4 ms·

Games in particular usually don't use a lot of system UIs or other integrations (and so are less likely to break or visibly age), are often developed on a shoes

Games in particular usually don't use a lot of system UIs or other integrations (and so are less likely to break or visibly age), are often developed on a shoestring budget (so developers will have less time and resources to keep updating them over time), and have artistic value. Kicking them off the only store on a closed platform is erasure of artistic history. It's doubly insulting when they still work perfectly without modification. For comparison: I've never heard of a game getting kicked off of a console's store because of a "lack of updates". The stores themselves usually shut down eventually - which is its own problem - but at least there's a reasonable business argument for why the company can't be expected to offer that service indefinitely.

scarface74 5y ago
And consoles only change hardware or operating systems once every six or seven years.
- brundolf 5y ago
  And the store usually stays online for another 3-4 years after the console's successor has come out
  - hedora 5y ago
    And, then, after a few years, emulators become available. I just realized all but one of the ps2 games in my closet (not counting Dance Dance Revolution, for lack of a controller pad) appear to run fine on my phone. It's a good thing I don't care for online gaming!
  - scarface74 5y ago
    And the App Store still works on a 1st gen iPad from 2010 running iOS 5. As of a couple of years ago, I was able to restore my old one and re download the “last compatible version” of Netflix, Crackle and Plex. There are plenty of old 32 but apps that are “unavailable” in the App Store that are still available to older devices. Apple explicitly said that the authors app would still be available to people who already owned it.
- jclardy 5y ago
  And do people not keep phones that long? iPhone 7 is 6 years old now and supports the latest OS, there are surely plenty of people still using it. We are talking about 2 year old apps here. An app that I could have purchased and ran on a brand new iPhone 11 Pro. As an app developer, Apple has not given any OS updates that warrant app removal over the past two years.
  - scarface74 5y ago
    Yes and Apple updates the operating system for those same phones every year.

scarface74 5y ago

And consoles only change hardware or operating systems once every six or seven years.

brundolf 5y ago
And the store usually stays online for another 3-4 years after the console's successor has come out
- hedora 5y ago
  And, then, after a few years, emulators become available. I just realized all but one of the ps2 games in my closet (not counting Dance Dance Revolution, for lack of a controller pad) appear to run fine on my phone. It's a good thing I don't care for online gaming!
- scarface74 5y ago
  And the App Store still works on a 1st gen iPad from 2010 running iOS 5. As of a couple of years ago, I was able to restore my old one and re download the “last compatible version” of Netflix, Crackle and Plex. There are plenty of old 32 but apps that are “unavailable” in the App Store that are still available to older devices. Apple explicitly said that the authors app would still be available to people who already owned it.
jclardy 5y ago
And do people not keep phones that long? iPhone 7 is 6 years old now and supports the latest OS, there are surely plenty of people still using it. We are talking about 2 year old apps here. An app that I could have purchased and ran on a brand new iPhone 11 Pro. As an app developer, Apple has not given any OS updates that warrant app removal over the past two years.
- scarface74 5y ago
  Yes and Apple updates the operating system for those same phones every year.