Rodea The Sky Soldier Is Being Removed From The Wii U And 3DS eShops In Japan

Yep, this is what will happen if games are released only digitally (in general, I know this game had some physical copies). It's why I don't pick on people who just want physical copies of their game. It's a fair argument that your game could vanish at some point.

Seems like they should release the Wii version on the Switch with HD graphics.

The wii version is actually a good game.

@Kalmaro No, that's not what this means. It means it is unavailable to purchase, that's all. Peoples games aren't disappearing off their systems, no one is losing anything. Anyone who bought this will still have their copy (potentially just as long as anyone who bought it physically).
Games aren't sold forever in physical outlets either. It's no different except we don't get headlines when Gamestop isn't selling a game anymore.

I wonder what the Wii version would have scored. I have the Wii U special edition with the Wii disc sitting in my backlog.
Did see the 3DS version going super cheap on the eShop recently.

Huh, that's a shame. I didn't know it had already been removed in the west. Luckily I bought a physical copy of the Wii/U double pack for a pretty cheap price recently, and it's a pretty good game (if a bit janky).

I have this game

1. Hooray
2. How is a motion based GameCube have the better game than the WiiU!?

The wii version was ported to the 3ds and the 3ds version was ported to the wiiu which is the reason why the wiiu version didnt have motion controls like the wii and worse graphics.

45 on metacritic, I think we will live without this one. Anyone who wanted a copy has had years of it sitting on clearance shelves

@Shadowthrone So if people want to get the game in some way they can still buy it? I was under the impression that physical copies of the game were basically non-existent according to the article, that's what I was talking about.

@Shadowthrone Once a physical copy is manufactured it exists. You can track them down on ebay and from other sellers regardless of whether or not they are still be manufactured or sold at retail.

In regards to vanishing without physical copies, you will need to keep your games downloaded and probably backed up in some way to guarantee you wont lose access. When I had an Xbox I didnt have enough storage space to hold all the games I owned so I would delete the ones I wasnt currently playing. If a game was removed or at the end of a console generation I would have to buy hard drives to store all the games I dont want to risk losing access to down the line. On the other hand, I still have a super nintendo with original games that i play. Its nice being able to pop in the physical cartridge and not worry about whether or not square/enix is distributing the original version of FFVI.

These are some reasons I prefer physical for games I know I’ll want forever (or as long as possible anyway).

Let's be honest, if you didn't buy this yet you probably weren't ever going to. It's not like they've delisted Animal Crossing 6 months after release, this is a middle-of-the-road title which after 5 years on release probably has annual sales figures in single digits at best. I don't know why we feel games should be available to purchase indefinitely, that's never been the case.

@Brumblescope Lack of storage is a moot point. If you want to keep your digital games, yes you will need to buy adequate storage and chances are if someone is buying a lot of digital they've already invested in storage. In that exact same scenario for physical, you must also have actual physical space to store games.
I get some people want physical, but I also think it's ridiculous to assume everyone wants a massive collection of every game they ever bought in their home when a drive a tiny fraction of the size will do the same thing. Yes, it's a good idea to keep backups, which would be just as prudent as taking care of a physical collection. There's so much misinformaton about digital. The first responding comment to this article is a claim that it's a fair point to not buy digital because you will somehow also lose your game when it's not for sale anymore when that's not even remotely true. I have digital purchases going back many years that still work just fine. One could also say it's nice to just be able to fire up an older system and have the entire library you bought there and ready rather than needing to either have accessible room for it or having to dig it out out of storage to play it.
Physical or digital is a personal preference, and both have just as many flaws as boons. Digital just keeps taking the same tired beating from people who either don't understand how it works or refuse any change that doesn't fit with how they've done things for the last 30 years.

Streaming is a different beast and many of the arguments against digital actually apply to the streaming format. Digital, however, can last just as long as any physical collection (yes provided the user backs it up and takes care of it).

I wish I had known it was being removed from the eshop. I sold my copy in a clear up a few months ago and it would be worth more now.

Okay, it's mostly on me for not following NISA blog first-hand, and it was another annoyingly September-bound delisting (what's with this month anyway? It's not even a fiscal year border🤔) that I'm not confident I would have had the funds to catch, but... What's with the coverage, NL? I didn't even miss the article about the western regions - the search yields none, and the only link given here post factum is to the old NISA blogpost itself. So you're reporting a game's removal in Japan but not in Europe?😕

Not to bitch, guys, but please tell me it was at least a mere human oversight and not a case of "eh, the game sucked anyway, let's do a dozen more leak and rumour posts instead". Rodea may not have been a high priority on my 3DS wishlist, but ever higher than all the "Switch Pros", "Big Games totally predicted via Inside Sources to show up next Direct" and other r/tomorrow material this site seems to follow with relatively remarkable diligence.

As for the game itself... sigh, a bummer as always. Unless a Switch port is in the works, this will be another game to get a 3DS flash card for... which I have no reason to do as long as 3DS eShop and my legal library therein remain online. Nothing personal, sky soldier.

@Kalmaro
Yep!
And that is why i buy everything i can through Gog.
I've seen this with Games on my PS3, just couldn't play them because the System don't gets connected to PSN, a Day earlier it was no Problem.

Also prefering Cartridge based over Discs... PSX and Saturn Games will be the first starting to rott in like 10 years :/

This was one of the games that I got and was excited to play and I couldn't even get through maybe an hour and a half of it I just can't stand the flight and control mechanic it's awful for me. I kept thinking I could get used to it, I may have to pick it up and try it again but it just sits on my shelf right now.

The biggest mistake this game made on release was having a superior cancelled version being bundled with it. From what I understand most people brought the physical version for that over the Wii U version anyway.

@Shadowthrone Games aren't sold forever in physical outlets either.

Well, used physical copies will be sold for many many years to come.

@HotGoomba The game was ported to WiiU by a 3rd party, which is not uncommon, but when they ported it they made a ton of changes to the game without the consent of the creator. They completely changed level layouts, changed the power-up system, changed the speed at which the character moves, all sorts of stuff. And to add insult to injury, the Wii release (with the build Yuji Naka intended) was scrapped in favor of the port. Naka convinced them to package the original Wii game with the WiiU release (as it was done already and he hated the changes made in the port) then went on social media when the game came out and asked fans to make sure they played the Wii version INSTEAD of the WiiU version.

It was a messy situation. The Wii version was fun, though. Like free-roam NiGHTS.

Like others have said, I enjoyed the Wii version more. Glad I picked it up, especially since it came with both version copies.

I don't remember it being announced that it was to be removed from Euro / NA eShop's. Why didn't they announce it before removal? That's what happened with Etrian Mystery Dungeon

@Shadowthrone actually it is different. With digital when your system gives out ( which they do) you will not be able to re-dl the game at all. With physical you have it even if you have to get a new system.

I know why they're doing this. Because they want to remove it so people have to buy it on switch for more money. xD

@Kalmaro The game isn't vanishing; it's going out of print. It happens to physical media all the time, just without the hyperbole that accompanies the delisting of digital media. The copies that people already own will remain playable, so long as they follow these steps, which admittedly are essential:

1. Don't delete the game.

It's the same advice I'd give to somebody who wants to keep playing a physical copy they own--don't pitch your game in the garbage and you'll be fine.

@Shadowthrone You're being incredibly obtuse and entirely missing the point: Selling games as digital only is terrible because if a game disappears from a digital store, that's it, you can't purchase it legally anymore.

So what happens if something happens to your digital copy? Say the data gets corrupted irreparably for some reason, or your backup gets corrupted, or your storage gets ruine in something unforeseen? If your digital copy is somehow lost and the software is no longer commercially available, then you're screwed out of an experience you paid for.

With physical, unless the data on the physical media is corrupted or the media itself is damaged to the point of no longer working, then you're good for as long as the physical media, or your hardware, lasts. Without physical as an option, piracy at that point becomes pretty much the only option for re-obtaining that data.

Going digital only will just increase the rate of piracy as games become no longer available for purchase.

@Dirty0814 you can apply this same argument to physical games: if your house burns down or your physical copy/game system gets lost/stolen/damaged, you can no longer play the game. And yeah, physical copies will always exist, but for anything rare, it is not fun to pay up to 100 dollars (or often more) for a physical game.

The whole argument of physical purists requiring access to 100% of every game they've ever played has always been odd to me. We live in an era with unprecedented access to digital libraries of games. Personally, I don't see the point of replaying most games since there are always thousands of games available to play (and my backlog sure proves this).

Physical people always never seem to take into account that today's indie scene wouldn't exist without digital distribution since it is expensive to manufacture cartridges and boxes for a single game. Reminds me of people getting mad when the two 3DS Phoenix Wright games were released only digitally in North America. If the only release option was physical, a lot of games (like those two PW ones) just wouldn't come out period.

This is the only Wii U game that I have and only because it has the Wii version which is the superior version and a total hidden gem at least on the Wii, which I can totally see skyrocketing in price on eBay so if you don’t have it yet now it’s your last opportunity

That's how a digital-only future sounds like. Not good.

@MegaVel91 When someone starts a rebuttle off with name calling, I don't bother reading the rest, I just assume it's as similarly juvenile.

@Mr_Persona That's probably true, I remember Yuji Naka was so pissed that Sega gave away NiGHTS Into Dreams and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on Steam for free the other days. This is probably just him attempting to prevent something like that and resell it again for Switch and PC in the near future. Hopefully if he did that he choose the correct version.

Still own the limited edtion.Even if i can't play anymore the wii or Wii U version.I also used to own the 3DS version.Its the only game i ever triple-dipped.Its that good in my opinion.

As for house burning down damage etc that argument is pretty moot. Anyone that prefers a physical will take excellent care of their disks as for house burning down you would be on the same boat. You need a new system at that point and your digital is no longer downloadable. If it is a newer title then 90% of the time it will be cheap enough or on sale at that point it wouldn't matter if you bought it again. The whole argument is future proof. Physical is future proofed over digital. Digital you are just renting until they no longer want to make it available. Which is why digital should be cheaper than physical and 90% of the time it is actually more expensive (especially on PS).
The point is just preferring physical isn't really a argument for newer games it is one for older games people want to hang onto. I collect games and the argument is first if all I will not collect anything from the ps4,Xbox one era. Switch down and ps3, 360 down yes because of games not needing to do crap. Newer games are worthless to own physical in the long run because of needing to do the game and updates for almost all games. In 10 years it will probably not be allowed.
Digital will kill many game sales in the long run. I'm not going to buy all the games I do if it is only digital which is at least over a 100 a year. That number will drop down to less than 10-20 at the most. This will be across the board for many players.

@Shadowthrone That wasn't name-calling. Further. "You said I'm being obtuse, I'm not going to read the rest" is far more juvenile. You're basically rejecting purely because I told you you're not understanding the bigger picture.

So I'm going to reiterate this: Selling games as digital only is a terrible idea because of the fact accidents can happen. You're not always in control of when or how data is lost, no matter how much you'd like to think so, and even if you prepare accordingly, crap can still happen.

If you lose that data despite taking all the necessary precautions, and the digital only game is no longer being sold on it's appropriate storefront, then you're basically screwed.

-and while the "accidents can happen" argument can be applied to physical copies, there's one crucial difference: So long as copies of the game still exist in working condition, and you can buy it from someone, you can re-obtain it.

You can't do that with digital only in the vast majority of cases.

@JohnnyC Let's be honest, if you didn't buy this yet you probably weren't ever going to. With this logic, retro game shops can't stay in business.

• If you haven't bought Paper Mario by 2005, then you probably weren't ever going to buy it.
• If you haven't bought Super Mario Bros by 1990, then you probably weren't ever going to buy it.

People are still buying plenty of retro games.

@Crono1973 I agree there are classic titles sought out by collectors, but comparing the 2nd-hand collector's market of classic titles where a big part of the purchase is owning a pristine physical copy to having unlimited access to a digital shop of all titles ever regardless of quality isn't really the same thing, particularly as you can still buy this game 2nd-hand if you really want to. The fact is that this game had its chance and failed to find success even on the Wii U with its sparse release schedule or the 3DS while that was starting to wind down its major releases. It's not unfair to say that there's now no significant demand for this game which is most likely why it's gone. If it hadn't been delisted, nobody would even be talking about it today. If there was demand we'd have seen a port or remaster of some kind by now. It's just a reality of gaming and has been since Pong that games aren't permanently available for purchase brand new. 5 years on release is in reality far better than a lot of physical titles get these days and certainly longer availability than what games had in the 90s.

@JohnnyC Let me tell you what I just recently bought, an SNES game that got poor reviews, Tecmo Secret of the Stars.

It isn't just the great retro games that people buy.

@Piyo Sure, but even after digital is gone, you can still buy physical copies. That's the big difference I see here.

@Kalmaro Semantics. I have a differing opinion, thus I must be either dumb or acting like I am. I have no time for people who try to debate something that way, so they were ignored.
Same old thing every time a title gets removed from a digital shop - everyone who is buying digital is a moron who won't be able to play their games in 20 years time (when actually, with proper back up, yes, I will).
The assumption is that people like those who visit sites like this are the norm, when it likely really isn't the case. Average Joe Gamer doesn't care. They get a game, play it, enjoy it for a while, then move on. There's just to many other new games to be played now. People will keep copies of ones they want to replay, like they do with movies. But also like movies, the vast majority are disposable one-time play throughs.
Average Joe Gamer doesn't want to dedicate half a living room to game racks or keep them in storage in boxes for decades, especially when the other option is everything on one device.
It's not obtuse to think that game collectors aren't the norm and that majority of people treat it like any other form of media - disposable.
Case in point - a buddy of mine wanted to play some old games. He has a few still, but looked at picking some up and a system. Instead he went for the minis, which are also digital in a physical package. Because they were compact and he didn't need to bother with the logistics of having a bunch of games and hooking up systems. Another buddy opted for the Switch for his retro fix, because again, everything is just on an SD card and has little footprint in the house.
There just seems to be this assumption that everyone should be buying physical and actually wants to deal with the logistics of either having it hooked up and accessible at all times or even just storing it away. Just as physical appeals to the collector, there's a plethora of reasons digital appeals the average Joe.
As I said, there's merit to both, depending on the gamer themselves.

It's just the same stigmas everytime a digital game is delisted. What gets me is the outcry when a game is delisted. When was the physical discontinued? Why wasn't there outcry then? Where were the articles saying it was no longer in stores, so you better get it now?
If anything, the digital was around a lot longer for people to get, as is the case with virtually every digital game.

@Piyo Retro stores here stay in business and they are doing better than Gamestop.

Good thing I recently purchased this physical.

@Piyo So they're still available, you just have to save up more.

That's still not as bad as them not being available at all.

@Piyo Sure, until they turn off the servers and then they are unavailable forever.

@Shadowthrone It's just the same stigmas everytime a digital game is delisted. What gets me is the outcry when a game is delisted.

As has been said countless times. Physical games will be resold for years (decades even) to come. That isn't possible with digital and that's why it's a problem when games are delisted.

Now go put your fingers in our ears again and pretend you still don't understand for the next time this happens.

Why is it being removed? Its not even a great game to begin with, so removing it to launch onto Switch makes no sense. Many times I've considered thinking about mulling over whether or not I may one day be interested in buying this on 3ds. And what's even stranger than their decision to remove rodea the sky soldier....the article says it had already been removed from NA (North America) on September 30th but....in in 3ds eShop right now and it's still here. What's the point of all this MADNESS! A ploy to shine attention on a mediocre game maybe?
Just get "Kid Icarus: uprising" it's a much better game.

Compare a Wii physical game to a WiiWare (digital only) game.

Suppose I recommended two Wii games that you have never played. Little Kings Story and My Life as King. Which one would you be able to go out and buy right now?

The reasoning here is so simple that I think people have to pretend that they don't understand why delisting digital games is different than no longer producing new copies of physical games.

@Crono1973 Roll back the sass and look at it from a different point of view.
I have no idea what the production run of this game was, but lets say it was physical only. Then what was made is it. Everyone else is ***** out of luck when the run ended however long ago. There's only so many copies to go around and someone would always have to go without.
Digital has kept that game available for much longer. Has allowed people to be able to get it without paying what can sometimes be ridiculous aftermarket prices.
Complaining about a game being delisted that also had a physical release is the most ridiculous thing to complain about. Oh, now it's suddenly bad even though the physical run ended long ago? Would the alternative of never even having a digital release have been better? Then how many people would never have even gotten it at all?
It's like some people are pushing to limit people in how they can get games (or even if they can get it, in the case of smaller production runs). Digital on top of physical gets it out there to more people, for a wide variety of reasons I've already covered. Why would anyone advocate against people being able to get games how they want? That's what makes no sense here.
I'm not advocating digital only here. I think a dual release of digital and physical benefits everyone. Exclusive to one or the other is when it's bad.

@Shadowthrone The physical version can be resold, the digital version cannot. Delisting a digital game means no one who didn't already buy it can buy it now.

@Crono1973 Again, how does that affect anything? Your problem seems to be that no one can buy the game once it's delisted, but they can as it had a physical release. Deslisting had zero effect on that.
Go back before there was a digital shop. Once the production run was over, that was it. You were forced to the secondary market. How is that different than now? It's literally the same thing.
Only now, you have a buffer zone that games linger in the digital shops for significantly longer that you can get them. This is a good thing. It's unrealistic to expect them to be there forever, though.
As I said, digital only would be the time to bring this up. In the case of a game like this that had a dual release, it just seems pointless since it's literally the same as it's been for 40 years - you have to go to the secondary market now.
Nothing else I can add if you don't get it by now or just want to stand firm on some arbitrary stand against all things digital.

@Shadowthrone If it were a digital only game, would you be ok with it being delisted?

@Piyo For you it's all about piracy and that's just missing the point.

I've played this!

This is another prime example of how and why physical games rule! No worries for me on this one! 😊

@Shadowthrone look at the Silent Hill demo on ps4. Imagine that was an actual game, and now its removed from the store. You never the game years back, but boy do you want to play it. Now what? You go on eBay, and buy someone's console who did buy it, and now you get to play the game, and use their account I guess. With physical, not a problem, except it is going to be a problem as more games are released needing patches etc.

@Piyo Mediocrity is often in the eye of the beholder. Some markets are very niche.

A second-hand digital market sounds interesting.

@Crono1973 Now I know you're not even reading anything, because if you were, I have answered that at least twice now. Which indicates you're arguing for the sake of it.

@tylerryan79 See above. I have already commented on that. Never once have I advocated for digital only.

@joey302 In 15+ years time, consoles won't have physical media drives at all; everything will be digital or streaming in the future. And your physical collection today won't be usable on future systems. So you do have something to worry about: you will have to rebuy your entire physical game collection, digitally, if you ever want to play them on future consoles again.

And while it sucks when a digital game is delisted from a digital store; if you already own it digitally, you can still re-download it at any time.

In 20+ years, consoles will still be using the same architecture they used for this 8th generation (x86 and ARM), so backwards compatibility will remain, and today's current gen games will remain hosted on official servers for as long as they can be played on future systems.

@MegaVel91 To answer your question about delisted games and being able to redownload the game if something happens to the data like if you transfer your data to a new SD card or you are downloading deleted games from a used 3DS don’t worry: I have actually downloaded the original 3D Pokédex on my launch 3DS, lost my data during an SD transfer gone wrong, and recovered the app minus the Dex data. This happened back in 2018 when the app had been delisted for years. The same thing with the original Freaky Forms and Game Boy Teris. So there is a chance that you can download it again as long as the eshop functions.

Going to post a quick how-to for recovering “lost” delisted games that have been downloaded on the system but have since been deleted.
Go to the eshop. Go to your account. Go to the downloadable software. You can download any software that has been removed and as of 2018 it included delisted titles such as the original 3D Pokédex (not the Pro), the original Freaky Forms, ambassador GBA games, and GB Tetris. I have not had to it since 2018 but it should still work because I recovered old games from used reset 3DS’s from Game Stop.

@doctorhino Even now, months after de-listing, the game is going for under $40 for the dual pack. The supply is high and the demand is nearly non-existent because it's a bad game.

@Brumblescope Digital games are much easier to backup and don't physically degrade the same way discs do. Physical games are much more likely to be damaged, stolen, lost, etc. Also, even if you lose a digital game, by the time it's delisted (which is still exceedingly rare) and if you somehow lost your digital game or backup, ROMs are easily available if you want them.

I'm not saying digital doesn't have any downsides, but usually physical game defenders seem to forget that physical games are much more fragile in different ways.

@Shadowthrone Delisting a digital game is not 'literally' the same thing as stopping production on a physical game. If there were a used market for digital games, then it would be 'literally' the same.

Even in cases like this (where physical versions do exist) people are right to warn against an all digital future. People are also right to openly oppose games being delisted lest we send the message that we are ok with it.

@yuwarite And your physical collection today won't be usable on future systems.

I don't mind playing my SNES games on an SNES (or clone), my PS1 games on a PS1, PS2 or PS3, etc... The issue isn't about backward compatibility (which is something Nintendo has not embraced this gen).

No, the issue is about digital only games becoming unavailable to purchase when they are delisted. Digital stores shut down too and when that happens there will be no redownloading as well as no chance to buy a game. It will just be gone.

Digital purchases that are tied to hardware (does Nintendo still do this) will die with the hardware and the servers.

Good thing it’s already in my Wii U catalog of games.

@Crono1973 On the Console side, you needn't worry about Digital stores shutting down: Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo aren't going anywhere, anytime soon. I would be more worried about my cartridge or disc succumbing to failure (which can happen with Switch cart contacts in particular) than these companies suddenly ceasing to exist.

And no, digital purchases since the 8th gen are no longer tied to consoles; it's all tied to accounts now.

And the Wii/Wii U/3DS shops shutting down can't really be used as an example either, because those games can only be played on those machines, and it probably didn't make business sense for Nintendo to host games for retired/defunct consoles.

But the Switch and onwards will all be backwards compatible, so Nintendo will still be hosting Switch games on their servers for the next 20+ years.

@Kalmaro people who have paid money on digital copy can still redownload at anytime the removal only affects new people who were thinking of buying

On the Wii people who bought WiiWare games can still redownload those games from the shop even tho the shop is now shutdown

@CodyMKW That's perfectly fine, my issue is when those servers are shut down. That's a big reason for why some folks prefer physical.

Personally, I have no problem with digital and I prefer it.

@Retro_Player_77 Hmm yeah maybe then

@Northwind Was this game a buggy mess that needed patches? I may have skimmed over that.

I actually enjoyed this game. It has flaws but it wasn’t a bad game. It could have been great with improvements. I completed the game.

@MegaVel91
"So what happens if something happens to your digital copy? Say the data gets corrupted irreparably for some reason, or your backup gets corrupted, or your storage gets ruine in something unforeseen? If your digital copy is somehow lost and the software is no longer commercially available, then you're screwed out of an experience you paid for."

In what universe is this any different for digital? Why are we pretending that digital games do not outlive physical copies by principle? If a freak accident happens and I lose my physical copy, why do we think it's a guarantee that I can just rebuy another one unless it's a first party game? Especially years down the line?

It's not like when it's taken off digital storefronts, you can't just redownload it. You already bought it. Why would you ever need to buy it again? Software is not just deleted off of the store's servers, it's only make unavailable to purchase. You can redownload your WiiWare games from 2006 with no issue even today. You just can't buy new ones. When redownloads become unavailable, the data still exists on the console. At that point, you have all of the games you will ever get, so just make a backup. If you are paranoid about data corruption, just use the 3/2/1 rule. Three backups of the data, across two different storage devices, and one copy in the cloud or otherwise stored off-site in case your house explodes. Wii/3DS games aren't large and storage space really isn't an issue then. The Wii U is an anomaly and a valid point against digital games, but at least NNIDs exist and can be linked to an overarching Nintendo Account.

And unless something goes wrong with your console or storage, your game isn't going anywhere. The fact that you can backup your digital games alone is a point solely against physical copies. If the data corrupts on your disc or it gets scratched, or lost? Disc rot very much exists. Animals, family, and children also exist. If they destroy your game somehow? Too bad, track another one down if you're lucky and shell out the cash. Digital games can almost always be redownloaded for the foreseeable future. By the time they cannot, you either already transferred the data to the new console, or the console is out of production, and you can restore your games with an image of your SD card made in preparation.

Or it's just on an account and it literally makes zero difference, especially since manufacturers are moving away from tying the account to the system and perusing long-term account systems for every console. That would essentially mean Nintendo would have to go out of the gaming business before you "lose" your software.

In the case of backups / console specific encryption and the console ceases to function (making the backups useless), it's still a rarity that your software is not on a persistent online account. In recent memory, this has only been an issue for Wii and DSi if you didn't transfer games to a NNID or a Nintendo Account. If my Switch dies, I will still be able to get my games in 2028, guaranteed. Luckily, we're no longer in the caveman era of the online videogame universe.

@Northwind Okay, I wasn't sure if maybe it was just this game or what. I haven't heard of a significant number of games that needed patches just to run.

I'm not saying they don't exist, I've seen them. I just didn't know there were THAT many.

@yuwarite pretty insightful stuff lol- of course I was speaking to my current games and systems and yes unfortunately the future is going digital but I’ll still be able to play my current cartridges and discs on my current systems. Backwards compatibility will play an important role for sure but I won’t be in a hurry to rebuy my physical games again no and the majority of them will NEVER become available again either but overall It is bad news for us collectors!

I still have my copy (with the Wii game). Only Wii U game I have left for whatever odd reason.

@Crono1973 well said!! I left that important part out of my response!! Just like the wiishop channel is gone and soon PS3 and one day Wii U.

@Brumblescope sorry there are a lot of replies so someone may have told you already but...

On Xbox, if something is delisted and you don’t have it downloaded... you can still redownload it. It is in your library. I have done this quite a few times with random games (recently the Forza Horizon Presents Fast and Furious game). In fact Microsoft announced it was delisting Forza Horizon 3, so everyone rushed to buy it to add it to their library; because then they have access to it despite the delisting.

Having said that - I have lost access to one thing on Xbox (out of 600 digital games) and that was the fifth episode of Telltale’s Guardians of the Galaxy game. I think I just never activated it in anyway even though I did have the season pass, so that was wierd. What happened with Telltale was wierd but it was the exception.

Also sure Nintendo doesn’t have a great account system so maybe with Nintendo if you don’t have it downloaded you lose access to it. But on Xbox you still do.

I prefer physical copies myself but do buy some things digital. You can always re download them unless the actual account system shuts down fully.
The storage argument..well I got drawers of gamecube to wii u games that have a storage issue irl. So if people prefer to have just a few hard drives etc not like they are being silly.

As a 90s kid I love this mix media world. Games that were niche and out of the price range of a small dev find life on the digital shops. Physical is still an option but you are no longer held hostage by ebay/retro game store prices who mark up the price to take advantage of the fact that an out of print (I just paid $125 for a PS2 game 2 days ago) physical game is so hard to find. Digital distros usually are available longer than the physical run so you have a better chance of getting it at a fair price or even on sale sometimes. I do wish that more back catalogs were available but I get the logistics behind that.

@Crono1973 Agreed, but from a business perspective minority demand doesn't justify companies making all their products available for purchase permanently. One of my most-wanted games for years is a NES title called Little Nemo: The Dream Master. Would love to play it again, but sadly don't expect to be able to do so as I can't be doing with the cost of getting it in its original form on the 2nd-hand market, and the demand for it clearly isn't sufficient for Nintendo to put it on VC/NSO or else they'd have done it by now. My point remains that products ceasing to become available after demand dries up is nothing new and is a reminder that Nintendo and all other companies only care about the players when looking at how they affect profit margins.

@joey302 No, the Wii/Wii U/3DS shops shutting down can't really be used as an example here. Games for those systems can only be played on those systems alone; there was no unified architecture back then. And it probably doesn't make business sense for Nintendo to host games for retired/defunct consoles.

The Switch uses an ARM based architecture, which Nintendo and nVidia predict they will use for the next 20+ years. What that means is, the Switch games you buy digitally today, BotW, etc, will most likely still officially be hosted on Nintendo's servers for download 20 years from now and continue to work on future consoles.

You can't use past precedents, because prior to the PS4, XB One, Switch 8th generation, the console manufacturers were all using very different/non standard architectures, like PowerPC or the Cell. Nowadays, they're either using x86 or ARM, and those architectures will be around for the forseeable future, meaning backwards compatibility will remain a feature going forward for all consoles.

@Shadowthrone he didn't call you a name, fwiw.