After nearly a year of silence, Sonic Origins was finally fully revealed. It’s a tantalising package, without a doubt. All four 16-bit mainline Sonic games (Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles are a single game here), enhanced with widescreen support, additional modes and a host of challenges and content. It seemed too good to be true.
Unfortunately, while it is still an excellent package in my opinion, the announcement was soon soured by the confusing graphic Sega supplied to outline the various editions and DLC.
This whole approach is sadly not uncommon in the hobby these days as publishers try and nickel and dime players on the oddest things, for example in this case, animated menus.
The outrage seemed to die down a little eventually once the nature of the additions (mostly early unlocks) were made more transparent. Hiding certain other aspects behind the Digital Deluxe Edition is still poor form, but at least the practice was no worse than what we see elsewhere.
Yet this week Sega attracted the ire of its fans once again. This time they announced that legacy versions of the games across digital storefronts were going to be removed in May, with some exceptions. Existing owners would still, in theory, have access to these games, but for any new customers, these games would be gone forever.
Another bullet to the body of game preservation.
Videogaming is a strange hobby at times. In many respects it is easily the most forward looking medium in terms of technology, with technical innovations generally gaining traction in the hobby before anywhere else. DVD media, HD visuals and VR are all examples of this.
Meanwhile, it’s also a hobby where the audience has an oddly deep sense of tradition that they will defend ferociously. Physical game releases in an increasingly digital landscape being one such topic.
But as forward thinking as the industry is, too often it still forgets its past. It’s perhaps unsurprising, given there are always at least three different formats fighting for prominence at any one time , rather that the standards that typically define music, film and TV media.
This has produced a sense that gaming history is frequently being lost to the ether.
It’s not a challenge videogames are unique in facing. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of films and shows that never made it to DVD. Meanwhile, I’m sure you’ve accessed your digital music store or streaming service of choice only to find a certain song isn’t available. I’ve lost my mind trying to find digital versions of Clubland 8 for example and have had to rely on ripping the CD for myself.
And that seems to be the solution. Physical releases are defended so vociferously because they pick up the slack where digital fails. Sega, Nintendo, Sony and even Microsoft (who have championed legacy content the most, despite having the smallest legacy) all have titles that they developed or published which you can no longer play without either resorting to the second hand market, or downloading a ROM or image for.
It’s this demand for game preservation that has led to publishers like Limited Run Games, who will produce a small supply of physical carts or discs that will never disappear like those on digital storefronts.
However this is also problematic.
There are three reasons why things cannot carry on as they are.
Firstly, services like Limited Run Games only preserve select titles for a few on a limited basis (it does what it says on the tin). It’s not preserving games for future generations to purchase and enjoy, just providing a version of the game for a select few, often at outrageous cost not only as new releases but on the second hand market.
Secondly, physical releases themselves do not cover every eventuality. There are versions of games available on the Wii U shop for example that will be lost forever in legal terms. More relevant to where this post started is the removal of Sonic games from digital stores. Yes, you can simply buy the Mega Drive originals, but that supply isn’t infinite (see point one) and as much as you may critique the implementation of the Xbox or Steam games, they do offer small changes that are often welcome. The Steam game for example can be enhanced with the Sonic 3 AIR patch which will no longer work with an officially available game once the legacy versions are pulled from storefronts.
Which brings us onto point three. I feel like physical releases are being used to pacify a certain user base that would be more vocal and outspoken about what we see otherwise. If ToeJam & Earl Back in the Groove was taken down today from digital storefronts, at least some will have that physical copy.
And that is what I was thinking with Sonic Origins, that hopefully we’ll see enough demand for a Sonic Mania style physical release, and I still have the originals on Mega Drive anyway.
But no, that is not good enough and we need to stop pretending that it is.
Physical copies of a game aren’t true preservation. They can be lost or destroyed, they aren’t available to the masses and generally don’t represent every variation of any specific title.
True preservation, I feel, can only be achieved when game libraries are backed up in the digital realm and made legally available to the masses.
There needs to be some industry wide standard that publishers adhere to so that we can ensure games are available and that our digital rights are not lost. If we have paid for a game in a digital storefront, then we are never getting that money back, so why should that game we bought be stripped from us?
Ideally, I think we’d all like all software to be available legally. If a publisher doesn’t want to, or can’t, sell a game, then it should made available via some sort of archive and be legal to own the ROM or other means. Perhaps it’s unrealistic, a pipedream maybe, but when Phil Spencer came out in 2021 and said that he would support legal emulation, something close should be achievable.
News this week of Apple removing apps and games from it's store, and Konami doing all it can to eliminate every last trace of Silent Hills/PT are just more examples of greed, ignorance and a complete lack of consideration for videogame preservation.
We should be pushing for better digital rights, not letting Nintendo shutter it’s stores and unleash its lawyers on anyone who wants to play an older game from its 40-year videogame history. We should demand better digital ownership, not letting Sega take iconic games from various storefronts.
Sony tried to close it’s PS3 and Vita stores last year, but reversed its decision following fan outcry. We, the consumers, the gamers, have the power, we just need to wield it.
I will always prefer to own a physical game over a digital one, that’s a personal preference, but physical copies should not be a replacement for better digital rights for gamers, they are not the answer to the digital question, moreover I increasingly feel like they’re a distraction from it, one that unfortunately feeds both elitist gatekeepers and unscrupulous, opportunist speculators that are given power by entities like WATA.
We need a digital revolution, a fight back, a class action.
I don’t know where such a fight would start, but when the battle begins, I’ll be there.
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