I am curious about one thing... what part of why you prefer them aren't I understanding?
Everything you say about digital distribution seems to be in response to what problems might occur if it became the only form of distribution. While the potential problems are a concern of mine, they are all "what if" situations so they aren't really that big of a factor.
The main reason, it is one which is difficult for me to explain, and therefore one which I believe isn't easy to understand. It is about ownership, and even if that's the only reason (which it isn't), for me it is big enough to outweigh any benefit of digital distribution. Being able to sell a game, that is very important to me. If I couldn't have sold off Boom Blox, I would have been very distraught, but instead I rid myself of it and moved on. Yes, it creates a chance for people to capitalize on used games, but so what? Isn't that better than getting stuck with a bad game? If Nintendo's games are any indication, it hasn't hurt their business. You know what people do with the money they get from selling their games? They buy more games. Capitalism works.
Ownership, taken a step further, is collectorism. This is what I “suffer” from, you might say. Collecting things probably stems from the primitive man, where people collected food and other necessities for survival. When I buy something, I want to fully enjoy it. Having it as a physical object means I know it’s mine to do whatever I want with. I like to display my games, they are a part of the atmosphere of my gaming room. I want to see them all lined up in all of their glory, it helps my gaming mood. I like to browse my shelves when I’m picking out what I want to play. Sometimes seeing the cover art can remind me of what I like about a particular game and make me decide to play it. I want to hold it in my hands, I want to insert it into the system. Maybe I'll put the game in backwards or upside-down because I'm not paying attention, but that just adds some lawls. This is all part of my gaming experience, it goes beyond the simple act of playing.
You say looking for rare games causes stress, but I believe you’re looking at it in a cynical way. Is it stressful to hunt down old games? Sure, it can be. But the thrill of the hunt is a part of the excitement and accomplishment of owning games. There is no greater feeling than rummaging through a bin of worthless N64 sports games and coming across a game I’ve been going after for months. My eyes swell. My arms are trembling with anticipation as I bring it to the counter to pay for it. My stomach churns with excitement as I pop it into my system when I get home. Digital distribution has none of that thrill. It’s similar to shopping on eBay where everything is instantly accessible, which I used to avoid like the plague but these days I have pretty much no other choice. In all honestly, I am kind of looking forward to searching for all of the Wii games I missed once the next Nintendo system is released (or sooner, depending on when that is). It’ll be a shame if I can’t add WiiWare games to the list.
As for Virtual Console: This may sound weird, but… One part of playing older games is nostalgia. Whenever I pop in something like Perfect Dark, I am flooded with many fond memories of playing it with my friends. Whenever I slide in Mega Man II, I recall challenging my brother to see who could beat each stage the fastest. I recently acquired Sonic Mega Collection for GameCube, the Sonic games being some I enjoyed as a child. As I play them, the memories aren’t really coming back to me. I know they are there, but they just aren’t being triggered.
Now I know Sonic is a compilation, but it has the same principle as downloads: it isn’t the original. Why does this matter? Because it does not have the same scent. Cartridge games, they have a unique scent of plastic and silicon, and scent is the strongest sense tied to memory. As strange as it seems, taking a whiff of a game before I begin to play it helps those memories come back to me. Each system’s cartridges and discs have their own unique aroma as well, and I could identify them blindfolded without handling them. It would be more difficult to make memories with a digital copy of a new game; their most distinguishing characteristic has been removed.
That’s why I’ll always prefer physical games. I know I drifted off into collectorism there, but that’s not really unrelated. Because you are in favour of digital downloads then I don't think ownership is something that is very important to you. And that's fine, people are different. But why must there be only one solution? Does it really matter why someone prefers one form of media over the other? Why can't the two co-exist?
Topic: WiiWare games should be released on disc. (Digital Distribution Discussion) (Read 23723 times)
