Modern Complete Collection Question

[Alc630]

A Newbie here, (I don't even know if I'm putting this in the right thread category) but basically what I wanted to know from others is, would digital download games be considered/necessary for a complete collection? I mean in this day of age where some video games are only in digital form, is it necessary to have, to be considered for a complete collection for any modern system?

Example: I'm going to try for a complete PS Vita Collection, but games such as Sound Shapes, Orgarhythm, Hotline Miami, and Sine Mora are Vita games that have no physical form, but would those games be needed for a Complete Collection? Should I just separate Physical Media from Digital Media? I would like to know other people's opinion about this. Thanks for your response (if anyone does decide to respond lol)

[90snostalga]

Welcome to the site!     This is an interesting question and I'm curious to see what the other members thoughts are.  My personal opinion is no, digital would not be required but this maybe due to me being more old skool, that I do not even play online games, or digital games.  But If I was going for a collection for a new system, I would say no but I'm curious as to other answers.

[90snostalga]

I would have to elaborate better of my reasoning.  I have a huge collection of music, ranging from cd's, cassette tapes to vinyl's.  Any time someone younger shows me that they have like a thousand songs on their ipod or mp3 player or computer, I do not really value it.  To me, a true collection is a physical collection.  Like back when I was a kid, I knew a few people who had a huge collection of VHS movies, all very nice for display and enjoyment   I had blank tapes I recorded movies on from tv lol.  I guess to me, a collection is something that you can set up a nice way, organized for display but also a display of things you love and highly enjoy.

[turf]

Welcome to the party!
It really depends on what you want. I know this is going to sound very hippy and zen, but it's up to you. You decide what you want to collect. What butters your muffin, so to speak. If you want all the digital games too, good for you.  Have at it.

For me, I would only count physical releases. That's my thing though. I like to be able to hold a game in my hand if I'm going to have it in my collection. My wife would probably appreciate me collecting only digital. It would free up a whole room.

TL;DR Welcome to the site and do your own thing.

[sin2beta]

One thing I have found is that no one will have a complete collection. This is because everyone's definition is completely different. Do you collect for a region? Variants? Pirated games? Bootlegs? CIB? These seem to travel with the systems' community. NES collectors typically seem to consider Action 52 or Wisdom Tree games part of their collection. SEGA collectors seem to not call it a complete collection unless it is CIB (box and manual). They could care less about unofficial games for the most part. Why I say no one will have one is that someone will always say pirated and bootleg games are needed. I would say it is practically impossible to get all of these. Anyone who says they could get all of them do not know about pirated and bootleg games.

That said, the digital side is tough. Super Meat Boy and Fez seem to be needed for a 360 complete collection. But, those will be impossible (or more likely trivial) to collect once XBox Live is down. Either way makes the point in collecting them moot. I would be inclined not to count digital releases due to the methods of collecting them once the online service is down. If collecting means pirating, it's not part of it. And the games will necessarily need to be pirated at some point.

My favorite video on full set collecting:

[90snostalga]

 I like to be able to hold a game in my hand if I'm going to have it in my collection.

That's a a great way to put it.  Physical all day

[90snostalga]

One thing I have found is that no one will have a complete collection. This is because everyone's definition is completely different. Do you collect for a region? Variants? Pirated games? Bootlegs? CIB? These seem to travel with the systems' community. NES collectors typically seem to consider Action 52 or Wisdom Tree games part of their collection. SEGA collectors seem to not call it a complete collection unless it is CIB (box and manual). They could care less about unofficial games for the most part. Why I say no one will have one is that someone will always say pirated and bootleg games are needed. I would say it is practically impossible to get all of these. Anyone who says they could get all of them do not know about pirated and bootleg games.

That said, the digital side is tough. Super Meat Boy and Fez seem to be needed for a 360 complete collection. But, those will be impossible (or more likely trivial) to collect once XBox Live is down. Either way makes the point in collecting them moot. I would be inclined not to count digital releases due to the methods of collecting them once the online service is down. If collecting means pirating, it's not part of it. And the games will necessarily need to be pirated at some point.

My favorite video on full set collecting:

Are you being hypothetical about XBOX live, or is it really going down?

[Alc630]

Thanks for the warm welcome and replies. You all brought up some interesting points on how to define a modern complete collection, guess it just caters to how I would define my own complete collection. Guess I'm sticking to North American releases of Physical games, cause different variants, regions, etc. are too much of hassle. Besides, having the physical form feels more as if it's YOUR OWN copy of a game. Plus it looks more impressive to display hundreds of games on shelves compared to that same hundreds of games in digital form and just showing a hard drive (or wherever it is stored) instead lol. Thanks again for replying 

[sin2beta]

Are you being hypothetical about XBOX live, or is it really going down?

It will at some point. You can't connect on the original XBox anymore. It will probably be several years though. The original XBox Live lasted until April 15 2010. Not too bad really. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-20004670-52.html

[90snostalga]

Are you being hypothetical about XBOX live, or is it really going down?

It will at some point. You can't connect on the original XBox anymore. It will probably be several years though. The original XBox Live lasted until April 15 2010. Not too bad really. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-20004670-52.html

Show's my lack of internet knowledge.  I thought Xbox live was just how anyone with an xbox connected to the internet to play each other.  I didn't know there was one for each xbox version.  Thanks for the information.

[blipcs76]

I would say no.  Digitally distributed games released on XBLA will cease to exist when the following happens: they're delisted from XBLA ~and~ old Xbox360 hard drives start failing.  Once they're delisted, there's no legit way to get them.  Unless they're moved to a cloud system and able to be somehow transferred back to an XBox hard drive (if you can find a working one), these games will eventually vanish.  With no way to get them or play them honestly, they're essentially gone.  You could emulate them, but do you count game ROMs as part of your game collection?

So no, I don't consider digital games to be part of a collection.  I've added my XBLA and WiiWare games to mine just for my own record, but I don't consider them part of my collection.