chrcoluk: Well thats sony been idiots for not having a better deal for consumers.
Steam recently told everyone that once someone pays for a game, even if the publisher pulls it from the store, it will always be available to download, this was evidenced by the fact a skyrim modder tried to pull his mod and then got angry when steam refused to stop allowing customers who had paid for it to continue downloading it.
Regardless it is a genuine risk for digital gaming, what will be a telltale sign is what happens to xbox 360 and ps3 digital games in say 10 years time, will they still be downloadable and playable?
WhiskeredWolf: Yeah, I know steam have said they would unlock all content if they ever went under but that doesn't account for software with 3rd part drm. Not to mention its a huge trust to have in them. I know its not really worth worrying about for the forseeable future but I back my games and all goodies up into a secondary drive and burn my favourite games to CD which I make my own cover art for. I feel like I get the best of both worlds, digital and physical!
Oh and yeah, P.T was a rare example, most stores will honour redowbloading of purchased software but still, like you said, genuine risk if the consumers rights begin to be ignored.
I always keep hearing people cite that whole "Well Valve/Gabe said that they can unlock Steam games if needed" but I have never once seen actual evidence of this quote or where it came from. It honestly sounds like one of those things that people think they saw or heard but was never actually said. Kinda like how people quote Carl Sagan as saying "Billions and Billion of Stars" which he never once said.