Topic: How Digital Delivery Can Save the Pack Rat

[Pale]

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/blogArt.cfm?artid=16087

  Digital delivery is one of the most popular buzz words in the game industry as of late.  Allowing players to directly download games is a fast way of getting a product out there and it saves the costs associated with packaging and distribution.  Those aren't the only benefits passed on to the customers though.  It also helps cut down on the clutter, and I I'm not talking about the most obvious of ways.    

Of course, games stored on a hard drive (or miniscule amount of internal memory) take up significantly less shelf space than games stored in DVD cases, but that's not what brought me to writing this post.  If you are a serious gamer like myself, and by serious I mean wanting to play more games than you physically have the time to, you probably stress about the possibility of certain must play titles becoming rare before you get around to purchasing them.    

Herein lies the problem.  Taking a quick look at my own shelf, I see great games like Okami, Shadow of the Colossus, Xenosaga, Killer 7, Chibi Robo, and Prime 3, all of which are still safely wrapped in their original plastic.  Why haven't I touched these games?  Because I don't have the time to play them all.  Why did I buy them anyway?  Either I got a good deal, or I was genuinely worried I wouldn't be able to find them again.  When you look at what happens to some games, like DDR Mario Mix or Pikmin 2, you begin to see why the possibility of rarity can definitely be a stress point for game purchasers.    

Now when I look at online stores like the Wii Shop Channel, I breathe a big sigh of relief.  I feel like I can legitimately say that I have every Virtual Console and WiiWare game.  The only difference is that some, well most, will require a payment just prior to the first time I want to try them out.  This is a nice feeling to have.  I no longer have to monitor games on ebay until I stress enough to plunk down some of my cash, thus filling my closet with DVD cases.  It's like they say, "Let your money work for you, not someone else."    

The online stores aren't perfect though.  Nintendo of Europe only put Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels on the VC for a limited time.  Microsoft is going to start pulling down underperforming titles from Live Arcade.  This trend will never benefit the gamers and we shouldn't stand for it.  I thank the stars that NOA hasn't done anything like this with the North American Wii Shop Channel yet and I hope they never will.  Sadly, if they do, I'll probably just binge buy almost every single game that was going down.  Here's to hoping they aren't reading this.    

If you have the same problem as I do, support digital distribution wherever you can!  It's no fun paying money for something you don't even have the time to play right away.

[Morari]

Digital Delivery is convenient and fine until the servers are shut down. In many cases (not Nintendo's), such content even requires you to connect to the main server before playing, ala Steam. This is not the way gaming should go. If it is, then I fear most games will be completely lost over time. I can go up into my attic and dig out an Atari, NES, Genesis, and Saturn. I have those systems and the games I purchased forever. Likewise, I have decades worth of various PC games on disc that I occasionally find myself installing and playing (Diablo and Quake always end up back on my harddrive). With Digital Distribution, this is unlikely, as the very concept is shaky. What happens when the rights to distribute a game is renegotiated? What happens if the company hosting it goes out of business? There are tons of dire possibilities that all sound too true. With discs, you actually do HAVE the game, whether you play it or not. With digital distribution, you never actually have the game, even after purchase. You have a license to play that game and nothing more. That is the sad reality that content creators are trying to force upon us in various ways. They want all of the control, even if it may doom customers in the longrun.

[Pale]

Some pack rats don't want to be saved. 

But seriously, certain types of Digital Delivery are better than others.  We should just hope for the better kind.

With WiiWare, the system will still play the games when it isn't connected to the internet, so your purchases are safe.

[UncleBob]

Two other "games" worth mentioning are Electroplankton for the DS and Pokémon Box for the 'Cube.  Both titles were offered exclusively for a limited time only ordered from Nintendo.  Both titles are now nearly impossible to find for less than twice-four times the original price.

Digital Delivery (while not perfect) allows titles with limited appeal to be sold virtually *forever* to whomever wants to buy them.

[animecyberrat]

I have never thrown anything away in my life, I do not believe in trash, everything can serve a purpose even when it's apparent usefulness is long gone. That is why I do not like how my entire N64 collection can be shrunk down to fit onto a single SD card, it is just too creepy.


Oh sorry forgot to read the article, I'll go back and do that right now, I just read the title and wanted to say that.



EDIT:

Ok now that I read the article, I think I am the exact opposite, I see all these great VC titles and stress out over not being in a hurry to buy them in case they do disappear, cuz with physical copies, there is still the option of ebay long after the game is no longer a viable asset to the publisher, but like you said, once a game is no longer available for digital distribution, it is gone forever.

[NWR_insanolord]

I have never thrown anything away in my life, I do not believe in trash

You must have a hard time moving around in your house, and it must not smell very good.

[Rize]

I have exactly the opposite worry.  When I buy a game on a physical medium, I own it and I can pop it in at any time.  And games like Metroid Prime 3 will be available (used) from now until the end of the Earth.  Maybe your problem is that you don't want a used retail copy of a game.

Anyway, I solve the unopened game problem by simply opening them even if I'm not going to play them : ) 

Also, lately I've just been not buying games.  I don't have GTA4 yet... I may never.  Why bother when I'm slowly replaying Dragon Quest VIII and loving every minute of it?

[Pale]

I don't understand the physical copy concern.  We know that a Wii can play VC games when it's not connected to the internet.  We know that VC games can be stored on SD cards.  The only way you're screwed is if your Wii breaks, and then you wouldn't be able to play a physical game anyway.

Also, why on earth would Nintendo stop supporting the VC in the near future?  I'm sure it will carry over to the next system.

Do you all still own film based cameras too? =P

[Rize]

What about the distant future?  What if your Wii *does* break?   I still play NES games on the original carts.  If a game I like breaks, I can buy it on eBay for a relatively low amount.  What will you do if you want to play a treasured WiiWare title 25 years from now?  Try to buy a Wii on eBay that has the game downloaded on it? 

If you were a TRUE pack rat, you wouldn't be able to tolerate digital delivery.  What you have is grown-ups remorse.  It's not that you don't have time to play the games you want to play, it's just that you don't care about them enough to play them anymore (because you care about other things more).  If a game comes out that you *really* want to play, you'll find a way to play it.  Meanwhile you buy all the games you would have played 5 years ago as if you would still play them if only you had the time.

It's complicated... I've been suffering from this problem for a few years now.  The best way to cope is stop buying games.  In the few cases where you truly want to play the game, you'll go buy it even though you stopped buying games.

[Morari]

Digital photos can be printed out into physical photos, as well as copied and stored across an array of mediums. Virtual Console games can barely be saved, and even then, can only be reinitialized on the console of original purchase. If my Wii breaks, I can buy another Wii to play games. In the distant future, I will be able to buy a used Wii to play used Wii games. That won't work with Virtual Console games however because of some set of draconian rules being imposed by Nintendo. Digital distribution, as it is today, is all about taking power away from the users and giving it to the companies. That is bad regardless of the field.

[UltimatePartyBear]

In 25 years I'll be able to emulate a Wii on my phone.  It may not strictly be legal (downloading games, that is, not emulation), but if it's the only way to play a game I paid for, I won't have any qualms about it.

Hardware wears out and breaks.  Software can emulate old hardware on new hardware.  Software can be moved from old formats to new formats.  In the long run, only software is permanent.

[NWR_insanolord]

I would be extremely surprised if future Nintendo consoles weren't backward compatible with Virtual Console and WiiWare games and allowed people to bring over their games.

As for being able to play your games on a different Wii, the homebrew community is already able to switch out the flash memory of Wiis, so unless the flash memory is what's broken about your Wii you can buy a used one and swap out it's memory for yours if your Wii breaks at some point in the future when Nintendo won't fix it.

[King of Twitch]

Doctor Mario gimpware will be a long and distant memory 5 years from now; no one will care when the real revolution arrives with 4.5x gamecube's power!

[ATimson]

Digital distribution, as it is today, is all about taking power away from the users and giving it to the companies. That is bad regardless of the field.

Most cases, I agree. There are exceptions, though: Valve's Steam , Amazon's MP3 offerings and iTunes' ever-growing "iTunes Plus" catalog... Hopefully the Nintendos of the world will soon get on the bandwagon and stop thinking all their users are cheats and pirates.

Oh yeah. This is the company that encrypts the saved game backups users can make for no reason, and keeps them from backing up online game data period instead of, oh, keeping the cheat-worthy stuff safe online instead. My mistake.

[Pale]

DRM only matters when there are alternative players out there.  That's why DRM is so annoying on iTunes.  When only a Wii can play VC games, I don't see why DRM matters at all.

[UncleBob]

Disagree: My Wii can play my games - my friend's Wii can't play my games... that DRM we don't need.  If I want to put my games on a disc and bring them over to his house, there's no reason not to let me.

[Pale]

Yeah but you have to be reasonable here.  Does anyone really believe there wouldn't be RAMPANT piracy if they allowed that?

The only thing I hope for is that they will tie the games to accounts instead of systems in Wii 2.

[Morari]

Isn't there already rampant piracy? Pirates will always find a way around counter measures. That's what they do. It's a challenge to them, to see if they can meet and exceed their "opponent". It's just how hackers work.

[NWR_insanolord]

Isn't there already rampant piracy? Pirates will always find a way around counter measures. That's what they do. It's a challenge to them, to see if they can meet and exceed their "opponent". It's just how hackers work.

There's pircacy, but it isn't rampant. The blocks that are in place make it hard enough to do that it limits how many people actually do it. If the games were unprotected files that could be easily swapped to other Wiis all you'd need to do is download a few of them and take them to a Wii via SD card, and that would result in tons more people pirating.

No company, at least no sane company, is trying to eliminate piracy altogether, they realize that's not possible. What they're trying to do is make it complicated and hard to pirate, to make it so as few people as possible do it. That way the diehard pirates, the hackers you speak of, can still do it, but it would be way over the average consumer's head.

Yeah but you have to be reasonable here.  Does anyone really believe there wouldn't be RAMPANT piracy if they allowed that?

The only thing I hope for is that they will tie the games to accounts instead of systems in Wii 2.

Something along the lines of the iTunes system maybe. Your downloaded music and movies are allowed on up to 5 computers and any number of iPods or Apple TV=Your downloaded games are allowed on up to 5 Wii 2s and any number of DS 2s.

[Crimm]

Do you all still own film based cameras too? =P

Well yes, four to be exact.  Two pentax K1000, a Minolta Maxxum 7000, and something else.  Granted, they're inherited but they're damn good cameras.

On topic, Microsoft plans to remove a bunch of titles from XBLA in the coming months.  This raises a new issue, this isn't a "used is hard to find" situation.  This is a "there is no such thing as used."  There are distinct disadvantages in play.

[KDR_11k]

Try to buy a Wii on eBay that has the game downloaded on it?

Should be mentioned that the Wii EULA forbids reselling the Wii if VCV games are installed, you must wipe the whole console.

[shammack]

A lot of people overlook one big benefit to rampant piracy, which is preservation.  I'm sure if you're the CEO, that's not one of your concerns because you know your company is going to last forever and rerelease everything until the end of time, but from a cultural standpoint, it's a good thing to have as many copies out there and circulating as possible, with as few restrictions as possible.  This isn't as much of a problem with physical distribution because of the used market, but with digital, as soon as Nintendo's servers go down for whatever reason, there's essentially no legal way to get those games any more (even if you've already paid for them and then had to clean out the fridge!), and if Nintendo had their way, you wouldn't be able to get them at all.

I wish companies would just realize that all DRM will eventually be broken, but I guess they think it buys them enough time or dissuades enough lazy people to make it worthwhile.  But for now, I'm glad we can rely on rampant piracy, because without it, a lot of media would just be lost to the ages.

[Nick DiMola]

Some pack rats don't want to be saved. 

Exactly the point I was going to make. I'm a pack rat that doesn't want to ever be saved. I love collecting games and having a huge library always available at my finger tips. I like to play with the original controllers on the original system and deal with all the quirks that they bring.

I think digital distribution can be a good thing especially for something like the VC. However, I never want to see that cross over as the main delivery method for new releases. I suppose some of that is happening now on the side with things like WiiWare, XBL and PSN, but I'm really hoping that stays exclusive for small titles that wouldn't have seen release otherwise.

[vudu]

It's complicated... I've been suffering from this problem for a few years now.  The best way to cope is stop buying games.  In the few cases where you truly want to play the game, you'll go buy it even though you stopped buying games.

Remind me again why we have a staff writer who doesn't play video games?

[animecyberrat]

I have never thrown anything away in my life, I do not believe in trash

You must have a hard time moving around in your house, and it must not smell very good.

I throw garbage away, but I don't throw anything out that I can reuse or find a purpose for latter on.


anyways yeah I am one of those people that saves every little thing I can for no reason at all, and video games is something I only recently begun selling off only because I have no alternative. If I was still working the last job I had where I could buy video games regularly, would have never sold a single game I have ever.


Digital Distribution is kinda a double edged sword. Sure the games are easy to load and manage and you can just download them anyold time, as long as the provider makes them available for download, but once they are gone, they are just gone, not coming back lost forever.

But with a CD/Cart,VHS, etc, you get whatever it is you paid for forever and ever. And since you can copy just about anything there is, except carts I guess you can't really copy those but it's gonna be a long time before every single NES cart on the planet just stops working, at least not in my lifetime I would think.