4 ms·

It is sad that consoles much newer than the PS2 will be very hard to preserve. On the other hand, I feel that the classic video game era ended by the 2010s or s

It is sad that consoles much newer than the PS2 will be very hard to preserve. On the other hand, I feel that the classic video game era ended by the 2010s or so. So maybe there won’t be that much interest in preserving the newer games, partly because they had so much DRM, required online play, and such, such that they’re harder to preserve. This may seem a little bit arbitrary, but this is not uncommon throughout history. For example, in a normal English literature class, you’re going to be assigned Shakespeare. You will be assigned a bunch of novels from the 19th century, but not very much in between. Yeah, sure, there are a few works, probably, from the 1600s and 1700s, but not many compared to those other ones that I mentioned. Video games might be the same way, where the games that were made from the NES to around 2010 are the ones that people care about far into the future.

mywittyname 10d ago
Games from the 2010s are still "new". There are several major game series where the most current entry came from the 2010s. Think Skyrim & GTA5. Game companies still have the source code an tooling sitting around. With some minor texture brushups, they can release a "remastered" version and get $20 out of people again. Nintendo games are the odd ones here, because their love of novel gameplay means that a lot of first party games need to run on OG hardware for the full experience. Think Wii, DS/3DS.
- alt227 10d ago
  > With some minor texture brushups, they can release a "remastered" version Unfortunately these versions are usually inferior to the originals, so I dont think they can really be referred to as preservation.
- chocochunks 10d ago
  Game companies maybe have the source code and tooling around. And can maybe get a remaster. Look at titles like Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD. Square Enix lost the source to KH 1 despite it only being ~12 years old at release and had to rebuild it. Developers close all the time, they get bought and sold and bought and sold and nobody is entirely sure who owns the rights to X title anymore or where the code is. Then you also have licensing rights for cars, sports leagues, music etc.
  - manytimesaway 9d ago
    Square Enix is known for having little to no archive of its past : KH1 is not the first occurence of lost source in their library.
soulofmischief 10d ago
You don't care about newer games because you've gotten older. Kids younger than us are forming core memories with today's games, and are depending on those more capable to preserve their childhood memories. Also, there has been an indie Renaissance since 2010, I could name dozens of games that are already widely regarded classics. Happy to make some recommendations if you are into any particular genres.

mywittyname 10d ago

Games from the 2010s are still "new". There are several major game series where the most current entry came from the 2010s. Think Skyrim & GTA5. Game companies still have the source code an tooling sitting around. With some minor texture brushups, they can release a "remastered" version and get $20 out of people again. Nintendo games are the odd ones here, because their love of novel gameplay means that a lot of first party games need to run on OG hardware for the full experience. Think Wii, DS/3DS.

alt227 10d ago
> With some minor texture brushups, they can release a "remastered" version Unfortunately these versions are usually inferior to the originals, so I dont think they can really be referred to as preservation.
chocochunks 10d ago
Game companies maybe have the source code and tooling around. And can maybe get a remaster. Look at titles like Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD. Square Enix lost the source to KH 1 despite it only being ~12 years old at release and had to rebuild it. Developers close all the time, they get bought and sold and bought and sold and nobody is entirely sure who owns the rights to X title anymore or where the code is. Then you also have licensing rights for cars, sports leagues, music etc.
- manytimesaway 9d ago
  Square Enix is known for having little to no archive of its past : KH1 is not the first occurence of lost source in their library.

soulofmischief 10d ago

You don't care about newer games because you've gotten older. Kids younger than us are forming core memories with today's games, and are depending on those more capable to preserve their childhood memories. Also, there has been an indie Renaissance since 2010, I could name dozens of games that are already widely regarded classics. Happy to make some recommendations if you are into any particular genres.