The Unsustainability of Digital Media

It's no secret that people love video games. Age groups that now range from infancy to senior enjoy this form of media that has even surpassed film monetarily. They can be as visually stunning and complex in narrative as any single blockbuster - and often are. See games such as The Last of Us, Uncharted, God of War, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, or even Half-Life 2. They can also be substantial simulation tools for training in various fields of study. See other games such as Microsoft Flight Simulator, Asseto Corsa, Space Engine, and Cities Skylines.

For as socially impactful video games have been over the last many decades, the preservation of this media is struggling to catch up with over 40 years of content. Understand that video games were seen as novel, and often nerdy hobbies when they were first introduced into the wide market. They certainly appealed to a vast group of people from different backgrounds, races, genders, and political affiliations due to their simplicity. The key word is "novel". They were mostly arcade games designed to suck quarters from people and had no real substance other than skill-based reactions, primitive graphics and audio. That changed once home consoles started hitting the market but even then, the wider reaction to video games was more or less the same.

Aside from Myamoto's contribution with Mario, Zelda, and Donkey Kong, it wasn't until the mid to late 80s where video games began evolving from simple quarter eaters to mechanically complex systems with memorable characters, text dialogue, better color palettes, sound design, and level design. We began to witness the dawn of being able to make choices that felt like they mattered in this "novel" hobbies. We witnessed games with actual endings that tied together the often vague narrative the game had you explore. That evolution continued through into the 90's which brings me to the reason why I am writing this blog:

There is not a single modern PC that supports floppy disk anymore. There are very little modern PCs that can even properly run classic games that ran exclusively on DOS without the assistance of programs like DOSBOX. Even what I consider the Gold Age of games (95-00) cannot be played on modern hardware. Furthermore, obtaining a machine that can play those old CD-ROMs come with a hefty price tag despite their obsolescence. Not even including the hefty price tags that come with trying to obtain the physical media needed to actually install and play the games on. This is where digital media is a blessing and a curse.

Digital media has few benefits save for the convenience of space saving. Depending on how the digital media is presented, it could allow for self-contained installers and wizards which may lead to a better user experience, and often does when it works. But digital media has another major issue that is only recently being discussed among many industries that work with it: Digital Degradation. Critical files can, and do become corrupt over time and without any input from users. Hard drives fail, backups can fail. Music, film, game data gone. Forever.

It is both infuriating and disappointing when video game companies exclusively work within these parameters specifically. I have been on a huge late '90s/early '00s pc gaming kick these last few months. From Mechwarrior 1-3, to Freelancer, to Unreal Tournament '99-'04. And there is one thing that is particularly common among many of these legendary titles: They cannot be purchased physically or digitally anymore. Look up Unreal Tournament GOTY '99 on Steam, GOG, or Epic Games. They have all de-listed these titles, making them literally impossible to get by conventional means. This utter lack of preservation, and the ability for companies to arbitrarily dictate what is or isn't available anymore should concern everybody, not just gamers. This sort of total control over the distribution of all media will lead to lost and forgotten pieces of human history.

Well, with the rising cost of original physical media - not much in that department. Unless you wish to navigate a labyrinth of licensing and copyright laws to get the rights to produce physical copies of forgotten media. The same can be said for digital media as well. Companies hold onto source codes and master copies of products and they sit in vaults never to be seen or heard from again. 

Is piracy still theft when there is no legitimate means to legally acquire a product? Is the P2P sharing of digital video, music, novel, or video game that is genuinely no longer available considered a crime?

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk

-Stavi