What does it even mean to “own” a video game?

[Shadow1980]

BraLoD said:

Chrkeller said:

If Godzilla destroyed your house and broke all your physical games, how many would work?  

I know my comment sounds cheeky, but I stand by it.  The odds of Steam going anywhere, in my lifetime, is roughly the same as Godzilla destroying your game collection.  

We should ignore possible and talk about probable.  Steam isn't going anywhere.  

edit

I honestly think the odds of you losing your game collection is higher than Steam shutting down via fire, being robbed, tornado, etc.  

That would require an external factor not related to any of my games, unlike the case of Steam.

So yeah, quite cheeky, it points out the fragility of it quite a lot, as Valve literally could ruin your games meanwhile no game company in the world could ruin mine.

I'd like add something I've pointed out in other threads, namely, if you lose your digital library (or any portion thereof) and there's no way to get it back, you're screwed. Meanwhile, if I become the victim of a burglary or house fire that results in me losing my games, not only does my homeowner's insurance fully cover the loss, but the existence of the second-hand market makes reacquiring most physical games reasonably possible.

I don't have a single NES, SNES, or Genesis game that cannot be found on the used games market. Some might cost a good bit more these days if they're rare enough, but they're available. Physical games don't just evaporate into the ether when the publisher goes belly-up or the title goes out of print. I don't have to resort to piracy or finagle some sort of bespoke backup system or whatever. Physical games are your property, with all that entails.