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https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/21/22988902/nintendo-wiiu-3ds-eshop-closure-dmca-section-1201>
"In February, Nintendo announced it would shut down its 3DS and Wii U
storefronts. While the closure is an inevitable part of the life cycle of those
long since sunset consoles, the move sparked anger, disappointment, and even
fear as fans lamented the loss of access to digitally exclusive 3DS and Wii U
titles. With console gaming entering its ninth generation, the digital
storefronts from the previous generations are slowly disappearing, taking with
them thousands of digital-only games and DLC. Combined with the decline of
physical media in favor of subscription services and digital distribution, it’s
getting harder for people to play older games and harder still for the games of
the present to be preserved for the future.
That is, if you want a legal way to play them. As games age and as companies
continue to remove the means to properly purchase and download them, people are
looking at other, less than legitimate options to continue to play the games
they enjoy. It’s created tension between players and companies. While it’s
unrealistic to expect publishers to maintain their prolific libraries in
perpetuity, it’s also not ideal that large swathes of games can, at any time,
just disappear on the whims of the store operator.
So how can we ensure that older games can be enjoyed by future generations
without the expense of maintaining aging digital infrastructure or violating
existing copyright laws? Video game preservationists are doing the work at the
intersection between these two points."
Via Esther Schindler.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
