Game preservationists say Switch2 GameKey Cards are disheartening but inevitable
videogameschronicle.com
Game preservationists say Switch2 GameKey Cards are disheartening but inevitable
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Re: Game preservationists say Switch2 GameKey Cards are disheartening but inevitable
#2I can play all the on disk ps3 games I own, the downloadable ones are dust on the wind.
Re: Game preservationists say Switch2 GameKey Cards are disheartening but inevitable
#3With physical games, you're tied to how long your console and cartridge physically last.
With digital games, you're tied to how long the console's e-store lasts, which is guaranteed to be sunset.
Eventually I couldn't justify buying the console version of a game that I was willing to play on Steam.
Re: Game preservationists say Switch2 GameKey Cards are disheartening but inevitable
#4The article already touches on this, but in the modern day the games that exist on physical media are pretty much useless without their zero-day patches. Putting physical media aside, companies rarely make older builds available, so even when media contains a game and servers are up there is already plenty of ‘lost media’ if you consider old and interesting (potentially hilariously broken) old builds of virtually every game.
I’ve realized this at some point, but video games are ephemeral and should really be enjoyed in the now. Even if you can perfectly preserve a game, and the means to play it, tastes change so quickly in gaming that a game that’s fun today might not be enjoyable even a year later.
Re: Game preservationists say Switch2 GameKey Cards are disheartening but inevitable
#5With physical games, you're tied to how long your console and cartridge physically last. With digital games, you're tied to how long the console's e-store lasts, which is guaranteed to be sunset. Eventually I couldn't justify buying the console version of a game that I was willing to play on Steam.
> Eventually I couldn't justify buying the console version of a game that I was willing to play on Steam.
I do that too but doesn't the same rule apply to Steam, too? (that is if it goes down, you can't download the games anymore?).
Re: Game preservationists say Switch2 GameKey Cards are disheartening but inevitable
#6In the computer games industry pretty much everything has been download only for some time as the assets are too large for DVD and BD never caught on for PC. Places like GOG provide unrestricted offline installers but the majority are provided via a storefront like Epic or Steam.
The worst case scenario for preservationists is for games to become a streaming service via cloud gaming, which publishers may like since it pretty much prevents piracy and allows them to charge a monthly fee rather than a one time license fee. For movies and music streaming exclusives aren't a new thing and improvements in network latency and bandwidth are making game streaming more and more viable.
Re: Game preservationists say Switch2 GameKey Cards are disheartening but inevitable
#7I think it's silly that the conversation on preserving games revolves around hardware. The hardware is irrelevant. It's about the right to create digital backup for personal use. Whether the game is downloaded or burned on a disc, it's just software.
The main problem used to be about piracy, but I think now it's really about making games as a service (even if they're not online for gameplay) because it allows more forms of monetization. The conversation should be about making games into a digital product that you can download and own the files. Piracy still happens anyway, and maybe this could make companies solve the problem differently, like only allowing digital backup for trusted players.
Re: Game preservationists say Switch2 GameKey Cards are disheartening but inevitable
#8With physical games, you're tied to how long your console and cartridge physically last. With digital games, you're tied to how long the console's e-store lasts, which is guaranteed to be sunset. Eventually I couldn't justify buying the console version of a game that I was willing to play on Steam.
> Eventually I couldn't justify buying the console version of a game that I was willing to play on Steam. I do that too but doesn't the same rule apply to Steam, too? (that is if it goes down, you can't download the games anymore?).
Steam is always given an exception in these conversations because they’ve generally behaved - but that can easily change overnight from a black swan event.
Re: Game preservationists say Switch2 GameKey Cards are disheartening but inevitable
#9The article already touches on this, but in the modern day the games that exist on physical media are pretty much useless without their zero-day patches. Putting physical media aside, companies rarely make older builds available, so even when media contains a game and servers are up there is already plenty of ‘lost media’ if you consider old and interesting (potentially hilariously broken) old builds of virtually eve…
No real offense intended, because I understand the feeling here, but this...
> I’ve realized this at some point, but video games are ephemeral and should really be enjoyed in the now. Even if you can perfectly preserve a game, and the means to play it, tastes change so quickly in gaming that a game that’s fun today might not be enjoyable even a year later.
This is horseshit.
It's a defeatist attitude, and it's not reflective of reality. Yes - some things go out of fashion for a while, but trends almost always cycle back. You might think something is out of style right now, (and that's fine) but to be facetious: One man's trash is another man's treasure.
Re: Game preservationists say Switch2 GameKey Cards are disheartening but inevitable
#10With physical games, you're tied to how long your console and cartridge physically last. With digital games, you're tied to how long the console's e-store lasts, which is guaranteed to be sunset. Eventually I couldn't justify buying the console version of a game that I was willing to play on Steam.
With pirated games, you can play them forever.
There already exist games which you can (illegally) play today only because they were archived by pirates. However with the consoles' security getting better, piracy not being as widespread as back in the day and the industry not being interested in game preservation it's also a matter of time before we start permanently losing games again.