How important is legacy to you?

[Shifty Geezer]

As research to another argument about the potential loss of access to old bought games and whether that matters to most gamers, this poll is enquiring as to your play habits of OLD games you've bought.

So how many games have you played since...2010...that you bought 10 or more years ago? Additional info like what games and how old they are would be welcome as posts, (eg. "I played Manic Minor on my Spectrum 16K").

Note this is ONLY for games you are playing that are the original product on the original hardware. Playing a remake on a new platform such as an emulator or HD remake is a different solution to retro gaming that ignores the legacy support of bought media.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I vote 1 as I played Star Control 2. Although that's PC so probably doesn't count. The only other game played was Champions of Norrath multiplayer on PS2.

 

[orangpelupa]

Playing a remake on a new platform such as an emulator or HD remake is a different solution to retro gaming that ignores the legacy support of bought media.

that killed most of my classic games >_<
it either played on Gog, or different platform than original.

 

[ninzel]

None. But I do like to go back and play "older" games from the entire cycle of the console I own. For example I bought a 360 last Xmas and started playing the early games and working my way forward.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

that killed most of my classic games >_<
it either played on Gog, or different platform than original.

Yeah, PC counts zero as the question is whether consumers will be miffed if they can't play their old games on their old machine (loss of rights to play games you bought). If people don't play old games, it won't matter if the rights to play those old games are lost (beyond principle. Hence this poll and the other to see whether buyers of console games actually play those console games ten+ years on, or whether they're good as dead.

 

[orangpelupa]

i dont know why, i never want to play old console games.

When i buy SNES, i did not miss with NES game.
When i get PS2, i did not miss PS1 games
When i get Xbox 360, i know nothing about Xbox 1 game

The same with handheld.
i have GBA, DS, and 3DS.
the only old games i play are Ace Attorney GBA played on DS
Professor Layton DS played on 3DS.

only that 2 games. wow... console games are designed to not be played after long time? or i just love PC games haha.

 

[Bagel seed]

There was a brief stretch where I didn't feel interested in playing any current gen games and went off to find some indie stuff, and classics off of Gog. But in general I never really care for playing older games I've already beaten. Classics are different though... like the old PC strategy games which are basically timeless.

Edit: Oh no PC and original product only? I guess 0 then. If we count digital it's a totally different story.

 

[ninzel]

Well for much older games this may be true but what about people who are just
one console cycle behind so say 5 years back which is not a stretch. At that point it becomes less clear.
Therefor I'm not really sure that asking about 10+ year old games adds much to the discussion of what people are concerned about.
I'm more worried about what happens if I adopt very late into a console cycle and don't get to playing some games say 3 years after the next gen has released.

 

[Gubbi]

A parallel poll should ask who keeps old console hardware around.
When I got a PS2 my PS1 was dead. When I got a Xbox I loaned my PS2 to my brother (to never see it again), when I got my 360 I gave my Xbox away (together with 85% of the games).

When I get Durango and/or Orbis, my 360 goes to my nephew.

Cheers

 

[orangpelupa]

i do that too with home console

the only home console i collect is PS2 because its ability to act as small multimedia player is awesome. It able to play videos from USB
nice to bring small console and be able to play games and watch movies on holiday on bvillege

 

[Nesh]

i do that too with home console

the only home console i collect is PS2 because its ability to act as small multimedia player is awesome. It able to play videos from USB
nice to bring small console and be able to play games and watch movies on holiday on bvillege

You hacked it or something?

 

[I.S.T.]

I am currently replaying a PS2 launch title, Armored Core 2. It's been nearly ten years since I last played it, and I specifically purchased this copy just to replay it.

So I voted Quite a few. I'm also fairly heavily involved in emulation as well, though i haven't run an emulator too much the last year and a half(Been catching up on games I've missed generally. Just not ones old enough to warrent an emulator).

 

[orangpelupa]

hmm i have DIGIVICE digimon game thing that still being played irregularly. Does that counts to the poll?

That thing still alive since year 2000.

@Nesh
Its hacked from the gamestore. I just install SMS (Simple Media Player) to make it able to play movies from USB. It also support LAN so when my PS2 finally dies (the DVD drive cant read disc) it also still useful to be used as networked media player.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

So I voted Quite a few. I'm also fairly heavily involved in emulation as well...

Emulation doesn't count, because you don't buy a game with the view to emulating it later. The spirit of the question is playing an old game on an old console, or BC console in the case of something like PS1 games on PS2 or PS3.

hmm i have DIGIVICE digimon game thing that still being played irregularly. Does that counts to the poll?

Nope. That's a standalone game, like buying a board game.

 

[I.S.T.]

Emulation doesn't count, because you don't buy a game with the view to emulating it later. The spirit of the question is playing an old game on an old console, or BC console in the case of something like PS1 games on PS2 or PS3.

Sometimes I'll buy a game in print just to emulate it, though that's fairly rare... how's that count?

Plus I do still have a super nintendo, PS1 and N64. I had an X`Eye but I gave it to a friend who wound up being a crazy. Regret doing that immensely.

Edit: I'll explain what I meant by my first sentence a bit better. I'm referring to games that are old and have been reprinted in the form of anniversary collections and whatnot, but the emulation in those collections is crappy. So, I'll either buy the old game and emulate it if I do not have the console, or I'll buy the new collection and emulate it on a superior emulator. I have no problems whatsoever downloading a game I own in any way.

 

[Phil]

I know this is just a poll - but I do have to mention, I don't think the result will have any meaning on the discussion that sparked it. Because the question isn't the right one asked.

IMO consumer behavior is a tricky one. Many in this poll will probably (most likely) vote that indeed the amount of games they've picked up since 2010 that are older than 10 years are close to none. That doesn't mean however that they wouldn't do it, if it were more convinient.

It's the same with me: I have a lot of games that I want to get back to, mainly games from the PSone and PS2 era, but also some classics that go back to SNES days. I admit, some of the games would probably shock me if I went back to them, merely because the nostalgic memory in my head will be different than when I put in the game and see how pixelated everything used to be. In fact, this is exactly how I felt when I put in Tomb Raider 2 the other day and even on the tiny PSP screen, the game is far more pixelated than any recollection I had in my memory when I was stunned by its beauty back in the day.

Anyway, the point being - if it were convinient to actually boot up those old games on my current systems - I would. Humans tend to be lazy beings though and so, even if I find myself drooling over watching Youtube videos of old games I used to play on the Amiga, actually getting up and booting up that 20 year old machine is not something I will likely ever do. However if I had a comfortable means to boot it up and play some of those classics on my PS3 by the click of a button - I would.

Then there's also the point to be made, that graphics have progressed to a point where the transistion between this generation of consoles and next will be a lot smaller, than they have been coming from last generation to this - or PSone to PS2. I think the main reason for this lies in resolution and image quality - not geometry or complexity. The incentive to play my current generation games on the next generation system thus will be a lot higher for that reason. Because Super Stardust HD or any other Pixeljunk games will be just as cool and technically impressive in 5 years time because those games don't rely on complex gameplay mechanics and the main feature - them being in 1080p will still be adequate in 20 years time (even if by then we will have resolutions beyond crazy). Why? Because I'm already playing my 1080p (or 720p games) on a big 3m diagnonal beamer projected screen that is above what most people use. It's sufficient enough - and even I were to up the resolution to 4K, while the picture would be undoubtedly more detailed - the difference wouldn't be that much.

It's not like 10 years ago when we went from CRT to LCD big screens, from SD to HD resolutions. It's comparable to having a 720p screen on my smartphone. Even if 1080p is around the corner (Samsung Galaxy S4 compared to my S3) - the benefit on that 5 inch screen will be small - heck, I'd call it overkill.

So, I do think there is demand for legacy - just not the legacy from 10-20 years ago, but the legacy from this generation when we will be playing next generation or the generation of consoles after that.

Also, people like to have the option, even if we don't use it. Having the option is always a lot better than not having the option taken away from us. People will always want, even if they end up not using it. Is it practical? No. Is it human? Probably yes.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Sometimes I'll buy a game in print just to emulate it, though that's fairly rare... how's that count?

Nope. The question is how many games have you bought ages ago that you then go back and play, and will be miffed if you put it in your console and it no longer works

IMO consumer behavior is a tricky one. Many in this poll will probably (most likely) vote that indeed the amount of games they've picked up since 2010 that are older than 10 years are close to none. That doesn't mean however that they wouldn't do it, if it were more convinient.

There are two polls. One asks whether people outgrow old games or not (for which current figures are divided but there's still interest in playing old games). This one asks whether people who are happy to play old games are actually playing those old games. Taken together, we perhaps see that people would play more ancient games than they do if it were more convenient to do so, as you suggest.

However, the purpose of this poll in particular is to try and vaguely quantify what percentage of gamers will be negatively affected when they take their 10 year old console, plug it in, put in a game and find it no longer works. If the response to this poll is that people don't revisit old games, then it's no significant loss to a console company to have online activation of games that'll one day die; the number of people actually affected in that case will be small enough to ignore. And on the flip side, if the results of this poll suggest loads of gamers actively replay old games on old consoles, then the threat of losing that option on a future platform will have more impact on that platform.

So taking your Amiga example, the fact that you can no longer play any of your Amiga games because Commodore deactivated the online validation servers many years ago doesn't bother you because, although you'd like to play those classics, you can't be bothered. Which is I think a fairly common stance, and why I think legacy gaming isn't a major concern. I think in real terms few people actively maintain decades old gaming systems and few people will switch on their XB720 in eleven years to play Halo 2013 only to find they no longer can because the online platform has been discontinued by MS. I expect far more people in 2024 to think, "I wouldn't mind playing Halo 2013 again," and then go do something else because they can't be bothered to dig out their old console, if they still have it.

That's the theory that these polls are there to investigate anyhow.

 

[Phil]

So taking your Amiga example, the fact that you can no longer play any of your Amiga games because Commodore deactivated the online validation servers many years ago doesn't bother you because, although you'd like to play those classics, you can't be bothered. Which is I think a fairly common stance, and why I think legacy gaming isn't a major concern.

That, IMO, is the wrong conclusion, for the reasons I explained in my post, the parts that you haven't replied to.

The situation then isn't directly comparable. The Amiga games are pixelated and look horrendous on any modern screen. Back then, it was okay because it was as good as one could expect on a computer monitor with a limited size and resolution. We've moved on since then.

The point is, todays games, that are programmed for a resolution that is pretty sufficient for the screen sizes we will likely still be using 10 years for now, will look a lot better and feel a lot less "old", which will only increase the likelyhood that people might want the option to go back and replay the games of today.

Now, if you're going to tell me that gaming will change that drastically in 10 years from now that we will be playing on 10meter screens and 5D that the games of today will feel as pixelated and "old" as Amiga games do today on a normal HD TV screen, perhaps you have a point. But how likely is that?

 

[AzBat]

I like to have the option to go play old games. And I can do it if I want to. I can go to my local Game Xchange buy an old Atari, Nintendo, Sega, Playstation, Xbox, etc & then buy the old original game I want. That can't be translated to the current & upcoming generation as easily. Yes, it can for disc-based games, but not digital. I'm really concerned about my digital purchases going forward. I love the convenience of them, but if there is no guarantee I can keep playing my Xbox 360 purchases on my Xbox 720, then for the first time in awhile I'm going to keep my old console so I can. I just hope it doesn't die on me because I doubt MS will repair it in the future.

BTW, I voted "abstention". Sorry Shifty, but poll sucked. Next!

Tommy McClain

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Now, if you're going to tell me that gaming will change that drastically in 10 years from now that we will be playing on 10meter screens and 5D that the games of today will feel as pixelated and "old" as Amiga games do today on a normal HD TV screen, perhaps you have a point. But how likely is that?

Considering that I don't even bother to start up a game that I bought during the start of the current generation, I don't think that would be much of a factor for the majority of people.

For myself, it's zero on consoles. I've "thought" about replaying some games that I bought at the start of this generation (Gears of War, Halo Wars, Overlord - I LOVE THIS GAME, etc.) but at the end of the day, I couldn't be bothered.

On PC I have easy access to tons of old games that I purchased, but again I usually can't be bothered to play them again despite really liking most of them. There are the occasional exceptions. Diablo 3, StarCraft Broodwars, etc.

Interestingly enough all the games that I have replayed generally tend to be REALLY old games where the gameplay stands the test of time. If I didn't have them on PC it wouldn't be possible for me to replay them legally. As I no longer have the consoles. But then, I'm not interested in replaying old console games anyway.

Regards,
SB