The problem of digital only games

This game disappeared from existance.
Maybe it wasn't as good as the original, maybe it deserved it but that's not the point.

Pic related represents, along other games like Scott Pilgtim vs The World or P.T., the problem with digital only games. With no physical copies around, if the publisher decides to erase it, nobody will ever get to play it again.
Sure, probably Castle of Illusions HD can be pirated on PC and Android, but can we say the same of, say, PT?

This is the problem with digital games and the main reason why superior physical copies need to exist.

What about the third option?

But I played it like, yesterday.

It's ok. Pretty, but borderline devoid of substance.

You got maybe 6 words into the OP before scrawling out a response, didn't you?

Digital-only games do have that problem provided they exist purely on consoles, but even then someone, somewhere, is keeping the game on a hard drive and eventually the system will be emulated and then the game can be spread online.

Hell, I have P.T. on four different hard drives right now. Some time in the future the PS4 will be emulatable or it will be cracked and then I or any number of people can throw that shit up on a file sharing site. Suddenly that game has a newfound life. It just takes some time.

Disney did this shit all the time, even with physical copies with their "back in the vault" policy. Key sellers are the resale shops of our time.

On a side note, how much a Steam copy of this game is? I have a friend that is sitting on a gift copy of it in his inventory.

This is the future the revisionist historians want. Game promoting an agenda they don't like? Just erase it from recorded History!

They also did it with Marvel vs Capcom games.
Well, it is surprising that a new game is being developed and Umvc3 is going to be released again.

You are right but then you find out exceptions like the first Xbox. To this day, we can't emulate the console and the only ways to play some xbox games (the ones not available digitally atcleast) are on Xbox or on 360 with a physical copy. Isn't it?

Thus far, yeah, the original Xbox has proven incredibly difficult to emulate, but the original Xbox doesn't have any digital only games as far as I know. They didn't have the marketplace until the 360.

So while you can't emulate an original Xbox you also don't have the issue of a game exclusive to it being "lost" in the manner that a digital-only console-exclusive game could be.

You can still grab an original Xbox and find a copy of the disc and play it. Granted, that logic still applies to digital-only games but with hard-drives, it's just a bit more of a hassle.

Like, killing yourself?

That's mean.

what you're complaining about has nothing to do with the 'superiority' of physical media and everything to do with using a closed platform like a video game console

>release the game as an xbone retrocompatible game
>remove the option to buy it the next day

I was so pissed I wasn't home and came back days later to realize I'll never play this game.

Also,

>tfw never bought the multiplayer dlc for Scott Pilgrim

Fuck digital only.

No it doesn't. Digital copies have the same issue on every platform, console or pc.
And yes, sorry, but piracy doesn't solve the problem. Publishers being dicks with their propieties is the issue here. It has nothing to do with consoles being a "close" platform (which is wrong anyway since last gen).

you know if you own a digital game on steam you can always download it from the store long after it has been removed

brb, reinstalling Riddick

If I am not mistaken some specific OG xbox games can be purchased on the 360 marketplace. But I guess this has little to do with the digital only problem, you are right.

>download game
>burn it to dvd
Congratz, you know have a physical copy

if a game has ever been released on Steam you can keep a local copy of it on your PC and crack it and it's yours forever, Steam can't control what you do with your computer. You aren't allowed to install whatever you want on your console

Yeah, but what stops a company to also block that? Didn't Konami pull that move with PT for instance?
We are being lucky with Steam. But we also know Gaben can change the rules any second now, if publishers ask him to do it.

>mfw Afterburner Climax is gone from online stores but I have it on my PS3
Thank fuck. That game is phenomenal. Also, it's one of those you can redownload if you own it, but you just can't buy it anymore. That means the only way I'd lose it forever would be to have my system die after PS3 PSN was dead for good.

There's also the arcade cabinets I suppose, but that lacks the options the console versions have.

>You aren't allowed to install whatever you want on your console
You are. If you mod or hack it. Which is the same thing as cracking and pirating a copy on PC.
Again, the issue here is not console vs pc, it's physical vs digital. It's sensibly different.

P.T wouldn't exist if there were no digital market. Though, maybe sony still created demodiscs... Imagine....

Super Robot Wars OE is gone for good, in a legal sense. Probably for the better. There's a well seeded torrent on nyaa with all the dlc though, so none cares.

It's the exact same data
The digital data can be copied to a hdd or burned to a dvd and then it's the same thing as your 'physical' data

Congrats, you didn't solve the issue of games disappearing from existance because of petty reasons.
Let's not be naive. For a game not being available anymore on big platforms like Steam, PSN, Marketplace or Eshop is a big problem.
A handful of people saving a game code and burning it on a disc won't change jack shit.

What do you even mean?
Those people who bought it still have the game. It didnt disappear from existance at all.
And if the game had physical copies then they'd vanish as well, since the supply isnt limitless. Plus, you'd pay terrible prices due to scalping and "muh rarity".

Not to mention, you can go and download a torrent right now. Since the game isn't sold anymore there shouldn't even be any issues.

Nothing, absolutely NOTHING would've been gained for most people if that game had a physical release. Only scalpers would've gain anything.

>inb4 I cant torrent since Im on console
Well thats your fault in the first place. Every console that doesnt have backwards compatibility enables the same issues of games becoming lost over time again and again, due to the greed of manufacturers.

modding a console is a way bigger hoop to jump through than pirating a game
and if your console is connected to the internet, it can still change it's mind and stop you playing a game you have on a disc if it wants to

There's torrenting, which solves this exact issue.
'physical' games will also disappear, since there's a limited supply, especially for 'niche' games like this.

It's always the really interesting shit that's being removed from the digital stores too.

No one would cry about this if it was some lame mobile or f2p game. Always a cult title like Scott Pilgrim or P.T.

Stuff gamers would want to seek out.

I was always sceptical about digital paywalls.

The problem isn't physical/digial, it is DRM/closed systems. All the physical copies in the world won't help you once the last system it runs on dies or you can no longer authenticate against some sort of remote DRM.

I'm still mad about Scott Pilgrim, it was a damn fine beat 'em up.

This user is correct

data is still there, just have to pry it open.

PT was free so thats completly different

>Digital game comes out
>Pirates grab it and make copies
>Pirates save game

Thank you, pirates!

Assuming you can pry it open in a feasible timeframe, the data isn't going to be very useful if it relies on functionallity of a non-existant closed (read: undocumented) system.

If it was on PC and digital it would spread like wildfire, digital-only is only a problem on consoles where you cannot copy the game. The same goes for physical by the way, if you don't have a way to copy said game/s what will you do when your disc or other physical storage eventually break? And don't tell me copy because you can't copy console games, and since we are on the subject, if for some reason your console manages to stop working, then it's over.

World of Illusions on Sega Genesis was my jam back in the day. Would I like this game?

The soundtrack is 10/10 I think, I'd play it again but I think I've played it to death at this point.

>Publishers see that
>Complain about piracy
>Stop making PC ports
Thank you pirates :^)

What should I expect?

wow on consoles you can't disconnect from online?

wtf?

Even if you would, you can't find it so easily.

Licensing deals can make a game disappear from online stores, a while ago Dragon’s Crown vanished from the PS store then came back a few days later.

One of the Adventure Time games on Steam suffered the same fate this very month. The game had terrible reviews and was terribly overpriced. Also never got any deals whatsoever. But I still wanted to buy that shit eventually if it ever did become cheaper.

But oh well. Won't be losing any sleep over this.

I thought the same about the game at first, but then played it again and had a good time. It gets better over time, harder, with more nuanced levels.

>I didn't discover the magic of Afterburner until after Afterburner Climax had been pulled from XBLA/PSN.
>Local arcade with the cabinet I played it at sold off their cabinet the next week.
>Only way to play it is the god awful android port.
I will complain about this in every digital-only complaining thread until PS3 emulation progresses to the point where I can run AB:C at 100% speed with no errors.

they don't just "disappear out of existence".

Not understandimg hyperbole is a sign of autism.

>have all three versions of cave story on 3DS
>nobody will ever download the DSiware version again

>Console games can't be pirated
:^)