RF Generation Message Board

I was thinking the other day. I mostly collect for Saturn, Genesis (Mega Drive), Orig XBOX, Gameboy but I thought that at some point I might buy myself a more recent generation console like the PS3 or XBOX360. But I have some doubts over collecting for these newer systems.

My number one quarrel is the updates. Let's say I buy a sealed copy of a game and the update-servers for ps3 and/or XBOX360 has been discontinued. Then this game might be really buggy / or unplayable since - as we all know - distributors started releasing a lot of unfinished games at this point in time, just because of the ability to update games later. The other thing is that some games are DRM and/or require some kind of registration. And if it is second hand you might either not be able to play / register at all if the service has been discontinued or there is already a registered user on the game which can not be switched.

What are your thoughts on this? Will it be viable to collect for the newer systems in the future?

In some cases, collecting is not tied directly to playing. Beyond that, I would anticipate that the DRM for these systems will be hacked and patches will be available online in the future. As to online only games, I see no reason why personal servers couldn't be setup, although the demand for this may not make it viable. I would anticipate that the online play for most titles will be unavailable, and patches will be.

If you do collect for the PS3 or 360 look for GOTY/Ultimate versions. These include all the DLC as well as a patched game on disc.

the majority of the time from what i've seen the DRM only affects online multiplayer, and you can anticipate that to disappear within 10 - 15 years after the life cycle of any console with online connectivity. i second the comment about GOTY/Ultimate editions, that's your best bet for a patched physical copy. Greatest Hits/Player's Choice titles sometimes have patches as well if you don't mind owning those variants.

Good points everyone. I guess one has to be a little bit more careful in choosing what version you buy when you start collect for any of these systems.
And yeah, all multiplayer games goes out of time eventually I guess when the user base gets small enough.

Regarding collecting the 7th generation has someone who is buying PS3 and Wii games on the cheap (best time for me). The Wii is perhaps the safest console of the 3 to collect due to in most cases, no patches to download however anything that has online multiplayer is switched off now [not sure about DLC like Samba de Amigo or Champion Jockey]. Only games to be careful with are Metroid: Other M, Conduit 2 and Zelda: Skyward Sword since these games have known problems however with a guide can be avoided with the Nintendo games (worst case scenario with Skyward Sword, you can download the channel to fix your save). I have a warning regarding Skyward Sword on a non sticky Postit note put in front of the manual as a reminder [it is to do with the order of one of the stages and talking to someone]. Conduit 2 however the patches are offline so for me, I am stuck with a game that I can't complete the first level due to a bug... A bit upset about that.

Maybe Smash Bros. if your Wii/Wii U have problems with dual layered discs. With the Wii though, there are revision print runs of certain games such as New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Mario Party 8 where bugs got fixed. The packaging and/or the disc would mention it with a 1 or a 2 at the end.

As for PS3/360, while I have no experience of the latter I do know that there are some PS3 games that have no patches. So games like Assassin's Creed 1, Yakuza 4 and some compliations (Ratchet & Clank trilogy, Sly Trilogy, I believe Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection/Sonic's Genesis Collection) are completely safe with no patches to download apart from well the installation if any. Saboteur did have some DLC that got switched off and Yakuza 4 might have some. The US version of the Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection also doesn't have any patches to my knowledge, the EU version DOES however due to a bug. I have to really check one day since my memory is a bit foggy.

They (being Sony and MS) might keep the updates/patches running for a bit due to backwards compatibility/PS Now so currently it should be okay to collect for the 360/PS3 and have the latest game for a while however I can only see them running for so long and when the next consoles come in, they will get switched off. I do have a feeling that the 360 might be more likely to have more non working games due to the Xbox Live thing unless there is a workaround for it.

Oh and regarding GOTY/Ultimate editions, not everything is on disc especially on later games (as in 2013 onwards) or on disc for the PS3 version but not on the 360 version due to disc space. So while games such as Assassin's Creed II, Mortal Kombat, Red Dead Redemption [PS3], GTA IV [PS3] have everything on the disc; games such as Far Cry: The Wild Expedition (Far Cry 1 and Blood Dragon are codes, the disc only has Far Cry 2 and 3, no DLC), Batman: Arkham Origins have the extras as download codes/vouchers or in the case of Gran Turismo 5, not the complete version. If anyone wants to know, the US XL edition had vouchers to some DLC stuff that has been removed online now. The EU Academy Edition had a special challenge that was only online for like a month or two so that code is expired and the same as the US with the DLC however one of the packs is on the disc though [remember phoning up Sony for that, that's what they told me]. Both of these don't have the latest patch either only up to 2.0. Also some early PS3 games had trophy support patched in so if they went down; Uncharted, Metal Gear Solid 4 and Burnout Paradise would revert back to their original releases as well as no DLC for the latter. Zone of the Enders HD Collection will revert back to the High Voltage version for the 2nd game (instead of the Hexadrive version) for the PS3 version if patches get switched off. I also believe that the physical release of WipEout HD Fury is an earlier version compared to the downloadable version in terms of patches.

Since it wasn't released here, I can't experience it however the God of War Saga has a mixture of disc and download vouchers so for the PSP collection games, they are not in physical form. Luckily though God of War 1/2, PSP Collection, 3 and Ascension all have physical releases.

Regarding LA Noire, due to disc space issues, I believe that the 360 version has something that is a voucher while on the PS3 version is on the disc. Not 100% sure though.

Sometimes even games get bundled such as Assassin's Creed Revelations on the PS3 where it contains the original game too or Medal of Honor on the PS3 where it has Medal of Honor: Frontline however Dead Space 2 is just a demo of Dead Space Extraction... At least my copy. For Medal of Honor: Frontline, it is the only part physical release of the game for the 7th generation.

Another game to be weary of is Medal of Honor: Warfighter. If the services go down, you end up with an incomplete, unfinished game (literally, the Day 1 patch is to finish the game) that is not possible to complete in single player. I think Mercenaries 2 and MAG are others where the game is unplayable now, not sure of the first, the latter was an online mutliplayer game though. Destiny and Definace are others that will be in the future.

I might as well even give a warning to anyone collecting for the Vita [even though it isn't 7th gen but the rules still apply], due to card space some games have the rest as a download voucher e.g. Sly Trilogy only has Sly 1 and 2 on a card with 3 being a download or Final Fantasy X/X-2 only has the first game, the second being a download unless you import X-2.

This is true, that many of the 7th gen games don't have or require patches.  I bought Deadpool over a year ago, and only just put it in my PS3 a couple weeks ago.  Booted right up, no checking for patches or updates, it just plays.  I've noticed that a number of other games with either no multiplayer component, or no DLC, also don't check for updates when you play them.  These are the kinds of games that will still be totally viable 10 years from now, though I suspect unless the major multiplayer games (CoD, et al.) have game-breaking bugs that affect them early in the game's campaign mode, most of them will still be very playable years from now when no patches are available (sans illicit downloads, etc. as Duke eluded to).  I suspect only Nintendo will be able to claim the 8th gen for a more "future proof" experience, as though their games may still have some glitches when played from disc with no updates, they seem to have overall better quality control than companies like Ubisoft, EA, Activision, etc.  If you walked into a pawn shop 10 years from now and bought a stock Wii U with nothing stored in memory, and a copy of Mario Kart 8 or SSB4, you would be able to boot up the console, set a few options, and be playing your game within 10 minutes.  I get the feeling that Sony and Microsoft's offerings won't fare nearly as well.

Honestly, I don't understand why everyone feels the 7th Generation collecting will be an issue for offline play. Sure, online play will be an issue, and digital titles will become unavailable unless you sideload them or crack the licenses through illicit means, but you can install a patch via USB or other storage device legally, and the patches are being archived by a ton of websites. Don't feel like patching is going to be a collection killer.

@Shadow: Please insert USB stick #15 to update this game to version 1.51  ;)

Did you install the patch for this game in the cache 2 games ago? You'll have to reinstall it.
...god damn I hated that Xbox 360 requirement, where it would only allow a max of 4MB for a patch, and only stored 8MB total.

I've never seen this on a PS3...

I blame Sony, who really shouldn't care where the PKG is stored.

i believe you can do ps3 system updates via USB storage, though i'm not sure about game patches.

I would like to hear opinions on the Dragon Age Inquisition GOTY edition.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-09-25-dragon-age-inquisition-getting-game-of-the-year-edition

"Available from 6th October, the box will contain only the Dragon Age Inquisition disc, plus access codes to downloads of the Jaws of Hakkon, The Descent and Trespasser expansions."

The original game + DLC codes in the box. Is this done to save time on QA/Cert?

Or is it due to space limitations as we are hitting close to the 50GB blu-ray limit.

This would suck for anyone who buys it used. A tricky way to revive the online pass?

@Addicted If it is space limitations, is it possible to include addons on another disc?

@mumboking: That would be a good idea, but I'm not sure if that would require going through cert again.