Pre-2010s

[UNLEADED_BRONZE]

Nearly all pre-2010s games unavailable or delisted is this worrying/considering

 

*concerning

 

https://www.gamedeveloper.com/culture/study-finds-nearly-every-pre-2010-video-game-is-unavailable

Edited July 15, 2023 by UNLEADED_BRONZE

[mcnichoj]

DO they have Battletoads?

[StraightVege]

An interesting article and study I just got around to looking at, thanks. While I've read about this issue in the past, I wasn't aware of the full extent of the problem. Obviously not an ideal solution, but even if the big companies truly don't care about the preservation of video game history, and industry lobbyists are actively opposed to it, they'll never stop the emulation community from doing their part, so that's something partially reassuring.

[Letenko]

Just from a personal level, this is very sad. I am sure that I wouldn't personally enjoy the vast majority of these "lost" videogames, but even if there's just a handful of great ones, it saddens me to know how much hasn't been preserved.

 

While it's not as much of a problem now, but this right here is another reason to buy physical when possible, aside from disc rot, having a disc with the actual data on it (looking at you, CoD MW2 2022) is one way you can help preserve games. Once I'll get to it, I plan to upload and preserve a good chunk of my collection, especially the games that aren't as freely available to download/purchase/pirate.

 

It might sound pretentious, but to me games are an art form and should be preserved if for nothing else, just on the off chance that somebody in 40 years will have an itch to play the english version of Aquanaut's Holiday on PS3, but the game won't be available anywhere due to it's rarity and scarcity.

[Guest]

"Though libraries and archives have permission to digitally preserve video games, they're limited in what they can do with games compared to other media such as books or movies. "

 

this quote goes to show how childish the general video game audience is, who either don't care about it or run in defense of "copyright" and that outdated useless crap.

[cy1999aek_maik]

1 hour ago, Letenko said:

 to me games are an art form and should be preserved if for nothing else, just on the off chance that somebody in 40 years will have an itch to play the english version of Aquanaut's Holiday on PS3, but the game won't be available anywhere due to it's rarity and scarcity.

This is what makes it sad. They didn't consider their games art and they didn't take them seriously enough to back them up or make sure the game is preserved in any way. That's why I like collecting PS3 games, it is my favourite console and I want to prepare for the inevitable store shut down, where countless of digital only games will be lost

[UNLEADED_BRONZE]

The sad harsh truth:

 

The enitable will happen bound too/2 

With an expiry/removal/delisted date

 

 

Missing out on DLC or Indie Games

 

[charxsetsuna]

Why I will never get a digital only console, you will eventually end up with a paperweight.

 

Not to mention so many indie games are at risk of being lost media.

[Letenko]

34 minutes ago, cy1999aek_maik said:

This is what makes it sad. They didn't consider their games art and they didn't take them seriously enough to back them up or make sure the game is preserved in any way. That's why I like collecting PS3 games, it is my favourite console and I want to prepare for the inevitable store shut down, where countless of digital only games will be lost

 

6 minutes ago, UNLEADED_BRONZE said:

The sad harsh truth:

 

The enitable will happen bound too/2 

With an expiry/removal/delisted date

 

 

Missing out on DLC or Indie Games

 

I think the prior PS3 Store shutdown was a good wakeup call for many, including me. I started purchasing many niche PS3 digital games and DLCs around that time.

 

It is a bit scary that great lesser known games like Clan of Champions (only having a digital english version, physical JP), Eat Them!, Greed Corp, Smash Cars, Landit Bandit, House of the Dead 4 (only being available as an arcade machine) and DLCs like the true ending for Asura's Wrath, the comic prequel for Mass Effect 2 and others that are not on disc anywhere and might be lost to time one day.

 

Even worse, if you buy all of these, download them to be preserved and Sony's servers ever go offline and your CMOS battery dies, requiring you to connect to Sony's servers to authenticate your licenses, your only option will be práce or not having access to things you paid for.

[RadiantFlamberge]

Hopefully there's a big enough backlash against the PS3 C-Bomb that Sony fixes it like they have done on PS4.

 

The PS5 should be able to emulate the older systems (1/2/3/PSP/Vita). I'm sure Sony could code it, and that PS5 would have enough power. Streaming isn't good enough IMO, since it opens the door for bad lag.

 

https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/ps5-ps3-emulation-explained/

This article is an interesting read. One point raised about emulation (which would help preserve older games) is that while it's doable, the performance will pale compared to a native port. And there's a cost. 

With that said... If Sony made an official PS3 and older systems emulator for PS5 but charged $100 for it, I'm sure there are some who'd gladly pay it. I would. With an emulator, devs could make mods for the emulated versions (such as 60 fps instead of 30, 4K or 1080p instead of 720p, and HQ textures upscaled with something like ESRGAN).

Edited July 25, 2023 by RadiantFlamberge