The Awful State of Retro Game Preservation

[@SephiGoat]

Emulators restore my faith in gaming after every ebay visit

[@magpie4043]

Retroarch can be set up with virtually no latency too :)

[@InkfinityOkamix3]

Not even EBay, brick and mortar resell shops all have jacked up prices. Xenosaga 3 for 250$, and even 3DS games have jacked up prices.

[@floppagaming7156]

Shout-out vimms lair

[@luigimaster56]

@@floppagaming7156 don't use CD ROMANCE IT WILL INFECT YOUR PC OR PHONE at least I think

[@magpie4043]

@@luigimaster56 There are many sites that require special attention and navigation as many have a fake download button with some trash .exe. If unsure ask on a forum for good places.

[@_AMICUM_]

Guys remember, If it's not in stores, it's morally correct to download the rom.

[@JesusProtects]

What if one day greed wins and OS developers make a deal with gaming companies to ban all emulators. What will you do then?

[@Flamehead315]

@@JesusProtects use an older or alternative OS?

[@edgii]

@@JesusProtects that would be impossible and even if it was linux exists

[@staringcorgi6475]

@@JesusProtects that’s impossible sony plus others tried twice and failed as they cannot have a monopoly in video games this was when consoles were very dominant nintendo tried to take down a rom rental service but the guy who hosted that consulted a copy right lawyer so nintendo had no power to take it down the only target is the rom websites but they’re like the hydra

[@GGamerLiam]

What about games on digital? Like Parappa the Rapper series, it’s on digital, and I want to mod it

[@jdenton1337]

Could you imagine this kinda thing in any other industry? Like they release a new Terminator film so they delist Terminator 1 and 2 off digital platforms. An artist puts out a new album so they take their old ones off of Spotify lmao.

[@thesquishedelf1301]

George Lucas actually did do that with Star Wars. He revamped all the Special Effects digitally around the same time Phantom Menace came out. Old school Star Wars fans go to great lengths to have the de-mastered versions they watched as kids. But yeah it isn’t nearly as rampant in other art industries, probably due to the lack of technical complexity involved. I mean, we’re talking about big piles of code, and anyone with a passing familiarity with software knows code is beyond finicky.

[@eddieaguilar8729]

Don't give the corporations any new ideas

[@GiuseppeGaetanoSabatelli]

They do this though. This happens in literally every industry, Same with limited edition beverages. Taking fast food items off menus. Everything.

[@kingstarscream3807]

@@thesquishedelf1301 What blows my mind is that everyone hated it when Lucas did it, and South Park made fun of it, yet kids these days accept these new BS policies? Warcraft 3 no longer exists and Microsoft killed the playerbase of AOE3 with AOE3 woke edition

[@iamfuturetrunks]

There has already been instances of this happening unfortunately. Someone else already mentioned it but George Lucas remade some of the older movies adding more crap onto the screen using somewhat bad special effects cause he couldn't do it way back when he wanted to at the time. Or the fact that there was artists like I believe Kanye West who was able to go in and change parts of a song he released that people had on apple (which shows you, you shouldn't just assume they wont modify or delete parts or all of your library) ended up getting "updated" and thus you couldn't get the older versions unless you had downloaded the song and stored it locally not on the cloud. Who knows how many other artists have done this. Thus why I like to download said songs instead of just keeping them on the cloud. Also like another poster mentioned Disney does this (but Disney has sucked for a long time) where they artificially create scarcity by putting their older movies into "the vault" only to re-release in like 5-10 years on whatever format they have at the time so people re-buy them with barely any improvements to it. You can't buy old Disney movies other than if you find them on ebay or rummage/garage sales etc. used.

[@deadlysnakeman]

One big eye opener I had was I was at a convention recently, and there was this vendor selling japanese imports of a bunch of games and CDs and stuff. And what I immediately noticed was just how much cheaper a lot of the games were than the US versions. Like a japanese copy of Wind Waker was like $30, while the US copies were well over $100. The retro game market is a complete racket now.

[@bobowon5450]

unfortunately if people weren't willing to pay those prices those prices wouldn't exist

[@kevinvalencia7815]

I agree with this seeing it in person. I got a Japanese Super Mario Kart complete in Box(box, game, manuals) for 25 bucks. It was amazing to see other japanese titles at prices the american ones should be.

[@dannymirjanovic8453]

@@bobowon5450 that's true but when the choice is pay that price or just don't own one of your favorite childhood games or whatever people gotta do what they do

[@Solaceon]

I got Japanese Pokémon Red, Gold, and Silver for a total of $35. It seems like it'd be cheaper to learn another language rather than pay these frankly disgusting prices for games that aren't even rare!

[@superpacman256]

This also goes for consoles, since I had to buy a Japanese 3DS and learn to mod it to be in English and to take American games because the Japanese 3DSes were much cheaper than the American ones.

[@elektrokinesis4150]

The amount of effort that some people go through to avoid pirating games will always blow my mind. This guy is next level.

[@Valstrax420]

Yeah. I'll agree that for higher end games that aren't suitable to be emulated like PS2 games. They should be re-released but everything below that can be emulated. Edit: I'm not talking about not being able to emulate the PS2, I'm talking about some games not being able to run as intended because the PCSX2 emulator hasn't been updated in ages, so there's games that are not playable when you try to emulate them. I thought thst was obvious but anyways in clearing it up. Jak and Daxter has bugs where their eyes glitch out all the time so even a well known game like that can't run perfectly.

[@Jasonwithadot]

@@Valstrax420 PS2 games can be emulated, Even PS3 and the 360

[@elektrokinesis4150]

@@Valstrax420 what kind of potato are you running that can't emulate a ps2 at full speed?

[@brosephjames]

@@Jasonwithadot even if you couldnt emulate ps2 games or wanted a hardware pixel for pixel accurate experience you can just burn the roms, or play them directly off a sd card with a modded ps2...only OCDers need the original media.

[@Jasonwithadot]

@@brosephjames heres how to have a 1:1 expirience, Buy a PS2 USB controller and change your resolution to 480p

[@blueknightskeleton8424]

You know, this remind me of the fact Knuckles' Chaotix still doesn't have a re release.Yeah, it have some flaws, but c'mon, ditching that game feels wrong.

[@Turbulation1]

It had one rerelease on a now defunct service known as GameTap, because they had the balls to produce an inhouse 32x emulator when Sega never tried to make one themselves, and probably never will. They would probably rather have the game remade from scratch.

[@koolaid33]

Yeah, Sega scares me with lost games on old hardware. They consistently make Genesis collections & compilations, but how often do you see a Saturn collection, or a Dreamcast collection, or a Master System collection, or a Game Gear collection, or a 32x collection, or a CD collection? Never. They haven't, not even once, tried most of those. The only time one of those consoles saw a "collection" was on the PS3 & Xbox 360, called the 'Dreamcast Collection'. It included the GameCube version of Sonic Adventure, Crazy Taxi, Sega Bass Fishing, & the Sega Saturn game NiGHTS Into Dreams. So it wasn't really a collection, it was just a bundle of two Dreamcast games & some other random games they forgot they made. This sucks. Sega DID re-release many Dreamcast games on the PS3 Store, but we know how the PS3 is an old, & rapidly aging console to today. They re-released what was it, 8 Master System games on the Wii Virtual Console? Well, the Wii Shop Channel shut down 4 years ago. They re-released 16 Game Gear games on the 3DS Virtual Console, but the 3DS eShop shuts down, along with the Wii U eShop, this coming March. They re-released a few 32x games on this old service called 'GameTap', but that service shut down in 2015. The Saturn, 32x & Sega CD have never seen a compilation, collection, or even series of re-releases, which is clearly unfair to the consoles because they still had some really cool games just as all the other Sega consoles I've mentioned had. Sega needs to start caring for their legacy games, & they actually might. As I write this reply, Sega's been working in the shadows on this 'Super Game' that's going to house a bunch of legacy Sega games, plus new remastered, remade & re-released legacy games. You can read about it in interviews with Sega's CEO, where he says that it should be out by March of 2026, which is a decent amount of time from now, but I'm interested in learning more about this game, or service, or whatever it's supposed to be. Whatever it is, I'm excited for it because they've stated they want to 'bring back' franchises like Crazy Taxi, After Burner, Jet Grind Radio, OutRun & more. I guess we'll see what comes of this project the closer we get to this deadline.

[@corenv6022]

Nah

[@greenkoopa]

It would benefit from being rebuilt with the same ideas, I like it but a large portion is just completely devoid of enemies in every stage

[@shalpp]

Game is totally flawed down to its core because of that stupid tether mechanic. Level design suffered just to give it a reason to exist, there's barely any challenge outside navigating the levels, and don't get me started on that dogshit cop-out that is that final boss lmao

[@SnowyFoxFox]

One of the biggest failures in game preservation is online games. Once publishers decide to shut down the servers, many games simply die and can never be played again. There are an odd few online games that fans have reverse-engineered and run unofficial master servers for. My friends and I had a few fun sessions revisiting Battlefield 2142 in 2020, for example. Thanks to immense fan efforts, it was (and hopefully still is) functioning basically as it originally had - XP/unlocks system and all, though only having one public server populated entirely by diehard veterans was... an experience. We wound up briefly renting our own server and running some small maps on that. Sadly, fan-restored online services like that are few and far between, and the vast majority of games that rely on online services are simply gone forever.

[@marymurphy1429]

Little big planet was so cool, for PS3 games are dead. Last I heard the you can access the server through the PS4 version of lbp3 but who knows how long that will last, it's sad I'm not a mobile gamer usually but Love Nikki and now Shining Nikki are so precious to me. The servers are running strong for now, but one day they will close down too and my collection of pretty dresses will be lost and anyone who is interested in experiencing this weird story driven dress up game will be unable to do so. You won't be able to read story stages, the event stories, the designers reflections, or even the description for the outfits. So much will be lost to time and that makes me so sad.

[@sor3999]

That's the unfortunate thing with "games as a service". Even for games that are still active the older version of the game is gone and lost to time. For PC games, the games setup the online peer to peer connection, and older games outright gave you the server software to run yourselves, but so many console games rely on the platform maker's online service so when Nintendo shuts down online services for the Wii then ALL Wii online functionality ceases forever. So we got online games trending towards "games as a service" or off loading multiplayer to the platform.

[@corycianangel6321]

I've seen it firsthand when many global versions of joseimuke games (Uta no Prince-sama: Shining Live and A3! as examples) shut down. It also happened in Kingdom Hearts: Union Cross. I hardly get to play due to work & household chores, but I enjoy them so much whenever I have free time. I was heartbroken when they shut down. All the cards & costumes I've grinded enough to collect were all gone. It's good that Kingdom Hearts: Union Cross have an offline version, but the joseimuke games now only have the original (JP) version. It's hard to play if you're not completely familiar with the language, and it also scares me of what would happen if even they shut down.

[@kaisersoymilk6912]

Luckily you can still play the original Demon's Souls online on a real PS3.

[@Curlyheart]

LEGO Universe anyone?

[@Foxmosis_]

Nintendo started off so strong in this regard with the Wii and it has been a disappointing watching them be so stubbornly obtuse since. I want video game rereleases and compilations to keep happening because I want people to have the most convenient way of playing these games. Yeah if I want to play Knuckles' Chaotix I can figure something out with my computer but some kid who only has a Switch won't have any option. We need a Sonic Gems Collection for a lot of different franchises.

[@SimonZellox]

You need RetroArch on a switch.

[@MagillanicaLouM]

Yeah, it won't happen, but honestly if in the near future most game companies with large enough legacies just focused on making collections of dormant/inaccessible games/franchises for a couple years, I wouldn't be mad at all.

[@SimonZellox]

@@MagillanicaLouM That truly isn't gonna happen. You just need emulators, that's it.

[@MagillanicaLouM]

@@SimonZellox believe me, I've been going ham on emulation lately. But I'd be lying if i said i wouldn't rather just chuck some cash at those same publishers if it meant having all of those games I've been emulating ready to go much easier and for more ppl to get to experience.

[@SimonZellox]

@@MagillanicaLouM Emulation is insanely easy for being a solution that actually exists already and isn't some kind of dream. There are games that are doomed to simply never get a re-release.

[@PricefieldPunk]

Seeing the outrageous prices is making me make sure i keep all my games in good conditions right now

[@abelg9053]

Do you have any advice for game preservation? What do you do specifically to keep your games in good conditions?

[@summerishere2868]

@@abelg9053 Personally I backup the original game and play the backup so I don't get the risk of damaging the original disc unnecessarily. Store the original in some safe, ventilated place (where it doesn't get too hot, too much sunlight, water damage etc).

[@abelg9053]

@@summerishere2868 Oh thanks for the tip! Though I don't know how to backup physical media... how should I go about backing up a 3ds cartdrige or a PS2 disc?

[@summerishere2868]

​@@abelg9053 The methods are different depending on the console. You need to do some research for each specific case. The PS2 games can be read by any dvd drive, but you need to find a way to make the backup to work on the console, one easy method for instance would be just to patch it with the freedvdboot method, there are also many alternative some that even don't use the dvd drive at all, but use usb for instance.

[@kitsune-chan6897]

@@abelg9053 Hey, I know I'm a year late, but you could mod your 3DS.

[@DanielDroegeShow]

My appitite for retro games is always bigger than my stomach. After spending thousands over the years on retro gaming and always walking away dissatisfied, I just emulate everything older now. The last time I got the urge to play an old game, I spent longer getting the emulator to work than actually playing. It feels like I am chasing childhood feelings that will never be the same when experienced as an adult. It is sad.

[@ajauditor4714]

@DanielDroegeshow I feel the same way I only do this cause I have two kids that love the retro games plus I collected & show my kids photo of me having my game gear or classic Nintendo or game boy I buy certain stuff but to go out you're way & pay this ridiculous price for a video game that 30 year old paying 250 yea I'm good I pass on that there to many old game out there you can find at flee market or pawn shop for very cheap prices.

[@ZaWarubro]

I remember being able to go and find GameCubes for like $25 and a bundle of games for $50. Wtf happened

[@dr.dylansgame5583]

IKR i'm so mad I didn't get them physically earlier. As a copy of Pokemon Box do to it's botched US release now retails on the low end here for like 1,600 to 1,800 without the link cable and the box usually in not the best condition.

[@britishguy54dx]

People grew up and want to play those games again. Expect the same soon with the Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3.

[@ExtraThiccc]

Rich people wanting to ruin another aspect of humanity

[@dagreatzoink5559]

DKoldies is also kinda to blame, as they raise the prices too high and now other ppl are joining in the $$$ train on retro games

[@lmcgregoruk]

I remember when the PS3 was about to launch(not out, about to come out), all the Pawn shops were selling PS2's for £20(with all the necessary cables) or so. People want more than that now for just the console, no cables, no controllers, no games.

[@shards-of-glass-man]

For me the most annoyingest and heartless thing when it comes to retro preservation is when collectors hoard rare prototypes and unreleased games and refuse to dump the ROMs because "muh value", potentially / likely dooming them to become lost media as carts degrade

[@mattdavis5603]

Wow any examples of this? I believe there's an NES Monster Party out there.

[@Vectrex4Life]

Many collectors (myself included) don't dump ROMs because it's not easy. It requires the right tools and equipment, not to mention time and research to know what you're doing. Dumping ROMs isn't an obligation. Collectors don't owe anyone anything. You have to do it out of passion for the hobby.

[@caseystrange]

or they could just be waiting until they are old and grey to dump it. By than, the retro game hype will have died down and ROM kittys wont be crying anymore.

[@shards-of-glass-man]

@@caseystrange nah man. It's the same kind of primal joy that some kids get from playing monkey in the middle; you have the thing very few people have (or maybe even only you and no one else has), you know some people really want it (and will maybe be really desperate to give you lots of money for it), and maybe you are extra bully about it and see not giving anyone the thing (aka collaborating with people who know how to preserve to make a digital copy of your still one of a kind physical thing, mind you) ever as an ultimate win for some shit reason. I remember hearing about some German collector that outright wants to be buried with his hoard; but since I can't back it up, Google "Indy the Magical Kid" for an example of a nationalist weirdo that would rather contribute to creating lost media than to see it preserved. I assure you, he ain't dumping shit, ever.

[@AnAverageGoblin]

@@Vectrex4Life sounds like an excuse for a man child that wants to hoard something.

[@sonickhable]

It should be noted that the Mario 3d collection is still easily available physically. I swear it's at every store i go to

[@repoversemedium]

It must be scaplers.

[@koolaid33]

I've never seen it at my local stores. Not sure what stores you go to, but it's not that common.

[@vodkahamburger2203]

@@koolaid33 it is common, it sold millions of copies.

[@Wolfstanus]

@@vodkahamburger2203 My local walmart still has 30 copies collecting dust on the shelf. It was waaaaay over produced

[@scott1606]

Yeah, I bought mine day one, but every shop I go in has it, though still happy I bought it. Just to add I've seen even more used copies show up recently as well.

[@thomasdehetre300]

I got a steam deck a couple months ago and I can not sing its praises enough. The emulation feature opened up a whole new world for me and I love it so much

[@Coolfwip]

I just wish i had a friend to tell me where to get reliable switch roms

[@thomasdehetre300]

@@Coolfwip if you were to look up "how to find retro game roms" by a creator called Mr. Sujano and go to the comments where he pinned the top comment and check that link out. I can't post the link myself. Note that 3ds, nds, GameCube, and n64 games do not need a bios file to play. If you go under each game console and opt for the decrypted files it will bring up a list of most if not all the games on those systems. But it's for research purposes only obviously

[@Coolfwip]

@@thomasdehetre300 i will have to tell my "friend"

[@Coolfwip]

@The Real Cat of 2020 it doesn't unfortunately. That's my go to site

[@deadlysnakeman]

@@Coolfwip try looking at the Emugen Wiki. It should have all the information you need regarding emulators and rom/torrent sites.

[@XCaliber8101]

As a kid, I was very keen on keeping my library of GameCube games in the best condition I could possibly keep them and I love that generation of games with a passion but unfortunately a couple years ago I lost everything besides the system itself and two games in a move to a new house. I was completely devastated, so Recently I made it my mission to buy all of them back CIB like I had them as a kid. To my surprise just about every game I was looking for online was $100+ CIB and my hopes and dreams have been shattered 😢

[@Dinobolt1]

How did you lose them? Did you not have enough room, were they lost in the move or what?

[@hahathatisfunnybro]

My heart goes out to you ❤️ im so sorry dude…

[@cryangallegos]

If it makes you feel any better, GC discs deteriorate over time. While owning physical is preferred, Dolphin emulates GC and Wii amazingly

[@OnlyEpicEmber]

It’s all down to the community to preserve this stuff. Always has been, always will be

[@christianstephan7301]

"I just created this ROM for this old game of mine to preserve it for the future." Company: "Wait. This is illegal."

[@NiGHTSaturn]

Let’s not forget the many games released during the era Enix was not merged with Square. The Bust a Groove series is worth a fortune in physical form. The return of this kind of game would make a lot of people happy, including me.

[@MagillanicaLouM]

Yeah love those, definitely sucks they're just stuck when they came out unless you know where and how to work ps1 emulation

[@legospacememe8468]

you should have also mentioned the TMNT cowabunga collection in the konami section. the fact that it even exists amazes me

[@skycloud4802]

I was chuffed it finally got a re-release.

[@legospacememe8468]

@@skycloud4802 it was the highlight of that state of play for many people just for how out of left field yet awesome it was

[@pokepress]

I agree it deserved a mention, but the 1UP cabinets came out a few years ago, so I wouldn’t say it was a complete surprise.

[@L00SEG00SE]

I get the feeling Konami piggybacked off of the Disney Game Collection that included Lion King and Aladdin. They noticed that there IS a market for old licensed games... provided said games were good to begin with.

[@setsers1]

Yup

[@WestSide1207]

Flash carts and ODEs have become a necessity at this point. I stopped collecting retro games a while ago, and strictly game on my old consoles via these devices. Amazing tech!

[@kingstarscream3807]

What's an ODE?

[@buttheadrulesagain]

@@kingstarscream3807 Optical Disc Emulator. Basically, an SD card adapter that you can install on the console (often replacing the orginal disc reader, though not always), and just play your games copied to the SD card. They exist for several consoles, PS1, Game Cube, Dreamcast, 3DO, Sega CD (this one is basically a replacement of the whole unit in a single cart for the Genesis).

[@maurice5402]

I hate game collectors honestly. They inflate the prices of old games and consoles to absurd levels and they don't even play the damn games. They just put them behind glass. It's disgusting.

[@RetroGamesAddict]

Been buying retro games since 2013 for my personal love/enjoyment and I agree with you. It is a super toxic hobby, littered with almost exclusively middle aged men. Most care about values and collections verses playing, most have more games than they could ever play, or just don't play at all. Lots of stories I got of local dudes being aggressive, snakes, annoying, anything they can to get a deal. The behavior has been wild from some of these people. I just keep it honest and chill with people to strike a deal, no snake shit, always inform people on what they have if they can get more cash if that is their goal. A lot of these games are in the wrong hands. These games need proper enjoyment and preservation at this point, not to be hoarded and overvalued.

[@repoversemedium]

6:37 Man, let me tell you. There are so many good arcade games that never get home releases. Like imma be waiting for the day when Super Glob leaves the arcades.

[@macuser7048]

Or Ninja Baseball Batman

[@ItsYaTrashboi]

I'm still waiting for a re-release of Daytona USA 2

[@nvrmind1497]

@@ItsYaTrashboi was exactly what I was thinking! Come on sega, don't make me play daytona usa deluxe for windows 95 inatead of that masterpiece

[@wieldylattice3015]

Scud Racer?

[@Idfkwhyy]

@@wieldylattice3015 was gonna say the same thing. At least I can emulate it

[@Waterypeanutbutter]

The part where kiro talks about being able to grow up with old games cuz of the Wii virtual console is so relatable for me, if I never had a Wii I probably would’ve never played games from nes-n64

[@haruhirogrimgar6047]

I had a wii but my Dad just installed emulators and roms on our pc for me to play old games.

[@Adventureruler]

Kinda sad that physical games are turning out that way, I love buying the box and rushing to put the game in my system :) ALSO SONIC GEMS BABYYYYYYYYYYY

[@MatchaCutie14]

Nothing beats unboxing a video game and immediately popping it in the console. The anticipation is enticing!

[@FTChomp9980]

Physical games will reign supreme once again!

[@koolaid33]

I love owning the physical game, with the jewel case or plastic casing. I know eventually my cartridges & discs I've collected will probably die, & I'll be super sad when they do, but I'll always prefer them to going strictly digital. it's an expensive motto, & I don't feel like I own many of the games. Plus, certain games DESERVE the luxury of that physical case, which is why I hate that I own Super Mario Odyssey digitally. If I got the chance to, I'd buy a physical version of that game in a heartbeat, because it's so good it DESERVES the plastic case with the artwork.

[@kalashnikov6608]

@@koolaid33discs can last decades if taken care of properly

[@CelestineTheConfused]

@The Real Cat of 2020 are you aware that using the internet still uses some resources and gas? 😅 (Digital carbon footprint, I think) That aside, I think digital games are great for saving storage space and using less resources while physical are great for keeping memories and passing down games to people who can't afford the full retail price.

[@chaudx]

When companies refuse to do a decent job of making things accessible or do but in a greedy way, there's only one answer [*pirates of the caribbean theme intensifies*]!

[@Fondoofus5542]

“That’s gonna be the best pirate I’ve ever seen.” “So it would seem.”

[@JacketsOnFire]

Mother 3 *cough cough*

[@staringcorgi6475]

It’s fair to not release stuff they don’t have the license to anymore with tie in games

[@KopperNeoman]

The best way of dealing with both corporate greed AND political censorship!

[@AfutureV]

What is greedy to you? Wanting to get paid for your work?

[@ToastyMann]

When it came to Konami, I'm surprised you didn't mention the TMNT Cowabunga collection. It being $40 for 13 games with optional enhancements, as well as a bunch of manual & box art scans, with a couple of video extras too. It's a surprisingly packed collection.

[@AnAverageGoblin]

Most of those games are garbage thats why lmao.

[@pokekiller787x]

I don't think I would love retro games as much as I do without growing up with collections on my Wii and DS. My favorite collection of all time is the Kirby Collection on the Wii, that collection single handedly cemented my love for the Kirby series.

[@KreuzDrache]

Same, collection/anthology type games were some of my faveorite products during the 2000s. Stuff like the Zelda Collection that came with the Gamecube, the three Megaman Collections(Rip the Collection for GBA tho), Metalslug Anthologies were awesome. I still need to go through the Mario and Kirby collections from the wii.

[@Dinobolt1]

They need to release that again on the Switch. It would be one of the first Switch games I'd buy just for Kirby's Dreamland 3.

[@Robbity]

The reason I’m never going all digital is because I don’t actually own those games. Like how Amazon deleted Final Space, some company can go defunct and delete the games from your console. They can’t break into my house and take my cartridges. I can always fix cartridges with broken components. Digital is a good alternative, but I wouldn’t say it’s the way of the future.

[@MrTreesSapling]

Digital is the way of the future sadly. Not so grim for retro games. It's digital future is all us retro gamers filling hard drives with pirated roms to play on emulators or with everdrives and drive emulators in consoles when the original carts have failed beyond repair, lasers have died, and disc's have rotted away. For modern games, a lot more dark, it's going all digital so that the companies can force higher prices on the consumer and yank away content whenever they have an excuse to.

[@Telorath]

The sad fact of the matter is that while they can't break into your house and take your cartridge, life happens. I used to own a huge library of physical media, but I lost it all during a period of my life where I moved like six times in two years. But my steam library's still here and kicking, and thank god for emulation if I ever decide I can't bare to go another day without playing one of my lost classics (now resold for ten times what I paid for it originally) I can grab it off the internet.

[@mysticolored]

Store your digital games locally, 👍

[@Manic_Panic]

People are missing the potential of digital, especially in the retro space. For example, I got a PS2 and a classic Xbox that I softmodded, got them large hard drives, HDMI adaptors, and then dumped hundreds of games into them. So all my games are inside the consoles themselves and they run exactly as they would from a disc because it's native hardware. No region locks (Japanese imports), no BS second hand prices, easy to backup/clone into other hard drives for safety, game covers display on the game select screen, no physical games clogging up an entire room, digitally scanned game manuals, no disc laser rot and NTSC/60Hz for PAL users. The digital backup method is far superior to physical in every aspect, the only downside is that you can't resell the game.

[@vistagunner]

@@Manic_Panic Digital on modded consoles like the PS2 and Original Xbox is amazing I concur.

[@rocksteady_tv5065]

When I was into collecting retro in 2013-2017 you could get some true classic titles for under $30, for example, the first 3 installments of the Silent Hill series. Each of those titles now go for $150+ in the used game market, and its been this way for a few years now. It’s incredible and frustrating to see the price inflation of retro games in such a short time span.

[@gokusondbz]

Silent Hill 2 & 4 on OG Xbox is far More Affordable 👍

[@JohnDoeWasntTaken]

Even though I was born in the 2000s I still grew up on N64 games since my mom knew about emulators and downloaded Project 64 to the family PC. At the time I didn't know they were N64 games or what emulation was, I just thought she found a way to get us free games since ROMs were not being cracked down on at the time and were shared around. Pretty smart move on her part since the modern console games were expensive and ROMs were free, my brothers and I didn't know we were playing retro games. Good times, being a kid. Good thing we have emulators, if we didn't then you can just imagine how much ebay sellers would charge for games.

[@MorbyLol]

As Gabe Newell once said "piracy isn't a pricing issue, it's a service issue" (paraphrased lol) 🏴‍☠️

[@RippahRooJizah]

It is a bit of both, I think Gabe just wanted to look good by saying all piracy is someone else's fault

[@andrewmurphy2093]

It's totally true. Just give me a way to buy the old games and I will gladly pay for them. I only emulate when there's no official way to play. (or when I don't want to give a scalper my spleen for a copy of Chulip)

[@haruhirogrimgar6047]

@@andrewmurphy2093 Well, hopefully at a reasonable price. Nintendo re-released skyward sword for $60. That should be completely inexcusable and not have gotten a single sale.

[@andrewmurphy2093]

@@haruhirogrimgar6047 That's a good point, even when they do re-release games, they often overcharge. Let's change it to, "give me a way to buy the games at a reasonable price and I will gladly buy it."

[@LilacMonarch]

If he really wanted to stick to his guns on that, he would make publishers contractually unable to delist their own games from Steam.

[@HyperSuck771]

I’m from the future where Nintendo finally remade thousand year door. We’re slowly but surely working toward preservation of GameCube games. Now if only we can get another virtual console with GameCube games

[@AsherTheModder]

I firmly believe that because remasters and remakes add stuff like quality of life and better resolutions or if a company wont make a game available its morally acceptable to pirate the OG version of a retro game especially if its in licensing hell due to a defunct company

[@hahathatisfunnybro]

As soon as the company stops creating physical copy’s of a game and if the game isn’t available through digital stores, then the money will just go to some guy on ebay. the company wont make any more or less money whether you buy it from some guy or if you pirate it and emulate it

[@AsherTheModder]

@@hahathatisfunnybro Thats exactly right and why i feel like if the company wont sell it and some random on ebay gets the money (which they are probably overcharging for ) then its ok to pirate

[@KopperNeoman]

And sonetimes remakes are censored all to hell. Behold Dead Space - tell yourself ten years ago that sex-segregated BATHROOMS would be censored.

[@AsherTheModder]

@@KopperNeoman EXACTLy theres that too

[@freddywilliams9837]

That mention of Dragon Quest made me hurt. Fun fact, my first bit of Piracy was playing Monsters Joker 2 Professional and Monsters Joker 3 just because they're so stingy about releasing those games.

[@mastagoalie]

i remember starting to play dragon quest from the beginning around the start of covid. I bought 1, 2 and 3 on the switch and started playing. finished 1 and started looking at 4,5 and 6 on ebay. I was like these were 30 a few months ago. Now they are 90 a pop? WTF man?

[@freddywilliams9837]

Yeah, those DS games were released widely in the west, so they've fallen victim to scalpers now. Emulations your best bet honestly.

[@mariahs6]

This reminds me of how I visited a retro game store last summer and the prices were all over the place. $400 for EarthBound, but only $20 for Final Fantasty X-II. When I told my brother in law who loves Final Fantasy X, he said that the latter’s price was justified.

[@User-pu3lc]

Someone needs to introduce this man to the emulation scene. Play anything up to and including the ps2 on a handheld for about $150-$200.

[@heroe1486]

Is a 150$ handled really capable of running emulated PS2 games ? Considering those are just android tablets

[@User-pu3lc]

@@heroe1486 retroid 3 plus seems to run the most ps2 titles at the ~$200 mark. Higher priced options like the steam deck, absolutely

[@Solaceon]

To me, it's not just about the games but their respective physical mediums too. I like cartridges, discs, controllers. The system itself is a huge part of the nostalgia, and sometimes its function too (like DS games-go ahead and try to emulate something like Pokémon Ranger and Fossil Fighters). I've made exceptions for games like Earthbound and Chibi Robo, but otherwise I want my experience to translate more exactly. As much as I worship piracy, this is where I unfortunately can't substitute. Maybe he's the same way.

[@KopperNeoman]

@Solaceon There's more ways to pirate than emulation. Piracy on original hardware is underrated.

[@danielclark653]

Something else about the kingdom hearts collection is that the music has changed and to my knowledge there is no way to change it back to the original. The new songs are beautiful recompositions of the original songs but I still sometimes want to hear those midi files in all their glory

[@megasoniczxx]

I thank the internet every day that emulators are a thing whenever I see a game some place that's going for ludicrous prices. For instance, back when I was a kid, I snagged my copy of Gotcha Force for $5 because I don't think anybody knew about that game and it hadn't got the cult following that it has now. If I wanted to buy a legitimate copy of it today, i'd be looking at anywhere from 200 to $400 and as much as I love that game, i'd have to be crazy to spend that much money on it. I just feel bad for anybody that doesn't have access to emulation since like half of my gamecube collection is worth 50 kidney's and there's no other way to play them besides shelling out money to random people on the internet or used game stores that want to rip you off.

[@RetroGamesAddict]

Preserving your retro games is actually using your games, but storing them properly and handling with cleaned, washed, and fully dry hands. Don't need all those plastic gloves, acrylic cases nonsense, just don't be a greasy dude and keep your food/ drinks away from the electronics. It amazes me how poorly a lot of people treat their games. I think if they were treated better to begin with supply would be a non issue. Plus so many just collect and don't play. I could legit tell you something about practically every game I own as I am knowledgeable and actually play games, research, listen to the music separately etc

[@saithvenomdrone]

I’m going to miss physical media. Just something about physically touching it, and seeing it on my shelf just gives me something digital media never can.

[@Coolfwip]

I agree but cant afford to agree lmao

[@finesseandstyle]

I'm sure there are custom retroarch consoles with hundreds of GBs worth of games and custom controllers compatible with every game

[@Coolfwip]

@@finesseandstyle i have a steam deck for emulation, and while i appreciate being able to play all of these games that i totally own, physical media will still be superior imo

[@finesseandstyle]

@@Coolfwip The only way it's superior is by giving you a greater sense of ownership and that's about it.

[@Coolfwip]

@@finesseandstyle And?

[@MrCalverino]

Everything went up as soon as the pandemic started, I'm always shopping for retro stuff and the prices started to get real stupid!

[@bobowon5450]

I bought gotcha force for the gamecube for 200 bucks before the pandemic. Went back to that game store and the guy said that same game is going for like 600 now

[@ZachlikesMetal]

Torrent them.

[@_DF_]

@@ZachlikesMetal MF When someone has a hobby they enjoy

[@recme_]

thank you for making this video! i feel like theres not enough attention given to the retro game market. its insane how poorly preserved video games are by legal means.

[@nathanhargenrader645]

There being preserved legally through emulation every day...

[@Enoby_Darkness]

@@nathanhargenrader645 yeah, i don't really know why so many people care so much about old physical preservation. They ARE "preserved." Just not officially.

[@haruhirogrimgar6047]

@@diydylana3151 Even then emulation is generally more feature complete. Fast forward, save states, and button remapping is available on every emulator I have used. Not to mention thr action-replay/game-shark-style cheats that often don't get ported but are accessible on emulator.

[@tnaxpw]

Preservation is mostly done, but a lot of people don't like when others touch their things. I recently asked local place if I could come on a maintnance day and do scans of manuals and get images of drives for arcades, that are like 30yo at this point. They told me to buy them off of them, for hella steap price (~$800 each machine, since they were rare in my country, and even rarer now) if I want to do anything.

[@BLS412]

Great video. The strange and greedy nature of physical collecting has led me to 100% emulation at this point, but I would happily pay for re-releases of many of these games.

[@kalmtraveler]

This is exactly why physical media shouldn't die. Going only with downloadable/hosted versions means you never truly own what you pay for, so companies can take it away from you whenever they want. I can pop my Chrono Trigger cartridge into an SNES, SNES clone, Analog Super Nt, etc and play it regardless of what Square-Enix wants.

[@lightingboltzero8575]

And it's worst now cause right now it's all online streaming and you have to pay a subscription. They can remove any game any time they want and one day that streaming online store will be gone and shut-down. You don't own the games and just paying a subscription in order to play the games. Video games nowadays are turning into netflix, Stan, disney-plus and all other streaming services.

[@byronvonedmund]

11:59 thanks for mentioning Path of Radiance. Fire emblem has become so much more popular thanks to Smash and Heroes, yet the only game from the rich past of this series was the 30 anniversary Shadow Dragon Blade of Light re-release (which was time limited too, like the 3d Mario). I bet a lot of people would be more than happy to learn Roy's, Ike's and others' stories on their switch as well as playing through newer games like Engage and Three houses

[@donnie7897]

Playing through some of Path of Radiance on dolphin recently as a newer fan, I feel like this game would be really successful if it was given a proper Remake honestly. The story and world is so solid. imagining it in great graphics and better cutscenes makes me so excited

[@graalcloud]

So glad I collected most of my stuff in like 2010. You wouldn't believe the prices and conditions I got stuff on ebay back then.

[@rymat]

Prices were definitely reasonable back then. I got most of my collection while working at a game store in the mid-late 2000s and would grab stuff on eBay as well. Prices now are a sick joke.

[@HandheldGamer1991]

I would beause i did the same XD

[@graalcloud]

@@rymat I remember picking up a complete copy of Chibi Robo for Gamecube for $8 back then haha

[@madjoe8622]

I remember early 2000, you could buy a lot of 500 loose nes games for 500$ on ebay. I should have at that time.

[@extremmefan7305]

People tend to underestimate how much access to older games the Wii and DS players had, so we're just lost in a sea of "you're just biased for " when, even when not taking Virtual Console into account, the Wii and DS had their own good lineups still backed up by the formidable lineups of the GameCube and Game Boy Advance respectively; meaning you could be playing two of the best stories in Mario RPGs side by side or visit every region in Pokemon history up to that point with only a single one of these respective consoles; and that's without Virtual Console, which, as you stated, was one of the Wii's biggest points. Heck, the 3DS took notes from the Wii and actually had previous handheld titles beyond the DS, letting one experience an old gem like Super Mario Land (in fact I believe you yourself said that game's ONLY rerelease was on the 3DS Virtual Console; which, yikes, that's NOT how you'd expect one of the most successful handheld outings of the series to be treated)

[@FTChomp9980]

I've been wanting to get into Retro gaming but man so many of them are so much! Seriously I'm with Retro Bird reprint Physical games also screw Digital games because you don't own them at all.

[@macuser7048]

Repros are the way to go unless you go the emulator route.

[@vodkahamburger2203]

@@macuser7048 or an everdrive.

[@nathanhargenrader645]

Emulation man

[@KyleDavis328]

@@vodkahamburger2203 My everdrive 64 just arrived and it's great, got the _entire_ N64 library (that's been archived online) on there and it works perfectly.

[@TheLadSteven]

My only issue with digital media is that you really don't OWN it, you just kinda rent it until either your account gets hacked, deleted, banned, or anything else that can happen. I love physical media but I also love the convenience of having digital due to not having to insert a disc or card or cartridge and have your entire library on hand. Both are good, but I hope physical don't go away.

[@Apollyon07]

This is true, unless you keep the stuff on your computer's drive. My ROMs aren't going anywhere unless my computer fails or something.

[@lemonscentedgames3641]

Physical will always have its place simply bcuz of collectors. I disagree with not owning digital media though. Just bcuz you only own something though code doesnt mean you dont own it. The issue is the databases you store games in are controlled by central entities, ie microsoft nintendo sony so whenever they feel like they want to shut down the online service or revoke access to titles they can.

[@mep6302]

I really think that companies should give you both physical and digital and it's better to have both if possible. For example if you lose your physical copy or it's broken, you still have your digital copy. If your account is hacked or deleted, you still have your physical copy. I have a physical and digital copy of my games for PC. I have way more digital games though. My physical collection is slowly growing.

[@atariboy9084]

The video game industry wanted to turn video games into fast food and never care about physical gaming and wanted to sell the next game in there menu. To this day the video game industry never call video games as "ART" as they rather wanted you to see them as disposable gaming.

[@jefferyjones8399]

I miss the Wii and Wii U Virtual Console services. They were the absolute best.

[@samusaran7317]

Better times

[@anonymoustroll2432]

Never grew up with Wii and never bought a Wii U which it sucks.

[@jefferyjones8399]

@@anonymoustroll2432 I didn't grow up with a Wii either but I loved being able to buy cheap retro games on the virtual console.

[@canaldecasta]

Bought an original GB and Pokémon Yellow for 8€ at a second hand store. A couple years later i saw similar items for 40+€ each. When they started to pick Up on the profit games had, it was over.

[@firedirt6128]

Emulation is the top tier of retro digital game preservation Even if it's considered illegal fans will upload them digitally when the company won't and if the company won't the fans who care will keep them preserved for times to come

[@chronicnugget5595]

The price of retro games is what causes me to lay awake at night wondering how Scott the Woz isn't flat broke

[@rhen1215]

Although pricing is completely out of control at the moment. I keep seeing people talking about how physical media is dying etc. this is being blown WAY out of proportion. Game cartridges are fine and will easily outlive all of us on earth now. The batteries are 2 solder points and the most consoles will need is cap replacements. Disc only Rot in very poor condition. Most games are very common and sold in the millions. Although the number will go down a bit physical copies of these games are not going anywhere anytime soon.

[@mainstreetsaint36]

Depends on how the disc were manufactured. WB during 2006 to 2009. Over 200 titles were known to have been susceptible to disc rot due to poor manufacturing. Over 200 hundred titles were effected by this. So sometimes it isn't even the fault of the people who bought the product.

[@ORLY911]

There's also a corporate habit of delisting games that were normally available digitally due to weird reasons. Gearbox delisted many Duke Nukem games out of spite after they acquired the IP, Bethesda delisted the original Prey and Wolfenstein 2009.

[@Poyostar]

Well said, Kiro. Game preservation is truly important, especially now more than ever. It can also be a real pain to get a hold of many classic titles, given how pricey they can be. This is especially true with cult classics like MOTHER 2 and Klonoa: Door To Phantomile, if you ask me. It's also because of this why I don't mind unofficial emulation, though this is just how I feel. The pirates of today will become the preservationists of tomorrow at this rate, I say!

[@Poyostar]

@@hermannandreaskran9392 Eh, no worries, I get where you're coming from. I was solely referring to the original physical copies of the aforementioned games, even if there are still decent ways to play them without having to pay an arm and two legs for 'em, though I do know that there are games that are much harder to get a hold of. I'm just thankful that the two games I brought up are among the lucky ones, and I hope that group of games that are lucky enough to be preserved in some manner continues to grow from here on out, especially in an era where online subscriptions are the future and with more and more digital storefronts like the 3DS and Wii U eShops closing and all. ...okay, that last part made it sound like those last two things were a good thing, even though they aren't. That's just my opinion though.

[@HamtaroSonicHedgehog]

Thankfully Door to Phantomile did get re-released on the PSN a couple of years ago, and with the PS3 store still up and running, that's definitely a cheaper option to get it at. (I believe it can be played on a PSP and Vita as well.) It hasn't been added to the PS1 line-up for PS4 or PS5 yet though.

[@L00SEG00SE]

I think even if retro game preservation was good, emulation would still be a good fallback because of the options that allows. Before consoles like the Wii-U or Switch, the only way to play handheld games on a "big" screen was via PC emulators (Excluding niche accessories like the GameCube Game Boy Player).

[@wilh3lmmusic]

Reason #34 why piracy is important: it preserves games that would otherwise be inaccessible

[@bruwyvn]

Downloading abandonware is not piracy

[@wilh3lmmusic]

@@bruwyvnlegally it still is, but I get what you mean

[@MrIgnaffo]

I remember some years ago at a yard sale I bought a cardboard box of GameShark devices and cheat code books for 5 dollars. Took it home and started going through the box and in the bottom was a Sega Genesis and a Sega Dreamcast.

[@kylefratini2833]

Funny enough, Square Enix also did reprint old games for ps1. It was fairly limited in its selection since there were licensing issues, but it meant getting reprints of old final fantasy games and chrono trigger.

[@toonaurz2620]

I wish Capcom would re-release the Power Stone games on modern consoles. I never played them, but they look so fun.

[@petesaguy1707]

Game preservation isn't in a bad spot. You can steal just about every game ever made and play it on a pc or retropie right now, even games as modern as ps4 and switch.

[@XenoEnthusiast13]

Been emulating my favorite games since 2014. I only collect games that really mean a lot to me. I hate how companies especially Nintendo do not care about their older legendary game titles.

[@xguild5555]

At the end of the day, retro gaming will be preserved by the community, not by the owners and there isn't anything the copyright owners can do about it. Sure Nintendo can sue people and force them to take down ROM sites, but everytime a site gets shutdown, 1,000 more open up. It's a losing and mostly pointless battle. The answer is quite simple, piracy and emulation preservation efforts will end the day these copyright owners create easily accessible, affordable, and quality services to get these games legitimately. People stopped downloading music as soon as Spotify became a proper service, people stopped downloading movies as soon as we got quality streaming services and even with games, things like Steam have all but eliminated the need for piracy. Sure there will always be pirates for pirates sake, but most people are reasonable. Give them a quality service and they will stop piracy.

[@solidkingcobra]

13:00 you're argument about preservation is ultimately all about the children. I was born in the 80's and grew up in the 90's and 00's seeing the young ins appreciate the classic brings a smile in my face. I wonder if all those games will still be relevant to kids who are born in the 10's and 20's

[@AndrewStottisTheIndiWerWlf]

My first console was the SNES but thanks to the Mario All Stars collection I grew up with all of the NES Mario games and honestly didn't even know they weren't SNES games until later.

[@sagitta98]

To every physical copy owner of old games who generously shared their game datas so we don't waste lot of money for old tech. I salutes you. Your generosity will be remembered to every generation of gamers.

[@danielkun616]

um ya know... there are programs and apps called emulators right? and with a quick google search you can find any game for any console and just... play them on emulators, right?

They ain't the same as playing them on real hardware

[@starpier]

The biggest disappointment from Nintendo was the NSO service. It is the nightmare of every retrogamer to be asked to pay for a pricey subscription just for the privilege of renting NES/SNES/N64 games. We have been taken away the ownership of those games. When you talk about the future being digital, that is included in the experience. Subscription services instead of downloads.

[@jasonmartinez5116]

Sony is literally doing the SAME EXACT thing with PS Plus Premium, everyone seems to always forget about Sony's PS Plus

[@starpier]

@@jasonmartinez5116 yes, you are absolutely right. Everyone is trying to sell games subscriptions these days. In the case of Nintendo is especially hurtful, because for many years they had the Virtual Console program and now they simply forgot it ever existed.

[@Eisenbison]

The simple fact is that playing these games with the original hardware is no longer practically feasible for most people. Not only do you have to get a working copy of the game and a working console, but you also need working controllers and a TV/audio setup that can support the input, which doesn't apply to any modern TVs and monitors. Eternal Darkness may be one of my favorite games of all time, but even for me, it's not worth it to get the disc, the Gamecube and a TV to play it on just to experience it again. Emulation is the ONLY practical way most people will ever get to experience it.

[@LilyLewis771]

Considering how much digital versions are subject to the publisher’s whims, I think that physical media is actually the best for preservation. Once you own it you own it forever, you can keep playing it even after the developer no longer supports it or wants to sell it. Yes, there needs to be some work put into preserving and archiving this media, but think of all the movies or games that are unavailable forever because they were online-only and the publisher or streaming service took them down.

[@randomyoutuber7898]

Yup. This is my thoughts. What ya going to do when the license of your favorite game expires and you have to start a subscription just to play one games. Then all publishers start doing that it's OVER. I like having my Marvel vs Capcom 2 for PS2 on hand and never have to worry about the publisher charging me monthly to keep playing it. 🤷🏾‍♂️

[@lurkerrekrul]

All digital releases suck for the purposes of preservation. To be clear, it's strictly the fact that it's a digital release that makes it bad, it's the WAY digital releases are handled today. When you download a digital-only file, it will be locked to the console that downloaded it. You may THINK you can make backups of that content, but all those backups will also be tied to that console. If it dies and you replace it with a new one, none of your backups will work because the console itself is different and it will assume that you're trying to pirate the games. No problem, I hear you say, just download them again. That assumes both the games are still available and that your console is still allowed to connect to the network. Consider this: If there had been digital-only games for the PS2, do you think you'd still be able to connect it to the net and re-download all your games today? Look at computer games, most companies have dumped their patches and support for older games. Lucasarts used to keep an archive of patches for games going back to the DOS era, but then Disney took over everything Lucas and the archive went bye-bye. Activision used to have a support section for their old games (like 2000), but apparently now they can't be bothered to acknowledge anything more than about 10 years old. Yes, you can get the patches elsewhere, but that's only because patches used to be distributed separately, rather than having some digital storefront install them for you. Good luck finding patches for today's games a decade from now.

[@megamix5403]

To play Devil's Advocate regarding the BN Legacy collection. The games aren't just simple ROMs that are being ran on an emulator, they are reworked ports which include higher resolution graphics (such as the text and whatnot), all the unlockable content and exclusive Battle Chips (similar to how the Wii U VC versions handed), quality of life enhancements and the best part, they're based off the original Japanese versions, so everything like the Django scenario in BN6 is accessible. Honestly, that last part alone makes the $60 worth it.

[@sevenfacedsin]

I refuse to pay $300 to some dude that has some old game cartridge that I want to play or revisit. Not happening, ever. They can stuff their cartridges up their a$$. I also don’t want to play remasters, remakes or rehashes with altered art, altered stories, altered characters, altered ANYTHING. If I can’t buy it directly from Nintendo or in a physical or digital store, it’s fair game.

[@Pollix780]

glad I did the majority of my collecting from 2011-2018. knew like most desired antiques, the price would only go up before too late

[@Blankult]

And remember kids, piracy is morally right.

[@juliannocartagena2007]

Yeah yeah… I get it.

[@wanderingwobb6300]

Meh not really. I'll do it anyway though.

[@leeartlee915]

@@wanderingwobb6300 It feels a lot less wrong than when I would pirate movies or music. At least with most of these video games I’ve owned the original printings at SOME point.

[@EbolaGW]

It's technically not pirating if the game is no longer for sale. 👀

[@dorf7219]

@@EbolaGW thats just grave robbing

[@al271987]

F-Zero GX is my biggest wish for a rerelease. If only…

[@thoridannn]

The Wii U store closing is case in point why I continue to go physical whenever possible.

[@ghouling1111]

It’s not that simple as hard we’re dying, digital the future. 1 major problem with digital~ you don’t own those games. You are buying access to the game. And you can loss that access at any point. Not owning a hard copy is a huge risk with a company suddenly shutting down access.

[@ahank1706]

There are three types of people who buy retro games. First, and most common, is people who buy retro games to sell them. Second, is people who use retro games as decorations. Third, is hoarders. The amount of people who actually play retro games is so i credibly small it isnt worth mentioning.

[@Acemans]

I know it's not a big game but I still hope for a metal slug collection to come out. I used to have metal slug anthology on my PSP which was great but a new anthology with the games released after would be awesome.

[@MCastleberry1980]

Let's be honest, folks can SAY it's about preservation, but retro collecting is all about money. Emulation has preserved the entire library of most systems and countless arcade games. Folks that scan and upload manuals, are preserving things.

[@NikkiTrip]

Simple solution for cartridge based consoles: get a flash cart. I got my FX PAK Pro for SNES, and now I'll never have to buy a SNES game again. Playing all games on real hardware in one place is the best investment you can make.

[@runthenumbers9698]

The way I figure it... there's no point being a retro-gamer if you're playing on an updated version. The whole point of retro-gaming is to kind of be a historian of gaming, and that means bugs, blemishes, and all. Every change that a new release makes has the potential to shake the speedrunning leaderboards or worse yet, split categories. Screw that. Speedrunning leaderboards are best when they are somewhat unified. When you've got a different leaderboard for every version, that is just taking away competition and reviewing resources from the DEFINITIVE version of the game... which is the one that was made originally. I don't care if the game was updated and re-released by the manufacturer... it's still just a mod in my eyes.

[@szpsubzero11]

Thats transition into the one gamecube game that would most need a re-release "MELEE" couldn't have been done better

[@victorvannatter312]

This is why I’m a pirate.

[@jorteroxd8772]

Me too, I would love to have all my pirated games in the oficial discs/cardridges, but I can't afford this absurd prices.

[@StormDracoX]

*Drunken Sailor starts playing*

[@magicafteroffice]

Either complains are because "they want to sell us the same thing again anda again" or "why arent they selling the old games again and again?"........ come on, emulators are available to anybody nowadays

[@Memorywholed]

It's really bizarre how people spend so much time complaining about game preservation, refusing to acknowledge the massive collection of video games that are freely accessible online. Sure, some slip through the cracks, and physical prices get pretty crazy, but it's a real physical product that isn't going to see production unless it's making money. And of course, it shouldn't be the customer's responsibility to archive games, but you can't realistically expect a business to do it either. Point being, contribute where you can, and pirate where you want. Complaining and setting unrealistic expectations for everyone isn't going to change anything.

[@draven1308]

I've never really thought about this until now, but I am very thankful to have grown up with the consoles and games that I have, and have the ability to get more; not all people have that.

[@RariettyC]

I'd like to praise the Atari 50th Anniversary collection, here. I was too young and dedicated to Nintendo to have any nostalgia for anything Atari related, but I still gave it a shot because it's basically an interactive documentary complete with interviews and high-quality scans detailing the historical context behind the selected games. I wouldn't have ever tried those games without it, and I wish more companies would do that rather than just finding excuses to charge outrageous prices for roms that could easily be emulated.

[@pedrocorbelle]

To be honest, Retro Games were never so easy to play as of now. You can just download the ROM and play in your favorite emulator or If it´s available in any of the current platforms in an official way just buy it. Collecting physical games is basically for collectors or youtubers that want to show their collections. It´s like art, you can have a Monalisa pic in your cell phone for free, however if you wanna the actual paint you will spend a lot of money.

[@MagillanicaLouM]

The thing is, while emulation is definitely carrying hard, it's really a bitch for any basic joe schmoe to even get started on learning how to do. There are few good video guides, but I'm sure most ppl would rather just be able to throw some dollars at steam or something and have the game installed ready to go rather than find a good website to download the emulator itself, then potentially another for the rom, then sift through any necessary folder placing, make sure they got the necessary extensions right, etc. Emulation is good since companies are really slacking with most their old libraries, but in a world where they weren't, it'd be very inconvenient and tedious to do.

[@flameshana9]

@@MagillanicaLouM If Joe Shmoe's have a phone most of it is easy. On a computer yeah, most emulators are terribly made. But man is it worth it to learn how to set them up. You will never regret it. Games should not cost the price of the console they play on.

[@MagillanicaLouM]

@@flameshana9 Yeah, i can say that it's great NOW since I DO know, but starting out I was lost as all hell lol. I'm having a field day with them though, and you're right, forgot about the whole online seller/scalper market definitely not helping matters in the slightest.

[@matheuskirisame]

It is fun you used Monalisa picture as a example, since the original one is locked behind 4 walls and you couldn't buy it even for a billion dollars. AND the same could be said for retro games, which are just abandonware at this point since they aren't made or even resold by official means in acessible platforms like ps4, Switch or PC.

[@pedrocorbelle]

@@matheuskirisame yep! God bless the emulation!

[@TalonTheRetroGamer]

12:06 Even if Nintendo did re-release Melee, they’d probably butcher it by “fixing” everything that made it great. Wavedashing, L-canceling, jump canceling (for multishines for example) are just bugs that must be patched out lest they continue to embarrass Sakurai. I think that’s one case where a game is better left forgotten by its developer, and held in rebellious trust by the community that actually fucking gets it. Don’t forget the only reason Melee is what it is today is not just because of its fans but IN SPITE of Nintendo itself. Or maybe they would just re-release Melee as-is, and would just see it as another easy way to lazily exploit their old titles for money.

[@caseystrange]

For the record: Game Preservation means taking care of the old games we do have. Cleaning them, changing save batteries. It involves preserving PHYSICAL MEDIA. Not dumping every known game known to man for ungrateful people who see ROMs as nothing more than a convenience. Before we go off blaming Ebay/convention prices, take a good look around the retro game scene. There are people with entire storage units and basements of NES/SNES/Genesis games. I've seen photos. People with 20 fucking copies of Paper Boy on the NES. There is your retro game inflation right there.

[@Jasonwithadot]

Physical media preservation is taking care of old games so they keep wirking Videogame preservation is making old videogames playable and avaliable to the public Buying, Selling and Collecting isnt game preservation and im tired of people acting like it is

[@caseystrange]

@@Jasonwithadot But what it the public are a bunch of freeloading bitches and resellers of repro carts?

[@Jasonwithadot]

@@caseystrange well its their problem, if you wanna spend 1000 dollars ona piece of plastic and electricity, then you do you.

[@winlover37]

I've been in the retro sphere for most of my life, and it is crazy how inflated this hobby got in a short amount of time. If you're going to collect 7th gen stuff, do it now!

[@mebinici]

Nothing keeps inflating forever, so the bubble will pop and deflate when normies and plebs realize they are holding worthless games...

[@jmtradbr]

At this exact moment i'm playing Chrono Trigger in a emulator and doing achievements (RetroAchievements) for the price of $0.

[@repoversemedium]

Ah yes, goofy ahh pirate. Don't worry. I won't say anything else.

[@jmtradbr]

I had thr game when i was a kid for the PS1. I'm just replaying to fill my retroachievements page with more points.

[@matheuskirisame]

that set is insane, good luck man

[@Cronoistight]

When my cart for Chrono Trigger eventually stopped working I became a bigger fan of Everdrive.

[@joed5150]

Replace that battery!

[@BR540E]

@@joed5150 why does a cartridge have a battery?

[@chronossage]

@@BR540E In the old days we didn't have solid state storage like today. So early consoles used batteries to keep power to Static RAM chips to hold save files.

[@joed5150]

@@BR540E Back on the NES, SNES and other cartridge based systems back then the little round batteries that basically look like watch batteries were used to save your progress in game. I believe the original Zelda was the first game to utilize them.

[@BR540E]

@@chronossage thanks, I never knew there was a battery. Is it in the console or game cartridge?

[@ahmedhasan4966]

5 months later and Pikmin 1 and 2 are finally on switch which means that you can finally play every mainline Pikmin game on switch.

[@flamespear86]

Everything moving to subscription models also sucks hard. Virtual console for instance should have NEVER been shut down. These companies have only proven backup copies of everything ARE necessary and they are also encouraging outright piracy with these bad faith moves. Steam was the Netflix of gaming in that it had everything (almost). Every company starting to force you to use their own platform is a TERRIBLE experience.

[@HazeX2]

Glad you brought up the "dark age" Sonic games, it sucks not having my favorite era of Sonic be available on modern consoles