Xbox “backwards compatibility” already works that way. It doesn’t run the code from the disc, it downloads a compatible digital version.
Comment on ‘My whole library is wiped out’: what it means to own movies and TV in the age of streaming services
Dariusmiles2123@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
That’s why I’ll keep buying physical for the games or movies I love.
The only question I have is what’s gonna happen as game discs are just becoming an access token to download the game and its updates.
I’d have nothing against digital games or movies if you didn’t see such behaviors.
jordanlund@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Phelpssan@lemmy.world 1 month ago
The only question I have is what’s gonna happen as game discs are just becoming an access token to download the game and its updates.
That’s a big concern. There’s communities trying to document which games are complete on the media and can be played from start to end without updates (so no major game-breaking bugs or huge performance issues) like this one:
I’m also part of a Facebook group that collects cartridge information for Switch games, to document if there’s revisions with all updates included.
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/…/edit#gid=0
This community doesn’t test the games, just tries to figure out if there’s a “100% complete, all patches” version for each game available as physical media.
Dariusmiles2123@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
It’s good that people are worrying about this. Although, I haven’t heard of any disc game not being able to be played. I guess it would only happen if Sony/Microsoft go bankrupt or decide to close PlayStation/Xbox game updates servers.
It ain’t likely to happen but it’s important to be able to preserve games for the future as they are part of history just like paintings.
Phelpssan@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I haven’t heard of any disc game not being able to be played.
There’s a number of games that don’t come with the whole thing on disk/cart, usually including only the early stages and the rest needs to be downloaded.
Hogwarts Legacy and Jedi Survivor are two fairly recent examples.
Dariusmiles2123@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
As long as you have a way to download the data that ain’t a problem for me, but if one day Sony or EA closes without giving the update data to be available for everyone that would be a problem.
Still I don’t see the advantage for them to only put the early stages on the disc. Are they saving money this way?
kalleboo@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Tech Tangents did a video on disc games where either the DRM server is down, or the content is just not on disk www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZYy9KzFT2w
prole@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
Make sure you’ve got a spare DVD/Blu-Ray player somewhere that works without needing an internet connection.