A New Era of Gaming Debate

[Cynicaster]

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.

 

 

You're missing the point. The only one of those things that is guaranteed to happen is the digital download title will "expire" and vanish.

[Hatta]

 

 

You're missing the point. The only one of those things that is guaranteed to happen is the digital download title will "expire" and vanish.

 

Only if the digital download is DRM encumbered. Don't conflate the problems of digital media with the problems of DRM. Not all digital media is DRM encumbered (e.g. iTunes MP3s, Baen eBooks, GNU/Linux) and not all DRM encumbered media is downloaded(e.g. Ubisoft games, BluRay movies).

 

In many ways, DRM-free digital downloads are the most future proof format for media. As Linus Torvalds said, "Only wimps use tape backup: real men just upload their important stuff on ftp, and let the rest of the world mirror it." Whether it's legal or not, I know that if my home is destroyed I can retrieve all my digital downloaded media.