Are You Concerned About Losing Your Digital Games?

[hatok 6,413]

Pretty self explanatory

I'm pretty sure most of us have some digital games nowadays. Lots of games don't even get physical releases. However, there have been problems, becoming more common each year

Games that disappear.

This is inspired by the recent topic by Sora96, and by extension the removal of The World Ends With You from iOS

Another recent example of the Scott Pilgrim game being removed from digital stores due to the expiration of their license

As time goes on, laws, lack of money, or lack of interest is going to kill games, and unlike physical games this can mean losing access to them for good

Another future concern is when digital stores like the PSN stop supporting older systems. How long will you be able to download your PS3 games? Will they keep that option open when they've moved on to the PS6? What if Sony goes out of business, or closes their gaming division? Heck, there've been talks of closing the Xbox division at Microsoft for years.

So yeah, thoughts? Is this a big deal for you, or no?

 

[Javelin434 3,164]

Yes I worry about losing my digital games. I prefer physical discs and copies over some digital download, because all it takes is one line of code over the internet to block me from ever playing it, one hack to the supreme database to lose all my licenses, you get the idea....

 

Like seriously: I paid for the game, let me play with it. Some of us don't like the idea of being leashed by the internet in order for us to play games [simcity being a wonderfully notorious example...]

[Ven983 490]

Definitely.  I always go the physical route unless 1) there is no physical option 2) the digital price is significantly less than the physical.  Digital is a risky business that I fear we are headed towards.

[Deadpool 1,200]

I go physical all the way. I like being able to hold and actually own my games, even though digital takes up a LOT less space in my room. Not too long ago I lost every digital 3DS title I had and I had a small phase where I bought every game digitally so I could have every game on my system and not have to have multiple game chips. Not only were those games and apps deleted from my system, but it didn't let me redownload them, either.

[BlankShell 638]

Only on my 3DS because Nintendo has an absolutely abysmal online system.

 

Anything else, not in the slightest. There is always a record of what you buy, and you are (again, excepting Nintendo) always allowed to get back what you've lost in the event of some catastrophic hardware failure. The only thing you might "lose" from that is a save file... assuming you don't keep a backup copy of that or use cloud storage, which is a thing! Not to mention that with a physical copy of whatever, the same thing would generally happen anyway.

 

Really, the only people who actually need to be concerned are those who buy Nintendo games digitally, because the company has thus far prioritized nostalgia over technological improvements. Once they get a decent online infrastructure going (which is hopefully what they scrapped Club Nintendo for...?) nobody will actually need to worry.

 

People confuse "digital" for "always online", which are completely different things. Some games require always online. That won't change regardless of physical/digital/whatever, that's how a given game is designed and that's how it's supposed to be played. Likewise, a game that needs constant updates for no particular reason probably wasn't a well-designed game to begin with, which again has little to do with digital or physical.

 

Your example of TWEWY no longer being supported is an unfortunate one, but it also speaks to a certain sense of inevitability; systems, in general, won't last forever. I won't be playing my PS3 at age 100. Anything Apple invariably speeds that process up because of their frequent OS iterations which break games. You could always buy an older iOS model from eBay or Craigslist... which would amount to the same thing as buying an older console to play an older game. There will always be some version of this, digital or otherwise.

 

You don't have to embrace digital, but being afraid of it is just silly.

[littleTSUBAME 483]

Yes, definitely. I prefer buying physical copies if possible.

[Ruby Rose 8,591]

Well I am now

[Sora96 17,256]

Nope, because the truth is even if that title is removed from the store as long as you've purchased it you can still download it.

[atheist123 583]

I only buy digital games for PC, because all games need online verification anyway. No point in buying digital for console/handheld except ease of use, I guess.

[Clouded Sun 1,232]

I prefer digital copies because I can migrate them from system to system, I'm really terrible at taking care of disks, and it's practically online forever. We all think hacking is so easy, but in reality it takes a computer genius to crack through the firewall of systems in a network. Also, with digital games you can seamlessly switch from one to another without finding the (potentially lost) game, removing the old one, putting in the new, etc. etc. and instead of waiting on line like some do, you can usually download games and in an hour (with the exception of PS4 and Xbox One) they're playable. Even Pre-Loading through PS4 makes sure you get the game unlocked exactly at midnight.

 

My verdict: digital games are most efficient for me.

[Setrex 1,031]

Unless Nintendo make purchases bind to your account and not the system then I'm not all that worried. I've never experienced any issues with losing digital games, but I'd hate to wake up tomorrow and to see my entire Steam library has disappeared or my WiiU/3DS has broken.

Edited March 7, 2015 by KHSoraKeyBlade

[Clouded Sun 1,232]

Unless Nintendo make purchases bind to your account and not the system then I'm not all that worried. I've never experienced any issues with losing digital games, but I'd hate to wake up tomorrow and to see my entire Steam library has disappeared or my WiiU/3DS has broken.

Isn't Nintendo's purchases tied to your Nintendo Network ID? Is there a way to disconnect the NNID from the 3DS?

[Ghost 1,857]

wow. i never thought about this. glad i stick to physical copies! that way, when i lose them, its actuslly m fault.

[Aang 649]

Nope, because the truth is even if that title is removed from the store as long as you've purchased it you can still download it.

The issue persists even in this area. You see, you could potentially be locked out from it due to account issues. 

[The Protagonist 332]

Yes, definitely. I prefer buying physical copies if possible.

Why the hell do you keep sounding like naoto to me? 0.0

Anyway on topic,I'm not really worried but I perfer to stick to physical most of the time,unless a game is digital only or the price digitally is much cheaper than a phsyical copy.

[Setrex 1,031]

Isn't Nintendo's purchases tied to your Nintendo Network ID? Is there a way to disconnect the NNID from the 3DS?

Well, they are tied in a sense. The issue is that NNID's are tied to one Wii U and one 3DS system. The transfer system is so much hassle on the 3DS/2DS to the New 3DS when really it should be as simple as just logging in to the same account on a New 3DS and re-downloading the games you've bought. The same issue is there if you need a new Wii U. If a system breaks and you cannot transfer to a new one then you have to ring Nintendo and it's just such a backwards process.

[Hero of Light XIV 2,381]

Never really thought of it before, but I guess that would be a huge problem. This is kind of why I prefer physical copies of games a little more, the company could disappear from the face of the earth, but at least you'd still have the product. But with digital, it'll only be around for so long unless you buy it. I'd rather not loose any game I have, be it physical or digital. Hopefully some day they can create an option to transfer all of those purchases from ages ago onto more recent systems, unless they have already and I just haven't been paying that much attention.

[Isaix 924]

I see the issue,but I can't say that it worries me because as far as I know,as long as you bought the game,that game will not get deleted from your console even if PSN or the eshop goes away.

[Amber Cole 1,557]

I buy physical games whenever I can and only get digital if I absolutely HAVE to. but I worry about that constantly because that's happened to me before -_- makes me wish I could port the game to a USB or some other device to keep it

[Psychic_Ketchup 367]

My steam library is pretty big, and I would hate to lose some or all of it. But I'm not too worried about that, because if there is some major error in Valve's HQ, there's probably a backup plan, and a backup for aforementioned backup. 

If I had many games on PSN I'd be a little more worried. Still, fair question.

[Karluttt 14]

I prefer physical as well, but digital isn't that bad. Yeah, games get delisted when contracts run out, but no one who paid money for them loses them, they are still stored on the servers and can be redownloaded from your download history/purchase list. It's just the option to buy them that is now hidden. And I doubt we'll lose the ability to buy digital games any time soon, except for cases like the Scott Pilgrim game earlier. All the Playstation systems use one and the same store servers, so that would effectively mean just removing any and all PS3 content when they "drop support". I don't see that happening. And even if one day we can't access the store through the PS3 anymore, you could just use the store on PC to download games onto your PS3. I mean a prime example is the PSP. The Playstation Store for PSP has been shut down for a while now, but you can still buy digital PSP games and play them on your PSP. Steam isn't going anywhere so those games are safe. I don't game on phones or Xbox so can't comment on those.

Edited March 7, 2015 by Karluttt

[VisitJoan 2,713]

I never got that many anyway, so no.

[Queen Tery 4,591]

I don't buy digital copies unless it's the only available option and I REALLY want the game. I prefer physical copies anyway, so no I'm not worried. But in essence, it's kinda like how physical copies can degrade over time and stop working, get worn, etc. Whether it's physical or digital it's not ALWAYS going to be there.

[Hero of Winds 2,576]

No, should I be?

I'm starting to go full digital for most next gen games, considering the only difference between digital and physical is the disc. Either way, you have to fully download and install the title to your console before you can play. Just one doesn't have the added data to play without the disc.

Hell even preorder incentive DLC is available with digital copies now. Unless there's a collector's edition, it's completely pointless to purchase a physical game.

Edited March 7, 2015 by Hero of Winds

[hatok 6,413]

Nope, because the truth is even if that title is removed from the store as long as you've purchased it you can still download it.

Not always true. There are examples of mobile games that outright remov the ability to start them when they're removed from the store, and in cases like Meme Run on the Wii U, once you delete it you can't download it again.

And in the more distant future this'll be more of an issue. Why would a company pay to store a game on a serer just so you can still download it?