Games Industry (The Absolute State Of)

By way of comparison with Steam... Would be intrigued to know how many people here use Signal over WhatsApp? I use both as I've managed to convince some friends to use Signal, but inevitably I'm still saddled with WhatsApp, mainly for the same reasons Steam is so ingrained. Difference for me is that I don't think Signal is any worse than WhatsApp. But there we go.

Neither. Not because I'm a luddite, I've just never seen the point of them.

I believe people use them to keep in contact with each other.

The secret is the Con is in the name of CitizenCon.

I find it weird that gamers will defend what companies do when its an negative for them. If some publishers had their way, they would have only games go through server for even single player games so they can turn it off and make you buy the game again under the guise of remaster or remake. There is some gamers that are really weak minded

So you jump from physical media directly to subscription based? Also, just so you know, but physical media can be copied, too. It doesn't necessarily have to be subject to the theft problem.

Yeah, but a lot of those consoles were cartridge based, so can’t easily be replicated in physical form. And if I’d done that with the disc based consoles, that stuff would have been likely stolen too. Then that would leave me with Roms on a PC, at which point we’ve gone full digital anyway. And then I generally lack the enthusiasm for gaming on a desktop or laptop PC, so that is unappealing (if more affordable).

That makes the subscription stuff immediately a whole lot more attractive. Especially being available on a modern console. And then the drip feeding of titles that frustrates a lot of folk, that actually helps me to narrow down my options and allow myself time to actually invest into an individual title rather than suffering choice paralysis and spend days flicking between a whole ton of games I barely dip my toes into.

I dunno. It’s not for everyone, obviously, but I genuinely like the subscription model. As somebody who doesn’t like ‘AAA’ games all that much, it kinda breathed fresh air into my hobby. I’ve played a whole ton of genuinely excellent games I might not have forked up the money for otherwise. It’s broadened and expanded my tastes and offered up a lot more variety than I’d have otherwise allowed myself. It’s shown me that I will more likely play it safe with games if I were to buy them outright.

And then obviously, my original point, if I lose them then it’s yet to feel like a big loss as I never owned them.

I prefer a dedicated device. I need to see a menu of games from boot up (or even immediately jump back into a game). I don’t want to boot up software within software, or fiddle with any performance settings. It also needs to operate from the get go with just a controller. It needs to fit under my TV, but be ready to move and if it’s a game I know I am going to love, I still need a physical option. Just in case.

To be honest unless it’s something like a revised Steam Deck, I’m probably never going to go near a PC based platform ever again.

I think ownership is probably a more important debate than physical v digital really. Although there is something of a connection.

I’ve got physical new releases on console that either require big patches on start-up or are only an installer and the opening chapter on the disc. So wholly dependant on the publisher keeping the servers alive.

And I’ve got digital console games that could disappear overnight if a license holder said so.

But then

I’ve got digital PC releases where its the whole game downloaded and mine to keep. So long as the hardware and software remain compatible.

And ultimately, the Game Boy, Master System and PS1 games that are all still in perfect working order and really its only those pre-online connectivity games that are truly mine.

The rest is just working out which compromises we’re left willing to make to access the games we want.

Or we all just jump to Nintendo.

Not sure what you mean. There are certainly many games that got delisted and that are basically not available, lots of games that never made it to digital services, games that got delisted and where no remastered versions exist. You get remasters for games that didn't need them while a majority of lesser known titles are ignored and remain mostly forgotten. And then you get remakes/reimaginings, but only for games that are fairly well known. A lot of other games aren't even availaible in their original form. If you get lucky there might be some cheap physical copy left over.

And also remakes/remasters that usurp the original. You can no longer buy the original Dark Souls. Until recently, you could not buy the original Resident Evil 2 or 3 (now available on GoG, just in the last few months). I think for some time you couldn't buy the original trilogy of GTA3, Vice City and San Andreas when the remasters came out.

There is also the issue of music licensing, which was another issue for GTA games, as well as Alan Wake.

I'm sure there are also single player games that needed to be verified online that can't played without workarounds anymore, so aren't sold. Obviously, plenty of multiplayer games with servers turned off, so they won't be sold anywhere either.

Cough, cough...All CoD games, Jedi Survivor, a good deal of Switch games where the physical copy is a box with a code in it.

So yes...nearly all games.