alt Hacker NewsI was having this discussion with my 9 year old yesterday. He mentioned that a friend had Rocket League on their Switch 2 and "it didn't even need a game card". I told him that anything without a physical card can be taken away, the company that made it can decide to take it back or to stop letting it work. Compared that to my old DS which he found along with game cards for Lego Star Wars and Scribblenauts that still work ~20 years later.
I think he "got" it. He was certainly annoyed at the idea that something purchased could just be taken back. Maybe it'll stick and he'll be better able to understand why I'll push back on a new PlayStation or any digital only games.
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Be aware that many (most) new games with physical disks can also be taken away (see Concord).
Your point stands, but Rocket League specifically is free (this wasn't always true, but is now...)
I mean Rocket League is game focused on matchmaking through an online platform. Its main game types will stop working when that platform goes away. That's just the kind of game it is, its not like playing Lego Star Wars at all.
I see playing a game like Rocket League more in lines of having a membership to club to play a certain game rather than owning a copy of the game to play alone, forever. The club will eventually go away, that's just the nature of such things.
I do agree its a good lesson to teach your kids about the limits and issues of digital "ownership" though.
What is frustrating is that even when you buy physical games, often what you get is a buggy beta release of the software that isn't playable without GBs of day-one patches. I have little confidence that 20 years from now I will be able to play console games I bought today, without resorting to "pirating" and console mods or emulators. I'm pretty sure that the Switch will be my last console because of this.
At least with PC I have the actual files for the game I am playing, and can backup and mod them as I wish.