I’ve often wondered this. With the sheer volume of titles on modern consoles, is it even possible to have a complete collection of the library? Especially with something like the Switch, where there are also a shit ton of shovelware titles out there, not only digital but physical shovelware as well from Limited Run Games.
Part of me thinks it’s not going to happen, and the other part of me knows that I’m probably severely underestimating collectors’ skills, resources, and obsession.
I also admit that the need to play a retro game using the original input hardware isn’t a very wide spread requirement for most people. When I was trying to get Castlevania for PS1 in 2014 every one of my friends kept reminding me that Castlevania Symphony of the Night was on Playstation’s store as a digital download. So in my friends group, I was the only one who gave a crap about the controller aspect.
You’re very right about DRM free digital copies having some serious longevity! The only thing those types of games has issues with is compatibility over long periods of time as OS’s change. I know the ultimate goal of game companies is to make money, but early game studios were just a bunch of gamers who love games too, so they’d pour blood sweat and tears into their games as labors of love. But the gaming industry has gone much more broad in it’s appeal, so the huge corporations who own these studios push to squeeze every cent out of gamers possible. Including forcing games to require servers to be up and running to play the game. This also allows them to roll out yearly versions of huge titles, and then quietly sunset the few year old versions servers to force people to buy the new version.
Man it’s god damn dirty, I need to get a rocking chair and a cane, so I can bang my cane on the rocker and rant about “Back in my day!”.