I wrote an article here: History of Copy Protection and the DRM Future of Gaming This puts a real time ring on what is happening in the DRM market. Purchased support gone on this DRM game. A state of things to come, remember when Amazon Kindle deleted some purchased downloads? Through console updates, maybe older DRMs may get disabled as licenses expire?
How many versions of Out-Run does one person need anyway? As for online distribution, I put my hand up as one of the few PS3 owners who has not bought a single game from the PSN store. Even the GTHD demo I have as a physical disc.
I'm with Johnny on DD. It's the way of the devil :nod: with an actual diwc theres always a chance of getting you data back but with only a file on a HD there's no chance once that service is gone. Sure, DD is good for a quick small game but I'd still rather have those of real media. 360 Comic Jumper is a perfect example. I'm hoping they'll make a disc version of Sonic 4 with all chapters. I'd pay full price for that. Yakumo
First of all, this is some dumb news. I hate how stuff like that can happen over licensing. If it was already made, it should have the right to exist. Second of all, for someone who has a 20GB HDD (or should i say 15 with all these updates) I really cant hold much crap. Most of my Arcade game purchases aren't even on the Hard drive just cuz its always full. :crying: Actual Physical copies of things can never be topped by Digital Distribution. Never, only in speed of arrival, but having your favorite game to hold and know that its in your greasy hands, well, it should make you feel special... And warm... And Fuzzy. Also, Yakumo, How many "zones" are there in Sonic 4? I downloaded the trial today and noticed the Title "Sonic 4 Episode 1" and its 1200 points? Ouch. A disc version with all Episodes would be ideal.:love2: The game plays great and looks nice, but I will agree that the music seems a bit lackluster compared to the originals.
I think eventually there is going some type of legislation passed concerning digital downloads that were paid for and the end of service. Maybe they will have to provide a physical copy or maybe have to abandon it as freeware. I don't know what they will do but at some point they will have to do something.
I sure hope that is true, but I think they will just keep it up for some years after PS3 died and then just shutdown one day with no options to get your DD's.
The same happened already to the OLD arcade outrun. The Saturn Sega Age Outrun was the last outrun featured the "original" ehrm.. Testarossa. Every outrun release after that used a fugly non-existing "wanna look like a ferrari"-car.
The only PSN games i got are Joe Danger and After Burner Climax. But since they are simple fun games, i'm not that worried. Actually After Burner Climax made me save some money instead of playing it on arcades. I have Gran Turismo HD on disc as well (thanks to Madroms), but also Ratchet & Clank Quest for Booty and Wipeout HD Fury. Those were PSN-only games, but they got a release on Europe / Asia Wipeout HD Fury is a MANDATORY purchase on disc, even if you don't own a PS3. Exactly.
nah, I legally bought it (im actually not really into piracy) but what if they take it offline from one day to another? Ta-Da there´s no way to buy used copies because there are none! That´s one of the reasons why I hate Digital Distribution (another reason is that they can just randomly set prices.....no matter how high they are you gotta pay them or you cant get any XBL Arcade game for example) so actually I want to say pretty much the same what Johnny said (though my english is maybe a little too poor to express it ):
I am certain than SEGA will not miss the opportunity to provide all episodes on a single disc via the usual channels of physical distribution. They milk the downloaders at the start, then they reach for the thick audience who still haven't connected their console to an online service. (and those of course who prefer the physical medium best, although they're a slimmer margin than the thickies) I m not sure the Wii will get it though, considering I've never seen Wiiware compilations.
Couldn't Sega just plaster something on the cars to make them slightly different from the original and just sell it again? Would that be too expensive to do?
What other mid-engine rear-wheel drive convertible car could be substituted for the Ferrari in Outrun? The MR2 is the wrong weight for proper drifting, the Fiero never came in a convertible model, and the Lambourghini of any vintage is rear-engine and not mid-engine. I know the physics are unrealistic and don't really matter, but it's not really Outrun if you're not driving a Ferrari.
I think it's understood that the original Outrun car is supposed to be a Testarossa. Laws around vehicle likeness usage have tightened up since 2004 or so, which is part of why some popular toys can't be reissued. So while Sega could have gotten away with a Ferrari look-alike in the original game, they can't skirt that line any more without risking legal action. I suppose that I should clarify that *for me* the whole point of the game is to imagine you're driving a Ferrari. I'm cheerfully ignoring Outrun 2019, unless Italian car makers are actually attaching jet engines to their vehicle frames in the next decade.
Physical > digital. You can make a Physical copy into a digital much easier than a digital into a physical. Plus you can always find a second physical copy on the used market as many here have stated.
Which is much simpler than making backup copies of physically distributed games for any current gen console I know.
Don't get me wrong, but with stuff like DRM / authentication these days, i bet they'll always put difficulties when it comes to backups. Plus i don't know how making backups of DVD / Blu-rays can be more difficult than digital content from consoles. Microsoft only want you to use their HDD's, need transfer cable... PS3 is more simple, but takes ages for backup and later to restore. And just imagine they make a destkop version of the PSPGo, where you have to rely on their network service and can't make backups? For me, that's what most game companies are planning for the future. In the end there's no denying that physical copy means you own the product. With digital purschases, you own the right to use the product as long as it's avaiable. And their networks can go "kaput" in the future. You can track down used games from 20 years ago. What about DLC and games distributed online from Xbox and PS2?
The intellivision and Atari 2600 had playcable and the Gameline but playcable had nothing that was not available on cartridge and the Gameline was a credit service, so you paid for a number of plays rather then downloading the game to play, although one game was unique and has been dumped. The Megadrive had the Meganet cartridge and Mega Modem, this was a download service and three were games that you couldn't get on cartridge thankfully Sega did release most of the game as the Game Cans Vol 1 and 2 on the Mega CD but one or two games didn't make it but thankfully are available as dumps. Sega are still around but you can't connect up your Mega Modem and download these games anymore...
