Currently Online 
| JOKA_ said: I get where you are coming from, I remember my mom driving me home from GameStop while I opened up a brand new game and flipped through a nice color manual. That seems supurfluous to actually playing and enjoying the gameplay of the game though, which is what I was getting at. Also, I don't know how long it takes (years according to wikipedia), but there is apparently data rot to keep in mind. Those cartidges/discs may stop working some day no matter how well you take care of them. I like the idea of having an account with all my games associated with it. It can't be stolen, it can't be damaged by water, it can't fall and crack, it can't get misplaced (Ive had these things happen). If my computer HDD dies? Boom replace it and all of my games are back. My whole computer dies? Boom buy a new one and all of my games are back. I buy a traveling laptop to go with my desktop? Boom all of my games are on my desktop at home and my laptop on the go. The positives totally outweigh the negatives in my book, and this is the inevitable future. To each their own I guess. |
Data rot can happen. My Laserdisc collection well outlasted my 2 players though, they still look fine. I have replaced my favourites with blu-ray versions anyway. I haven't had a problem yet with even my oldest CDs.
You put a lot of faith in your account(s). Companies you have you account(s) with can go bankrupt or get taken over with no guarantees for your purchase history. I've already lost digital purchases from psn after my ps3 died. For example the stardust HD dlc was not available anymore in my purchase history as a few other things. Licenses can also end or change and the games won't be available for download anymore. It has already happened. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-01-26-the-case-of-the-disappearing-video-games For example Outrun Online arcade, gone.
In the end I prefer something tangeable.
