Games as services vs boxed product. FIGHT! - The Bear and Badger

IanHamlett

Some of the things that have been made possible on gen7 & gen8 consoles are down to the shift towards games as services. Not all of the experiences you can have in these games are in the box when you buy it and not all of them will be available in 10 years when servers are switched off.

Are we happy about this?

Brooks

I really dislike clutter but I also dislike being remotely nickled/dimed. Free-to-play is a moral failure.

Brooks

I mean unless it's actually free to play with no cash-for-upgrades shit.

Fortunately not all corps and studios are wretched.

Bollockoff

I still remember the backwards compatibility moanfest in regards to the PS3's lack of PS2 support. And in the end, no one really gave a shit. I'll only ever want to play a handful of older titles I've completed and I'm happy to deal with re-releases each generation that are fairly priced.

Brooks

I mean I guess I've been doing downloadable games since emulation and warez and that, so it's been my normal for like 15 years.

IanHamlett

Didn't MS have stats about how much their BC was used on 360 and it was piss small? I think it was something like 5% of 360 owners ever used it and only for a tiny amount each.

Vela

I posted this in the other thread but its a good example of how the games as a service concept can really leave the door open for nasty surprises.

Actually that reminds me of the GTA San Andreas news this week. "Games as a service" is the reason why Steam "owners" of the game saw the game get updated and several songs were patched out of the game because the license expired.

So what happens when Vice City no longer has Mister Mister, or Flock of Seagulls, or Bark at the Moon? No more Phil Collins or MJ?

Games as a service means that the publisher can do post-hoc downgrades to your software because of license details a customer is not privy to. Where the fuck is the consumer benefit?

Bollockoff

@Ham Sounds believable. I was surprised with myself over how little desire I had to play older games I used to love.

Except Baldur's Gate 2. That'l never die in my heart.

Outlaw

I do think I'm in the minority of people who keep games forever? I never trade anything in, or get rid of it. Ever. I have got every single video game I've ever bought. Partly due to this I don't have hundreds of games or anything. Also partly due to finances I couldn't afford to buy every game going anyway, so the ones I buy have to be good, and worth me buying and keeping.

I replay a lot of them, although not all. I personally don't like the idea of paying for a game that will only be playable for a few years max, before becoming obsolete.

Brooks

Dunno, but I got rid of all my discs, carts etc. a while ago.

Bollockoff

When I traded in my 360 for a PS3 (in excitement for MGS4 lol) I got rid of all the games to boot. Prices for traded in games have plummeted so much since then I look at my PS3 collection and I can't be arsed to sell it for peanuts. Probably storage.

Outlaw

The trade in prices for things is fucking shocking. I'd rather take the hassle of selling it privately and probably get double for it than what shops offer.

retroking1981

I played NES and PSone last week so I'm gonna go with 'not being happy about this'

retroking1981

Outlaw wrote:

The trade in prices for things is fucking shocking. I'd rather take the hassle of selling it privately and probably get double for it than what shops offer.

This is very true but even privately selling last gen stuff is hardly worth it.

Modern games just don't hold their value. I sold some PS3 and Mega Drive games on eBay last week and all the MD games went for more, including Sonic 2 (one of its more common games) unboxed.

Brooks

It's hard to get nostalgic about a CD, apparently.

Diluted Dante

I dont trade, and as a result still have all my old games. I recently played Three Lions and Apocalypse on the PS3 thanks to backwards compatibility.

IanHamlett

I kept all my games, picturing a future where I would spend an evening playing thru some classics. Then I became a dad and couldn't even keep up with one platform of releases. I think I'll be alright playing HD remakes of old games with the money from selling the originals.

Diluted Dante

The trick is not to have kids. I'm trying to find a way around the 'working' problem too.

tigersgogrrr

I'd actually quite like to sell all my old games, but the hassle.

Dark Soldier

Diluted Dante wrote:

The trick is not to have kids. I'm trying to find a way around the 'working' problem too.

I'm in that boat and spend most of my time watching other people play games.

Diluted Dante

You're doing it wrong.

superflyninja

Dark Soldier wrote:

Diluted Dante wrote:

The trick is not to have kids. I'm trying to find a way around the 'working' problem too.

I'm in that boat and spend most of my time watching other people play games.

yup and listening to podcasts about games. And reading industry blogs etc. I havent performed a Hadoken in years.for real.

Im not a massive fan of digital content just of issues like the GTA one described above. Other than that it doesnt bother me.

I do miss this huge pc boxes with novel-like manuals.
That F15 Strike Eagle 2 manual lol. Probably thicker than the real plane manual.

fullspectrum

I have performed several hadoukens.

WorKid

I'd be overjoyed to see boxes and physical media die. But the prices have to come down.

It's insane that it's more expensive and there's no / little residual value.

[Deleted User]

Disc or DL I don't mind.
Don't even mind proper DLC.

My main issue with how things are going is games being released with chunks carved out of them.
I want a nice round (maybe egg shaped), solid game.
If it has a story I want a start middle and end, will allow a hint at a sequel.
If it is a football game I want all the teams and competitions.
Racing game I want a properly decent selection of cars.

Basicly I want an entire unit of a game in a box for £40-£50 and if they want to add more later in the form of dlc or sequels or apps and websites then ok.

More than all of this though if I'm not in an online mode I don't want the game to tell me I can't play if it can't connect.

[Deleted User]

Brooks wrote:

I mean unless it's actually free to play with no cash-for-upgrades shit. Fortunately not all corps and studios are wretched.

Thankfully, Valve's TF2 is a stellar example of no cash-for-usefuls. All are purely cosmetic and most can be acquired anyway with random drops during play. The sheer quality of the game ensures devotion, loyalty and hence customisation. Virtual hat sales bring in several million pounds a year thanks to regular and substantial updates to core game.

davyK

As a retro head and collector I am not at all happy with the inevitable outcome. Game devs have always been unhappy with physical media and its associated absence of control over consumption.

The time has now come where game collecting is turning into a bounded pastime as the number of physical copies of games becomes a finite value. The joy of collecting will suffer and my only hope is that it may make a comeback at some time in the future in the form of some kind of premium product with limited release.

It heralds the era of disposable gaming and the resulting consequences for general design and replay value do not make me look forward with any fondness.

IanHamlett

I've never really had a connection to physical media other than the content it contains and there have been plenty of times in the past where the only legal way of acquiring a classic PC engine shmup is to pay the £180 it was going for. I'm not up for that.

Treating games as a service led to some good things. Rolling development isn't always about shipping a beta. Half Life changed the difficulty of one section because of player data and Burnout Paradise had a year of free content and gameplay tweeks.

JonB

I suppose ideally I'd want everything downloadable and want it to be playable (except in online multiplayer modes) years from now.

I like having most of a game collection on a hard drive, but the idea that when I finally move on from the 360 all those games will be effectively lost is a real pity. At least there's emulation.

Tempy

When I die I will leave my Steam account details in my will.

[Deleted User]

Tempy wrote:

When I die I will leave my Steam account details in my will.

Steam so best. I've only popped on here because I've decided to play Advanced Warfare on Bone and realised all games have to be fucking installed. I thought MCC was only compulsory to avoid waiting times switching between massive amounts of content. On top of that there's always a massive patch to add.

It's like a halfway house between digital and physical but taking only the worst bits from both.

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