At Least Someone Is Celebrating Castlevania's 35th In The Right Way

This is something that has actual value, has a final customer that wants to keep this for himself.

NFTs do not have a final customer, people are just buying them as an investiment to sell them for more, or to evade taxes and launder money, any investiment without a final customer is a bubble waiting to burst unless people are buying from each other.

I noticed Castlevania Requiem is getting a physical release.

Makes me wish it wasn't exclusive to Playstation.

You can’t smell an NFT.

@victordamazio NFT based digital goods will allow people to sell limited quantity digital goods and the company who made them will continually get a cut from every resale. They need to take this approach with digital store wallets and unify it across all platforms IMO so that we can resell digital games.

To be fair, NFT and LimitedRun are basically the same business model of artificial scarcity.

@Jokerwolf "Limited quantity digital goods" is an oxymoron if ever there was one.

I don't know @nessisonett, NFTs always smell pretty crappy to me.

@Jokerwolf Why the heck would people need to resell digital games? Who would we sell them to? Each other? That makes no sense for digital goods where copies can be produced infinitely. There will always be a finite supply of physical goods, which gives it a market, but every single console owner on the planet can buy a digital copy of the same game.

The only way this would make sense is for situations like when Nintendo decided to create artificial scarcity for some stupid reason for the eShop versions of Super Mario 3D All Stars and the original Fire Emblem. If that becomes common practice in gaming, then that's the day I finally start getting caught up on my humongous backlog.

@Jokerwolf NFTs could be used for that, having your Steam account saved as an NFT, not only would allow you to resell you games, but if another store accepts NFTs, you can still download you games even if Steam closes and Valve goes bankrupt.

There are people who defend that NFTs could be used in a good way, however, people are using NFTs to make digital goods "unique", in the sense that I own the original and you only own cheap copies, this is ridiculous.

@mechayakuza Copyright laws are pretty much this.

However, the difference between copyright is like this: Paintings made now are copyrighted by the artists, you can't make copies of them, but the Mona Lisa has no copyright, Leonardo da Vinci lived in a time copyright laws didn't exist, so you can make your own Mona Lisa copies and sell them, but they won't have the same value, the original is still property of the Louvre, and that one is worth millions, intellectual property is different from material property, while NFTs are just a way to make sure a digital good can have an original certified copy, by saving a receipt that you bought it, which is pretty dumb, and so far, still not regulated by any law.

@GayusGayer But like I said, at least LimitedRun products have a final customer.

And they are something physical, that you can hold, NFTs are just a receipt that says you own something.

@burninmylight It would make sense from the consumers perspective. The seller could get rid of games they no longer want and make some money back. The buyer would get the game at a cheaper price than full retail that a new digital copy would cost.

However this doesn’t make sense from the perspective of the rights holder of the game, so this is unlikely to become reality. Sure they could take a cut of the resale… but that would put the resale price out of their control, and also result in less profit for them as apposed to just selling a new digital copy.

@victordamazio true, although it remains to be seen if physical games keep working without the mandatory DRM checks nowadays.

@GayusGayer LimitedRun is one of those companies keeping physical games as something serious, so no DRM checks for physical copies.

However, one of my friends who fixes my stuff, told me how everything nowadays is made with cheap plastic that rots, he showed me an Xbox One disc that was totally bent, and it was like this when the box was unsealed, we have no choice, digital media may be more future-proof than physical media.

@victordamazio sounds like the future is getting worse.

@burninmylight Yes we should be able to resell our digital games, at a lesser amount obviously, and the original devs/publishers would get a small resale cut, using NFT's this is very possible and would be very good for the consumer. You just need a set value of software degradation, so over time the innate value of digital games would decrease to a minimum.

@victordamazio Oh I agree it is a shady practice for what some of these big publishers are proposing but it was bound to happen.

Figures Konami would celebrate Castlevania's anniversary with a friggin NFT of all things. I'd almost prefer a new Pachinko machine instead.

That artwork is outstanding!

I just wish it wasn't Limited Runs, because they really are scummy. It's only better than NFTs because I end up with actually something of value.

Game anniversary nowadays doesn't seem special like they use to be. It seems like the game company that owns it doesn't really want to do anything with it.

I plan on ordering a copy of Requiem, but I did just buy it digitally for $5, and these guys take forever nowadays to get the product to their consumers. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World only took 2 months after preorders closed. I'm still waiting on the Castlevania Anniversary Collection Bloodlines Edition, half a year after preorders closed.

@Tim_Vreeland

"However this doesn’t make sense from the perspective of the rights holder of the game, so this is unlikely to become reality."

You said it right there. That's why it doesn't make sense. Why would publishers create a market where they completely lose control of the pricing? They've been spending the past couple of console generations herding/conditioning us customers into buying games digitally so that they can take the bite out of the physical secondhand market, so why would they now give that kind of thing back?

I highly doubt that getting a cut of digital resell of a game sold for pennies on the dollar is worth the attention, PR and sudden sales rush created from simply giving a game a good sale on a marketplace storefront.

@Jokerwolf See post #24.

"You just need a set value of software degradation, so over time the innate value of digital games would decrease to a minimum."

Oh, so it wouldn't be a free market, it would be publishers maintaining their control over what we can do with our games. You are putting a lot of faith into publishers being extremely customer friendly.

Importing these is going to be a pain in the neck.

Whoa! I love that artwork! I want all of this!!! Even though I have all these games digitally.

@Jokerwolf Yeah that would be awesome indeed. However consumers do not own the IP, the developers do. So its pretty pointless to speculate what would be the consumers preferred method of distribution, when the developer controls the distribution, and this is a disadvantage for them.

Unless some government agencies come in and force it, developers and publishers aren’t going to hand over their dollars and go against their share holders, just because its consumer friendly.

@Tim_Vreeland It is 100% beneficial to the devs/publishers because they would get a decent cut of the resale, if you sell a physical game they do not. This would also allow you to bring your digital wallet to any digital store if it was a unified NFT these companies agreed on. It is very anti-consumer to not allow us to re-sell digital goods and it should have been done long ago. At the end of the day if I have a means to play a game that lets say Nintendo and other companies feel an older title still warrants a full 79.99(CAD) price tag people will likely pirate or find other means to play it for example. It is no sweat off my back to get a game for free where I could have bought it but some companies over value their IP to their detriment.

Companies like LRG are keeping my passion for a wide range of games alive.

@Jokerwolf but we aren’t talking digital vs physical. We are talking digital vs digital. What company and what shareholders believe in giving consumers control over their distribution? How do they think that will benefit them? Whos going to convince them that getting a percentage of a consumers resale, is better than just taking 100% of the sale for themselves and setting the price themselves? This isnt a finite resource. A new copy is exactly the same as a used copy. On one hand a company gets 100% profit and on the other hand a company gets to share profit with a random consumer? Which do you think they will choose? Nintendo can sell their 4 year old games all day long at $60 a pop, and lower it to $40 for holiday sales. And they sell well, because of the fact that they maintain control and dont let their ip value get diminished with overly aggressive sales. Do you think they are just going to hand that over to consumers and say “Hey lets see where this goes” for giggles? They have no incentive to do so. Makes no sense at all. Only makes sense for us the buyers. These companies have fought regulators over refund policies. They arent in business to be be friendsies with consumers.

@Tim_Vreeland I know but it will change or I will pirate more and more simple as that to combat their greediness.

I don't understand the distaste for Limited Run, and feel like other companies like Super Rare give them a bad name.

Limited Run gives you a 5 week preorder and theoretically everyone COULD get a copy if they wanted to. While other limited runs are small amounts that create competition (and I also find that scummy) I feel that Limited Run is the most fair version of this process.

Limited runs are not the alternative to an "unlimited run" they are the alternative to no physical version at all

Nothing against Limited Run games, but I'm not buying anything else made from Konami now that they're NFT scammers. I won't get rid of the games I already got or anything, but I clicked "Ignore this creator" from Steam and will spend my money elsewhere, not like there's any shortage of great games to play.

@Jokerwolf There's a big issue with all that, physical used games are physically used; the shrinkwrap is gone, it may be missing a pamphlet, box got torn when opening it, it gets fingerprints, may have been thrown or dropped, etc. so you don't pay as much for a physical game that's used. A digital game that copy is exactly as good as the original, so my question is, if a consumer has the option to buy a game new for $60 or $20 used, why would anyone ever pay full price for a new game again? And, why is that something you think that a video game company would support?

It doesn't take NFTs to handle something like that, it could be done ages ago if anyone wanted. There just isn't any money in it for the people producing the content, not a technological constraint.

@victordamazio

Even if the Mona Lisa had been copyrighted, at the time of it's creation, it would've have fallen into the public domain centuries ago.

@Nintendo_Thumb I don't think most of that is accurate, you are thinking retro collecting, I am talking about digital libraries and more recent physical games and systems, what is current. It is doable and benefits the devs and publishers and would considerably curb piracy introducing a legal used market. Games are continuing to rise along side of this insane inflation going on in most places and piracy will increase substantially as this continues if something isn't done. The videogame market will crash if the new game prices continue to rise.

I am not that big into Castlevania but I can't deny that the shirt is awesome.

Cool artwork with some retro spunk!

@KayFiOS
Poor babe! Try 10 months (and counting) for Bug Fables: Special Edition! With Axiom Verge DUO and Narita Boi to wait on after that!!
Then again, I have a current Switch backlog of 26, and happen to LOVE LRG (one of the last few niceties of being a Yank, it seems), so I guess I’ll leave you with the Braveheart line I remind myself when I’m feeling neglected: “HOOOOOLLDD!!”

@Nintendo_Thumb

Nobody is forcing you to buy an NFT, guy.

I'm buying this then if it takes 30 years to arrive and I'm no longer here I'm sure my Son will play it 😄

Still waiting for a physical Castlevania Advance Collection 🙄

@SupremeAllah "Nobody is forcing you to insert more coins."

"Nobody is forcing you to buy a strategy guide."

"Nobody is forcing you to buy an expansion pack."

"Nobody is forcing you to buy DLC."

"Nobody is forcing you to buy a Season Pass."

"Nobody is forcing you to buy microtransactions."

"Nobody is forcing you to buy Loot Boxes."

"Nobody is forcing you to buy Battle Passes."

"Nobody is forcing you to buy NFTs."

No one is forcing me to buy anything, but those who refuse to buy them are going to have less fun, this will affect people who don't buy it, and for the worse.

@victordamazio How exactly does not buying an NFT mean you have less fun?

Do y’all realize how well PC-Engine Castlevania and PS1 Castlevania would sell on the Switch?

@RupeeClock Josh says a lot of things that turn out not to be true. Time and time again. LRG will get caught up with NFTs they will make their way in “super duper ultra small limited window editions” no way they turn down even easier ways to make money off false scarcity.

@SupremeAllah off the whole of their comment that statement makes sense. I too am sick of people saying in gaming “you don’t have to buy **” people are opposed to grubby practises coz they hurt the hobby we love and a fair few practises they list have made the industry worse

@Donutsavant you be a customer of theirs for a few years and find out yourself why they have a bad name.

We need to somehow preserve Tom DuBois for all eternity, i want another generation to grow up being inspired by his incredible art.

@Stocksy How is buying an NFT somehow different from going to the store and buying a Yoshi stuffed animal? Neither helps you in the game or gives you more content.

This really just sounds like people looking for a reason to be outraged.

You want to actually talk real outrage? What really hurts the gaming hobby?

How about the fact that we were always taught the myth of passing on savings to the customer should a product be made cheaper. Digital sales require no shipping, no packaging, etc. Yet ever since they have become a staple, the price was always full. No savings passed to the consumer.

Now that, is something worth being outraged over. And greedy companies taking it out on you.

I am getting Requiem ,I have been a Castlevania fan from DAY1 ..

@wizzgamer yeah if a console that is compatible with PS4 games is still available in 30 years ..And the disks don’t have bit rot ..lol