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Author Topic: Do you feel like you own your digital content?*  (Read 3418 times)

Luigison

  • Old Person™
« on: September 12, 2012, 07:12:24 PM »
A few years ago I would have said no, but know that Steam and some systems (home and portable) have let me keep my digital copies with new computers/systems I have to say that have more ownership and usefulness from my digital copies than from my disc/cart/etc copies. For example, my Steam games are playable on any PC. Can't say that for my once only registerable CD copies of games for PC. My DSi digital downloads were transferred to 3DS. I can't even play my hard copy of PS2 titles on a new PS3, but the digital version will play on any PS3.

I could blame hardware manufacturers for not making every system backwards compatible with old titles in their original format, but in the end a digital copy if playable on the "new" system is "good-enough" for me. In the future I hope the paradigm is to be able to buy content on any device/system and play it on any other device/system.

I'm not ready for the digital-only paradigm yet, but I can see it's appeal and my eventual conversion.

*With respect to a banned fiend on NeoGAF.
“Evolution has shaped us with perceptions that allow us to survive. But part of that involves hiding from us the stuff we don’t need to know."

« Reply #1 on: September 12, 2012, 08:35:19 PM »
I personally feel like I own my digital content, but this also made me think about how much I trust the digital content providers with keeping track of my content. For example, if Steam's servers all somehow died, how would I get to my games and buy new ones?

ShadowBrain

  • Ridiculously relevant
« Reply #2 on: September 13, 2012, 05:46:30 PM »
For me, tangibility is as big a--if not a bigger--part of ownership than any notion of DRM. After two PS3 hard drive crashes (inb4 LOL SONY), I'm inclined to say no.
"Mario is your oyster." ~The Chef

« Reply #3 on: September 13, 2012, 06:06:49 PM »
After two hard drive crashes you say NO? When you can just redownload your games? (And saves with PlayStation Plus.)

If your cartridge or disc broke, you'd have nothing.

WarpRattler

  • Paid by the word
« Reply #4 on: September 13, 2012, 06:16:46 PM »
Last I checked, ShadowBrian is on ultra-crappy Internet, so it's almost the same thing.

Also, PS+ cloud saving is a pain compared to cloud saving through Xbox LIVE Gold.

Luigison

  • Old Person™
« Reply #5 on: September 13, 2012, 06:20:18 PM »
My PS3 HD drive is fine, it's the Blu-ray that failed.  So I'm digital download only on it now. 

Edit due to Warp's post:  I can't speak to/for LIVE, but I defiantly enjoy STEAM's cloud save.  It's been such a convenience with multiple computers and when visiting family that I now strongly consider purchases based on cloud saves. 

Also, due to a resent JAVA update problem my father couldn't play his Plant Vs. Zombies file, but I was able to solve his lost save issue via a cloud save from over 1000 miles away and in terms he could understand. 
« Last Edit: September 13, 2012, 06:26:29 PM by Luigison »
“Evolution has shaped us with perceptions that allow us to survive. But part of that involves hiding from us the stuff we don’t need to know."

BP

  • Beside Pacific
« Reply #6 on: September 13, 2012, 09:32:18 PM »
After two hard drive crashes you say NO? When you can just redownload your games?

I know that's the idea but I can't shake the feeling that it won't always be possible to get everything back. That there'll be some dumb reason your account no longer has your history, or some company will deny another one the rights to keep distributing something, or whatever...
All your dreeeeeeams begiiin to shatterrrrrr~
It's YOUR problem!

CrossEyed7

  • i can make this whatever i want; you're not my dad
« Reply #7 on: September 13, 2012, 09:42:21 PM »
I like digital ownership. Much more convenient than swapping discs. I'd prefer DRM-free, of course. Several CDs in my music collection are worn-out or lost -- since I have them ripped, I can make replacement discs any time. Likewise, I've bought RollerCoaster Tycoon 1 & 2 multiple times over the last 13 years, with discs getting lost and broken, but after buying them as DRM-free digital downloads from GOG.com, I will always have them.

Services like Steam, Kindle, and the eShop are convenient, but there's always that chance that some day a copyright issue will come up and they'll have to pull the file from their servers, possibly also deleting it from my device. It's rare enough to not be a big deal, but it does happen, and it's why I don't want to go to completely cloud-based ownership until the environment changes quite a bit.

But DRM-free digital ownership is definitely the best. No worrying about losing discs or cartridges dying, ability to back it up in as many places as you want, essentially infinite life.
« Last Edit: September 14, 2012, 10:35:23 PM by CrossEyed7 »
"Oh man, I wish being a part of a Mario fan community was the most embarrassing thing about my life." - Super-Jesse

WarpRattler

  • Paid by the word
« Reply #8 on: September 14, 2012, 04:04:51 AM »
Luigison: Steam cloud saving > Xbox LIVE Gold cloud saving >>>> PlayStation Plus cloud saving.

(Qualifications: I regularly play games on two Xbox 360s and two PS3s.)

Steam: For supported games, syncs your save data with a remote server when you exit a game, and syncs client settings when you exit Steam itself.
Xbox LIVE Gold: If you have Gold, cloud storage is just another option in the "select storage device" menu 99.9% of games give you when it's time to load save data, and once your save file is there (can be moved from local physical storage or created in cloud storage to start), you just select that instead of a local storage option. If you have a save file for a game in the cloud storage area and you go to play that game on another 360, it syncs automatically if you're logged into your account and connected to LIVE on that 360 and start playing that game.
PlayStation Plus: Sync occurs through optional automatic updates; if enabled, the system powers on and automatically syncs cloud saves (along with downloading other things, like updates for installed software) at a set time of day. If the system is already powered on at that time, automatic updates won't happen. Only one account is allowed to use automatic updating on a given PS3; this is a problem when one of the PS3s you use has four accounts registered to it, all of which have PlayStation Plus subscriptions. You otherwise have to manually sync cloud saves, by copying the save files from the system to the cloud through the XMB (and, if you're going to use them on another PS3, copying them from cloud storage to the system before you start your game).

PSN pretty much sucks in general, so it's not surprising that their cloud system sucks too.

I'll post later about my actual feelings on digital content ownership.

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