"TMNT: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled getting pulled from US"

[kane_magus]

"Just goes to show, however, that one can't rely on digital content forever. Makes one wonder what'll happen in this industry's fabled all-digital future, though, that games can just disappear forever like that."

For once, in this case, I agree 100% with Jim Sterling.

I didn't care about the Re-Shelled TMNT game, in particular, but in general this should be raising warning flags.

Comments

[owsf2000.livejournal.com]

If people's warning flags weren't raised long ago, they're past hope.

[kane-magus.livejournal.com]

Yeah, all you have to do is glance through the comments (http://kane-magus.livejournal.com/486801.html) on that very thread I linked to there to see that many people just aren't considering the potential repercussions at all, what with the multitude of "what's the big deal?" comments and such. And the rare few who are considering it are then being called morons by morons who have the audacity to call other people morons.

A physical game going out of print is NOT the same thing as a game being removed from a digital software service. With an out-of-print game, there will at least still be physical copies of the game floating around out there to be bought/sold/traded/whatever, even if they may be difficult to find (and may end up costing 3 or 4 times what they should). When a game that is solely available through a digital download service is then removed from said digital download service, you are totally SOL if you didn't already buy it, unless they deign to make it available again later. And in some cases even if you did already buy it you'll still be SOL, since you can't sell or trade it (which is, of course, the very ideal behind all this digital download bullshit to begin with, at least as far as the pubs/devs are concerned), and you also may not be able to redownload it again later if you deleted it (or otherwise lost it) for whatever reason.

[rabbitucker.livejournal.com]

Well, I think that for the consumer, this sucks hairy monkey balls.

For the software firms, it makes no difference. They make more money selling goods that are more scarce. Disney creates artificial scarcity by shoving titles back into their Disney Vault to drive up prices during brief re-releases.

The loss of digitally downloaded games works even better to promote scarcity, ESPECIALLY if they don't come back. You can't say that you'll pick up the game used for less money, or wait until later when retail prices drop. You must get it NOW, and at FULL PRICE, or not ever at all! It creates a sense of urgency that translates into more money.

[owsf2000.livejournal.com]

Feh, they'll just be losing money from me with that. Doesn't matter how much I want the game, I'm not going to buy it digitally. They can go through the trouble of packaging it up properly or they can crawl back under their rock. Not being able to get it for less money used later on isn't even a consideration. I'll do without, and I won't even notice it missing. I'm that frustrating gamer market for these industries that want to leech every penny out of their customer base. I'm up for buying a lot of games. I probably spend more than the typical hardcore gamer as well (Especially when you consider most of those are buying it "new" at gamestop by trading in the last game they bought for full credit, repeat for 5+ years.) I buy a lot of used games as well, but at the same time once games go into the collection they rarely EVER go back out. I eat up used copies, which increase scarcity!

But despite being one that will spend a lot on this hobby, I also have expectations. I expect the full game. I expect it to be bug free. (on consoles in particular.) I expect them to give me a god damned manual that's more than 2-4 pages warning of seizures and how to turn on your console. I expect them to understand when I buy a copy, it's now mine to do with as I please short of making new copies. (The increased use of eula's in games is making me sick as well.)

All these things they're flinging shit at like no tomorrow. As such, I don't bother buying nearly as much, and rarely for more than bargain bin prices. And it's gotten to the point that I've decided already that the PS3/360/Wii are the last consoles I'm ever buying. I won't be buying the Vita. I won't be buying the 3DS. I won't be buying the Wii U. All because of bullshit that's trying to be served up with them by the companies that make them. (I'm so sick of firmware updates that are forced on you even if hte game in question has no need of the new functionality.)

Anyway, I'm ranting. >_> Suffice to say, they're losing money going digital as far as I'm concerned.