Imbarkus
As Sartre noted in his contemplation on Hell in No Exit, the true horror is other members.
I like to collect physical copies of games. I'm not here to judge people who love the digital distribution services out there, and I have a few XBLA, PSN store, and Steam games myself. But, for me, I'm growing less and less comfortable with a few factors of digital distributiuon:
1) They rely on account security - Even during the life-cycle of a current console or service, your access to your "purchased" content depends on you being able to access the account. Your account gets hacked, you don't have those games. Steam offline mode only works after it authenticates periodically (right?). You may have games downloaded on your 360, or your PS3, but if that box craps out and you need to redownload, if you can't access that account, you're out of luck. We all have control over our own password security, but as more and more services become the target of hacking, we don't necessarily have any control over our account security.
2) Future access is not guaranteed - Will PS4 let you continue to play your PS3 downloaded games? Will all your Virtual Console titles transfer to Wii U? If you bought additional map packs for Halo 2 on your original Xbox, can you still download and play those on your 360 locally? See, you have no control over whether you can continue to access what you paid for. We are at the mercy of the whims of our Console makers.
3) Updates are not optional - I'd like my Michael Jackson zombie back, please.
There's more, and we could talk about this a bunch here if we like, but I'm mostly looking for GAFers with a similar outlook, so we can pool some knowledge and resources, and find ways to keep what we buy, and share them here.
----------------
I'll start: of course, when it comes to DLC, if you gotta have it on release day, you have to download it. But if you exercise some patience, or just want to rebuy to ensure future ownership, many publishers will put out a complete edition, after-the-fact, which will let you retain the whole of what they've made for the future. Often these editions will include all the bug-fix patches you would need as well. Some that I've picked up include:
You get the Shimmering Isles expansion packed in with this purchase, which made total sense to me.
The five DLC packs are all included in this package. Presumably, one if coming for New Vegas. I wish I waited! Probably will re-buy and trade-in.
Once again the DLC is bundled in. Is this coming to 360 and PS3? Nothing announced yet...
Other tips we could share here include download-only titles that eventually see a retail release, like:
As for older PC titles, instead of always turning to Steam, I have had some good luck ordering through Amazon. Often you can find a better price with republishes by Sold Out Software:
I can't tell you it will always be easy, as many of these titles aren't compatible with the latest-and-greatest OS's we are all repeatedly compelled to use. But you can often find resourceful folks on the internet who have provided patches and solutions to get old games running on current OS's. Download these patches and burn them to a disk and you know you'll have them in the future.
I ended up doing that with the Direct-to-Drive version of Manhunt 2, the only way to get ahold of the AO version:
Good thing I did, too, because apparently you can't download it there any more. My future of being able to play this is in question, however, since a unique authentication code is generated for each system you want to authenticate to play this game on, which you must then send to Direct-to-Drive to get an activation code back. It's this kind of thing that makes me wonder how I will play this game should the service die. I have the PS2 versions, but am not guaranteed access to the unedited content in the future.
Finally, as much as everyone loves Steam, I'd like to ensure we remember Good Old Games
http://gog.com
...which often will give you as good a deal as Steam does on older titles, plus guaranteed compatibility with current OS's, but also offers you a downloadable install file, which you can burn to a disk and keep as long as you want. They also offer nice goodies like soundtracks, PDFs of manuals and box art. They aren't retail, but they sure do seem to understand the concerns of guys like myself.
I have even gone the extra mile and printed or created box-art for these burned install disks.
Some resources for that include:
The Cover Project
http://www.thecoverproject.net/
This is a great site that has plenty of scanned and uploaded case inserts, as well as some custom-designed ones. The rabbit hole goes pretty deep.
http://www.supermediastore.com/category/u/cd-dvd-blu-ray-plastic-case-cases
This is a nice online site to buy DVD cases.
---------------------------
So, if you don't mind your games becoming a service, something that you can lose access to just like your cable TV if you fall on hard times and can't pay the bill, this thread won't offer you much. By all means enjoy that convenience, and I'll probably envy you the next time I move. But for me, I'm drawing a line. I'm not interested in having my sense of ownership of content I've purchased degraded, devalued, negated. I don't pirate games, I don't buy new releases for $5 cheaper pre-owned at the Gamestop. I've understood the concerns of publishers and modified me behavior to bear them in mind, to the limit I can afford and care to pursue. I'm tired of being inconvenienced.
I sometimes want to play old games. The Games Press, most web sites, this very board always keeps us focused on the newest and the latest. Weekend Confirmed is no longer interested in advising you if you Cannata afford a new game. Publishers can't even guarantee that a game can be remade because they can lose the source code.
So draw your live where you want. Me, I'm kind of pissed about Arkham City. I'm hoping for a future edition with the Catwoman content on the disk. Their move has cost them my sale, with that inconvenience, and yet a player who DOES buy it pre-owned for $5 off at Gamestop will get the code and the content. So who are these measures in place to punish? Not the pre-owned purchaser, but just collectors, like me, who want to know they can keep all the content? Enough.
Please post your suggestions for:
1) "Complete" editions of games that include content previously only available for download.
2) Retail editions of games that were previously download-only.
3) (Non-piracy) Techniques for ensuring future access to content not available at retail.
4) Your opinion of where to draw the line.
Cheers.
-----------------
1) They rely on account security - Even during the life-cycle of a current console or service, your access to your "purchased" content depends on you being able to access the account. Your account gets hacked, you don't have those games. Steam offline mode only works after it authenticates periodically (right?). You may have games downloaded on your 360, or your PS3, but if that box craps out and you need to redownload, if you can't access that account, you're out of luck. We all have control over our own password security, but as more and more services become the target of hacking, we don't necessarily have any control over our account security.
2) Future access is not guaranteed - Will PS4 let you continue to play your PS3 downloaded games? Will all your Virtual Console titles transfer to Wii U? If you bought additional map packs for Halo 2 on your original Xbox, can you still download and play those on your 360 locally? See, you have no control over whether you can continue to access what you paid for. We are at the mercy of the whims of our Console makers.
3) Updates are not optional - I'd like my Michael Jackson zombie back, please.
There's more, and we could talk about this a bunch here if we like, but I'm mostly looking for GAFers with a similar outlook, so we can pool some knowledge and resources, and find ways to keep what we buy, and share them here.
----------------
I'll start: of course, when it comes to DLC, if you gotta have it on release day, you have to download it. But if you exercise some patience, or just want to rebuy to ensure future ownership, many publishers will put out a complete edition, after-the-fact, which will let you retain the whole of what they've made for the future. Often these editions will include all the bug-fix patches you would need as well. Some that I've picked up include:
You get the Shimmering Isles expansion packed in with this purchase, which made total sense to me.
The five DLC packs are all included in this package. Presumably, one if coming for New Vegas. I wish I waited! Probably will re-buy and trade-in.
Once again the DLC is bundled in. Is this coming to 360 and PS3? Nothing announced yet...
Other tips we could share here include download-only titles that eventually see a retail release, like:
This is on my "to get" list. The WiiWare, of all platforms, seems least ready to follow you to the next platform, since downloads are tied to your specific hardware, rather than your account.
As for older PC titles, instead of always turning to Steam, I have had some good luck ordering through Amazon. Often you can find a better price with republishes by Sold Out Software:
I can't tell you it will always be easy, as many of these titles aren't compatible with the latest-and-greatest OS's we are all repeatedly compelled to use. But you can often find resourceful folks on the internet who have provided patches and solutions to get old games running on current OS's. Download these patches and burn them to a disk and you know you'll have them in the future.
I ended up doing that with the Direct-to-Drive version of Manhunt 2, the only way to get ahold of the AO version:
Good thing I did, too, because apparently you can't download it there any more. My future of being able to play this is in question, however, since a unique authentication code is generated for each system you want to authenticate to play this game on, which you must then send to Direct-to-Drive to get an activation code back. It's this kind of thing that makes me wonder how I will play this game should the service die. I have the PS2 versions, but am not guaranteed access to the unedited content in the future.
Finally, as much as everyone loves Steam, I'd like to ensure we remember Good Old Games
http://gog.com
...which often will give you as good a deal as Steam does on older titles, plus guaranteed compatibility with current OS's, but also offers you a downloadable install file, which you can burn to a disk and keep as long as you want. They also offer nice goodies like soundtracks, PDFs of manuals and box art. They aren't retail, but they sure do seem to understand the concerns of guys like myself.
I have even gone the extra mile and printed or created box-art for these burned install disks.
Some resources for that include:
The Cover Project
http://www.thecoverproject.net/
This is a great site that has plenty of scanned and uploaded case inserts, as well as some custom-designed ones. The rabbit hole goes pretty deep.
http://www.supermediastore.com/category/u/cd-dvd-blu-ray-plastic-case-cases
This is a nice online site to buy DVD cases.
---------------------------
So, if you don't mind your games becoming a service, something that you can lose access to just like your cable TV if you fall on hard times and can't pay the bill, this thread won't offer you much. By all means enjoy that convenience, and I'll probably envy you the next time I move. But for me, I'm drawing a line. I'm not interested in having my sense of ownership of content I've purchased degraded, devalued, negated. I don't pirate games, I don't buy new releases for $5 cheaper pre-owned at the Gamestop. I've understood the concerns of publishers and modified me behavior to bear them in mind, to the limit I can afford and care to pursue. I'm tired of being inconvenienced.
I sometimes want to play old games. The Games Press, most web sites, this very board always keeps us focused on the newest and the latest. Weekend Confirmed is no longer interested in advising you if you Cannata afford a new game. Publishers can't even guarantee that a game can be remade because they can lose the source code.
So draw your live where you want. Me, I'm kind of pissed about Arkham City. I'm hoping for a future edition with the Catwoman content on the disk. Their move has cost them my sale, with that inconvenience, and yet a player who DOES buy it pre-owned for $5 off at Gamestop will get the code and the content. So who are these measures in place to punish? Not the pre-owned purchaser, but just collectors, like me, who want to know they can keep all the content? Enough.
Please post your suggestions for:
1) "Complete" editions of games that include content previously only available for download.
2) Retail editions of games that were previously download-only.
3) (Non-piracy) Techniques for ensuring future access to content not available at retail.
4) Your opinion of where to draw the line.
Cheers.
-----------------
