Old Games We Want Digitally Purchasable

[Arnoxthe1]

Note: These are games that cannot be bought on any digital storefront anywhere. Not on Origin or Uplay or Steam or Blizzard or GoG. While you may still be able to find a download for them online on an illicit site, it's not guaranteed that such sites will remain up since they could get shut down at any time immediately, it's not exactly convenient to not have it in your digital games library either for a couple small reasons, and also because they're not digitally purchasable, you cannot support the original developers or even show support for the game itself. And finally, having it on a storefront of some kind gives it at least a little more popularity and makes it available for big sales which also net it some more interest.

1. Aliens vs. Predator 2

You can get the very first one and the latest one, but you can't get the best one. Don't ask me why. I do not know. My guess is the rights are lost to the ages. Multiplayer was also incredibly unique and still to this day untopped. Fuck those cheating Predators though sitting in the corner spamming that dumbass disc...

2. Freelancer

This is easily explainable although still infuriating. After Freelancer finished and a second one was in the works, Microsoft decided out of the blue that it just wasn't good enough and shut the ENTIRE SERIES down. Digital Anvil was closed and the Freelancer IP was locked in the basement and never spoken of again despite constant outcries for its release. Microsoft has simply just sat on it since.

3. The Myst Series

This one is weird because there are some Myst games you can buy on Steam but it's only a few and the rest are totally missing. Thankfully, the best one, Riven is available to buy but that's about it. A huge shame but at least its spiritual successor has been released now! [http://store.steampowered.com/app/306760/]

4. Soldier of Fortune

The second and third SoF games were never anything to write home about, but the first one is definitely still amazing. However, it just simply doesn't exist on any storefront. Small wonder why though when the second and third ones flopped as much as they did. Too bad they had to pull the first one along with it.

5. Mechwarrior 3

Microsoft has released the fourth one totally for free so that's not actually too much of a problem. However, the third one, probably due to obscurity, is not available at all. There are many people that liked 3 and many others that liked 4. The main difference between them being that you couldn't just load whatever the hell you wanted to on a mech in the fourth one. Some people loved and hated this. But they have the fourth one already at least. The third one is not available and that needs to change.

6. Jazz Jackrabbit 2

Getting to the lowest on the totem pole, I'll fully admit the first Jazz Jackrabbit hasn't aged all that well, but the second one is definitely still solid. What's weird now is that ALL the Unreals are all on Steam. You can buy UT99... UT2004... Unreal 2 even. And of course, Epic holds all the rights to these. So why don't they release the rest of their games on Steam?

 

[Dalisclock]

Wait? The Myst games aren't available on Steam, because I'm pretty sure I have all of them in my steam library, purchased from the store.

Totally agree on Freelancer. Keep hearing that game is amazing and it's so hard to find.

 

[Bad Jim]

No One Lives Forever and it's sequel

Brilliant games, hilarious writing, lots of fun. Sadly lost in copyright limbo:
http://www.pcgamer.com/no-one-lives-forever-re-release-isnt-happening-after-all/

 

[DoPo]

Sheesh, man, I came in here to mention Freelancer, Alien vs Predator 2 and No One Lives Forever and I got ninja'd.

However, XIII hasn't been mentioned yet, so I'll go with that.

It had gorgeous style, is what I remember

Spoiler: screenshots

The gameplay was fun from what I saw in the demo but I never actually played the full game. For shame. And now it's not sold anywhere online.

 

[Saelune]

All? Im gonna go with all. I spend most of my time on PC playing old games I missed. My consoles are for new games...that I eventually re-buy on sale on Steam for long-term ownership.

I suppose realistically speaking, non-Nintendo IP N64 games. And old Koei games, but preferably AFTER they learn how to port to PC. I bought Dynasty Warriors 1, the fighting game for PS1 just to be able to say I played it (it sucks) but Id probably buy it again just to own it on Steam. And Id genuinely love to play DW2 and 3 as well, since I havent.

And Elder Scrolls: Shadowkey and Dawnstar, but those too are garbage games I just want for the sake of being able to say I played them.

Oh and how bout Duke Nukem fucking 3D, the real one. The good one. Sure, I already have it on Steam but its gone now. Put it back Gearbox, you turds. Bad enough you ruined Duke, you wont even let new people learn why people liked Duke Nukem in the first place.

 

[Barbas]

How about the original Black & White?

Spoiler

They'd have to remaster it too, of course. Not Lionhead, but a competent company.

 

[Catfood220]

I keep scouring the Nintendo store on the 3DS for three games really. The first two being Paper Mario and Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, I see no reason that they can't be re released on the 3DS. I'm starting to believe Yahtzee when he says that Nintendo don't want their mascot to be seen in a light other than the boring platformers he's been in recently. Despite the fact that both games would most likely sell like hot cakes.

The third being Illusion of Time/Gaia (depending where you live in the world), it doesn't necessarily have to be on the 3DS. But I have more or less given up on playing this gam again.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

Wait? The Myst games aren't available on Steam, because I'm pretty sure I have all of them in my steam library, purchased from the store.

Totally agree on Freelancer. Keep hearing that game is amazing and it's so hard to find.

Myst III, IV, and Uru are all missing, not counting the online game which went free a while ago.

You can get Freelancer though on Amazon for about $10-20. Not too expensive at all.

No One Lives Forever and it's sequel

Brilliant games, hilarious writing, lots of fun. Sadly lost in copyright limbo:
http://www.pcgamer.com/no-one-lives-forever-re-release-isnt-happening-after-all/

Oh yeah, totally forgot about those. I never did play any of them but I should change that.

Sheesh, man, I came in here to mention Freelancer, Alien vs Predator 2 and No One Lives Forever and I got ninja'd.

However, XIII hasn't been mentioned yet, so I'll go with that.

It had gorgeous style, is what I remember

The gameplay was fun from what I saw in the demo but I never actually played the full game. For shame. And now it's not sold anywhere online.

Interesting. I heard about it just in passing a while ago but never played or even seen it anywhere.

All? Im gonna go with all. I spend most of my time on PC playing old games I missed. My consoles are for new games...that I eventually re-buy on sale on Steam for long-term ownership.

I suppose realistically speaking, non-Nintendo IP N64 games. And old Koei games, but preferably AFTER they learn how to port to PC. I bought Dynasty Warriors 1, the fighting game for PS1 just to be able to say I played it (it sucks) but Id probably buy it again just to own it on Steam. And Id genuinely love to play DW2 and 3 as well, since I havent.

And Elder Scrolls: Shadowkey and Dawnstar, but those too are garbage games I just want for the sake of being able to say I played them.

Oh and how bout Duke Nukem fucking 3D, the real one. The good one. Sure, I already have it on Steam but its gone now. Put it back Gearbox, you turds. Bad enough you ruined Duke, you wont even let new people learn why people liked Duke Nukem in the first place.

Yeah, we could say all games, but I restricted my list to only PC games, and (oh, I'm gonna get a lot of flak for this) only games I feel made a definite impact and did something new and cool with style that can't be found anymore.

Also, I don't know what you're talking about with Duke Nukem 3D. It is on Steam but with the extra title, "World Tour".

How about the original Black & White?

Spoiler

They'd have to remaster it too, of course. Not Lionhead, but a competent company.

That's a solid choice but I didn't delve into the Strategy genre as I swear, that's the only genre I'm really new to.

 

[Fox12]

Well, with Megaman Legends, Fatal Frame 2, and most of Atlus's catalogue on PSN, I'm pretty satisfied.

That said, I'd kill to see Digimon World and Digimon World 3 for sale. I loved those games as a kid. It would be nice to actually beat them as an adult.

 

[Saelune]

All? Im gonna go with all. I spend most of my time on PC playing old games I missed. My consoles are for new games...that I eventually re-buy on sale on Steam for long-term ownership.

I suppose realistically speaking, non-Nintendo IP N64 games. And old Koei games, but preferably AFTER they learn how to port to PC. I bought Dynasty Warriors 1, the fighting game for PS1 just to be able to say I played it (it sucks) but Id probably buy it again just to own it on Steam. And Id genuinely love to play DW2 and 3 as well, since I havent.

And Elder Scrolls: Shadowkey and Dawnstar, but those too are garbage games I just want for the sake of being able to say I played them.

Oh and how bout Duke Nukem fucking 3D, the real one. The good one. Sure, I already have it on Steam but its gone now. Put it back Gearbox, you turds. Bad enough you ruined Duke, you wont even let new people learn why people liked Duke Nukem in the first place.

Yeah, we could say all games, but I restricted my list to only PC games, and (oh, I'm gonna get a lot of flak for this) only games I feel made a definite impact and did something new and cool with style that can't be found anymore.

Also, I don't know what you're talking about with Duke Nukem 3D. It is on Steam but with the extra title, "World Tour"

That is not the real Duke Nukem. It is a shitty remake by Gearbox to milk the license. I own the real one, because Steam doesnt take away the games you bought, even if they are removed from the store.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I keep scouring the Nintendo store on the 3DS for three games really. The first two being Paper Mario and Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, I see no reason that they can't be re released on the 3DS. I'm starting to believe Yahtzee when he says that Nintendo don't want their mascot to be seen in a light other than the boring platformers he's been in recently. Despite the fact that both games would most likely sell like hot cakes.

The third being Illusion of Time/Gaia (depending where you live in the world), it doesn't necessarily have to be on the 3DS. But I have more or less given up on playing this gam again.

For me it's Sonic the Hedgehog 4 (parts 1 and 2), Mega Man 9, and Mega Man 10. I can download those from the Wii's eShop but I mostly use my 3DS and Nintendo hasn't unified its online marketplaces. It could be that Capcom and Sega need to take the initiative to get those games ported from one Marketplace to the other but that seems very far-fetched. They might be older games but certainly there's still a demand for them, especially on the 3DS? These games are technically available on the Wii U but only if you toggle over to the Wii-emulator or whatever which makes the process of downloading and playing them kind of a pain in the ass, especially if you just want to lay in bed like a lazy load to play your retro-inspired games from X years ago (like I do).

 

[Zydrate]

I want Fable 2 and 3 on my PC. Played them all a fair amount on Xbox and stuff but now, years later...

I even tried to buy the CD online and then Windows just seemed to refuse to install it, all the googling in the world didn't help me and I refunded it.

I really liked the franchise

 

[Igor-Rowan]

Snip

I can answer that first one. Nintendo refuses to re-release anything that doesn't run perfectly on the new system, and that becomes a problem when even in 2016 most high-end PCs can't emulate the N64 perfectly, they wrote themselves in a corner here (even though Paper Mario IS on the Wii U eShop). And about the GameCube games, they are really willing to overlook those because in the PS2 era, the Gamecube was seen as a major flop in getting a fraction of those sales, so they don't bother with that one, even the Wii gets the occasional re-release, but those come too far in between.

 

[Recusant]

Emperor of the Fading Suns. Damn, but I loved that game. Not only is it a pain to even find, it's a pain and a half to get it to run properly; it's clearly begging for the loving touch of GOG, but they cruelly neglect it.

 

[Dalisclock]

The third being Illusion of Time/Gaia (depending where you live in the world), it doesn't necessarily have to be on the 3DS. But I have more or less given up on playing this gam again.

You can play it anytime. But that involves using the e word.

 

[Kae]

3. The Myst Series

This one is weird because there are some Myst games you can buy on Steam but it's only a few and the rest are totally missing. Thankfully, the best one, Riven is available to buy but that's about it. A huge shame but at least its spiritual successor has been released now! [http://store.steampowered.com/app/306760/]

Unfortunately with Myst III & IV having been made and produced by other studios that were not Cyan Worlds they sort off got stuck in legal limbo so it's unlikely we'll see a release for those 2, I mean even Myst Online [http://mystonline.com/en/] can be acquired legally digitally for free if you wish to try it because that was Cyan, but those 2 are doubtful that Ubisoft sells the rights of the games to Cyan, really it's the same issue XIII[footnote]Previously mentioned by DoPo and it would be on my list but I purchased it from GOG back when it was available and I can download it whenever I want, works quite well on modern systems.[/footnote] has, Ubisoft has the right to the game but they are not willing to sell the but they don't have the rights to the franchise so they can't sell it either.


In any case my picks would be the Silent Hill PC versions that I remember being quite decent, that way it wouldn't be so hard to get my friends to play them, besides that I would love for Re-Volt to still be available for purchase but stupid throwback entertainment decided to steal code from modders which is not a good idea.

And of course TimeSplitter 1, 2 & 3 that series is just fantastic and it would be neat to just be able to download them and play them, especially using a mouse & keyboard, don't get me wrong the controls are spot-on on console but I'd still would prefer the precision of the mouse for an FPS, so you know Crytek I know you have the rights so fuck you for not doing that, what is even the point of buying the rights to them if you aren't going to re-release them or make a sequel? I mean you aren't even making comics or anything there's literally no point in having spent money on it.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

That is not the real Duke Nukem. It is a shitty remake by Gearbox to milk the license. I own the real one, because Steam doesnt take away the games you bought, even if they are removed from the store.

I was wondering what exactly was wrong with it, but then I noticed it doesn't have all the levels that the one you have does.

 

[MrCalavera_v1legacy]

I'll repeat my self again:

No One Lives Forever and it's sequel

That's another series that shouldn't be left unaccesible. Haven't played it, but gladly would.

 

[Ravenbom]

http://www.myabandonware.com/
Pretty much covers most of the PC games that got lost to time so I mostly miss some of the 16 bit era games that only get ROM love.

First, I really wish the Mega Man Legacy Collection on PC didn't have that input lag and it was a truer port like the PS4/Xbone/3DS.
Second, I wish Capcom would give the same treatment for the Mega Man X series (1-5).

Also, I'd like the MechAssault games to be on XBL or available somewhere. They eventually made MechAssault 2 360 compatible but the first game never got any love.
They're not great games, but I was heavily invested in the Battletech universe at one point.

 

[Dalisclock]

Myst III, IV, and Uru are all missing, not counting the online game which went free a while ago.

Looks.

Damnit! I thought III was in there for sure. III was my favorite of the ones I've played.

URU is on Steam though.