I've been looking into game collecting recently, specifically going back to fill in some holes from older generations (I never even had a Saturn) and it got me thinking about this generation and what collectors are going to look for from it in 15 years. With the Wii U, there's going to be plenty. Almost all the important games on the platform have physical releases, they are almost all exclusives, and there's also Amiibo and other stuff. I guarantee you that, assuming the Earth isn't overtaken by giant mutant ants, in 2030 there's going to be some dude looking through dusty thriftstores and garage sales seeking out copies of Captain Toad Treasure Tracker and Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze. Many Wii U games are also single player focused. The fact that the Wii U is not selling great and a lot of these games have relatively small print runs will also make them more valuable.

Meanwhile for PS4 and Xbox One the vast majority of the big games are also being released for PC, meaning that nobody's going to have to track down old versions to play them (Think KoToR, a legendary game on a console that didn't sell well, but not very collectable because it's on Steam and your phone). Meanwhile the few big exclusives are all huge hits with enormous print runs. Even if someone wants to track down a copy of Infamous Second Son or Sunset Overdrive in 15 years it won't be that hard. The smaller games, the hidden gems if you will, insofar as they are exclusive, are all digital, and so won't really be collectable at all unless by some miracle the servers are still up, in which case collecting them will be as easy as entering your credit card information. Plus for a huge percentage of PS4/XBONE games the value will be significantly impaired by the lack of online features. A copy of Titanfall or Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare is going to make a decent coaster and not much else in 15 years. Maybe there will be fan run servers, but those, of course, will be on PC.

It's not a bad thing, of course, that gaming's history will be more accessible. It's sad that games like Snatcher or Panzer Dragoon Saga can only really be played by piracy or shelling out an unreasonable amount of money for an old copy (I was really happy when Radiant Silvergun, which is great, got an XBLA release.) On the other hand there's something nice about looking through old stacks of NES and SNES games in some off the path store for hidden gems or games you've only heard about (or played via emulator if you're that type.) The difficulty of tracking old stuff down gives it more value and makes it more than just old computer code, it gives you a deeper sense of appreciation at being able to have those experiences.