End-Gen Games: To Buy or Not To Buy

[Gamerforlife]

Nobody ever really looks at the digital side of things when talking about collecting

There are so many games that have been de-listed or in the process of being de-listed right now (Skullgirls, Marvel vs Capcom 2. Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 and its DLC, The Simpsons Arcade game, X-Men Arcade). These games will never be available again in digital form. Then you look at de-listed DLC from games like Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

Also, there's so many games that had pre-order exclusive digital content. Like the PSN version of Castle of Illusion HD and its pre-order only digital download of the original Castle of Illusion. This will never be available again.

Years from now, do hard drives with this stuff on them become valuable on ebay or craigslist? Or do we all end up turning towards piracy to get this stuff? The limited time digital content is one of the rather annoying trends of this past generation

I don't look forward to an all digital future

[Retrogamer0001]

Nobody ever really looks at the digital side of things when talking about collecting

There are so many games that have been de-listed or in the process of being de-listed right now (Skullgirls, Marvel vs Capcom 2. Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 and its DLC, The Simpsons Arcade game, X-Men Arcade). These games will never be available again in digital form. Then you look at de-listed DLC from games like Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

Also, there's so many games that had pre-order exclusive digital content. Like the PSN version of Castle of Illusion HD and its pre-order only digital download of the original Castle of Illusion. This will never be available again.

Years from now, do hard drives with this stuff on them become valuable on ebay or craigslist? Or do we all end up turning towards piracy to get this stuff? The limited time digital content is one of the rather annoying trends of this past generation

I don't look forward to an all digital future

I think the general attitude is that once something has been digitized once, there really isn't any reason it can't be released again in the future. I honestly don't see why MvC2 couldn't be released again on PS4 or XB1, especially if the demand is there. Regardless, real collectors will always want the physical copy of anything they're interested in - that's the entire point of collecting.

[dsheinem]

Nobody ever really looks at the digital side of things when talking about collecting

There are so many games that have been de-listed or in the process of being de-listed right now (Skullgirls, Marvel vs Capcom 2. Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 and its DLC, The Simpsons Arcade game, X-Men Arcade). These games will never be available again in digital form. Then you look at de-listed DLC from games like Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

Also, there's so many games that had pre-order exclusive digital content. Like the PSN version of Castle of Illusion HD and its pre-order only digital download of the original Castle of Illusion. This will never be available again.

Years from now, do hard drives with this stuff on them become valuable on ebay or craigslist? Or do we all end up turning towards piracy to get this stuff? The limited time digital content is one of the rather annoying trends of this past generation

I don't look forward to an all digital future

I think the general attitude is that once something has been digitized once, there really isn't any reason it can't be released again in the future. I honestly don't see why MvC2 couldn't be released again on PS4 or XB1, especially if the demand is there. Regardless, real collectors will always want the physical copy of anything they're interested in - that's the entire point of collecting.

It's certainly possible to collect things digitally.

[Gunstar Green]

Nobody ever really looks at the digital side of things when talking about collecting

There are so many games that have been de-listed or in the process of being de-listed right now (Skullgirls, Marvel vs Capcom 2. Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 and its DLC, The Simpsons Arcade game, X-Men Arcade). These games will never be available again in digital form. Then you look at de-listed DLC from games like Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

Also, there's so many games that had pre-order exclusive digital content. Like the PSN version of Castle of Illusion HD and its pre-order only digital download of the original Castle of Illusion. This will never be available again.

Years from now, do hard drives with this stuff on them become valuable on ebay or craigslist? Or do we all end up turning towards piracy to get this stuff? The limited time digital content is one of the rather annoying trends of this past generation

I don't look forward to an all digital future

I've talked about this before, and as a gamer pack-rat it kind of terrifies me. There's a trend in media towards the ephemeral and it's not just with video games. I do wonder where it will lead years down the line when today's kids grow up and want to relive some obscure download only game that has all but disappeared.

Much of our generation has already solved the issue of revisiting their gaming past with piracy, and love or hate software piracy and emulation it at least sort of insures that the software survives in some archival form long after it stops being commercially available.

[isiolia]

I've talked about this before, and as a gamer pack-rat it kind of terrifies me. There's a trend in media towards the ephemeral and it's not just with video games. I do wonder where it will lead years down the line when today's kids grow up and want to relive some obscure download only game that has all but disappeared.

Much of our generation has already solved the issue of revisiting their gaming past with piracy, and love or hate software piracy and emulation it at least sort of insures that the software survives in some archival form long after it stops being commercially available.

I'd be inclined to say the situation is likely to be better for today's media in a few decades than stuff from the 70s or similar. More data is likely getting backed up in more places than ever before. Most of the stuff we don't have available is due to licensing, not lack of a copy. Compare that to studio master tapes being reused or the entire production run of something being sold off.

Granted, there'd probably need to be a potential to make money...but we've seen plenty of compilations or mobile versions of old games.

I think the bigger thing is that more games will be a "you had to be there" thing. What a game was like when it had an active community, or had servers online at all. Some aspects of the hobby simply can't be archived on the shelf. Whether the local arcade scene or a particular era of an MMO.

[AppleQueso]

Nobody ever really looks at the digital side of things when talking about collecting

There are so many games that have been de-listed or in the process of being de-listed right now (Skullgirls, Marvel vs Capcom 2. Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 and its DLC, The Simpsons Arcade game, X-Men Arcade). These games will never be available again in digital form.

Skullgirls isn't being delisted. There will be some downtime because Konami basically pulled the rug out from under them, but it's coming right back. That's straight from the developer.

[Valkyrie-Favor]

If kept in good condition, your disk games will outlive you. But I wonder how much longer your 2600 cartridges will keep working?

Many old PC games have been lost to floppy rot, and many more were only saved accidentally through piracy. Carts are more reliable than floppies, but their lifespan is limited and I think they older ones will start deteriorating soon. PSN downloads just may outlast them.

Copy...copy...copy...

That's the only way to prolong a game's existence.

[Zing]

I have no opinion on the topic, but I just couldn't believe that the Metal Gear box cover shown in the first post actually proclaims "92+ metacritic". I have to wonder who these publishers believe is their audience. With oddities like that, it makes me feel that some of these games being published are just made by a group of people within the company desperately trying to make themselves look busy so they can keep their job.

[BoneSnapDeez]

If kept in good condition, your disk games will outlive you. But I wonder how much longer your 2600 cartridges will keep working?

Many old PC games have been lost to floppy rot, and many more were only saved accidentally through piracy. Carts are more reliable than floppies, but their lifespan is limited and I think they older ones will start deteriorating soon. PSN downloads just may outlast them.

Copy...copy...copy...

That's the only way to prolong a game's existence.

Games are more durable than we think.

In the case of floppy disks - every game that was working when I got it still works.

I have acquired some dead disks but it's always the same old story from the previous owner: "these were stored in the (wet, damp, humid, mildewy) garage/basement since 1988......"

[isiolia]

I have no opinion on the topic, but I just couldn't believe that the Metal Gear box cover shown in the first post actually proclaims "92+ metacritic". I have to wonder who these publishers believe is their audience. With oddities like that, it makes me feel that some of these games being published are just made by a group of people within the company desperately trying to make themselves look busy so they can keep their job.

How is that odd? It's not uncommon for most types of media to list accolades, awards, film deals, or whatever else on the cover. It's marketing. Companies are going to release, and rerelease, games that sell and make them money.

In addition to being (another) nice MGS compilation, the Legacy Collection is probably there as part of the marketing for MGSV (at least), if not to benefit from it as well. Plus 2013 was the 15th anniversary for MGS.

I doubt the decision to release it was desperate at all. Seems pretty par for the course.

Games are more durable than we think.

In the case of floppy disks - every game that was working when I got it still works.

I have acquired some dead disks but it's always the same old story from the previous owner: "these were stored in the (wet, damp, humid, mildewy) garage/basement since 1988......"

Still not that hard for 'em to go bad, and at that point additional copies are the solution. A modern title is being mirrored to a number of servers, probably included in daily backups, and being downloaded thousands or even millions of times. Chances are, that'll result in a copy surviving more readily than if it required finding one of 50,000 six-disk sets ever sold, complete and undamaged.