I recently saw a post huffing that "piracy isn't preservation" and while I REALLY do not care for people who pirate as a default just because they don't want to pay, I'm a gamer.

It is sometimes LITERALLY impossible to obtain some games. It is much, MUCH more often impossible to obtain games in which even one red cent reaches the creator, 100% resale only.

Piracy is the only possible form of long-term preservation for something digital and out of production.

I DO think big companies should be addressing this with digital and reproduction carts. Generally speaking, they are quite obviously completely disinterested.

Which is honestly weird, because they all released their classic/mini console, saw unparalleled demand, then shrugged and never produced any of them ever again. 🤷

@SirTapTap (cc @Illuminatus )

Not just videogames, but tv shows and movies too. All three have become SaaS instead of "i bought it, i should be mine to do as i please". If Steam goes away, bye-bye all our games too. Netflix frequently pulls movies and shows too, not to mention "regional availability".

And we still have offline lives too, i want my music, movies and games to be available to me even when i'm offline.

@pvasiljevic That's a good point, I love to own my shows and movies on DVD, but I looked up Bojack and there simply is not a full set (there is a DVD but only seasons 1 and 2)

@SirTapTap Now imagine in, say, 10 years, you wanna show Bojack to your kid or nephew/niece or new friend.

Like i want to show Saber Rider to my nephew.

Tough luck.

This is why we torrent. This is why we hoard. So that we can enjoy them regardless of time and space, not because we want to save money. Hell it costs more.

@SirTapTap Or, a more recent example:

take any newer show that is on Disney+ or CBS or something like that where it's aired ONLY in the states, and will be available to your country maybe in six months (or ever). But the spoilers are already online everywhere on all social media.

For some shows (like agents of SHIELD), the actors were live-tweeting spoilers even.

how is that fair?

@SirTapTap I wanted to get a copy of HAWX and HAWX 2 the other week and I had so much issues finding a copy that I ended up getting the PS3 versions and emulating them.

It fucking sucks how games just vanish.

@SirTapTap what if i want to pay but physically cant because i dont have any money