I’ve often wondered this. With the sheer volume of titles on modern consoles, is it even possible to have a complete collection of the library? Especially with something like the Switch, where there are also a shit ton of shovelware titles out there, not only digital but physical shovelware as well from Limited Run Games.
Part of me thinks it’s not going to happen, and the other part of me knows that I’m probably severely underestimating collectors’ skills, resources, and obsession.
I think digital store only titles really muddy the waters in terms of completionist collecting. I don’t see any reason why people interested in collecting wouldn’t also collect PS4/Xbox/Switch games though. To me the more pressing question is, what will happen to retro collecting when consoles stop having physical releases? Kids growing up in that time period won’t get the joy of returning to childhood favorites by getting a working console and physical games. That makes me sad, I my self have had a blast putting together a collection of my favorite Genesis and PS1 games along with a lot of consoles from that era.
The biggest issue imho is digital-only games that have been delisted. I’m not to worried about people not being able to play them to relieve memories since pirating them will probably be easy enough. But pirating does defeat the whole point of collecting I assume. I guess people can still assemble a full collection of physical releases only. IDK how collectors of the 3DS are doing it right now after the closure of the digital store, for example.
That hits on an important point, a lot of the games I adored as a kid are very much playable on new platforms legally if I want to. But I find playing games on the original hardware to be fun, and it just feels different. The perfect example is when I wanted to reply Castlevania Symphony of the Night, I found it for a reasonable price for PS1 and played through on the original hardware. The D-Pad’s on PS1 were made different then how they make D-Pads now on modern controllers, so my experience felt just like it did when I played it in the 90’s.
With the release of Diablo 4, that also brings up the point that games are increasingly requiring “always on” connections to play. If they take down those servers, those types of games won’t be playable in a retro collection situation either.
“Always on” and similar extreme DRM measurements I believe are more of an issue compared to physical vs digital media. DRM free digital copies for example can have way longer lifespans than a physical copy (potentially “infinite”). But as soon as you add the requirement for some company server to be up, the game has a hard expiration date. But that’s an altogether different discussion.
I hadn’t though much about your first point, it is true that specially the input devices can change the feel of the game drasticly. I suppose people with special interest will seek out some of the classic gamepad clones that are available nowadays, but most people will just play with the console default.
I also admit that the need to play a retro game using the original input hardware isn’t a very wide spread requirement for most people. When I was trying to get Castlevania for PS1 in 2014 every one of my friends kept reminding me that Castlevania Symphony of the Night was on Playstation’s store as a digital download. So in my friends group, I was the only one who gave a crap about the controller aspect.
You’re very right about DRM free digital copies having some serious longevity! The only thing those types of games has issues with is compatibility over long periods of time as OS’s change. I know the ultimate goal of game companies is to make money, but early game studios were just a bunch of gamers who love games too, so they’d pour blood sweat and tears into their games as labors of love. But the gaming industry has gone much more broad in it’s appeal, so the huge corporations who own these studios push to squeeze every cent out of gamers possible. Including forcing games to require servers to be up and running to play the game. This also allows them to roll out yearly versions of huge titles, and then quietly sunset the few year old versions servers to force people to buy the new version.
Man it’s god damn dirty, I need to get a rocking chair and a cane, so I can bang my cane on the rocker and rant about “Back in my day!”.