“Why Owning Your Video Games Has Become More Important Than Ever”
Not really important tbh. Ownership is only relevant in a society of scarcity. And games are infinitely copiable, thus the opposite of scarce.
I’m more in favor of collectivization, as in archives of games free to download, maintained by open projects and donations, stuff like that.
Yes.
I’m okay with owning a license to the game, rather than physical media. But I want to own it, in the sense that the companies cannot take my license rights away and that I can resell the license. And it should even work if the company or servers go away. Funny enough NFTs (Non-fungible token: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-fungible_token ) would have solved this issue. Although it does not solve the issue with inactive servers, at least a specific license to a game could be owned.
Yea I swear that shit was designed to fail GameStop’s whole thing was making sure it did not mean digital licenses.
It is important. I don’t really get the valve dick sucking why would you put your hopes in rich cunts? They were forced to implement their refund policy don’t credit them for it.
It is very important especially for Valve users because when you die your licenses die with you. Those 5000s games in your library? Those tens of thousands of hours? Your whole Steam identity. Gone… Game libraries/accounts are assets that should be left to your friends and families.
Yes if steam were to catch wind that your big brother was dying of cancer and gave you his credentials then they will delete that account. It is not excusable and it’s pretty fucking hilarious to see Lemmy defend it from over the spectrum because they think Gabe is nice. It’s like yous just invent your morals on the spot.
honestly not that worried about it. if they try to fuck me with licensing nonsense i’ll just pirate it.
Absolutely. If pirating ever stops being an option I’ll start to worry.
Before online came about we would visit car boot sales (flea markets for US?) and there was always a guy who would sell PS1 games, often not even released yet, for like £1. Barely covered the cost of the CDR and petrol. I think he just did it more for the love of the game than real profits.
If shit gets real bad I’m sure those people will reappear. Or maybe they never left and I just stopped going.
Fuck them all. I want to own the media that brings me enjoyment. I want to play it on old hardware…
Same importance as owning anything else I buy.
The better way to ask it is: Would you pay $80 to rent a game?
Would you pay 80€ for 200 - 800 of gaming?
I know I wouldn’t. I don’t buy them new.
It’s a complicated topic for me, I think.
With console games, no. I will only ever buy a physical version because taking the game out of the case and putting it into the machine is a quintessential part of the experience. It’s the same reason why I like buying music on vinyl. There is a whole little ritual involved that makes it so much more enjoyable.
I’ve somehow deluded myself when it comes to PC games though. Digital distribution is just so fucking convenient. Putting a CD/Diskette in the machine and then running an installer always felt more like a chore than part of the whole experience.
I like the middle ground that GOG is trying to foster, (we’ll host these as long as possible, but we welcome you to download and save them forever) but realistically, I only play through most games once, and sometimes it takes me months or years to finish. So for me, an $80 rental with a multi-year lease time is something I would personally consider.
I’m going to get absolutely fucked when Steam changes policy or enshittifies. I’m in way too deep in one company lol
People have been answering this question for years with their wallet. Why are we just asking now?
*For an unspecified period of time, to be terminated without refund at the publisher’s whim?
Yes
“Would you download a car???”!
Me, printing my 4th car this week: 😎
I assume you know this and are referencing it sarcastically, but just in case you don’t: That was not the original text in the anti-piracy PSA; it was a third party edit making fun of the original PSA that is now widely mistaken as being the original text. The original text was “You wouldn’t steal a car”, not “You wouldn’t download a car”.
Yea, I know what it is, lol. It just came to mind for some reason.
Fairly important and it’s grown with age. I wish I could get back all of the games I sold bc I was too poor to have them and newer games.
As much as I use emulators for travel, I have repurchased a bunch of old consoles and I love booting them up.
While nostalgia fuels a lot of this for me, I’m also passionate about preservation for everyone.
Got a 3DS XL and DSi XL this year and it has been my most favorite console I’ve owned. Really unique piece of handheld and I’ve liked the games that take advantage of the stylus like Trauma Center Under the Knife. First console where lower resolution and fps hasn’t bothered me.
It’s crazy how a used New 3DS XL cost as much as a Switch or even a Switch 2 these days. Jailbreaking and putting pirated roms on it has become so easy that this handheld has become popular again.
Multiplayer being free too through Pretendo is another plus, and its one of those systems that because of the stylus and dual screen ends up being better on the original hardware.
If I’m going to rent them, the prices should reflect that.
That’s what it comes down to. When XBOX Gamepass was dirt cheap and they gave the newest games on release day, everyone said the model wouldn’t survive. They were right, but the model was fair. I didn’t own the games, and I had no say in when they came or went. I was paying to play them, not own them. If I wanted to own them, I would go out and buy them at full price, which I did for games like the Forza series and the DOOM series, among others.
Full disclosure, I have a massive Steam library, but I don’t believe that I truly own the games. I do have faith that Valve will treat me with more respect than a lot of other companies, though, so I’m hedging my bets with the best option I have. It’s why I don’t own anything from Epic, because I don’t trust a fucking word they say.
I’m with you on steam. If and when they enshittify I’m in for a bad time, but I trust them at the moment. We DO have better options in gog and itch selling drm free software though
How important is owning your own games to you?
Let me put it this way: I have nearly 5,000 games on Steam. It’s the one source of media I have no problem investing money into, because I agree with how Valve is providing the service.
It’s convenient, user-friendly, and easily exportable. I can go anywhere in the world, download my games and save files, and pick up where I left off. Which has been made even more convenient with the advent of the Steam Deck.
If I paid for a game, it’s in my library forever. Even if it gets removed from the Steam Store. And the regular sales/discounts ensure I can afford to have such a massive library. I would be severely in debt if I paid full price for my entire library.
If/when Valve loses Gabe Newell and the new CEO prioritizes profits over customer satisfaction, I will gladly switch to pirating and hoarding my own games.
I’m very much against subscription services and I firmly believe in owning everything I drop money on. I don’t play console games anymore because they’ve all been pushing subscription services, and with Sony in particular trying to push for people to not own games anymore? Fuck PlayStation.
This is also why I won’t use Epic Games. Their predatory business practices and poor customer service shows what a terrible company they are and I refuse to support a business that degrades and exploits the customer experience for profit. I will gladly pirate any exclusive they keep off the market, or wait until they show up on Steam in a year or so.
If everyone voted with their wallet, Epic Games would be forced to confront the fact they need to make changes to compete with the online gaming market, or go bankrupt.
No, I download all my N64 cartridges.
I send money to DE for Access to premium currency in Warframe. I don’t have to. I know I don’t own it and my privileges can be revoked at any time. I balance this with the free to play entry and my enjoyment of the content therin.
OpenWF is there for you if you ever need it.
An offline backup for when they kill the servers or ruin the game otherwise, a moddable version, one where you can replay cut or past content, get anything you want for free, one without any fomo or timers, etc.
OpenWF
thanks never heard of it!
I might buy something on Steam when it’s heavily discounted as far as “AAA” goes and indie games if i like them, but everything else is full sails, only sure way it won’t surprisingly vanish from my library.
The important thing is that the terms are clearly defined up front, prior to the sale, not in fine print buried in some terms of service document, and not subject to change after the sale. Then I will decide if the advertised price is worth it for me in that moment.
The specifics of whether the game is for rent or for sale is not really important, nor is the price. What matters is that shady business practices end in legal consequences.
