End-Gen Games: To Buy or Not To Buy

[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.

It's certainly possible to collect things digitally.

In my opinion, I don't consider that collecting. I like hunting down physical copies in the wild, playing games on their original hardware, and having a box, manual, original inserts, etc to go with a game. Downloading games just doesn't have the same charm and never will. People that like to play games will download them, people that like to collect games will want the real thing.

[samsonlonghair]

You're lucky Bone. I haven't been so fortunate with old floppies.

I had a set of thirteen floppy diskettes for installing Windows 95. These were all stored in a cool dry place and looked fine. The first twelve floppies loaded perfectly; the thirteenth was unreadable. That was a big waste of time.

By the way, someone in my tech department told me that Windows NT 3.1 came on twenty-two floppies. Could you imagine properly loading twenty-one floppies just to fail on the last one?

On the other hand, old CD-ROMs seem to hold up well (provided there are no deep scratches) over the years.

[dsheinem]

It's certainly possible to collect things digitally.

In my opinion, I don't consider that collecting. I like hunting down physical copies in the wild, playing games on their original hardware, and having a box, manual, original inserts, etc to go with a game. Downloading games just doesn't have the same charm and never will. People that like to play games will download them, people that like to collect games will want the real thing.

Regardless of your opinion of what the "real thing" is, acquiring a digital game library is still an example of collecting games. It can, in fact, be just as challenging and rewarding to do it well as is the process of collecting physical copies. There's plenty of limited time or special condition DLC that requires close, constant attention to digital marketplaces to acquire, there's all kinds of considerations for backing up and preserving a collection, there are digital goods which fluctuate in value dramatically, etc. I'm more a physical collector myself, but there's no reason to demean digital collectors as somehow "beneath" your own preferred way of collecting games.

[Retrogamer0001]

It's certainly possible to collect things digitally.

In my opinion, I don't consider that collecting. I like hunting down physical copies in the wild, playing games on their original hardware, and having a box, manual, original inserts, etc to go with a game. Downloading games just doesn't have the same charm and never will. People that like to play games will download them, people that like to collect games will want the real thing.

Regardless of your opinion of what the "real thing" is, acquiring a digital game library is still an example of collecting games. It can, in fact, be just as challenging and rewarding to do it well as is the process of collecting physical copies. There's plenty of limited time or special condition DLC that requires close, constant attention to digital marketplaces to acquire, there's all kinds of considerations for backing up and preserving a collection, there are digital goods which fluctuate in value dramatically, etc. I'm more a physical collector myself, but there's no reason to demean digital collectors as somehow "beneath" your own preferred way of collecting games.

Thanks for the douchey response. I'm not sure where I stated in my earlier post about anyone being "beneath" me in anything at all, but I do remember stating my opinion. I'm very sure that my definition of collecting is quite different from many on this site, and if people want to disagree with me, then that's fine. In my eyes, buying digital games is not an example of collecting. Don't like it? Fine, but you don't need to a jerkoff about it.

[dsheinem]

Thanks for the douchey response. I'm not sure where I stated in my earlier post about anyone being "beneath" me in anything at all, but I do remember stating my opinion. I'm very sure that my definition of collecting is quite different from many on this site, and if people want to disagree with me, then that's fine. In my eyes, buying digital games is not an example of collecting. Don't like it? Fine, but you don't need to a jerkoff about it.

You were saying that in your opinion one activity counts and one doesn't count as game collecting. Saying something is "opinion" doesn't give it a free pass to be unexamined. The fact is that both activities are definable as collecting by any traditional understanding of the term. That you have an esoteric definition that qualifies one thing as the "real thing" full of "charm" and involving the thrill of the hunt suggests physical collecting is some kind of an "authentic" experience that doesn't exist for digital collectors. I basically wanted to rebut that idea if only to suggest to you that it is a narrow view of "collecting" and to suggest you (and others who might hold similar views) might reconsider.

[Retrogamer0001]

Wondrous. Please explain to me the authenticity of "collecting" games from Steam, PSN, Live Arcade, and the VC.

[Gamerforlife]

For what it's worth, I kind of do both. I like collecting physical and still do, but with this past generation I became aware, to my dismay, of the ephemeral nature of digital content. So now I try to keep up with pre-order digital bonuses, de-listed games, and DLC for the games that appeal to me. I had to actually hit up ebay just to get a pre order code for Lollipop Chainsaw's pre-order outfits since I loved the game so much and really wanted the Ash outfit. I actually downloaded Turtle in Time Re-Shelled just because I heard it was getting de-listed even though the game didn't knock my socks off. I was actually kind of irked when I found out that I missed out on the pre order bonuses for Rain, but then I played the game for a while and kind of ended up not liking it, so it's not such a big deal

So yeah, collecting has become a dual thing for me now between physical and digital. I love getting physical limited edition copies for games I really am interested in and I still have a long term goal of collecting as many CIB Super Nintendo games as I can over the years, and I've become a collector of 3DS and Vita physical games this past year

[AppleQueso]

Wondrous. Please explain to me the authenticity of "collecting" games from Steam, PSN, Live Arcade, and the VC.

Regardless of your opinion of what the "real thing" is, acquiring a digital game library is still an example of collecting games. It can, in fact, be just as challenging and rewarding to do it well as is the process of collecting physical copies. There's plenty of limited time or special condition DLC that requires close, constant attention to digital marketplaces to acquire, there's all kinds of considerations for backing up and preserving a collection, there are digital goods which fluctuate in value dramatically, etc. I'm more a physical collector myself, but there's no reason to demean digital collectors as somehow "beneath" your own preferred way of collecting games.

He already did while you were busy flipping your shit over that last sentence.

[dsheinem]

Wondrous. Please explain to me the authenticity of "collecting" games from Steam, PSN, Live Arcade, and the VC.

Well, as I mentioned, there are some similar concerns in digital collecting as in physical collecting:

-Preservation of content that isn't easy to get again (this includes backing up files in playable form, sometimes addressing hardware concerns between models of consoles, etc.).

-Acquiring access to limited time or otherwise exclusive content. This can sometimes involve meeting particular conditions for purchase (e.g. right time and place, certain success in past playing, etc.) or navigating online marketplaces (e.g. Steam Market, WoW marketplace, etc.) with skillful aplomb.

-Building and curating a specific kind of collection for public display (via the web instead of via a shelf in your house)

-Knowing about and acquiring little known user-created content (similar to homebrew and similar in physical form).

-Getting involved in collecting communities around digital platforms (discussions of rarity of ownership, various versions of a game [e.g. pre/post patch versions], discussion of sales and other market considerations, etc.) - a lot of this would echo discussions we have here around physical collecting

That's just some - I can certainly see someone getting "into" digital collecting culture and having access to content that most people can no longer acquire legally or otherwise. Just because it doesn't appeal to you, doesn't mean that this part of the hobby doesn't have some of the same kinds of features that you associate with your own part of it.

[Retrogamer0001]

I'm sorry, I just don't see it. Call me old-fashioned, but none of that screams out "collector" to me. Whether it's nostalgia, sentiment, or just the physical aspect that I think collecting requires, I will never consider something anyone can simply download onto a computer with the push of a button to be collectible. If someone approached me and wanted to know if I was interested in seeing all the Steam games they had downloaded over the years, I would consider them gamers, not collectors.