[game_preservation] Nintendo 3DS trailers

[MCENIRY, MATTHEW]

I have noticed that the industry is trying to find some way to prevent used game sales as distributors such as GameStop are receiving a large amount of their revenue from these sales.  Just from the quarter ending in July 30, 2011 GameStop's used game sales increased by 12% and digital sales increased by 69%.

Recently Capcom implemented a system<http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/35657/Capcom_Resident_Evil_3D_Save_Data_Controversy_Likely_Will_Not_Happen_Again.php> where you could not reset save game data on their game Resident Evil 3D.  This has been discontinued from future games due to the uproar over the restriction, but it is showing the boldness of what developers are trying to do to prevent used sales.

DRM on the other hand is probably more hurtful to the business than it is helpful.  I know a lot gamers will avoid products who have DRM-like capabilities, one of the recent ones being Diablo III by Blizzard.  While it isn't necessarily a third party DRM the restriction of having to be on the Internet to play even single player has some players concerned despite the immense hype surrounding the game.  Alternatively some publishers just build their own digital distribution client to cut out the middle man and control their gaming licenses (i.e. EA - Origin, Valve - Steam).  There are also digital distributors such as gog.com (Good Old Games) who advertise DRM free games, usually older ones, but they are helping keep older games alive with their efforts.

To end my wall of text a recent story about Lego Universe closing<http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/38401/Lack_Of_Subscribers_Forces_Lego_Universe_Offline.php> caught my eye today.  It seems as if even their Free-to-Play model didn't garner enough revenue (through micro-transactions) and the game will be closing as of January 31, 2012.  With so much competition within the MMO environment find an effective preservation model for some before they go offline for good due to "failure."

Matt McEniry
________________________________
From: game_preservation-bounces at igda.org [game_preservation-bounces at igda.org] on behalf of Henry Lowood [lowood at stanford.edu]
Sent: Monday, November 07, 2011 5:01 PM
To: Christian Bartsch
Cc: IGDA Game Preservation SIG
Subject: Re: [game_preservation] Nintendo 3DS trailers

Christian,

Yup, that's happened to me with EA sports games, too.   A propos, note the furor over the new Tiger Woods game, which basically is just a license to buy content via a distribution channel ...

Henry

On 11/7/2011 1:58 PM, Christian Bartsch wrote:
What can I say... I tried buying Spore. It was a used copy. I could not create a new account. I contacted the wis guys at the management level and was given a simple answer: Buy a fresh copy. So I returned the game and have not bought an EA game since then. I nearly stopped buying games, except for some console titles, and even ditched the Duke, because of the DRM (Steam) used. Now call me old fashioned, and I understand my behaviour won't change how the biz is working. But I drove me out of it, I enjoy what I have, but I really pick every title "by hand".

This shift from selling licences to selling services is a bit... scary.

I say it again. Games will vanish - instantly, the moment the publisher goes out of business or as part of a legal settlement. We've seen titles withdrawn in the past, but usually a few copies survived somehow.

I am not someone living in the past, but I really don't like it where this train is going to.


--
Christian Bartsch
The Software Preservation Society
http://www.softpres.org<http://www.softpres.org/>

On 7 Nov 2011, at 22:45, Henry Lowood wrote:

Christian,

Agreed, and let me add that it's not just a problem for preservation.  Account-based services also make it nearly impossible for libraries to provide access to current titles offered via these channels.  For example, we have been unable to provide current access to indie titles available only via XBox Live.  It would be great to see some library-oriented services, as we have (say) with bibliographic databases.

Henry

On 11/7/2011 1:40 PM, Christian Bartsch wrote:
This is the ugly face of the convenient way games are delivered today. I am very sure we will notice many games missing in the years to come and it won't get better with all the DRM mania and other specialties of modern delivery channels.

MP3 was freed a couple of years ago, but videos and games still come in chains. Incriminating those breaking such protections is understandable from a publisher's point of view, but a problem for preservation. So where do you draw the line? And: Encryption is really getting strong. Just look at those mobile phones.


--
Christian Bartsch
The Software Preservation Society
http://www.softpres.org<http://www.softpres.org/>

On 7 Nov 2011, at 22:26, Henry Lowood wrote:

Devin,

are you asking about preservation of video game trailers or of the actual delivery channels themselves?  I am a little unclear about the question, but in a nut-shell, yes, there are efforts in both directions.  On the game side, there are several collections that are focused on video and trailers are included (cf. the Internet Archive Moving Image collections), but there is some work in digital preservation around environments in which media and software were used, such as at the British Library (and not so much about games).

Henry

On 11/7/2011 12:58 PM, Devin Monnens wrote:
I know this is a few weeks after the fact, but I didn't read the message until after the fact anyway. Nintendo has been offering some trailers for the 3DS through their DSiWare Store for use on the 3DS. These included trailers for Mario, Mario Kart, and Luigi's Mansion. However, at the end of October, the trailers were removed. Unfortunately, while I had considered downloading everything there, I did not get all of it. This raises a question regarding the preservation of additional media such as game trailers. With these, though, I assume they could be downloaded onto the flash card and then transferred to an external storage device - though I have not tried this myself. I was just curious if anyone has been pursuing Virtual Console preservation (the same thing could hold true for broadcasted material over the Nintendo Video Channel, along with DSi Videos - they seem to be taken down from service after a few days).

--
Devin Monnens
www.deserthat.com<http://www.deserthat.com/>

The sleep of Reason produces monsters.



_______________________________________________
game_preservation mailing list
game_preservation at igda.org<mailto:game_preservation at igda.org>
http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_preservation



--
Henry Lowood
Curator, History of Science & Technology Collections;
   Film & Media Collections
HRG, Green Library, 557 Escondido Mall
650-723-4602; lowood at stanford.edu<mailto:lowood at stanford.edu>
http://www.stanford.edu/~lowood<http://www.stanford.edu/%7Elowood>

_______________________________________________
game_preservation mailing list
game_preservation at igda.org<mailto:game_preservation at igda.org>
http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_preservation



--
Henry Lowood
Curator, History of Science & Technology Collections;
   Film & Media Collections
HRG, Green Library, 557 Escondido Mall
650-723-4602; lowood at stanford.edu<mailto:lowood at stanford.edu>
http://www.stanford.edu/~lowood<http://www.stanford.edu/%7Elowood>



--
Henry Lowood
Curator, History of Science & Technology Collections;
   Film & Media Collections
HRG, Green Library, 557 Escondido Mall
650-723-4602; lowood at stanford.edu<mailto:lowood at stanford.edu>
http://www.stanford.edu/~lowood
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/game_preservation/attachments/20111107/97645d78/attachment.html>