I don’t ever recall new copies of physical games being widely available for a tiny fraction of their RRP. Sure you could get more second hand games, but they’re nowhere near as readily available.
Rereleased cheaper games were a thing but adjusted for inflation they’d still be very expensive compared to now. I remember buying them for ~£10 which is about £18.50 now. These days they’re generally much cheaper and don’t need manual patching or media. I never got my copy of GTA 2 back!
There are definitely trade offs. No one can take your physical copy. Old MMO games could continue with new branches when the official servers died. Physical games are givable others when you don’t want it anymore. Digital are nice for online play keeping everyone on the same builds and don’t take up any space.
But I’ve had plenty of games I “owned” disappear from my steam library because they were not longer supported or whatever.
I guess I just don’t really relate to the notion of games being taken away. If it stops being available just pirate it - you already paid for it, after all. I don’t recall losing any games in the nearly twenty years I’ve had a Steam account, although I know it can happen.
In general I’m mostly glad they don’t take up any physical space because otherwise I’d be drowning in outdated polycarbonate coasters!
I don’t ever recall new copies of physical games being widely available for a tiny fraction of their RRP. Sure you could get more second hand games, but they’re nowhere near as readily available.
Rereleased cheaper games were a thing but adjusted for inflation they’d still be very expensive compared to now. I remember buying them for ~£10 which is about £18.50 now. These days they’re generally much cheaper and don’t need manual patching or media. I never got my copy of GTA 2 back!
There are definitely trade offs. No one can take your physical copy. Old MMO games could continue with new branches when the official servers died. Physical games are givable others when you don’t want it anymore. Digital are nice for online play keeping everyone on the same builds and don’t take up any space.
But I’ve had plenty of games I “owned” disappear from my steam library because they were not longer supported or whatever.
I guess I just don’t really relate to the notion of games being taken away. If it stops being available just pirate it - you already paid for it, after all. I don’t recall losing any games in the nearly twenty years I’ve had a Steam account, although I know it can happen.
In general I’m mostly glad they don’t take up any physical space because otherwise I’d be drowning in outdated polycarbonate coasters!