News
Top Five Problems with Downloading Games
June 8, in the year of our Lord 2013 - - Family
Friendly Gaming, the industry leader in covering the family
friendly video games is exploring the Top Five Problems with
Downloading Games. We all know the benefits of downloading
games. We save space on cases, they cost less in many instances,
and they are in one central location. What about the problems?
Lose it all
We had a SD card get corrupted recently. Or that is what the
video game machine told us. So we had to completely reformat it
to work with that machine again. We lost everything we had
downloaded on it. We lost all of our game saves. We lost all of
our DLC. Thankfully most companies are kind enough to let us
re-download the games at no additional cost. Hopefully that
trend continues, because having to pay through no fault of your
own is aggravating. All those hours and all that time is lost.
Families that have computers can plug the SD cards into them to
back up the data. This is no help if the data loss comes from a
hard drive in a home console video game machine.
Always deleting stuff to make room
Family Friendly Gaming is constantly having to delete games,
apps, DLC and more to make room for new games, apps, and DLC.
This maintenance takes time, and can delay the download of new
games, apps and DLC. Some systems delete the saves at the same
time, and others keep them in a different location. Either way
there is only so much room on every single device. Eventually no
matter how much memory you have – you will run out. There is
nothing that will remind you of that game. If you do not think
to re-download it later when you have room, it will sit in limbo
forever. It is also not good for any memory device to download,
delete, download, and delete. This leads to fragmentation of the
memory devices. Which leads to the Lose It All.
Can't sell or trade your purchase
Family Friendly Gaming has been long time supporters of consumer
rights. You purchase something then you own it. As long as you
are not duplicating the device/game and selling copies then you
should be able to modify your property to your heart's content.
You should also be able to sell your property. Family Friendly
Gaming does not believe in - “you are purchasing a license to
use someone else's property,” when it comes to video games. You
bought it, and you can sell it, trade it, or barter it. Too many
video game companies are being greedy in terms of used video
game sales. No other industry gets constant kick backs as
consumers sell something they already purchased. Video game
companies were fairly compensated the first time. When you
download you can not sell that game, trade it, or give it away
to a charity.
Only works on one machine
When you purchase a game from a download service, you can only
use it on that machine. When you buy a retail copy, you can play
that game on multiple different systems. You can borrow a
friend's copy of a game for a time, and then give it back to
them. When you download a game you have to give them your entire
machine, and then you are out your machine. Most video game
companies see this as a good thing because they believe it will
lead to additional sales. Thing is many consumers are rejecting
this concept, and just not buying the games that limit their
freedoms and flexibility. Please note Apple allows purchased
apps to be downloaded on multiple devices.
Out of sight out of mind
Family Friendly Gaming is filled with many visual people. We see
a game case and it reminds us we need to work on a review for
that game. When we do not see a game case then we are not
reminded. In other words out of sight out of mind. To be fair
when we see the game on the system when we bring it up (if we go
to the right place to look), then we are reminded. Usually at
that time though it means we are late on playing and reviewing
something. Millions of families are the same way. If you leave
tennis rackets out to be seen you are reminded that you want to
go play tennis when the weather is nice.
- Yolanda Bury
- Family Friendly Gaming