A New Era of Gaming Debate

[mtshark7]

I was talking with my friend yesterday about game collecting. I told him that it seems we are moving further into the digital era where now games are digitally downloaded as opposed to having a physical copy of the game.

 

I asked him if he considered downloaded games as part of a video game collection. He said no since it's not a physical copy.

However, I disagree. I bought a PS Vita recently and bought uncharted and metal gear collection off of PSN and I consider them part of my PS Vita game collection. Even tho I do intend to buy actual games I consider both physical and digital copies part of my collection since I paid for them.

 

What opinion do you side with:

Do only physical copies count towards a gaming collection?

or

Do both physical and digital copies count towards a gaming collection?

[+Gemintronic]

Downloaded games according to big brand names are licensed to you. Heck, even Apple iTunes songs are licensed to you. It's not part of your collection because you OWN nothing. It's more than a philosophical difference: since you don't own anything it can be modified, controlled and even taken away at any time.

[godslabrat]

Ask someone who subscribed to OnLive. Or The Sega Channel.

[CGQuarterly]

Downloaded games are part of your library, but not part of your collection.

 

Chris

[Emehr]

A digital copy is manipulated bits on a temporary storage medium. These bits can be modified by you, a software mishap, a server, or other unknown force at any given time. If there's no permanence then there is no potential for longevity. A collection must endure. Digital copies, especially DRM'd copies, are not sustainable thus cannot be part of a collection.

 

Digital copies are about as good as the memories in someone's head. Once they're gone, they're gone.

[Reaperman]

I generally consider downloadable games part of my collection. I won't consider them part of my collection when they become unplayable, and also won't feel bad 'getting them working' by less properly licensed means after that.

 

I've made an exception for Onlive, and tend to think of that as an online arcade from the start, and that I've purchased an all-you-can-play wristband for certain games.

Edited January 3, 2013 by Reaperman

[StanJr]

I have the strategy guide for Final Fantasy IX in my collection, its online at PlayOnline.com any time I need it...oh wait...

 

If you can't hold it in your hand (touch it), it's not in your collection.

 

Don't believe me? Let's play the copy of Mega Man 9 that I have in my collection. Oh wait, it's saved on that Wii that locked up that I don't want to spend $75 to fix.

Edited January 3, 2013 by StanJr

[Rex Dart]

I was talking with my friend yesterday about game collecting... I asked him if he considered downloaded games as part of a video game collection. He said no since it's not a physical copy. However, I disagree.

 

Ask a baseball card collector if they consider JPG scans of cards to be in their collection.

[Reaperman]

Ask a baseball card collector if they consider JPG scans of cards to be in their collection.

I think it'd be closer to ask a comic book or music fan if their licensed digital content is in their collection. I don't think digital scans of baseball cards are a product yet, but maybe I'm out of touch.

 

And what about 'pirated' content? Are 'teh romz' in my collection? I tend to say that they're not, but pirated carts surely are. I'm breaking my own rules there.

[xDragonWarrior]

I wouldn't consider them part of my collection.Maybe part of a Digital collection(that i don't associate with my collection) but not part of my physical Videogame collection

[Seob]

Not a part of my collection. I avoid buying drm.

[mtshark7]

Hmm...very interesting points. I see how digital downloads can't be a part of your collection.

I guess a good example would be if someone wanted to borrow my Uncharted for PSVita, I couldn't let them since the game is saved on my PSVita only. Whereas, if I owned a physical copy; they could play it on their system.

 

I guess digital downloads could only be part of a video game collection if they are in a seperate category from the physical games.

It could probably have its own category: "Digital Games"

 

I also didn't know until yesterday that DRM can take away your downloads at anytime as well as modify them.

 

I would never consider rom's part of my collection tho since you don't pay for them.

[Rex Dart]

I would never consider rom's part of my collection tho since you don't pay for them.

 

What if somebody handed you a cart or disc, free of cost? Or if you DID pay for a legal ROM image, since that's what your Uncharted sorta is?

Edited January 3, 2013 by Rex Dart

[kelrodjr]

Very good points have already been made here, but I'd like to chime in and say that the distinction between downloaded games vs. physical-media games as part of a "collection" isn't so black and white. I think those of us who grew up within the time period of the '70s through the '90s imagine a video game collection as a group of cartridges or discs, tangible objects that have resale value. However, I think fully digital games can also be part of a collection, albeit one with little or no resale value.

 

I have a small collection of games from several classic consoles that I enjoy. I also have a few PC titles that I purchased and downloaded from GOG.com (DRM free by the way), and I would certainly consider that part of my collection as well. I also have some games that I purchased through Steam, which is about the furthest I'll go towards DRM laden gaming. I can certainly see gaming hardware manufacturers tightening their grip on digital gaming in the future; I'm not willing to go there.

[Greg2600]

Digital doesn't count for me.

[AtariLeaf]

I have some downloaded games on my PC via Steam. I don't consider them part of my collection since I don't consider my PC as part of my collection. However thinking about it, I do have several PC games where I do own physical copies but again, not part of my collection.

 

The weird thing is that I would like a 486 era DOS PC and some of the games from that time period and if I did, I would consider that part of my collection.

 

I also own a Wii but don't consider that part of my collection either since I don't "collect" for the Wii, I just buy the odd game now and then to play. They are video games that I own but stand apart from my collection. The same would apply to download only games that I own as well.

[Cynicaster]

You can talk all day long about the semantics, but the simple fact remains that downloaded stuff with DRM can vanish like a fart in the wind at any time, regardless of what bounds you arbitrarily apply to demarcate your "collection".

 

On a site that caters to folks who maintain collections of 30 year old games--in many cases for no other reason than BECAUSE they are 30 years old--I'm surprised this would even be a discussion, considering that copy of your favorite PSN game will eventually vanish from your clutches no matter what you try to do to preserve it.

 

I don't collect so I don't care as much, but for you collectors, I fear you're living in the twilight of an era and the end is nigh. Sorry to be Debbie Downer, but somebody had to say it.

 

 

 

[+bennybingo]

I wouldn't call it collecting...not in the sense of the collecting process that exists for vintage games currently. You can't sell any of your downloadable content...not legally and definitely not easily! Additionally, good luck re-selling any DLC when you get bored of it...it will just continue to take up space in your HD.

 

PS: there is an upside...

1. no need to dust the game boxes or book shelves full of games
   
2. no worry about needing to build a bigger game room to fit your game collection
   
3. no concern for labels peeling or bit rot on your EPROMS
   
4. no more blowing into cartridge shells or buying isopropyl alcohol with loads of q-tips
   
5. nevermind...just forget 1 thru 4, as those activities are actually some of the fun challenges of retro gaming!
   

[akator]

Most people consider a "collection" something that has tangible monetary value. Emotional value can be translated to cash because someone else wants it, therefore monetary value is the only real consideration.

 

If your digital data has monetary value beyond the physical value of the storage media, then it meets the mass definition of a collection.

 

There are people who collect bottle caps. I personally would not pay for bottle caps, no matter how rare, because I place no monetary value on them. However, I recognize that others place monetary value on bottle caps, therefore it can be a legitimate collection even if I do not value it.

[BydoEmpire]

Downloaded games are part of your library, but not part of your collection.

 

Chris

I hadn't thought about it in those terms before, but that's the way I look at it, too. Still, if someone else wants to consider downloaded games as part of their collection, go for it.

[CGQuarterly]

Sure. I don't care what anyone else calls them. But for me, when I'm thinking of what game I want to play, I take my downloaded games into consideration. When I'm thinking about my collection, I'm thinking about the carts and discs that I have on the shelves.

 

Chris

[Gabriel]

You can talk all day long about the semantics, but the simple fact remains that downloaded stuff with DRM can vanish like a fart in the wind at any time, regardless of what bounds you arbitrarily apply to demarcate your "collection".

 

A burglar could come into your house and steal your games. A flood could wipe out your home and all your games. An angry spouse could decide to destroy all your games with a sledgehammer. A game could die of bit-rot.

 

Just the potential of a game vanishing like a fart in the wind at any time is obviously not the only concern.

 

Personally, I tend to view paid download games as part of my collection. However, they occupy a level of prestige somewhat similar to those physical games I simply own for no other reason that it's not worth getting rid of them. They're part of my collection, but they're not something I tout as part of my collection.

 

I don't consider free downloads part of my collection. They're just free shit I happen to have sitting on a hard drive. However, I'm sure there are people even on this site who collect sets of roms, and who definitely consider such digital things as their collection.

Edited January 6, 2013 by Gabriel

[The Usotsuki]

A flood could wipe out your home and all your games.

 

The latter part I know from experience.

[Vic George 2K3]

And, of course, there's the likely possibility of a universal calamity, which at that point nothing will exist.

 

But all the same, converting to digital downloads does seem to work against the idea of making games collectible, let alone preservable for the next generation to wonder what video gaming was like in days before they were born. An assemblage of bits floating around on somebody's server or stored on somebody's hard drive doesn't provide the same feeling of tangibility and physical permanence as it would if the same bits were stored on a cartridge or disc.

[kelrodjr]

An assemblage of bits floating around on somebody's server or stored on somebody's hard drive doesn't provide the same feeling of tangibility and physical permanence as it would if the same bits were stored on a cartridge or disc.

 

And yet, this is the only way that older games will be preserved in the future when the original hardware stops working or ceases to exist.