The End of $60 Games?

[FlyinPenguin]

Eh, you can't beat a physical copy in my opinion. What happens in 10 years when they take the game off their server and you can't download it anymore?

I have like 3GB free on my 360 so I can't just leave shit on there. I have to delete things to make room for new games. As long as I have a physical copy, I know I can always play the game in the future though.

[TMRNetShark]

Eh, you can't beat a physical copy in my opinion. What happens in 10 years when they take the game off their server and you can't download it anymore?

I have like 3GB free on my 360 so I can't just leave shit on there. I have to delete things to make room for new games. As long as I have a physical copy, I know I can always play the game in the future though.

Buy a Playstation? Or stick to PC gaming?

[Havoc10K]

Well, on PC gaming all you can do is remove the local copy on steam, and you can grab it laer on, but you can still burn it on a DVD or something if you really need it, also, I think you can attach external HDD on PS3, dunno if yo ucan do it on xbox though, that shit doesn't bother me as I will not buy it ever.

[FlyinPenguin]

Eh, you can't beat a physical copy in my opinion. What happens in 10 years when they take the game off their server and you can't download it anymore?

I have like 3GB free on my 360 so I can't just leave shit on there. I have to delete things to make room for new games. As long as I have a physical copy, I know I can always play the game in the future though.

Buy a Playstation? Or stick to PC gaming?

The PS3 and Xbox both max out at 320GB. And like Microsoft, Sony isn't going to keep all games on their server indefinitely. What happens 10 years from now when your hard drive fails and you can't download the games you paid for anymore? Sure, you could mod your console and download the games from the internet, but most people aren't going to do something like that. They will be SOL.

PC gaming isn't a viable option for me except for select single player games. All my friends are console gamers so in order to play with them, I must play on a console.  I know with PC games there is always going to be a way to get a copy of a game even when the you can't get it through legitimate means. My comment was more directed towards having a digital copy of console games.

[AceHigh]

Eh, you can't beat a physical copy in my opinion. What happens in 10 years when they take the game off their server and you can't download it anymore?

Steam has been around for 9 years already so you prediction is wearing thin. We are entering information age where bandwith and storage is getting cheaper every year. Usenet servers just keep growing and they have stuff that has been there over a decade. The probability of anyone taking down games from their servers is insignificant.

Besides you will always own a cd-key, meaning that there will be alternative ways to download a game you own.

What about a physical copy then? Well, according to the longevity tests variation on DVDs is huge, everything from 2 years to over 30 depending on manufacturing process and other variables like stress (normal usage by spinning it in the optical drive), humidity and others. My point is, nothing lasts forever, your physical copies go through wear and tear as long as you use them. At least digital distribution has proper back up systems.

[FlyinPenguin]

Eh, you can't beat a physical copy in my opinion. What happens in 10 years when they take the game off their server and you can't download it anymore?

Steam has been around for 9 years already so you prediction is wearing thin. We are entering information age where bandwith and storage is getting cheaper every year. Usenet servers just keep growing and they have stuff that has been there over a decade. The probability of anyone taking down games from their servers is insignificant.

Besides you will always own a cd-key, meaning that there will be alternative ways to download a game you own.

What about a physical copy then? Well, according to the longevity tests variation on DVDs is huge, everything from 2 years to over 30 depending on manufacturing process and other variables like stress (normal usage by spinning it in the optical drive), humidity and others. My point is, nothing lasts forever, your physical copies go through wear and tear as long as you use them. At least digital distribution has proper back up systems.

Like I said in my previous post. I am talking about for consoles, not PC where everything will always be available somewhere. Xbox Live and PSN only keep games for a limited amount of time.

And as far as disc degradation, I am not too concerned. All my games are pampered. Even my PS1 games nearing 15 years in age show no signs of wear. Sure, one day they will fall apart but I may be dead by the time that happens anyway.

[Nikkoru]

In ten years I suspect you'll have nothing but digital distribution, so long as the original data is in place they can re-release the game for every next generation system. They don't make retrograde games for any previous system, and there is no guaranteeing you won't lose/damage or otherwise lose access to them. Furthermore, owning 6 or seven consoles is bound to be troublesome, particularly when you have one LCD television, but the data from those 30+ years of games on every console is out there waiting for you.

The idea behind it is so cost effective and yet simplistic that there is no reason not to carry it to its logical conclusion, just as Netflix is taking over the retail movie industry. Which leaves us with games...games everywhere.

[metro.]

Jesus so many walls of texts in this topic!

[FlyinPenguin]

In ten years I suspect you'll have nothing but digital distribution, so long as the original data is in place they can re-release the game for every next generation system. They don't make retrograde games for any previous system, and there is no guaranteeing you won't lose/damage or otherwise lose access to them. Furthermore, owning 6 or seven consoles is bound to be troublesome, particularly when you have one LCD television, but the data from those 30+ years of games on every console is out there waiting for you.

The idea behind it is so cost effective and yet simplistic that there is no reason not to carry it to its logical conclusion, just as Netflix is taking over the retail movie industry. Which leaves us with games...games everywhere.

Not all games get re-released though and I don't want re-releases on other consoles with no improvements. Sure I can buy certain xbox games for the 360 but I want it on the original Xbox. I still have my original Xbox. I don't play any Xbox games on my 360. That is why I kept my xbox. I didn't sell my PS1 when I bought my PS2 either. Having six consoles is no problem even in if you just own one HDTV provided you don't buy a cheap ass set. I have three HDMI, 2 component, 2 composite, 1 s-video, and a VGA on my HDTV. Throw in a surround sound receiver with video inputs and you can double-to tripple that. Hooking up six systems is a cakewalk.

I even kept my old SD flat screen TV just for playing old school systems like NES, SNES, and Genesis since they tend to look much better on the old tube sets than they do on a HDTV (provided you are playing on the original console).

I totally understand though, that some people just prefer the convenience of just having  one or two devices and not having a bunch of boxes/cases taking up space. I'm not trying to say digital downloads only are bad, just that they are not for me. I like having a physical copy and all my old consoles. I'm just coming from more of a collector angle. It's actually fun for me to accumulate old electronics and media. Hell, I still even have a LD player and about 100 movies. I rarely watch them, but I just like to hold onto stuff for my own collection. I"m a bit of a geek in that regard.

And Netflix is great. I love it. But it still can't match the visual and audio quality of an actual Blu-ray disc or rip.

It's funny I should be talking about not liking digital downloads because Xbox Live is having a special right now. Renew for another 6 months for $40 and get 5 games for free. The five games are Halo Reach, Fable III, Kinect Sports, Toy Soldiers, and Gunstringers. I was going to renew for another year anyway, so I might as well get some free games out of it lol. I mean, they are free so I'm not about to not download them simply because I won't have a physical copy.

[Saras]

To be honest, I don't expect your xbox to work in 10 years time.

[metro.]

To be honest, I don't expect your xbox to work in 10 years time.

It won't. They aren't made to last, they're made to be cheap to produce.

[TMRNetShark]

To be honest, I don't expect your xbox to work in 10 years time.

It won't. They aren't made to last, they're made to be cheap to produce.

I'm willing to bet dust can kill an Xbox a lot faster than it naturally dying (aka, the Disc drive failing or the harddrive).

[zherok]

I'm willing to bet dust can kill an Xbox a lot faster than it naturally dying (aka, the Disc drive failing or the harddrive).

Maybe if you weren't using it...

But if you're not using it, why leave it out to collect dust?

[metro.]

I'm willing to bet dust can kill an Xbox a lot faster than it naturally dying (aka, the Disc drive failing or the harddrive).

Maybe if you weren't using it...

But if you're not using it, why leave it out to collect dust?

You know how dust works right?

[zherok]

You know how dust works right?

Well, it's not like the 360 needed dust to be prone to heat issues.

[AceHigh]

And heatsinks that are prone to falling off. Fuck, 360 needs aftermarket coolers to do the job adequately.

[TMRNetShark]

You know how dust works right?

Well, it's not like the 360 needed dust to be prone to heat issues.

That's my point. We aren't allowed to open the cases up to de_dust them (see what I did there?)... so over time... dust will build up and then BAM... overheat.

Personally, my PS3 likes to de_dust2 every once in a while. XD

[zherok]

On a related note, there was a Kotaku article awhile back talking about the topless version of the Saboteur. The gist of the matter being that game preservation in the future isn't just an issue of maintaining media, but less physical components like DLC and service related features.

I think it's less an issue for PC games, as these things generally come in more manageable packages. But even a pristine PS3/360 years into the future is less than it is now. Compared to older consoles (even up to the CD era, really) which, so long as the hardware runs, you're pretty much set.

[metro.]

The CS references can stop anytime, they're in poor taste!

And Zherok as an owner of a old PC, I can assure you that they run into the EXACT same issues.

[FlyinPenguin]

To be honest, I don't expect your xbox to work in 10 years time.

It won't. They aren't made to last, they're made to be cheap to produce.

I'm willing to bet dust can kill an Xbox a lot faster than it naturally dying (aka, the Disc drive failing or the harddrive).

My original Xbox works great! Since it can no longer can connect to Xbox Live due to MS dropping support, I don't have to worry about it being banned so I went ahead and modified it. While my disc drive works perfectly, I no longer use it anymore. I have a 120GB hard drive in it and play games directly off it.

I haven't modified my 360 yet but once MS drops Live support and/or a method is found to hack it without MS detecting the mod and banning me, it will also be modified and the disc drive failing will no longer be an issue.

Hardware failing is not a concern for me. I almost always buy an extended warranty and by the time it runs out, it is usually pretty close to the time when I can safely modify my console before any hardware fails and not have to worry about getting banned from an online service.