New Study Says “87% of Classic Video Games Released in the United States Are Critically Endangered”

Nintendo is a great developer and publisher; it is also an equally great platform holder. Over the years, it has introduced the gaming industry to a bunch of innovative ideas that no one even thought of before. Its games are equally brilliant, from Super Mario Bros., which was released years ago, to Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Their games are considered by many to be excellent titles.

But there’s a glaring negative that sticks out against all the positives. Nintendo does not really care for video game preservation. And if a recent report is to be believed, most publishers follow Nintendo on this.

The lack of Video Game Preservation by Nintendo and others might be slowly causing a big problem in the industry!

In the digital age, when a person sees a video game they love, they are able to instantly purchase and play it. This definitely sounds like a good thing. However, the problem is that the person would never own the digital copy. If, for some reason, a publisher decides to remove a game from the online store, it might even get removed from the buyer’s library.

This is a nightmare for some gamers. They see pride in owning a game. The way publishers keep shifting towards a digital approach, it seems like gamers won’t have this privilege anymore – not in the way they used to. This is why many gamers wait for a physical launch. They want to be sure that they have a copy of a game that publishers can’t take away.

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This is the state of video game preservation, and every franchise has adapted to it. There were numerous classic games that people loved, many of which are now considered obsolete. A fan has to either go on eBay to purchase an overpriced copy or employ some unorthodox ways to play these games.

A recent study suggests that around 87% of well-known classic titles are not available for purchase. This means the companies that made these games do not care for their classic titles. Or they only care enough to release poorly assembled collections. According to the study, “87% of classic video games released in the United States are critically endangered.”

For many, this does not mean anything at all. But a new group of gamers are concerned as Nintendo is nowadays cracking down on every website that offers their games to people. This crackdown means that the fans will not be able to buy the games in stores.

This is slowly erasing the legacy of gaming as many classic games will no longer be available. But let’s hope developers and publishers like Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft start focusing more on their classics and find ways to preserve their classic titles.

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