Topic: What does digital distribution do to classic gaming?

By that I mean you can hop onto ebay today and buy classic game systems and games, even for systems dating back to Atari 2600 and Colecovision. So what will it be like when 15-20 years from now people are buying up Xbox 360s and Wii consoles, but find out they can't play many of the digitally-distributed games, since they'll no longer be available for download.

It kinda sucks to think about some gamer who missed this generation or a certain system ponying up for a DSi system and wanting to play Shantae: Risky's Revenge only to find out it's no longer available anymore. We've already seen some games pulled from the various services, even during a generation of consoles and systems that's still underway.

I understand what you mean. It could be possible that those downloadable games will be ported onto the newer systems (like how DSiWare games are on the eShop). Hopefully, every game will be ported to those future consoles, not just a select few (one can hope).

Thus is one reason I dont like digital distribution, but I understand its the "thing" now. What is going to happen is the obvious and that will be people will have no choice but to turn towards pirating games unless as PunnyGuy said they plan to make these games all available down the road. Which due to legal copyrights and red tape is hard as we all discovered with the Wii VC and certain games.

Ideally digitally distributed games would continually be made available on new download services (i.e. DSiWare on the eShop, PSP games on the Vita's shop), but obviously that can't happen for every game - developers go out of business, licensing rights are lost, etc.

This is one of the main reasons I like Apple so much. They keep the same store with the same apps with the same architecture, but release new hardware that can run more graphically intense games and even control differently (i.e. the gyroscope).

Look at the PC: DD and DRM ruined it. You can't buy new games 2. hand, sell them again, or bring them back. Games on steam for example are bound to the account; you can't sell or trade them, and you are also not allowed to sell/trade the account. That's why i also can't sell the GTA4 (non DD version) that i bought; i think it's a piece of shit, but it needed to get bound to an account before i was able to start it, without ever giving me a chance to at try it first. Digital distribution and digital rights management are a very handy device then for those that profit from it, and the return-policy also usually is: All sales are final. It's also the death of your classic small games store, they make most of their money with used games; competing with big chains and DD is just impossible otherwise. DD is fine for keeping oldies available, but it's mostly just abused to teabag the customer.

Reminds me: Sony also wants to bind console games to accounts now, so it will not be a PC-Exclusive issue in the future.

I'd never put much thought into this topic until a friend of mine recently told me he was going to go ahead and buy a 3DS, even though he didn't really have many games for it he currently was interested in, mainly due to the worry of waiting too long and some of the downloadable games not being available by the time he got around the purchasing the system.

Hopefully, the Big 3 companies will continue to keep their services backwards compatible with their digital games, I don't really see why they wouldn't, but the chances of these games not being available down the road is probably quite large (20+ years), but I think that is where the cheaper cost to purchase comes into play as well. I've already lost hundreds to Nintendo's messed up online services with purchasing a new black Wii and not being able to transfer my games over before I sold the old one (that was literally worn out), and trading up my DSi to a 3DS cost me about $100 in DSiWare titles lost too.

System locking digital downloads is a major problem for Nintendo going forward, and would be for any other company that tried it as well. I own well over $1000 in digital downloads from Sony's PSN service and maybe $150 off of XBLA so far, and one thing I've noticed the most, is that once I beat them to completion and wear them down a good bit, I'll end up just deleting them with no worries, of course I can always just re-download, but I'm usually playing a newer game anyways.

To answer the topics question, it has severely diminished the prices of classic games for collectors and in the long run, it think so many great games will inevitably be mainly lost to server closures at some point. But, I think when the gaming market does bust again, digital downloads will keep things alive until the market restructures itself again.

Piracy totally. And if some developers decide it by some method they could re-release it. Digital distro is a curse for gamers as it takes your rights of true ownership away and it's only good for them, not us. In time all games could come out that way, and once they decide you've had enough time they can pull the plug, or just by generational jumps let it fade away and then you have squat. I actively grab SNES games at this time and I know short of a dead cart or a system, either I can replace, I can keep going on them today in 2011 or in 2051 if I want. I can't say that for anything on my PSN downloads, unless there's a Steam ver I can get on PC and back up like Tomb Raider or Limbo.
_{please, let's not go into excruciating detail re: how pirates can do whatever; people can research that thing elsewhere — TBD}