Do digital game libraries add value to a current gen console?

[sworddude]

If you would have a switch with mario odyssey or mario kart 8 deluxe on their I'm pretty sure it could add around 20 $ or a bit more each of value instead of a console with nothing. phsyical would hold more value and overtime downloadable content would add less and less value.

However during the beginning years with mainstream games it can still add a sizable chunk of value. 30 - to 60%

[ferraroso]

Well... I am a person that (almost) NEVER buy digital games because, as many people here have said, owning digital versions of games doesn't mean to really own them.
Having said that, I believe that having games downloaded to the console may add some value to it. For example, if the person has games such as Scott Pilgrim vs. The World or After Burner Climax, which are not available to purchase anymore and have never been (and will never be) available physically, I believe that it is fair asking for a little more when selling the console. Not so much though...

[oldgamerz]

No, in my opinion. It's too risky and like others have already said it is too easy to rip someone off, and for example if you ever need to put a new harddrive or reset the console to factory shaped conditions unless you know
(for You to know)
1: Account Holders Current Password
2: Account Holders Current Username
3: Account holders Current Security Question or Date Of Birth
4: Account Holders Email and Email Password

(For the Seller to Know)
1: If You're The Seller who you sold it to someone  and if you do provide the following. the one you sold it to could even have access to your credit card Information, your location, and even get your identity stolen by the person who knows these things. for the seller or the buyer this is not safe for either of you.

[cirno]

I'd say yes, but not much. Having a few games to play built in can make the purchase a little more worth it, but if you asked me whether buying something like this is generally a good idea i'd tell you no.

The chances you'll get all games you'd enjoy or wanted is incredibly miniscule; it could ultimately only be a small pile of games in there you're interested in playing. I think if you have a few hundred dollars to spare, you'd have a much better experience and get better value out of getting the system and a nice pile of games you've been eyeing, rather than blowing nearly a thousand dollars for a big grab bag of random stuff from the digital store.

And of course, if it has any you don't like..tough luck, you're screwed. Not getting any of that money back, like you could with physical games.

[ffxik]

Question.  In the scenario that you have laid out.  The XB1 loaded with the free games that comes with gold.  You have to be connected to XBL for those to function, correct?  If it's an original XB1 those used are around what, $100 or so.  It's a good way to get taken for an extra $600. 

To answer your question though, No. 

[ffxik]

you never truly own digital games! i downloaded doom on my 360 after a year or so i tried to play once and noticed the digital game i bought was deleted. their was a licensing problem with the company who owned the rights to doom so it was deleted. no one cares that you already paid for it.

That doesn't sound right. I've got plenty of games that've been delisted, but my account can still download them via the account's history.

It isn't.  I had bought Doom before that kerfluffle and deleted it without realizing that it had gone from the marketplace.  I was able to just go back through my account purchase history and re-download it.  Scott Pilgrim is still active on my 360 as is Turtles in  Time Re-Shelled.  Neither of which are on the marketplace anymore. 

My son has deleted Scott Pilgrim and a number of other downloads from my console all of which I have just brought back via the purchase history.  The only pain is figuring out which account, mine or the wife's that bought whichever game.   

On a side note I haven't deleted Re-Shelled because I'm a contrarian.  I bought the game on sale for $2 I think.  It was $2 too much but since I parted with money, I refuse to delete it.

[burningdoom]

If servers are still up it doesn't matter. What happens when a company goes out of business? What about when an entire consoles online services are ended, like original Xbox Live, or the soon to be gone Wii Shop?

[sworddude]

If servers are still up it doesn't matter. What happens when a company goes out of business? What about when an entire consoles online services are ended, like original Xbox Live, or the soon to be gone Wii Shop?

I do not get why people worry about this to much

You buy games online to play them right now, after some time has passed pretty much alle people including pretty much all the ones complaining here on the forums would probably not touch that particular online game again. People complaing that they would play a game after 10 years I highly doubt that would happen with the hundreds of online dowloaded games that some have.

There are far to many games and many people have a big back log anyways. off the games that have replay value in most cases the online ones are not one of them.

you pay for the experience at the time it has no resale value unless it is a mainstream game when the console is fairly new 

As far as exclusive games go certain retro beat em ups you could probably at some point get a free rom of it and download it for play.

It's all in the mind since even the ones complaining would most likely not even play those games even if they were never gone when said company goes out of busniess or quits with there online services.

[cirno]

Yeah, I never got one people made such a fuss about that. I mean, I get it, it's an issue..but has it ever been such a problem that it's made digital games totally not a viable option? Have we heard horror stories about people companies shutting down and folks losing hundreds of dollars of games? Not really, because..usually such things happen long after everyone has moved on. Are most people just REALLY into wii shop right now and gonna be screwed over by it going down, even though it was honestly on way longer than it needed to be?

I get that digital games end much harder than physical games and that sucks, but chances are by the time you see that end you probably won't need them anymore. Everything ends eventually.

[burningdoom]

If servers are still up it doesn't matter. What happens when a company goes out of business? What about when an entire consoles online services are ended, like original Xbox Live, or the soon to be gone Wii Shop?

I do not get why people worry about this to much

You buy games online to play them right now, after some time has passed pretty much alle people including pretty much all the ones complaining here on the forums would probably not touch that particular online game again. People complaing that they would play a game after 10 years I highly doubt that would happen with the hundreds of online dowloaded games that some have.

There are far to many games and many people have a big back log anyways. off the games that have replay value in most cases the online ones are not one of them.

you pay for the experience at the time it has no resale value unless it is a mainstream game when the console is fairly new 

As far as exclusive games go certain retro beat em ups you could probably at some point get a free rom of it and download it for play.

It's all in the mind since even the ones complaining would most likely not even play those games even if they were never gone when said company goes out of busniess or quits with there online services.

Oh yeah, nobody here, who collect and play old, retro games would ever revisit an old title...HA!

[sworddude]

Oh yeah, nobody here, who collect and play old, retro games would ever revisit an old title...HA!

True but you would probably not buy it as a download in the first place as far as physical releases go. people who do so would probably give zero **** about it after the 5 to 10 years when it vanishes. you buy a download just for the experience to play it right now after many years pretty much no one and to be fair also the ones complaining would not replay them.


If your really that scared if a downloadable games vanished don't worry about it to much some guy probably placed a rom on the internet accesable to everyone for free somewhere in the future. Maybe there are some very great games on there that are worth it but than again like most retro games today they can just be played fully online or you could get a rom somewhere for the original console. Zero **** are given being said by a pretty above average collector.

So you bought doom on ps4 online big deal when that vanishes from your system after 10 years, just buy it physical for the 5$ - 10$ it goes for or probably some remaster on a newer console.

also as a personal note. I do replay games but usually the ones that are very solid or the ones with nostalgia, those download exclusives are not really notable ones if you would take physical library to be fair. Time is valuable and unless someone plays games as their full time job I highly doubt anyone would even realise that they would be missing something. It seems that people find it a waste of money when It's gone since they did spend money on it yet in reality even when it would always be there would probably not even bother to touch it after 5 years or more. it's just the mind that plays tricks on some in my opinion since eitherway the game would not be touched after such a time gap.

Than again I can understand that some find it annoying collectors wise I mean so many people list their downloadable games here on vg collect. I could imagine allot of people having a hard time to delist some downloadable items from their collection degrading their total collection item numbers 

What's next DLC listed as individual pieces of the collection 

edit: Some DLC pieces are already on vg collect I'm kinda shocked

Yeah, I never got one people made such a fuss about that. I mean, I get it, it's an issue..but has it ever been such a problem that it's made digital games totally not a viable option? Have we heard horror stories about people companies shutting down and folks losing hundreds of dollars of games? Not really, because..usually such things happen long after everyone has moved on. Are most people just REALLY into wii shop right now and gonna be screwed over by it going down, even though it was honestly on way longer than it needed to be?

I get that digital games end much harder than physical games and that sucks, but chances are by the time you see that end you probably won't need them anymore. Everything ends eventually.

My point Exactly

[hoshichiri]

Yeah, I never got one people made such a fuss about that. I mean, I get it, it's an issue..but has it ever been such a problem that it's made digital games totally not a viable option? Have we heard horror stories about people companies shutting down and folks losing hundreds of dollars of games? Not really, because..usually such things happen long after everyone has moved on. Are most people just REALLY into wii shop right now and gonna be screwed over by it going down, even though it was honestly on way longer than it needed to be?

I get that digital games end much harder than physical games and that sucks, but chances are by the time you see that end you probably won't need them anymore. Everything ends eventually.

Things I have experienced over the years:

-Gamestop employees letting me buy NES games out of the employee hold drawer becuase they were discontinuing NES sales and hey, let's sell them to this girl becuase no one cares about these old games. Accquired Kid Icarus, Donkey Kong Classics, & Bubble Bobble, plus assorted others I've forgotten. Maybe $50?

-Was gifted a SNES & games from a friend who's mom was getting on her case for owning too many systems. And hey, let's given them to my weird friend who plays these old games no one cares about. Donkey Kong Country 1-3, Link to the Past, Mario RPG, EVO Search for Eden, Starfox, several others.

-Was gifted a massive pile of Dreamcast games from a co-worker who found them cleaning out old boxes & knew I played retro- and hey, I can give them to someone who'll actually use them, becuase no one cares about old games that I know except her. Shenmue 2, euro version, with boot disc.

-Had a Gamestop manager actually come out of the back to look at me when I went to buy my brother a used Gamecube for Christmas and requested a black one. When the clerk asked him to check, he didn't actually believe someone was there to buy one- becuase hey, no one cares about those old games.

My point is, saying no one should be upset over server shutdowns becuase no one cares about those old games has forgotten the lessons of the rise of the retro bubble. The lack of value I subscribe to digital content is due to the difficulty of keeping/recovering the content long term, not becuase the games themselves aren't worth having. Also- the reason no one's mad about losing hundreds of dollars in digital content is becuase we haven't had a major content provider go offline until now. Wii probably won't be the best case study for people's reaction to lost digital content, since wiiware wasn't heavily promoted. When the 360's shop goes away, that'll be the one to watch how people react when the nostaglia kicks in.

[sworddude]

Yeah, I never got one people made such a fuss about that. I mean, I get it, it's an issue..but has it ever been such a problem that it's made digital games totally not a viable option? Have we heard horror stories about people companies shutting down and folks losing hundreds of dollars of games? Not really, because..usually such things happen long after everyone has moved on. Are most people just REALLY into wii shop right now and gonna be screwed over by it going down, even though it was honestly on way longer than it needed to be?

I get that digital games end much harder than physical games and that sucks, but chances are by the time you see that end you probably won't need them anymore. Everything ends eventually.

Things I have experienced over the years:

-Gamestop employees letting me buy NES games out of the employee hold drawer becuase they were discontinuing NES sales and hey, let's sell them to this girl becuase no one cares about these old games. Accquired Kid Icarus, Donkey Kong Classics, & Bubble Bobble, plus assorted others I've forgotten. Maybe $50?

-Was gifted a SNES & games from a friend who's mom was getting on her case for owning too many systems. And hey, let's given them to my weird friend who plays these old games no one cares about. Donkey Kong Country 1-3, Link to the Past, Mario RPG, EVO Search for Eden, Starfox, several others.

-Was gifted a massive pile of Dreamcast games from a co-worker who found them cleaning out old boxes & knew I played retro- and hey, I can give them to someone who'll actually use them, becuase no one cares about old games that I know except her. Shenmue 2, euro version, with boot disc.

-Had a Gamestop manager actually come out of the back to look at me when I went to buy my brother a used Gamecube for Christmas and requested a black one. When the clerk asked him to check, he didn't actually believe someone was there to buy one- becuase hey, no one cares about those old games.

My point is, saying no one should be upset over server shutdowns becuase no one cares about those old games has forgotten the lessons of the rise of the retro bubble. The lack of value I subscribe to digital content is due to the difficulty of keeping/recovering the content long term, not becuase the games themselves aren't worth having. Also- the reason no one's mad about losing hundreds of dollars in digital content is becuase we haven't had a major content provider go offline until now. Wii probably won't be the best case study for people's reaction to lost digital content, since wiiware wasn't heavily promoted. When the 360's shop goes away, that'll be the one to watch how people react when the nostaglia kicks in.

the digital library is pretty different especially the exclusive games on there.

These aren't big titles like fallout or witcher and as far as indi games go rehashes of older games there are plenty physical releases  for new retro stuff on ps4 and eventually the other consoles there is way to much to choose from these days those few missing games are pretty pointless due to the massive amount of releases and limited time available.

Not to mention that with some hard work you could maybe even find scott vs the pilgrims online for pc illegaly but still with such
simple games roms are not a hard thing to extract on pc it will only get more easy as the time passes just like with pretty much all retro games today for those everdrive flash carts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN8CmHq4RPo

Also as far as old console games go when people wanted to get rid of them, I have had some cheap dreamcast lots also years ago
 but even the more recent ones with the better games  in pretty much all cases when I met with such people they had nostalgia stories from the dreamcast and that it was such a different system and such different times when playing. They didn't use it to much anymore so they wanted to give it a good home with especially dreamcast I have not seen many other people with other consoles who did care still though selling it for cheap is pretty strange considering such facts than again even with the best deals it is not uncommon since most stuff in the 2nd hand market is pretty worthless.

[dashv]

Best that I know, Xbox games are tied to your account.  If you delete the account off of your Xbox, poof, games are gone. 

You don't really own digital games.  There's no resale value if you ask me... which you did by starting a topic.

^ this.

I got burned by a guy on AtariAge by the handle JohnnyBlaze.

I paid $500 for a Zelda Edition WiiU CIB with a bunch of games about 3-4 years ago.

Only 3-4 of them were physical. All the rest were virtual console titles and digital purchases tied to his account.

When I bought it he first claimed they were tied to the console.

Stupid me, I didn’t look it up. I assumed it worked like the Wii.

When I got it and discovered it was tied to his account he said I was wrong.

Then finally he said I could have the account.

So I reset the password and everything was fine until one day I couldn’t sign in anymore.

Come to find out he changed his mind, then, reset the password again and I lost about 20 games instantly. All the castlevanias, Metroid games, mario, and more. Insta-gone.

I reached out to him on Atari Age he cursed up a storm about how I stole his account. I told him I wanted him to make up some of the lost games to me some how. He then completely disappeared from AA.

Digital purchases should never be assumed to transfer.

[ronchichio]

I was wondering about this very thing while buying Wii Points and doing last minute shopping on the Wii Shop Channel.  At least with the Wii games are tied to the console and not an account.

I bought about 176 games, total spent was about $1,200.  I have 1400 Wii Points left.

I was thinking that the console would be worth over $1,200 but only to me.  To anyone else it would probably just be worth fair market value.

As an afterthought, I would be devastated if my Wii were to stop working or get stolen.