The Big Bad Console Thread - Sway your Station with an Xboner !

Dandain_sl said:

I think you're on to something in regards to consoles especially, with the cases being uniform so long they are like a dvd collection for most people who buy a decent chunk of games.

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Yeah, I absolutely love my physical collection. I need a new bookshelf to hold my games, my current one is overfilled. There's just something about a shelf full of games that gives me more of an emotional attachment to them. I can look over at the shelf and it's like a gigantic collection of fond memories for me. I don't feel that at all with my digital libraries.

Alternatively I look at my giant DVD collection and think, "look at all the money I've wasted on this stupid out-dated technology."

It's not the same thing at all, my movies have been strictly upgraded. I'm just sayin...fuckin Blu-Rays.

The Ancient_sl said:

Alternatively I look at my giant DVD collection and think, look at all the money I've wasted on this stupid out-dated technology.

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It's not a waste if you enjoyed your time watching them!

Both Sony and Microsoft will want their players to be more digital consumers than physical. It all depends on which company copies the steam profile of online commerce. As of today it looks like Microsoft is somewhat understanding how to move their player based more to an digital purchase mindset with massive 75% off sales.

http://majornelson.com/2013/02/22/th...ate-game-sale/

The Ancient_sl said:

Alternatively I look at my giant DVD collection and think, "look at all the money I've wasted on this stupid out-dated technology."

It's not the same thing at all, my movies have been strictly upgraded. I'm just sayin...fuckin Blu-Rays.

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I never bought many DVDs: my several boxes filled with VHS acted as a cautionary tale!

All joke aside I think there is a big difference between a DVD collection and a game collection: with movies, the "original" object is the film print* and the "original" experience is the projection in a theater, so a VHS or a DVD or even a Blue Ray watched at home is only a trace of this original. It's only in a very few cases where the LD/VHS/DVD/BRD edition is a collector item in and by itself (there are many efforts to make "collector editions" though, but most are lame cash grabs).

With a video game, the thing you buy is the original (or at least one of the originals considering the different regional versions), the thing you experience is the original experience. On top of that it's an industry with few re-releases. Add the succession of generations of machines that guarantees obsolescence and its only natural for the games to become collectors' items. For console the effect is reinforced I think because of the branding and the set platform that makes the games a more coherent object (though there is something to be said about the creativity that went into some of the computer games cardboard boxes of the '80s and '90s).



* this is arguable but let's not get allWalter Benjaminin here.

Fuya_sl said:

Both Sony and Microsoft will want their players to be more digital consumers than physical. It all depends on which company copies the steam profile of online commerce. As of today it looks like Microsoft is somewhat understanding how to move their player based more to an digital purchase mindset with massive 75% off sales.

http://majornelson.com/2013/02/22/th...ate-game-sale/

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I do think you're right on the Microsoft is closer to copying steam effectively than Sony, I think a decent amount of that could be just nationality issues - the deciders of Microsoft are northwestern us (just like valve) and Sony still has a lot of traditional Japanese obviously in its business models. Just like we see obvious differences in game design and genres.

Honestly, I'd say game collections are the biggest reason I miss being a primarily console gamer. My copies of SNES FFIII (VI) and ALttP which both still have the fucking original purchase receipts from 91 or whatever speak to my OCD nature of this.

Don't even get me started on the 1000+ DVD collection that I left with my ex wife. I did take a huge chunk of the bluray collection.

Fuya_sl said:

Both Sony and Microsoft will want their players to be more digital consumers than physical. It all depends on which company copies the steam profile of online commerce. As of today it looks like Microsoft is somewhat understanding how to move their player based more to an digital purchase mindset with massive 75% off sales.

http://majornelson.com/2013/02/22/th...ate-game-sale/

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Oh fuck. I know what I'm doing when I get home. I see several I want to play. Now if MS would just start putting dollars instead of points so I don't have to convert.

You can use cash on all of those games in the sale, you don't have to use points. You can use points if you want too though. All Games are purchasable on XBL with regular dollars. It's only DLC that currently requires MS points and hopefully they do away with that soon.

Tuco_sl said:

between having a digital library that'll never get destroyed vs a bunch of physical copies I can masturbate on I'll take the digital copies.

That being said I've kept all my game manuals in my closet and the only thing keeping me from arguing with my wife about how cluttered our closet is, is the fact that I'll never give up my game manuals but it has zero purpose.

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What about digital copies which can't be played on any system that's in manufacture anymore?

They sure don't make digital manuals like they used to. Nowadays if I get a manual that's more than 4 pages, it must be for a Wii game cause they print that shit in 12 languages and fill it with instructions on how not to hurl your wiimote through your television.

Am I the minority in that I rarely ever come back to play old games? I still have my collection from the previous generations intact but they just sit there. The drop in graphical quality is just too much for me to enjoy on an HDTV set.

No, people conflate the importance for the mostpart - but there's a few gems that bring you back.

Like my SNES I have for just ChronoTrigger since I hate the other rereleases controls except GameBoy but that's too tiny to enjoy the same.

Realistically though otherwise I've been able to use an emulator to do any other so I'm not too worried myself - especially since people are still making fake SNES,Genesis, etcs today

pretty rarely. Occasionally an old PC game.

And lets be real, if I really want to play an SNES game, or whatever. My SNES still fucking works. why the hell would I care if my Wii can't play snes games? Complaining about backwards compat is pretty stupid most often.

The only real complaint is games that are actually not playable anymore. PC games have this problem with new OS's as most know. Getting something like BG or planescape to run on win 7 or 8. not fun.
Or old games that had onlineplay. 10 years from now, playing something with always on DRM might be impossible. You have to trust the company that runs it, wont shut it down.

Almost any old game still worth playing is better when emulated with higher res graphics. No reason to keep physical copies or old hardware.

There's something to be said for revisiting for nostalgia. Hell, I still have one 26" CRT tv that my SNES is on.

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/a...-april-26.aspx

An associate editor of the website CVG says that his sources have told him that Microsoft is planning an event on April 26 to unveil the next Xbox to the world.

CVG associate editor Rob Crossley recently tweeted: "The next Xbox event is scheduled for April 26th, I've been told by someone I trust. Microsoft may change date, obvs, but diarise tentatively."

While this is far from official confirmation, it makes sense that Microsoft would not wait until E3 to talk about its next system, given that Sony has already shows some of its cards regarding the PlayStation 4. More on this story to come.

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Lenas_sl said:

Almost any old game still worth playing is better when emulated with higher res graphics. No reason to keep physical copies or old hardware.

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I agree in most cases. I think if you can't play the emulated version on a proper television-size screen, that can leave something to be desired. Also you need a gamepad that feels good (XBOX 360 USB controller is where it's at IMO).