Dealing with ethereal games in your collection

[Rev. Link]

What with Live Arcade and the Virtual Console now major parts of their respective systems' appeal, how do you, as collectors, deal with these ethereal games?

Let me elaborate a bit. You pay money for these games, and you own them. If for some reason you have to delete them, or have to trade in your system for repairs or whatever, you can still get those games back for free because MS/Nintendo's records show that you own those games. But, since those games don't actually exist in any physical form, you have nothing to display on your shelf along with all your other 360/Wii games.

So, do you count LA/VC games as part of your collection? I always thought that I wouldn't, but now that I have a Wii and plan on getting a 360 soon, and have/will have ethereal games, I'm starting to wonder. I mean, these games aren't too different from something that's built into hardware, like Safari Hunt on my SMS. And since I am paying for them, why shouldn't I be able to count them?

What do you all think? BTW, sorry if this has been gone over before. I ran a search, but didn't come up with anything.

[RadiantSvgun]

I do not. I count only games that I can physically hold.

[skaar]

Well, you can put them on little 16MB SD cards and label them and make little cases and stuff.

Wouldn't that be COOL? YEAH?

This is why I still don't buy MP3s. I've bought VC games, don't get me wrong. But I don't consider them part of the "collection"

[Snapple]

Doesn't count as part of the collection. Just something you pay for, for the pure goodness of playing and not collecting.

[Rev. Link]

Well, you can put them on little 16MB SD cards and label them and make little cases and stuff.

Wouldn't that be COOL? YEAH?

This is why I still don't buy MP3s. I've bought VC games, don't get me wrong. But I don't consider them part of the "collection"

I had actually thought of that. I made cases for Pac-Man Vs. and Wii Sports when those came out, so why not make a case for Geometry Wars? Of course, there'd be nothing to put in it, but it would still be nice to have a physical representation of a game I paid money to own.

[RadiantSvgun]

Well, you can put them on little 16MB SD cards and label them and make little cases and stuff.

Wouldn't that be COOL? YEAH?

This is why I still don't buy MP3s. I've bought VC games, don't get me wrong. But I don't consider them part of the "collection"

Really? I try to move or save them to my SD card and my Wii won't let me.

You could be being sarcastic, it is hard to tell on the net.

[DigitalSpace]

I wouldn't count them as part of my game collection either.

[skaar]

Really? I try to move or save them to my SD card and my Wii won't let me.

You could be being sarcastic, it is hard to tell on the net.

It was sarcasm. I think of it as more of a longterm rental when I get VC games. Kinda like having a sibling in the house who owns a copy. Never feels 100% mine but I know I can play it whenever.

[Rev. Link]

I understand not wanting to count these games, but why? Are they any different from built in software? Technically you do own them 100%. You pay for them, you keep them, they're yours. So why is it that people don't count these games? Would it be different if you had cases to display?

[BocoDragon]

I guess "virtual" games have no physical substance and we just have to deal with it.

Perhaps this could be an opportunity to set some die-hard collectors free of the desire to collect? Why collect virtual games? Maybe you shouldn't. Just buy what you're going to play, and skip everything else.

There's nothing to collect... this stuff will probably be available to download well into the future. It's just a game, not a product or "copy". Just play them for fun.

[PallarAndersVisa]

I have a shit ton of albums on mp3, but I dont say to myself that I have "that album", even if I paid money for it.

I don't count virtual console games either. If you are that hardcore of a collector (which isnt hardcore at all), you can make some effort to get the real game.

[skaar]

If I can't touch it, it's not real.

Kinda like porn, really.

[Rev. Link]

I have a shit ton of albums on mp3, but I dont say to myself that I have "that album", even if I paid money for it.

I don't count virtual console games either. If you are that hardcore of a collector (which isnt hardcore at all), you can make some effort to get the real game.

But what about some of the Live Arcade games that aren't available in any other format? Don't you think that if you pay money for a game, you should be allowed to count it in your collection? People count built in software, like Safari Hunt. No one's tried to answer my question on how that is any different. Everyone keeps saying "I don't count those," but no one says why.

[zemmix]

I just don't buy VC games to begin with. For one I wouldn't play it so it'd be a waste of cash, for two if I really had a hard on to play a certain game I either get the old cart and system out or load it onto my PSP. It's going to suck though if they ever get some original content on the VC thats actually good.

Is the only reason the big N doesn't let you transfer VC stuff onto SD cards because they don't want it being traded between friends and all over the net?

[SkiDragon]

I dont count built in software, and I would not count these games. They are just ROM images in the case of the Wii Virtual Console. If I counted ROM images, then I could claim a much larger collection than I actually own. I dont not count them because they are stolen. I would count stolen cartridges, for example...

[DTJAAAAMJSLM]

Since I don't physically own them, I don't consider them to be a part of my collection.

[DigitalSpace]

Like others have said, it's not a physical cart or disc, and therefore, it doesn't count to me.

I do plan to buy a few VC games whenever I get a Wii, and I will list them in my game list (see my sig), but like demos, they won't count towards the collection total.

[Oobgarm]

Like others have said, it's not a physical cart or disc, and therefore, it doesn't count to me.

QFT.

I might keep a separate list of them so I know what I have, but I don't deem them as part of my 'collection'. I look at a collection as something you work to achieve. Any asshole can sit down and have a 'complete' VC collection within an hour, provided they have enough money to throw at it.

Of course, the same can be said about physical carts, but there is the thrill of the hunt which makes it more tangible. There are no 'rare' or 'desirable' VC games.

On the same tangent, would you consider ROMs part of your collection? Because I can point you to a complete collection for just about any cart-based system out there. But where's the satisfaction in collecting those?

[GillianSeed]

Really? I try to move or save them to my SD card and my Wii won't let me.

AFAIK you can copy them to an SD card, you just can't play them from an SD card. For now anyway -- as the VC library grows I think they're going to have to allow this sooner or later.

[Kitsune Sniper]

I understand not wanting to count these games, but why? Are they any different from built in software? Technically you do own them 100%. You pay for them, you keep them, they're yours. So why is it that people don't count these games? Would it be different if you had cases to display?

No, you don't own a copy, you only own a license to have a non-physical copy of the game, and play it on your system. It's a huge difference to many of us.

[Nebagram]

Gonna have to buck the trend here- if I've paid money for it and I can play it, with it or on it, then I own it and it is therefore a part of my collection, ethereal or not.

Then again I don't count PC games, copied games or games on old micros (i.e. Speccy, Amiga), so my collection is a little weird at present.

[Kroogah]

By normal definition, if you own more than one VC/Live Arcade title, it's a collection.

By crazy wacko DP ultracollector definition, well, some games have to get removed from the service so then they can be RAER OUT OF PRINT LQQK and people put them on SD cards and they go for crazy money on eBay. THEN it's a collection.

[eggwolio]

It should also be noted that if you have your wii linked to your mynintendo account, nintendo adds your games to the collection for you, the same way they're added when you register games you purchase.

[jcalder8]

if I've paid money for it and I can play it, with it or on it, then I own it and it is therefore a part of my collection, ethereal or not.

Exactly what I was going to say. This is especially true with XBLA games because some of those are only available for download.

[Cryomancer]

There is no hunt, so what's the point?

And the "not owning anything" is actually legally true. Go read some fine print about the VC in the manual/store/website sometime. You don't "own" anything from it.