I'm looking into getting rid of some of my physical PC games.

I know I'll be keeping those older games that came in big cardboard boxes with lovely manuals. The ones I'm not so sure about are newer releases that came in a DVD-style case and not much in terms of extras. Those that have no DRM or something mild such as a disc check, I'll probably keep. Those with SecuROM, StarForce and such, I think aren't worth holding onto unless they've never been made available digitally.

I found this old, archived topic but the databases linked to in it are, for the most part, no longer available. I know about PCGamingWiki and not much else, other than googling each and every game individually.

I think Pcgamingwiki only mentions DRM/copy protection on US versions of physical releases.
I've never encountered a website with information about all international versions.

In the case you accept two cents, keep them. I'm not a collector by far, but I've seen several times digital games with less content than the physical copy. As you can see, is not about protections only, you are preserving something you own. Besides, I've never met someone entirely happy with their past physical riddances. All of them regret somehow. Unless you're talking about a full house, you can make room for them somewhere.

I think the best source for that is going to be reading the info on the boxes themselves. It is usually mentioned there in some fine print. As said, most games had multiple release versions, US vs the rest being the biggest one, so a universal source is going to be tough to find.

That being said, you can still usually find cracks/no-CD patches for everything. No reason to throw away really, if the medium itself is still in working condition.

I never considered regional DRM differences, I wonder if they're significant for regular retail releases... For later budget re-re-re-releases, magazine covermount discs and such, I imagine DRM might have been removed by then.

I have to part with some of them but I'll keep plenty still. I'll make sure they go to someone who wants them, even if it means selling them for next to nothing. Anything but throwing them away.

I hadn't considered checking to see if the type of DRM is mentioned in the packaging but I'll keep that in mind.

Thank you all for your input!

It gets weirder. Dreamfall EU region for example was released on both CD and DVD. The former had Starforce while the latter had something different. Either Securom or Tages don't remember as i only have the CD version (sadly).

But like others have stated, pcgamingwiki has most of that info covered. If not, Mobygames will at least cover those game boxes across multiple regions that had the decency to mention whether they carried any DRM or not.

Decisions Decisions!

For the moment, I am hanging onto all my game box and CD/DV versions of games. One day no doubt, I will need to downsize, but until then, and by then I will likely have oodles more games on hard drives, I am unlikely to bother. I've re-bought much of what I have on disc anyway, though in some cases, like you say, you don't always get the extras with bought downloads.

And who can keep up with all that is on offer these days. And replaying old games, is a bit like re-reading books, when you have so many new ones to read. It is a desire that you can often rarely get to, hard to justify ... unless you look at it purely from a financial perspective.

In any case, when it comes to physical copies of games for me, just like with books and movies etc, you get bugger all money if you resell them, so that makes it not worth it for me or I'd have to be pretty desperate for even a few bucks.

Have you never checked the prices of big box games on ebay? (and even some dvd case ones)

Indeed...

Aside from the fact I haven't used ebay for years, and that what folk ask for isn't necessarily same as what something gets sold for, there are of course exceptions.

So for sure, the odd boxed game in my collection might be rare enough to get big dollars, but overall my boxed collection would not really be worth selling. And of course, the likelihood is I would want to keep any games that were rare.

The Neverhood, if I had that boxed game currently, I certainly would not be selling it ... alas I only have a few shareware copies on CDs.

Maybe I should have made clear I was referring to my games where they are available as digital purchases ... and I was really meaning the selling my collection as a whole, not just the odd few.

That goes for physical things like books etc, which in some cases are also rare enough to be worth hundreds of dollars.

I learnt my lesson years ago, when I started selling my vinyl albums to buy CD versions ... something I later regretted in some cases.

P.S. And no doubt I have a form of mental bias, because I would never in my wildest dreams pay that price for The Neverhood, nowhere near it ... I'd maybe pay $15 tops. It is just a game after all. Neither would I ever feel comfortable selling a game for such a high price ... that sort of capitalism is lost on me, like selling candy to a baby, and I am not one to encourage the foolish behavior of others ... seems unethical and immoral to me. I well remember how disgusted I was at the ever rising prices of Biggles books, especially as it became very artificially induced (by mass burning & dumping of the paperback versions) ... I never did get the last five or six novels out of 100 as a physical copy ... luckily some nice person eventually provided ebook downloads ... me being a reader of them too, so not just a collector.

GameBurnWorld has an extensive list, though strangely enough, it doesn't mention regions whereas I do know, DRM could vary per region. Alas I don't have a list that makes distinctions per region. ReclaimYourGame had much info, but that site no longer exists.

http://www.gameburnworld.com/protectedgameslist.shtml

Yep. If you have any boxed games that are not available digitally, they often go for big bucks:

https://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-Battle-Middle-Earth-Anthology/dp/B000N4JEN2

If you want the expansion for the 2nd game alone, new, that's 160$:
https://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-Battle-Middle-Earth-Pc/dp/B000HAUO4A/

Otherwise, there isn't really a point in selling them.