Physical Vs Digital Content
Cabbit:“Hello Timmy, sit down and listen to a story.”
Timmy:“Oh wow, what story is that?”
Cabbit:“Once upon a time, when people wanted video games, they had to travel many miles to a big store, find a parking spot, walk inside-”
Timmy:“BORING~”
Cabbit:“-look through glass walls and sometimes squint at sideways packages near the bottom, point it out to a clerk, wait in line, pay with paper stuff, then go all the way home.”
Timmy:“Stupid, you can still do that!”
Cabbit:“Well.. yes for most. But not for a whole lot, and it seems we are moving completely away from it..”
I always thought I was the way I was because of my sheer want to collect certain things. My games used to be a pride and joy for me and I’d line up each of a certain series on my shelf. Here recently content has become big on Playstation Network, XboxLive, WiiMarketplace, Steam, etc. The need for some to go out to a store to get a game has decreased.
Quite frankly it puzzles me. Now, I do have some downloaded games. Apps for my smartphone which really has no physical media. And I have some PS1 Classics on my PSP because.. well it’s nice to play them on my PSP versus whipping out the Playstation console.
But there are people that buy a bit of Downloadable games. Like the entire group of people on PSPGo. Yes, it’s convenient but do these people realize they don’t own these games? The idea that you just put money into a game you can’t physically hold?
Timmy:“Why is that a bad thing?”
Well, let’s explore that. Essentially the item you bought, you download and enjoy. Now here’s the catch. If you lose your memory card, it becomes corrupted, PSP blows up, you delete the game for space; then you decide you need to get the game again, you’re game’s future relies on the network you bought it from being available.
Timmy:“Pfft, it’s always going to be around.”
Who’s to say that? This may sound far fetched but companies do go bankrupt. Countries do break communication ties. Internet hubs do break. And there are outages in servers (take recent outage for 2 months by PSN hacking). Then there’s the problem if game platforms becoming legacy. These services are not going to support old titles forever. They eventually will cut it off.
Timmy:“I still think you’re paranoid..”
Here’s another whammy. A producer called Irem is pulling their games from PSN. What does this mean? These games will no longer be purchasable via PSN. What’s worst and part of my point, is that if you bought these, and later had to redownload it, you won’t be able to. Your money is wasted.
Timmy:“Well crap… good thing I don’t have games from Irem.”
*Cabbit face palms*
I think the biggest problem we have these days is the assumption that services will always exist. However that’s never the case. For me, I want the assurance that no matter if the world’s trades/communications go out, businesses fail, companies pull from networks, or platforms become legacy, I still have my games sitting on my shelf. And while natural disasters or theft can happen, at least I’m the one to blame, not some company.
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