Overcoming the phobia of digital games?

[Lindz]

I know like everything else digital downloads were on PC's before consoles, but since I'm a console only gamer its only hit me recently! I just wouldn't feel right paying for data... something I can't hold in my hands ya know >.<? Early on it was like pretty simple enough since it was mostly just downloadable content add-ons for games which I can't ever support. But nowadays theres alot of full games both old and new & good and bad that can only be owned digitally! So I almost kinda feel like I'm missing out ya know? Yet even with those feelings in mind I still stand against this stuff and can't bring myself to pay up for 'em. Is anyone else still against this or am I the lone old-fashioned nutjob here? lol

[Talon87]

I'm for it on PCs (in theory; never done it) but very much against it on consoles for one simple reason: BACKUP DISC (or lack thereof).

When you buy something from Valve, you get the full install on your machine (I think) and you are free to back that install up to a data DVD±R (if not as an .iso image to have a out-of-the-box bootable backup disc).

But when you buy something for the Virtual Console from Nintendo, you pretty much have no guarantee of consumer safety. Your Wii dies? Well, guess what, so do all your games you bought digitally.

Now, Nintendo (1) is notorious for its console longevity and (2) is equally notorious for its superb customer service, so they're probably not the best example; but the other two entries in the market scream "GIVE US YOUR CHECKBOOK!" if you want to pay for their digital content, imo.

No, Lindz, I completely agree: if I don't have some sort of physical, external backup media, I'm not doin' it. It doesn't even have to be physical-physical (I could live with it having to stay put on a computer hard drive and magically being "non-burnable"), it just needs to be something that's in my home on a machine other than the primary machine.

[Wayne]

I was the same way before but now I buy some games that aren't on disc if they are good, like echochrome and some VC classics. I was a little worried at first when I wanted to buy a game on the PSN Store but then someone told me I had 5 downloads per account and unless you clean your hard drive 5 times or kill your PS3 5 times that shouldn't be a problem to buy off of it. Now I'm not sure how the VC works so I'm still not so sure about it since there isn't any type of account for the Wii, you only need a credit card and that is it which is why I only buy games I really want since there is no backup.

[Lindz]

Okay thats good I'm not completely cooky. Yeah PSN's rules are pretty nice. You can download it to five different systems (why would you own 5 ps3's?). But even so what about backwards compatibilty? Will you be allowed to download your old games to your next system in the line? And will they even work? Even disc based BC is flakey so who knows what they'll do with downloaded games. -.-;