Definitely a hobby. The only investment I'd make would be me finding a game for dirt cheap and flipping on eBay or here for a quick buck.

Is it ethical to hold on to games you've already beaten, if you never plan to play them again?

Don't give a fuck. It's my game; I can do whatever I want with it. If dudes can play Flip It or Rip It with expense Magic: the Gathering cards, I can have a game sit on my shelf 'til I die.

[Tanooki]

While I agree with your first comment above that it's mostly just not worth it to actually buy a game, there's two reasons it still does. One, YOU control your media, not them, and two they price the stuff at retail which they bank much more on not packaging/shipping something. In turn also those used games or clearance stuff you can get very cheaply as time goes on which online sales even the bests of them won't ever reflect or anything near it.

Otherwise you're right. A fold out if that for manuals 90% of the time, very flimsy cut to pieces boxes to be enviro-hippie friendly, cheap packaging in general that falls apart if you don't just toss it or store it away. It's a joke, at least with the Nintendo stuff as it's soooo feeble, at least the PS4 cases don't bend in if you pick them up. Mega Man Legacy Collection may have come with a fold out useless 'manual' but it did come with 4 cool 3" circular stickers with neat art on them and a 18 MP3 download code for various game tracks but it's not normal for a standard release anymore.




I never answered this before as I glossed over it going into the 'after' but damn I think it should be said and rudely/bluntly so to this question. "Is it ethical to hold on to games you've already beaten, if you never plan to play them again?" Anyone preaching ethics over keeping your property if you don't use it again can go straight to screwing themselves point blank end of story.

There are no ethics to buying property and using it or not. Its yours to do with as you wish. Use it, abuse it, wipe your crack with it, it's your property. There's nothing unethical about using it once and never again, it's a choice, and has no ethics tied to it. That's like asking one of those VGA backing nuts what is wrong with their ethics for putting a new game in a plastic coffin with a number on it. Don't have to like it, but it's not unethical and who is anyone to judge their ethics on that?

[Exhuminator]

So far it seems that once you buy a game, 95% of you keep it forever. That's a higher percentage than I expected. Is it the same for when you buy a DVD, CD, or book? Or is this just a video game thing?