Games being shut down

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VideoGameCritic
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Games being shut down

Postby VideoGameCritic » September 20th, 2018, 6:49 pm

I read an interesting article about how a single player mode in Guitar Hero Live is no longer being supported.
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/09/ ... r-hero-tv/

There's a lawsuit regarding this because someone is claiming the discontinued service was only indicated in the fine print. I believe it; the marketers have done a great job of pulling the wool over our eyes with regard to online content. Notice they advertise buying digital media "to own" even though it is technically just a long-term rental.

As most of you know, I've been warning of the "dangers" of online content for quite a while
https://videogamecritic.com/extras/info/darkside.htm

When I wrote that article I feared online games might be taken down within 5-10 years. But I was giving them WAY too much credit! This one is being taken down after 3 years, and judging by some of the comments, apparently 1 year might be considered "fair".

It really is all about the money. If you play anything that requires online connectivity in any way, it's just a matter of time before they pull the plug. This is why I insist on physical media.

Thoughts?

Sonicx9
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Re: Games being shut down

Postby Sonicx9 » September 20th, 2018, 7:57 pm

VideoGameCritic wrote:I read an interesting article about how a single player mode in Guitar Hero Live is no longer being supported.
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/09/ ... r-hero-tv/

There's a lawsuit regarding this because someone is claiming the discontinued service was only indicated in the fine print. I believe it; the marketers have done a great job of pulling the wool over our eyes with regard to online content. Notice they advertise buying digital media "to own" even though it is technically just a long-term rental.

As most of you know, I've been warning of the "dangers" of online content for quite a while
https://videogamecritic.com/extras/info/darkside.htm

When I wrote that article I feared online games might be taken down within 5-10 years. But I was giving them WAY too much credit! This one is being taken down after 3 years, and judging by some of the comments, apparently 1 year might be considered "fair".

It really is all about the money. If you play anything that requires online connectivity in any way, it's just a matter of time before they pull the plug. This is why I insist on physical media.

Thoughts?


You are not wrong some games online where only supported for a year and a few months like Deformers case.: https://delistedgames.com/deformers/ if the game is a critical and commercial failure and does not make money they can pull the plug at any given time and it shows.

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Retro STrife
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Re: Games being shut down

Postby Retro STrife » September 24th, 2018, 4:21 pm

Well my first thought is that I've had Guitar Hero Live sitting around my house for months without having ever played it, and maybe I better hurry up with that.

As for the big picture, I've shared the same thought as you on this over the years. However, I'm less concerned about losing online modes -- for certain games that require online play, I feel like we have to accept some inevitability that those modes will end. For competitive online games, you need human players to make it work; so many of those games die out on their own and become unplayable when interest dies off. My far bigger concern is when entire games disappear forever, which is becoming a legitimate issue now that some of the digital stores for certain old systems are starting to close down (e.g., Wii and DS most recently lost their entire digital libraries, and I'm sure X360 and PS3 will be gone eventually too).

I care about preservation, but I can survive if certain modes get disabled, as long as I can still experience the game in some form (i.e., playing the other modes in Guitar Hero Live). What concerns me far more is that I hate to imagine 20 years from now when the retro gamers of the future say "Hey do you remember that great game World of Goo on WiiWare from back when we were kids?" And the reply is "Yeah that game was awesome; too bad we can never play that again."

Verm3
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Re: Games being shut down

Postby Verm3 » September 25th, 2018, 8:16 am

Recently, Square Enix delisted The Last Remnant on Steam at the same time they announced a remaster of the game for PS4 and Xbox One.

It makes me nervous about the future for gaming.

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Re: Games being shut down

Postby Gleebergloben123 » September 25th, 2018, 10:58 am

Anyone who didn’t see this one coming, stand on your head. And I’m no lawyer (but I play one on tv) but if it’s stated in the fine print, no matter how sneaky, not sure there’s much that we, the consumer, can do except talk with our wallets. I’d start a grass roots campaign but then I’d miss my stories.

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Gentlegamer
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Re: Games being shut down

Postby Gentlegamer » September 25th, 2018, 11:55 am

This is why you don't buy digital content on closed platforms.

The only reason I buy games on Steam is that I get them for pennies on the dollar, and if something happens with the DRM or the publisher tries to shut it down, it is trivial to obtain cracks for my purchased games.

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ptdebate
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Re: Games being shut down

Postby ptdebate » September 25th, 2018, 2:08 pm

Gentlegamer wrote:This is why you don't buy digital content on closed platforms.

The only reason I buy games on Steam is that I get them for pennies on the dollar, and if something happens with the DRM or the publisher tries to shut it down, it is trivial to obtain cracks for my purchased games.


If I get a decade of playtime out of a game that cost me $2...I'm good tbh

My Steam account has been active for 13 years and I've never lost anything.

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Gentlegamer
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Re: Games being shut down

Postby Gentlegamer » September 25th, 2018, 4:26 pm

ptdebate wrote:
Gentlegamer wrote:This is why you don't buy digital content on closed platforms.

The only reason I buy games on Steam is that I get them for pennies on the dollar, and if something happens with the DRM or the publisher tries to shut it down, it is trivial to obtain cracks for my purchased games.


If I get a decade of playtime out of a game that cost me $2...I'm good tbh

My Steam account has been active for 13 years and I've never lost anything.


That's the other part of Steam doing things right, price wise. Even if I can't get a crack for a particular game, it likely cost me under ten dollars, often under five dollars. That's pricing ephemeral digital only content correctly.

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txsizzler
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Re: Games being shut down

Postby txsizzler » September 25th, 2018, 5:27 pm

Try GOG. You download the game, no DRM, and can use to your hearts content.

That being said, on console gaming, digital only is something I avoid, unless its like gentlegamer mentioned, pennies on the dollar (which sometimes Microsoft runs on their Xbox sales).

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ptdebate
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Re: Games being shut down

Postby ptdebate » September 25th, 2018, 6:19 pm

Gentlegamer wrote:
ptdebate wrote:
Gentlegamer wrote:This is why you don't buy digital content on closed platforms.

The only reason I buy games on Steam is that I get them for pennies on the dollar, and if something happens with the DRM or the publisher tries to shut it down, it is trivial to obtain cracks for my purchased games.


If I get a decade of playtime out of a game that cost me $2...I'm good tbh

My Steam account has been active for 13 years and I've never lost anything.


That's the other part of Steam doing things right, price wise. Even if I can't get a crack for a particular game, it likely cost me under ten dollars, often under five dollars. That's pricing ephemeral digital only content correctly.


Another good site for this is GOG. GOG gives you complete control over the game data you purchase because it is DRM-free. So just make backups of the data and you're good even if the storefront disappears. I only prefer Steam because I think it strikes the best balance with availability, pricing, and social/multiplayer features. But if I had to pay full price, and assuming digital is my only option (as it often is in PC gaming), I would lean towards GOG.


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