this post was submitted on 06 Dec 2023
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[–] Pohl@lemmy.world 186 points 11 months ago (9 children)

I have content I purchased on steam 19yrs ago. Shit was built for completely different hardware but I can go install and play it right now. The physical console games I bought that year only work in consoles that have long since broken. I can go play HL2 whenever I want, to play my copy of THPS3, I have to find and buy a PS2 that still works.

Digital ownership can apparently work just fine

Sony is reminding us that Sony is a shitty company. The company that bought you amazing technology like the memory stick (tm) probably cannot be trusted.

[–] HKayn@dormi.zone 91 points 11 months ago (32 children)

Don't find yourself in a false sense of security.

Your games on Steam are just as ephemeral as any other digital content purchased online.

[–] BruceTwarzen@kbin.social 32 points 11 months ago (15 children)

All the physical games i ever owned went up in flames when my house burned down. I can still play games i bought on steam in 2008

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[–] stardust@lemmy.ca 12 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Even then in a worst case scenario due to the open platform piracy is a possibility. That's where some of the peace of mind comes from compared to purchasing of digital goods for a closed system.

[–] Aurix@lemmy.world 28 points 11 months ago (5 children)

Pirates are the librarians of the new age. But I caution you, much media cannot be found as soon as you step of the path of the big releases. So it really isn't the final solution.

[–] stardust@lemmy.ca 13 points 11 months ago

It's the best we've got unlike the rather ridiculous proposals of backing up their own games some have made. Average person does not have the storage or the determination to digitize everything and keep it safe in case of corruption with multiple back ups.

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[–] burliman@lemm.ee 15 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Agreed. Physical ownership is the shelf of old DVD and CDROM PC and XBOX classic game boxes in my basement that take up space, collect dust, will never work again, and will only be a remembrance of nostalgia for a bygone day. Plus I’ll probably never seriously want to play them again… let’s be honest. I can watch a video of someone else playing, it scratches the same itch, and saves me the trouble.

I like digital ownership, but there needs to be protections so we can’t be screwed.

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[–] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 13 points 11 months ago (6 children)

I've never even owned a PlayStation but I've owned enough absolute shit made by Sony that I started boycotting them like 15 years ago. They really are a truly shit company. It always amazes me they are considered a quality brand.

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[–] thedirtyknapkin@lemmy.world 11 points 11 months ago (3 children)

there's been instances of issues with steam games. like paid characters and skins in games being removed after the ip owners decided it was worth more money. dead by daylight did this multiple times.

[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 10 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Or GTA getting patched to remove music from a game you already "own".

[–] Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 points 11 months ago

As is tradition at this point, those that pirated the game get a better experience

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[–] TimeSquirrel@kbin.social 9 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Shit was built for completely different hardware

It's still PC architecture. May not be 64 bit, but there's nothing stopping a modern x86-64 processor from directly running software made for an IBM PC from the 1980s without a VM or emulation. Backwards compatibility on PC is amazing. Drivers are a different story.

With dedicated consoles, the hardware is often bespoke and completely changes with each iteration of the console. In order to remain backwards compatible, emulation is required to recreate the previous environment so older games will run. That or they literally just stuff a miniature subsystem of the old console into the new one.

[–] masterspace@lemmy.ca 8 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

It's not just PCs and Steam. I can still play my original Xbox games from 20+ years ago on my Series X (they predate Xbox Live, let alone the Xbox Live Store), and I can still play the digital and physical Xbox 360 and Xbox One games that I bought in those eras as well.

Gamers (and legislators), give Sony and Nintendo way too much of a pass for shitting on backwards compatibility.

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[–] shrugal@lemm.ee 72 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (7 children)

We need to stop calling it digital "ownership"! You don't get to own anything as a customer on these platforms, because rights that can be taken away on a whim are no rights at all.

[–] Dudewitbow@lemmy.zip 12 points 11 months ago (5 children)

In the case of pc platforms like GOG, and itchio, if you get a drm free version of a title, theres nothing the company can do to both stop you from storing it on an external storage (or multiple) if you wanted. They wouldnt be able to revoke it if its a single player game.

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[–] PlatinumSf@pawb.social 68 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Remember the time when Sony invented rootkits to make their drm stronger? Pepridge farm remembers.

[–] DrMango@lemmy.world 39 points 11 months ago (9 children)

Remember when Sony made you use a proprietary mini SD card for your handheld instead of just allowing the format that was already in place and widely adopted?

[–] sigmaklimgrindset@sopuli.xyz 24 points 11 months ago (2 children)

PSVITA COULD HAVE WON THE HANDHELD WARS IF NOT FOR THIS /copium

I’m still salty

[–] Kedly@lemm.ee 8 points 11 months ago

Pretty sure the Vita was just entirely abandoned, it would have been a powerhouse even as it was if Sony hadnt done so

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[–] PlatinumSf@pawb.social 15 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Remember when Sony stopped us all from having easy access to high density compact disc storage by slapping obnoxiously large fees onto blueray decoding licensing that they still maintain today? Or how about that whole… betamax… actually I’ll just leave that one to history.

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[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 45 points 11 months ago (1 children)

It should be illegal to take back / away a digital purchase because of a rights change or any other reason. Sure, maybe I lose the ability to download again if the company goes out of business, but other than that, my media, my fucking property. And not in a distribution sense. Like it was a physical copy. It's not like they're allowed to enter my home and steal my blu-rays.

[–] Natanael@slrpnk.net 8 points 11 months ago

They're not offering true purchases, they're offering one time payment leases - and they should be forced to market them as such if they're not willing to guarantee perpetual access.

[–] Exusia@lemmy.world 30 points 11 months ago (1 children)

The ps5 and Switch will probably be my last consoles. I will just find ways yo mod the Switch when support dies for it to keep games on the go, and when psn is cut for ps5 that will be it. PC will be my way forward. I won't put up with this "pay for internet twice and still not own your games" stuff after these generations.

[–] stardust@lemmy.ca 11 points 11 months ago

I modded my switch once they started the online subscription. It's a really great jailbreak experience. Got ability to export saves too.

[–] nyan@lemmy.cafe 30 points 11 months ago

If there's DRM involved, then you're renting, not buying. Take that into account when considering how to spend money.

[–] Chakravanti@sh.itjust.works 29 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (5 children)

Points at the Jolly Roger.

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[–] Gutless2615@ttrpg.network 28 points 11 months ago (7 children)

Counterpoint: digital ownership — true ownership when you have the actual files — is amazing. It’s the media panacea we’ve wanted for years. Storage is cheap, content is boundless, and if you curate your own collection you can usually get it anywhere you want.

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[–] uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zone 25 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

After the spyware disclosure and consent form on launch of Horizon Zero Dawn, I ceased getting anything Sony.

But the recent discontinuation of service shows us the ethic of piracy is (and always was) one-sided. Sony takes what it pleases, and no one is going to enforce otherwise.

We are justified in taking whatever action is necessary to ensure our own survival and fair benefit including violent terrorism so long as the state's agencies are not going legislate or adjudicate fairly but in the favor of plutocrats and corporations.

The whole point of the social contract is equal treatment and preventing the bloodshed of natural disagreement resolution (typically intergenerational family feuds)

Sony can appreciate we just want our shows and tunes and games with little hassle, and not revenge for being a traitor to the peace.

Sony will totally download a bear.

[–] Secret300@sh.itjust.works 23 points 11 months ago (1 children)

What the hell they talking about? Digital ownership is amazing. I can stream all my content from my server and keep it forever as long as I backup regularly. What sucks is buying shit digitally because then you don't own it at all

[–] locuester@lemmy.zip 10 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Yeah they’re not talking about ownership here. They’re talking about custodial “ownership”. Like when you buy bitcoin and keep in on an exchange - you down actually own it.

Some people think if you buy a movie from Sony or any other online only marketplace you actually own it….

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[–] yamanii@lemmy.world 19 points 11 months ago (2 children)

After this I'm getting an external drive and backing my gog library, since it and itch io are the last bastions of ownership (shame I can only pay in USD on itch).

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[–] dangblingus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 17 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Not sure why anyone at this point is stoked to own a Playstation. Literally all of their games are going to be on PC, GTA6 will eventually be on PC, not to mention all of the cross platform games on PS5 that are, you guessed it, also on PC.

Between digital storefronts removing content you paid for and the price tag on all new releases, it just doesn't make sense to engage with this new generation of "you don't actually own your games now".

[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 22 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Because it costs like a quarter of an equivalent gaming PC, and there's actually an option for physical disc ownership unlike PC.

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[–] LifeOfChance@lemmy.world 18 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Lots of reasons to enjoy having a Playstation. Having a full PC setup is expensive when you factor in more than just the case build. It's nice to have something you can boot up and get right into. Everyone acts like their system is superior but the superior system is whatever one best suits your needs. I personally would absolutely love a PS5 varient that didn't require internet and just let me play my single player games in peace.

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[–] Norgur@kbin.social 12 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

Thing is that most games on physical media aren't much good in the long run either for the very same reasons. Even the single player ones have a myriad of little bits and bobs of online connectivity nowadays. I expect 95% of them to break once their servers go down. Most of them for super stupid reasons..some version mismatch here, a weird timeout in the launcher there. And being on closed systems,.there will be no way to patch them by the community on consoles.

The only games I expect to still work are Nintendo games. That's not because they are the good guys but because their understanding of this whole internet thing is so laughably bad.

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