Old consoles did not have mechanisms to prevent you from playing games. Mainly because internet was not widespread enough for hardware vendors to make it mandatory.
A game(or the OS of the console/PC that runs it) that is 100% on your physical media can still require you to connect online, login with an account and all other kinds of bullshit. It was done in CD/DVD distributed games in the 00s. There are of course games released on physical media today that are not complete and require release date updates to run.
A modern unhacked console could refuse to run a game from disk if you don’t connect/login to get permission from mommy Nintendo/Sony/MS. Them not doing so is not a limitation imposed on them by physical media. It’s a policy, hopefully forced upon them by law.
TLDR: We don’t need physical media, we need an unrevocable right to be able to play games we purchased with effective enforcement.
Additionally we should have a right to modify the games as needed to be playable in other hardware/OS since we can’t expect original hardware to last forever.
Physical media alone does not guarantee that. You need a legal framework that forbids mandatory online activation. Actually better forbid them from binding a physical game at all cause or you should never connect your console to the internet.
But if we manage to get those rights we can also get the right to transferable software in general.
If the physical media game requires a server connection, how is it ownership, exactly? The corpo can still effectively take away the product from you by shutting down the servers. Or banning you.
“Plastic stuff” doesn’t give you rights. Laws give you rights.
So what makes a game on a disk that does not require internet connection to run/activate better than a game distributed GOG style where once you get the game it also no longer requires an internet connection?
Not disagreeing with your sentiment but you’re not right about old consoles.
All consoles starting with the NES had authenticator chips to cut down on piracy. Arguably the only reason the medium survived is because of the manufacturers tightened control over the flood of low quality games, knock offs, and theft. The Nintendo Seal of Approval was a necessity to buyers because it said the game wasn’t shovelware garbage.
What’s happening today with licenses, access control, and long-term renting from the corpos isn’t fundamentally different, just more pervasive. But now we have all the shovelware too.
Also those carts DO just disappear as their RAM dies. The discs last longer, but I bet you have PS1 games that won’t read anymore.
My comment on old consoles not preventing you from playing physical games was only in regards to originals, not pirated ones.
I am well aware that physical media actually provides more ways for vendors to limit control of software/games by the users. Both practical and even legal hurdles.
I agree that physical media won’t last forever and even when they do the hardware that runs them might not work anymore.
Again this bullshit.
Old consoles did not have mechanisms to prevent you from playing games. Mainly because internet was not widespread enough for hardware vendors to make it mandatory.
A game(or the OS of the console/PC that runs it) that is 100% on your physical media can still require you to connect online, login with an account and all other kinds of bullshit. It was done in CD/DVD distributed games in the 00s. There are of course games released on physical media today that are not complete and require release date updates to run.
A modern unhacked console could refuse to run a game from disk if you don’t connect/login to get permission from mommy Nintendo/Sony/MS. Them not doing so is not a limitation imposed on them by physical media. It’s a policy, hopefully forced upon them by law.
TLDR: We don’t need physical media, we need an unrevocable right to be able to play games we purchased with effective enforcement. Additionally we should have a right to modify the games as needed to be playable in other hardware/OS since we can’t expect original hardware to last forever.
I feel like we should strive for both, the actual ownership and the physical media
What does physical media actually give you?
The ability to trade or barter it again after purchase.
Physical media alone does not guarantee that. You need a legal framework that forbids mandatory online activation. Actually better forbid them from binding a physical game at all cause or you should never connect your console to the internet.
But if we manage to get those rights we can also get the right to transferable software in general.
A shortcut to actual ownership
If the physical media game requires a server connection, how is it ownership, exactly? The corpo can still effectively take away the product from you by shutting down the servers. Or banning you.
“Plastic stuff” doesn’t give you rights. Laws give you rights.
We actively avoid those games that require server connections
So you do acknowledge that it’s not the medium of distribution, but rather the setup of the game itself that matters?
So what makes a game on a disk that does not require internet connection to run/activate better than a game distributed GOG style where once you get the game it also no longer requires an internet connection?
Thankfully, not all games need to phone home
So?
Those games distributed through a platform like GOG also won’t phone home, so where’s the difference?
GOG don’t sell games on consoles?
Are you just refusing to answer the question because you know you would have to cede your point…?
That’s true for games not on physical media as well.
Not disagreeing with your sentiment but you’re not right about old consoles.
All consoles starting with the NES had authenticator chips to cut down on piracy. Arguably the only reason the medium survived is because of the manufacturers tightened control over the flood of low quality games, knock offs, and theft. The Nintendo Seal of Approval was a necessity to buyers because it said the game wasn’t shovelware garbage.
What’s happening today with licenses, access control, and long-term renting from the corpos isn’t fundamentally different, just more pervasive. But now we have all the shovelware too.
Also those carts DO just disappear as their RAM dies. The discs last longer, but I bet you have PS1 games that won’t read anymore.
My comment on old consoles not preventing you from playing physical games was only in regards to originals, not pirated ones.
I am well aware that physical media actually provides more ways for vendors to limit control of software/games by the users. Both practical and even legal hurdles.
I agree that physical media won’t last forever and even when they do the hardware that runs them might not work anymore.