Ramblings of DuncanR2N Digital purchase? Or Rental? Much noise is being made by what appears to be the same No Disc, No Buy crowd over the definition of a digital purchase. Right now, most storefronts use language like “Buy” or “Purchase.” PlayStation, for example, says “Confirm Purchase” in the cart. Sony is now arguing over the definition of what it actually means when you make a digital purchase. I see post after post after post saying how misleading the current language is. It should be called a rental, they say. We’ve heard plenty of stories about games and movies that people have purchased being removed from their digital collections, which continues to fuel the discussion about digital ownership rights. Whether it’s called a rental, a digital license purchase, “Buy Now,” or whatever else, digital rights need to be ironed out long before we rid the world of physical media. Now, I understand there are a lot of issues with digital purchases—which, for the purposes of this post, is how I’m going to refer to them—but I think the No Disc, No Buy crowd is really barking up the wrong tree here. Even if they changed the language for a digital purchase, how does that actually help the physical media crowd? If Sony responded by changing the language to “License Rental,” we haven’t won anything. We’ve simply let Sony move the goalposts while we’re still on the losing end. I’ve purchased plenty of digital games, so I understand the appeal. And just like with a physical game, I don’t actually own the game itself; I’m granted a license to use it. The reason I care about physical versus digital isn’t because I believe I own the underlying software. It’s because physical media gives me something digital purchases often don’t: independence from the storefront and its servers. Storefronts disappear. Licensing agreements with third parties change. Publishers shut down servers. Games and movies can become unavailable even though you previously paid for them. Sony has moved heavily toward digital media without having a satisfactory plan for addressing that fundamental problem of ownership and continued access. Nintendo’s game key cards are also a misstep, though marginally preferable to straight digital purchases, because you’re still at the mercy of a digital storefront existing. The PS3 storefront may eventually be gone. Imagine if your PS3 disc stopped working because the storefront was gone. That is the real argument for physical media. When the storefronts are gone and the online servers are gone, I can still put the game in my console and play it. Take a look at @GOGcom. Their games are DRM-free. You can download the installers, store them wherever you want, and even burn them to a disc. You’re in control of your copy. That’s the model I want to see from PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo before I’m willing to give up physical media. Until digital purchases can provide that same level of long-term access and independence, I’ll keep buying my games on physical media.

📦Today's Video Game Acquisitions 💿Assassin’s Creed: Shadows (XSX) 💿Omori (NSW) 💿Silent Hill: Homecoming (PS3) 💿Forgive Me Father 2 (PS5) 🛒Retailer: Amazon & Target 💲Acquisition Cost: $140.93 🎮Collection Total: 3135 Oh I am long overdue with this post. Work has kept me very busy, as well as kids and my anniversary and I just haven’t found the time to post. These 4 games were acquired over several days but I’m lumping them all together for this single acquisition post. I love #AssassinsCreed so when I saw the #Xbox version of Assassin’s Creed: Shadows on sale I had to pick it up. Yes I know about all the issues with Kingdom Hearts Collection I ~ III but I got it anyway since I have all the other #KingdomHearts titles I had to get Death End Re;Quest Code Z for the PS5 because I have the other 2 and it would be weird not to have this one. And last, Final Fantasy Resonance looked really good and I’m a sucker for #FinalFantasy so this was a no brainer This brings the collection total to 3157 Xbox total is 390 with XSX to 14 titles PlayStation total is 1830 with PS5 up to 293

I like the idea of being able to earn trophies and stuff for PS1, PS2 games that have been released with trophy support on the PS5 But what I would like even more is the ability to pop my PS2 game into my PS5 and play it there. Heck I’d even pay a dollar or two to enable trophies for a PS2 game. PS3 game should be able to play natively on the PS5 as well (we’ve seen that running now). @Sony & @PlayStation you kinda dropped the ball on this one and with the no disc announcement earlier it’s really no looking good for you right now. Fix it! Let us play PS2 and PS3 games on the PS5 natively!

📦Today's Video Game Acquisitions 💿Gears of War: E-Day (XSX) 💿Star Wars: Zero Company (PS5) 🎮 Collection Total: 3153 My Gears of War: E-Day preorder was delivered. Looking forward to giving this a shot. The last Gears games was good, but not great. Still I’d like to see what they do with this. Plus, I really need to add to my Xbox collection especially if @Sony is going to be dumb and allow PlayStation to destroy the brand with the no physical stuff. Sure wish I could get a physical copy of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on XSX Star Wars: Zero Company was on sale so I got that too! I’m now at 3153 physical titles. 1827 @PlayStation titles, and 290 #PS5 titles. 389 @XBOX titles, and 13 #XSX titles #PhysicalForever #PhysicalMediaForever

Why @PlayStation never did this and allowed PS3 to run on the PS5 is beyond me.

📦Today's Video Game Acquisitions 💿Gothic II: Complete Classic (PS5) 💿Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy (PS5) 🎮 Collection Total: 3151 More stuff coming in. I’m now at 3151 physical titles, 1826 @PlayStation titles (still collecting physical), and 289 PS5 titles. #PhysicalForever #PhysicalMediaForever

📦Today's Video Game Acquisitions 💿Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn (PS5) 💿Lost Soul Aside (PS5) 💿Metroid Prime 4: Beyond (NS2) 🎮 Collection Total: 3149 After several tries, I finally got the NA version of Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. I had 2 PAL versions of Flintlock so I finally found it on eBay. As for Metroid, first copy the case was broken, second was lost in the mail, and finally third one made it. Also picked up Lost Soul Aside These were actually acquired over a few days, but work has been so busy the last couple weeks I feel like I barely have time to breathe or post I’m now at 3149 physical titles, 1824 @PlayStation titles (still collecting physical), and 287 PS5 titles. For Nintendo the total climbs to 497 and this marks my 3rd NS2 title. #PhysicalForever #PhysicalMediaForever

📦Today's Video Game Acquisition 💿Blades of Fire (PS5) 💲Acquisition Cost: $35.99 🎮 Collection Total: 3146 I'm in a weird mode right now where I feel the need to pick up physical copies of anything that remotely piques my interest. I don't remember how this one came across to me but after watching some trailers and previews, I thought it looked fun. It was relatively cheap too so I decided to grab it. I’m now at 3146 physical titles, 1822 @PlayStation titles (yes we still want physical media), and 285 PS5 titles. #PhysicalForever #PhysicalMediaForever

Here we go again @amazon why is it when I order the North American version you keep sending me the PAL version? Stop letting 3rd party sellers list other regions as the same product! I get that sometimes there are different regions made available, but it should be very clearly stated that you are sending something that is different than what is pictured. This also happened recently with Greedfall and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

I think this looks better but what I think it should do is fade over time but there should be a sniff button so if you want to see the line, you press the button, Wolverine sniffs, makes a comment about the smell or direction or whatever and the the line shows up. Kinda like eagle vision in Assassin’s Creed

📦Today's Video Game Acquisition 💿 Trails in the Sky: 2nd Chapter (PS5) 🛒Retailer: Amazon 🎮Collection Total: 3146 Had this on preorder from @Amazon for a while and it got here without an issue. Shipped in a box but that was really because it showed up with a couple of books. Too bad I’ll likely never see the 3rd chapter as a physical release. Thanks a lot @PlayStation This addition brings the total to 3146, my total PlayStation collection to 1822, and my PS5 collection total up to 285 titles. #PhysicalForever #PhysicalMediaForever

So @Amazon, why can’t you ship in better packaging. A paper package that is about the same thickness as a paper grocery bag is no way to ship an item valued $50+ dollars. Not the first time this has happened. @VideoGamesPlus_ always ships in a box. Maybe I’ll just go there for everything. #PhysicalForever #PhysicalMediaForever

📦Today's Video Game Acquisitions 💿Splatoon Raiders (NS2) 💿Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment (NS2) 💿Silent Hill f (PS5) 💿Onimusha: Way of the Sword (PS5) 🛒Retailer: Amazon & VGP 🎮Collection Total: 3145 Work has been very busy this week so it’s been a bit more difficult for me to post. These 4 games were acquired over a few days but I’m posting them all up at once. First, big milestone for me as Splatoon Raiders and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment represent the first Switch 2 games added to my collection. So that’s awesome. The other two had gone out of stock but thanks to @VideoGamesPlus_ email notification for back in stock items, I was able to grab Silent Hill f and Onimusha: Way of the Sword for PS5 I actually had a 5th game, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond but it came in all busted due to substandard packaging it was shipped in. So it’s going back and I’ll get a different copy. So doesn’t count for this post These additions bring the total to 3145. My total PlayStation collection to 1821, and my PS5 collection total up to 284 titles. My total Nintendo collection to 496, and my NS2 collection starts off with 2 titles.

📦Today's Video Game Acquisition 💿 Code Vein II (PS5) 🛒Retailer: Best Buy 💲Acquisition Cost: $26.99 🎮Collection Total: 3141 This went on sale @BestBuy a few weeks ago but I sent it to my old house and the new resident was kind enough to mail it to me and it finally showed up. So that was awesome. This addition brings the total to 3141, my total PlayStation collection to 1819, and my PS5 collection total up to 282 titles.

Today's Blu-ray Acquisition 💿Looney Tunes: Collector's Vault Vol. 3 🛒Retailer: Amazon 🎞️Collection Total: 1724 unique titles Today's acquisition is a bit of change of pace. Not a video game but a collection of Looney Tunes cartoon shorts. I preordered this one as soon as I found out it was releasing and it finally arrived. Vol. 3 includes 50 cartoon shorts, 46 of which are new to my collection this brings my total cartoon short collection up to 944 unique cartoon shorts. 482 of those are what people collectively call Looney Tunes but technically that breaks down into 195 actual Looney Tunes and 287 Merrie Melodies. One particularly nice feature was that it included restored versions of four cartoons from what is known as the “Twelve Missing Hares”—shorts that were removed from Cartoon Network’s regular rotation. With the other collections I have that brings me up to seven of the twelve missing hares. I really like the latest series of Looney Tunes collections that @WBHomeEnt are putting out as they bumped them up to two disc collections with 50 instead of the Collector’s Choice series that only had 25. That being said, I do wish that @warnerbros would put out some collections with some of their older characters, like Bosko and Buddy. As it stands now even with all the shorts I have theres only 2 Bosko shorts and 1 Buddy (and Cookie) short in my collection. For those who care, the full list of short on this collection is below: Year - Title 1930 - Sinkin' In The Bathtub* 1931 - Lady, Play Your Mandolin! 1934 - Shake Your Powder Puff 1935 - My Green Fedora 1935 - Country Mouse** 1935 - Billboard Frolics 1936 - Don't Look Now 1937 - The Lyin' Mouse** 1938 - A Star Is Hatched 1939 - Dog Gone Modern 1941 - Joe Glow, The Firefly 1942 - Conrad The Sailor 1942 - My Favorite Duck 1942 - Case Of The Missing Hare 1943 - Daffy - The Commando 1943 - Puss N' Booty 1944 - I Got Plenty Of Mutton 1944 - Duck Soup To Nuts 1944 - Slightly Daffy 1944 - Booby Hatched 1944 - Stage Door Cartoon 1945 - Herr Meets Hare^ 1945 - Fresh Airedale 1946 - Holiday For Shoestrings 1946 - Hollywood Daffy 1946 - Of Thee I Sting 1947 - The Gay Anties 1948 - A Feather In His Hare^ 1948 - Nothing But The Tooth 1949 - Mississippi Hare^ 1949 - The Windblown Hare 1950 - Boobs In The Woods 1950 - Mutiny On The Bunny 1951 - Ballot Box Bunny 1951 - Sleepy Time Possum 1952 - Foxy By Proxy 1952 - Rabbit's Kin 1955 - Pizzicato Pussycat 1956 - Tweet And Sour 1956 - Tree Cornered Tweety 1956 - A Star Is Bored 1957 - Fox-Terror 1958 - Don't Axe Me 1958 - A Pizza Tweety-Pie 1958 - Feather Bluster 1959 - Trick Or Tweet 1959 - Really Scent 1960 - Horse Hare^ 1960 - Goldimouse And The Three Cats 1960 - Mice Follies** *Included on Looney Tunes: The Platinum Collection: Volume 2 **Included on Looney Tunes Mouse Chronicles: The Chuck Jones Collection ^One of the "Twelve Missing Hares"

From the Collection: 💿Spec Ops: The Line (PS3) 📅Release Year: 2012 🧑‍💻Publisher/Developer: 2K/Yager 🕹️Genre: 3rd person shooter 💲Current CIB Price (from @vgpc): $46.73 I was expecting a pretty straightforward shooter when I played this. I was going to go in, shoot the bad guys and have a good time doing it. Just like all the other CoDs and MoHs I played before. And while that was true, this game did something else, it made you think and question what it was you were doing. What are the moral implications? Are you justified in doing this? Are you the good guy? I didn’t expect that when I picked this game up. But, it was really good and I’m glad I played it. While this was the seventh installment in the Spec Ops series, it was my first introduction to it. This was also the first (and only) Spec Ops game by Yager and the first after a 10 year break in the series. Unfortunately, as good as it was and even with all the accolades it received, it wasn’t financially feasible to continue and the series has lain dormant since 2012.

📦Today's Video Game Acquisitions 💿The Blood of Dawnwalker (PS5) 💿Puzzle Quest: Immortal Edition (PS5) 💿The Lord of the Rings: Gollum (PS5) 💿Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing (PS3) 💿Blade II (Xbox) 🛒Retailers: @VideoGamesPlus_, @eBay, and @amazon 🎮Collection Total: 3140 More fun stuff! I wasn't expecting all this today. Picked up 3 more from VGP, Puzzle Quest: Immortal Edition, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, and Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing. All games I've always wanted to add the collection. After chatting a bit with @VGGenerations about his recent acquisition of The Blood of Dawnwalker, it looked like something I needed. And Blade II is because @PanzerNinja believes that no collection is complete without it. I looked at both Xbox and PS2 and the PS2 versions were easily twice the price. All these additions bring the collection total to 3140. Xbox family total is now 388 with the OG Xbox at 175. PlayStation family total is up to 1818 with PS3 up to 380 and PS5 up to 281

📦Today's Video Game Acquisitions 💿Splatoon 2 (NSW) 💿Omori (NSW) 💿Silent Hill: Homecoming (PS3) 💿Forgive Me Father 2 (PS5) 🛒Retailer: @VideoGamesPlus_ 💲Acquisition Cost: $140.93 🎮Collection Total: 3135 Got back from Labor Day weekend vacation and these 4 games were in the mailbox from VGP! Now two of the games, Splatoon 2 and Omori, I technically already owned so they don’t affect my total game count. I loaned them to my second eldest daughter and then told her she could keep them. So these were replenishing the stock. Silent Hill: Homecoming was just filling in a missing game in a series. It’s been long on the want list and I just finally got it done. A few months ago I found out about the Forgive Me Father games and picked up the first one but couldn’t find a physical copy of the second. So I used the back in stock notification for it at VGP and as soon as I was notified, I bought it So even though the Nintendo acquisitions don’t affect the totals, I’ll include them in this post’s totals. These additions bring the total to 3135. Nintendo total is 494 with Switch at 130. PlayStation total is 1814 with PS3 up to 379 and PS5 up to 278