Would you ditch physical shmups for digital ones?

[Jeneki]

Nitpick: All video games are "digital" whether they are physical or not, unless you are using an analog storage method like a Commodore 64 cassette tape.

On topic: As a patient shopper for general games, physical tends to be cheaper than downloads after a few months. The only reason I buy a download is when the price is sufficiently low, such as Steam sales. However arcade-style stuff, shmups included, are exempt from this as I usually get them day 1, physical if possible but downloads will do if that's the only choice.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

The only thing I care for is whether or not shmups are easily preservable or not. For consoles, physical releases are important because the platforms generally make it impossible to back up digital releases. If the game is removed from the store, and copies become inaccessible, the game is at risk of being lost forever and unplayable. So many games for consoles are emulated simply because we had the physical media for them, whereas already download-only stuff for some consoles is at risk of being lost.

I can already think of several games that were only released digitally, or games such as web-based games where the developer never released a standalone build before vanishing.

For PC games, all that matters is whether the game has DRM or not. Whether it's physical media or distributed via download, as long as it can be backed up is all that matters to preserve the games for the future (in case the platform it's sold on dies, the developer/publisher goes bankrupt, etc).

[mintshly]

The only thing I care for is whether or not shmups are easily preservable or not. For consoles, physical releases are important because the platforms generally make it impossible to back up digital releases. If the game is removed from the store, and copies become inaccessible, the game is at risk of being lost forever and unplayable.

What comes to mind for this is a handful of good games (and a few shmups) that were on the windows phone 7 and removed from the store a few years ago.
While it’s easy to find the apps online for windows phone 10, no comprehensive backup exists for WP7, or even an incomplete one.
So a lot of mobile games are lost with time.

[Marsfolk]

I would prefer there be reasonable options for both, none of this limited-run collector-bait nonsense.

[Elixir]

For consoles, physical releases are important because the platforms generally make it impossible to back up digital releases. If the game is removed from the store, and copies become inaccessible, the game is at risk of being lost forever and unplayable.

How many times has this actually happened though? There's modded consoles for a reason. Practically all Virtual Console games you can just find the wad files for them, people own RGH 360s and modded PS3s so digital only games like Scott Pilgrim/Afterburner Climax/Outrun XBLA, even if they're delisted, can still be found and played. Pretty much any retail release out there most likely is already floating around somewhere online.

The only games which I can really see no longer being playable are the ones which heavily rely on online players. There's no more Counter-Strike 1.5/1.6 lobbies or Bomberman Live matches. That stuff is probably gone forever.

[Marsfolk]

I don’t think hardware modded consoles are accessible, I have never seen one for sale locally and it isn’t easy to come by the parts.

You are right that digital has been mostly safe so far, but that isn’t really a guarantee in the future. And there are still annoying limitations with transferring digital games to other consoles, like many of the Cave 360 games requiring the use of a Japanese VPN to download the game, even though it is region free.

Another example would be delisted games, like Raiden Fighters Aces and Akai Katana. You can no longer buy these digitally in NTSC regions. With a physical release you can still track them down.

[indaar99]

The only thing I care for is whether or not shmups are easily preservable or not. For consoles, physical releases are important because the platforms generally make it impossible to back up digital releases. If the game is removed from the store, and copies become inaccessible, the game is at risk of being lost forever and unplayable.

What comes to mind for this is a handful of good games (and a few shmups) that were on the windows phone 7 and removed from the store a few years ago.
While it’s easy to find the apps online for windows phone 10, no comprehensive backup exists for WP7, or even an incomplete one.
So a lot of mobile games are lost with time.

i agree with you but Today with the new technology people want advance technology in modern era that’s why people attracted more with mods of apps then official.

[AZA]

Optical discs are only barely physical. I’d dump those for a sega saturn ODE

arcade boards are mine forever!