There is something really uncomfortable about buying a video game and knowing that one day you might simply lose the ability to play it. This is exactly why the recent situation with Aliens: Fireteam Elite on Nintendo Switch caught my attention.
The Switch version depended on cloud technology, meaning the game was not actually running completely on the console. Players were essentially connecting to remote servers to play it, and once those servers were shut down, the game became unavailable.
For me, this brings back an old discussion that I think is becoming more important every year: do we really own the games we buy?
When I was younger, buying a game felt very simple. You went to a store, bought a cartridge or disc, took it home and you could usually play it whenever you wanted. There was something satisfying about having that physical copy sitting on a shelf.
Obviously, modern games are much more complicated. We now have massive updates, online multiplayer, downloadable content and games that can require constant internet connections. I understand why the industry moved in this direction, but sometimes I miss that feeling of actually owning something.
The strange thing is that even physical media doesn't necessarily solve the problem anymore. You can have a disc or cartridge in your hands and still discover that important parts of the game depend on servers that could disappear someday.
That means the real discussion isn't simply about physical versus digital. I think the bigger question is whether a game can continue working after the company stops supporting it.
Cloud gaming makes this problem even more obvious. With a cloud version, there might not be a complete game stored on your console at all. You are basically accessing someone else's computer through the internet and receiving the game remotely.
That can be incredibly convenient, especially when the hardware isn't powerful enough to run the game locally. But it also creates a strange relationship between the player and the product.
If the company closes the servers, there may be nothing you can do.
I don't think companies are necessarily trying to take games away from players. Maintaining servers costs money, and eventually some games have so few players that continuing to support them doesn't make financial sense.
Still, I think the industry needs to think more seriously about preservation.
Maybe there should be a way to release an offline version when servers are finally closed, or at least provide tools that allow the community to preserve certain games.
Because games are more than products to me. They are memories, experiences and sometimes an important part of someone's life.
I know physical copies aren't perfect, but incidents like this remind me why I still like having them.
At least when I look at an old game on my shelf, I know there is a better chance that I can actually play it years from now.
And honestly, I think that's something worth protecting.
