The first time I played Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Black Box Studio was already gone. Disbanded. I wanted to give them my money, but there was no one left to take it.
That hit me hard — missing the chance to pay for a childhood favorite.
See, back in the day in China, most of us played this game as a cracked copy. No other way. No official retail. No Steam. No way to pay even if you wanted to. We were kids with dial-up internet and a dream — and a pirated ISO from a local PC café.
So years later, I thought: maybe a physical PS2 import copy would help. A kind of spiritual closure.
Luckily, I didn’t get scammed. Found an old-school seller who knew his stuff. Got it at a fair price. We talked a bit about why I was buying it — he was genuinely happy for me.
Also grabbed a few titles on Steam during sales. Two bucks each on average. Felt good.
I have mixed feelings about this franchise. Part of me still hopes it can rise again. Make something world-changing. Like it once did.
加油 !
I know how you feel, I have similar regrets about Psygnosis the PS1 era - so many games that meant so much to me growing up, that I we couldn’t afford to buy. Most I either got to experience through demo discs, renting, or piracy.
But it’s OK - they might not exist as a company anymore. But their former employees still do, their art continues to live on, and you now own a piece of it yourself.