As the video game industry hurtles towards the inevitable all-digital future, preserving video game history has never been more important. Physical copies of video games are selling less and less as each year goes by, with some publishers like Epic Games and Sega choosing not to release physical copies at all for titlessuch as Alan Wake 2andLike A Dragon: Gaidenrespectively. No effort in preserving these titles could lead to them being extremely difficult to play in the future, which is already proving the case with the majority of current retro titles.According toa new study by the Video Game History Foundation, conducted alongside theSoftware Preservation Network, a whopping 87 percent of all classic retro titles in North America are considered “critically endangered” or “completely unavailable”. It’s stated that to get your hands on 9 out of ten classic titles these days, you either have to maintain your own collections, visit libraries, or resort to piracy, as the majority of retro titles are no longer readily available commercially.Related:If Developers Won’t Save Their Games, Emulators WillAccording toa separate numbers breakdown, the definition of “classic” is defined by if a game was released before 2010, which the VGHF explains is the year “when digital game distribution started to take off.” The study used three different “ecosystems” of varying popularity and activity, those being the Commodore 64, Game Boy, and PlayStation 2. For the numbers, the study used MobyGames, an extensive community-run database of video games.
The result are pretty dire to say the least, as it was discovered only 4.5 percent of the Commodore 64’s library is still in print. The Game Boy didn’t fare much better either, as it was also discovered that only 5.6 percent of the library is still in print, though that particular console is a special case. According to the study, over half of the Game Boy’s library vanished when the 3DS and Wii U eShops went offline earlier this year.
PlayStation 2 games are a little easier to come by, although the situation is also getting pretty dire. Despite the system being fairly popular in today’s market, only 12 percent of its games are still in print, meaning a colossol 88 percent of them are either unavailable or far too rare or expensive for the average person to pick up and play. It paints a pretty sad picture, and one that doesn’t look like it will potentially improve any time soon.
Next:I’m Sad I Won’t Be Able To Play Metroid Prime 2 Anytime Soon
