Do we know for certain that it's one of the big five (minus EA) from before? The wording says it's big, but it might be getting our hopes up too high too high to assume it's one of those.
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GOG News and Updates 2012
- Thread starter Minsc
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Do we know for certain that it's one of the big five (minus EA) from before? The wording says it's big, but it might be getting our hopes up too high too high to assume it's one of those.
Of All Trades
Member
Eidos, iirc, was formed out of a few companies, Domark being one of the main ones, and the others being largely of equally poor repute, so there's plenty of Garbage Old Games for GoG to mine out of that publisher. Without rummaging through wiki I think everything prior to Tomb Raider was pretty much outright trash, and a lot stuff after that was still trash aka almost every game that came out in those weird hexagon-ish boxes.
edit: Domark not US Gold.
edit2: US Gold came later but Domark was the bad part.
I think so, based on comments from CDP where they listed the big 5 and then said they had one and were working on two others. No one expected EA so it was pretty huge that they turned out to be the first.
I'd pay top dollar to get a one-click install+config Thief. Hate having to search the internet and disable cores and still not get cinematics to play.
'course I'd be happy with either LoK or Anachronox as well.
As much as I'd prefer this to be LucasArts, I'd REALLY like to play Anachonox. I can't say why I didn't buy it at launch since it seems like something I would have loved.
Yeah, there's a mouselook approximation but it's horrible and not worth your time. I can't remember exactly why without reinstalling the game though.
I can not download anything from my account now
Why do you say that?
archnemesis
Member
I also haven't been able to download anything for the last few days. Their servers can't handle the amount of traffic.
archnemesis
Member
Maybe it's a problem on our end. Who's your ISP wazoo? I'm also having issues with Imgur.
Minsc
Gold Member
I checked my copy, and re-downloaded the launcher, extracted it, and checked that, and no threats were detected anywhere by MSE.
wazoo said:
Release should be Thursday this week, and typically we get 2 releases a week.
GOG did say some ambitious things recently (which of course always need a few grains of salt):
LSauchelli
Member
They are, or were, but I can't find the EA links to the games anymore. In fact, if you go to the website, EA tries to sell you The First Decade. Anyone know if it's legal to download them from somewhere else?
Edit:
They are on fileplanet. Over here.
cicero
Member
He is referencing the One Unit Whole Blood Launcher for Blood. It is a fan made launcher and you have to go off-site to find it. Personally, I would just avoid using it until some definitive info is known. I had no such issues using an earlier version of the launcher, so it is somewhat disturbing to see it pop up now and then have no more information on it on GOG.
Dr. Zoidberg
Member
I bought about $30 worth of games during the sale, mostly the Ultima and Wing Commander games. Also got POD and Screamer. Nostalgia, ho.
Here's a thought: GOG is a place to get older PC games. Specifically IBM PC games thanks to the magic of the DOSBox emulator. However, what's the biggest hurdle keeping GOG from branching out and offering non-IBM PC games such as those for the C64 or Amiga? The rights issues? Lack of a suitable emulator solution that doesn't get in the way like DOSBox? Or is nobody interested in Amiga games and the like?
Here's a thought: GOG is a place to get older PC games. Specifically IBM PC games thanks to the magic of the DOSBox emulator. However, what's the biggest hurdle keeping GOG from branching out and offering non-IBM PC games such as those for the C64 or Amiga? The rights issues? Lack of a suitable emulator solution that doesn't get in the way like DOSBox? Or is nobody interested in Amiga games and the like?
maybe all three. I do not even know if you do not need some private roms to make those emulators run.
I think Gog will try to increase more and more classics as time goes on, like the new Bioware Games (Jade Empire and Kotor) than going back in history.
cicero
Member
I wish they would go back. Would rather have great but impossible to find older titles than new ones easily found on Steam.
I would love to see something like Classic Text Adventure Masterpieces of Infocom (1996) over Jade Empire or Kotor. I'm sure they both would outsell it, but still...
While I too would like to see really old games on GOG, things from the Amiga/Commandor64 era might have even harder times with the usual hurdles like IP limbo, publisher interest and so on than newer games do that prevent them from being added for sale.
No idea if the amount of work required for them would be any greater than the dos/16bit era
The guys were clear in recent interviews that they are still a business and that is does not make it any sense to devote efforts to games with no wide appeal. That is the point of the most wanted list to see what is important for them or not. And from that point of view, this is more likely to get NOLF/Lucas Arts/Deux Ex and so on that some very old forgotten title.
In fact, looking back to the most wanted Top 200 list, Before 2000, we get
- The lucasarts games
- Thief
- some EA games like Wing Commander
- Ultima VIII (might come this week)
- some EA/Westwood games likely to come
- some Sierra games likely to come (QFG for example)
- a batch of Valve/Blizzard games we will not see
and that is pretty much it.
If they sign Eidos and LucasArts this year, they will soon get out of games people really want to buy, and they will focus on the post 2000 history then.
In fact, looking back to the most wanted Top 200 list, Before 2000, we get
- The lucasarts games
- Thief
- some EA games like Wing Commander
- Ultima VIII (might come this week)
- some EA/Westwood games likely to come
- some Sierra games likely to come (QFG for example)
- a batch of Valve/Blizzard games we will not see
and that is pretty much it.
If they sign Eidos and LucasArts this year, they will soon get out of games people really want to buy, and they will focus on the post 2000 history then.
MrOogieBoogie
BioShock Infinite is like playing some homeless guy's vivid imagination
The trial-and-error gameplay in Another World is rather annoying, I must say.
It is very much classic to that kind of game in the nineties like FlasbBack or the oddworld games. I definitely not like that. I am close to the japanese way of thinking that a game should be finished in one trial if you have the skills for doing it, no luck, no hazardous guess.
Still, I would like to see the "sequel" to Another World, on Gog, Heart of Darkness.
MrOogieBoogie
BioShock Infinite is like playing some homeless guy's vivid imagination
It pisses me off too because I absolutely fucking love everything else about the game: the presentation, the art, the music. Like, I seriously love the atmosphere.
But those fucking random hazards. And the janky platforming.
Gah.
But those fucking random hazards. And the janky platforming.
Gah.
I agree there will eventually be a point of diminishing returns for old games, but it's not like we haven't seen some publishers slow releases of their titles to an absolute crawl in the past. We may see Lucasarts or Squeenix titles, but it may take a while before all the titles we want end up on the service, just like EA recently and Activision from the start who both still have massive libraries to cull from.
Definitely. Gog team told they have 100-200 games on the horizon (post 2000, included, I think). It may take them two/three years to exhaust them, but after that, from a business point of view, and the recent declarations go to that direction, they will publish more and more recent games to become a classsical DRM free shop.
Do not forget that in 3 years, definition of what is classic will have moved too.
Going back to your point, as I told, there is no way they can counter balance the lack of progress to get AAA games like planescape torment by going back to "obscure" titles like you wish. There are abandonware sites for that (and they have pretty good relations with GOG by the way).
Do not forget that in 3 years, definition of what is classic will have moved too.
Going back to your point, as I told, there is no way they can counter balance the lack of progress to get AAA games like planescape torment by going back to "obscure" titles like you wish. There are abandonware sites for that (and they have pretty good relations with GOG by the way).
cicero
Member
Hmm. Does that also cover "obscure" titles like the recently released, and widely mentioned and purchased, Starflight 1+2? Plenty of abandonware sites for that one too. Except that for many people it really wasn't "obscure". But why would they bother if it wasn't at the top of GOG's "Most Wanted" list to begin with? You have Jade Empire as the kind of new "classic" they will be moving towards instead of older "obscure" titles, like the entire "Amiga/Commandor64 era"??
All we are doing is voicing our enthusiasm or interest for an entire range of older titles, which BTW, were not "obscure" to anyone actually alive and able to enjoy them back then. Wouldn't more of that open enthusiasm or interest in itself be warranted and desired given how it would likely be motivating the future inclusion of an entire range of old AAA titles from a past era?
Give me the Amiga port of Dungeon Master over Jade Empire any day of the week. I think a GREAT many people would feel the same way. They can keep Jade Empire and KOTOR on Steam...
Noisepurge
Member
Indeed, but i thought SShock2 had some legal issues that was holding it back from being released anywhere?
This article explains the legal limbo in which the System Shock IP rests. Essentially, EA owns the trademark, but the rights to the series have been in the hands of an insurance company since the closure of Looking Glass back in 2000. Said company, Meadowbrook Insurance Group, has expressed interest in selling the rights, albeit with the caveat of "compensation".
A lot of games in GOG can be found on abandonware sites (whose legal existence is very much tolerated than accepted). You can download System Shock 2 in one click today for example. So tha availability of games on some "non legal" sites is not a concern for GOG and will not interact with the possible inclusion in GOG catalog. As for your question, nobody knows what is the exact list of games GOG has in mind, because this knowledge may interfer with legal negotiations.
You are right that "obscure" is very much a personal thing, but the top 200 list helps to decide if it worth the money or not. I think you are pretty much lost to think that Gog will go outside of the PC catalog. when we refers as obscure games, we refer to very old PC games, not at anything related to the microcomputer industry of the 80s. I am not even sure they would have right to bundle some emulator with Amiga games if they wanted too anyway.
A DRM free version of Jade Empire is much more likely than anything related to the Amiga because of IP and legal concerns as well as a deliberate focus on PC gaming at GOG. A PC version of Dungeon MAster is not out of question, provided you can find who owns FTL games rights, something no abandonware sites will never bother.
Another World did have an *actual* sequel, Heart of the Alien. I *think* there's a Windows version of that knocking around, somewhere.
Random aside: I wonder if GoG are courting Notch? He's a fan of the site, and Minecraft on GoG would be big news for them, along with highlighting them as an option for indie developers.
I can't remember if Notch's opinion on other companies distributing Minecraft is "Not yet", "Never" or "Not Steam". Or something else.
Baron_Calamity
Member
I don't remember a Windows version. I remember playing it on the Sega CD.
Minsc
Gold Member
They did say they had no plans for publishing indie games on the site in an interview (albeit in a rather uninformed manner), at least not any time soon:
cicero
Member
My reference to abandonware sites was a direct response to your previous comment which suggested them as a desired outlet of choice for those interested in so called "obscure" titles. My comment had nothing to do with any GOG related "concerns" about abandonware and EVERYTHING to do with the idea that "obscure" titles can't sell well and should/will only be relegated to "non legal" sites. Starflight 1+2 is a clear example of a very old "obscure" title that was viewed as profitable by GOG and was released to the purchases/accolades of many. I never saw it included in any GOG Top 200 "Most Wanted" list...
The right to bundle an open source emulator? You mean something like DOSBox?... And the Amiga was a PC, not a microcomputer.
Apparently you are unaware of the official GOG poll that featured the Amiga platform as one of the listed candidates when GOG asked their users what alternative platform users would like to see added to GOG.com...
http://www.gog.com/en/forum/general/gog_question_time_question_2/page1
Thank you all for such a great feedback on our first question in "GOG Question Time." Going through a 32-page thread took us a while, but it was interesting and fun. Now it's time for question no. 2!
Many of you repeated similar expectations concerning the future of your favourite digital distribution service
Imagine that, a 32-page thread of people interested in non-PC platforms that was created out of specific interest by a GOG.com employee...
You previously said the focus is on what sells? A DRM free version of Jade Empire is likely to sell FAR less than a much desired easily accessible DOS/Amiga version of Dungeon Master. I say the knowledgeable mature gaming public would want more access to older currently unavailable AAA titles rather than easily obtained 5 year old non-classics, with broken combat no less.
What extra IP and legal concerns would arise from Amiga titles specifically? I am unaware of any that would go beyond the normal issues GOG.com faces.
I do not know the details, but something like Amiga UAE requires a kickstart rom to boot, which is not legal to bundle or is it ?
I apologize
I stopped at the "GOG.com is the place to download PC classics" written on the forefront. Good for you if some other platforms would be considered. I have nothing against as a former Atari ST owner.This 32 pages thread is funny considering that beside AMIGA (whose emulation is linked to the availability of Kickstart ROM) and C64, all other platforms were console platforms, whose right would require acceptation of the console owner in addition of the game publisher, which is think is even more unlikely. This seems a thread for fun more than anything else.
I think differently. Bioware games are among the best selling games on the site. And availability is not the major concern for most people. Having a digital non disc based non DRM version running flawlessly on Windows 7 of a game is more important than anything else.
Anyway, as I said above, a Dos (not Amiga) version of Dungeon Master is not out of question, no less than Starflight. So, your query may be satisfied.
I always thought that game looked badass when I was younger but I could never find a copy. Wonder if it holds up (gameplay obviously, it's ugly as fuck).
That plus Age of Mythology and Age of Empires II are on Gametap. Almost worth the subscription fee by themselves.
Likewise, had a trailer for this, one of the Interstate games and some BADASS Robot hockey game on my MechWarrior 2 Mercs disc.
PastorOfMuppets
Banned
I would be amazed and overjoyed if it's Microsoft. There are quite a few IP's that are held up in limbo because MS Game Studios published/owns them. Just off the top of my head:
The Age of.... series
Rise of Nations and Rise of Legends
Starlancer/Freelancer
Close Combat series
Mechwarrior series
Combat Flight Simulator
Baron_Calamity
Member
That was one game I never could figure out. Either the first scene or near the first scene, you face a tiger and I could never get past it.
That is the kind of game you find free for years in magazines, but as a part of their LBA/LBA2 efforts, it closes the trilogy of Adeline Software games.
It is very hard to know the position of MS with respect to this DRM free/old games enterprise.
I do not think we will hear anything big before E3.
Of All Trades
Member
Close Combat was later published by Mircoprose so there may be problems with getting the first three games.
Has GoG released much in the way of sales data? I know they recently had the contest for the "5 millionth download", so the idea that Starflight was purchased by "many" may be incorrect (the cost of selling Starflight may be low enough that it can't not be profitable). They've certainly done things which indicate releases are sometimes tied to the need to release anything, rather than an actual demand. So getting old stuff like Amiga games, where digging through the IP rights may involve a huge amount of work for a single title, plus the potential for emulator jank, may make selling a super-niche title not worthwhile.
The obligation they set themselves to release at least one game a week means obviously that they have a lot of fillers ready to release at any time where nothing substantial is ready (due to IP/legal issues or lack of progress in compatiblity patching).
FrontalMonk
Banned
Don't forget Fury³!
cicero
Member
I would hardly take one single line on the front page describing the current GOG.com focus as some kind of restrictive definition that could/would never be altered.I apologize
Good for me if other platforms would be considered? I would have thought it would be good for gamers at large. You really do seem to have a problem with even considering it instead of pushing some hard assumptive line that GOG.com is and will be moving away from older "obscure" titles. What specific benefit to gamers would there be if they intentionally moved from viable older "obscure" titles in favor of mostly newer titles if there are still older worthwhile and beloved classics out there that are basically unavailable unless we obtain them illegally? Which you seemed to give as the preferred reasonable outlet once the assumed GOG.com shift in focus occurs.
Yes, it did seem fun, as it specifically said. It aroused their interest, and why wouldn't it? But why acknowledge the reference to fun but not also this other point that did interest them enough to specifically ask for user feedback?Thank you all for such a great feedback on our first question in "GOG Question Time." Going through a 32-page thread took us a while, but it was interesting and fun. Now it's time for question no. 2!
Many of you repeated similar expectations concerning the future of your favourite digital distribution service
So all Bioware titles should be/are viewed as being equal to each other? That is the assumption you seem to be making, both for GOG.com and in the eyes of the type of gamers that GOG.com attracts. Which is a point that I find a bit delusional, at best. Jade Empire is no Baldurs Gate, Baldurs Gate 2, or even Neverwinter Nights.
My availability comment was "older currently unavailable AAA titles rather than easily obtained 5 year old non-classics, with broken combat no less.". Not sure how your response fits. Having a digital non disc based non DRM version running flawlessly on Windows 7 of ANY game is wonderful, I was specifically commenting on OLDER currently unavailable AAA titles though, which you have seemingly dismissed in favor of newer supposed future "classics" like Jade Empire. Again, my comments have had "EVERYTHING to do with the idea that "obscure" titles can't sell well and should/will only be relegated to "non legal" sites.". The very focus of GOG.com, Good OLD Games, has been a lauded success. OLD supposedly "obscure" titles are successful, this success could easily continue to occur in the future by not ignoring these other "classic" titles from the same old era they are selling from now.
Again though, if it is assumed that only GOG Top 200 "Most Wanted" listed games would be considered as potentially profitable, what would be the basis for them releasing games like "Dungeon Master" or "Starflight 1+2" to begin with? Clearly they have seen something worthwhile in "obscure" releases in the past, along with modern post 2000 titles as well. Game viability seems to be considered by GOG beyond merely GOG Top 200 "Most Wanted" list games. Not sure why it should be assumed that they would leave viable "obscure" classics that are desired but impossible to find, in favor of a focus on mostly modern titles of the caliber of Jade Empire.
I find it a bit amusing that an admitted Atari ST owner seems to choose a release of the already available on Steam "Jade Empire" to the unavailable "Dungeon Master", probably the best known, and certainly bestselling, game on the Atari ST. Would that be the typical sentiment of most GOG users?
As I would hardly take one 18 months post in a forum as a sign of things to come when we just got an official announcement that they want to publish more recent games in the future as well. Anyway, we will see what happens in the future. For sure, they will not abandon their interest in old games. THAT IS NOT WHAT I MEANT. Also, I do not think they will shift outside of the PC world, I do not even think they legally can. Anyway, there are plenty of worthwhile PC games from the 90s (or older) they will have to publish before thinking about that. Of course, and this was my point, they can not publish every "obscure" title, because every (even the bad ones) obscure title is the preferred game of someone in the world, and GOG is a business, not a charity. And, they know that, that is why, they will publish more and more recent games (there are already 2004-2007 games on the site), "recent" games that will become old one day.
I should have clearly chosen a different example than Jade Empire for making my point
Your argument reminds that for every game review on GOG saying that one game is the best ever, the next review qualifies the same game as the worst game ever.I find it a bit amusing that an admitted Atari ST owner seems to choose a release of the already available on Steam "Jade Empire" to the unavailable "Dungeon Master", probably the best known, and certainly bestselling, game on the Atari ST. Would that be the typical sentiment of most GOG users?
I would have chosen both personally. If you talk about me, both. If we talk about you, clearly Dungeon Master (or even better the Amiga version). Now, any recent game hardly competes as a Good Old Game, but as time progresses, any game will become old, and even game like jade Empire will have its following.
I just watched some gameplay vids on youtube and it looks god awful, and I don't just mean the graphics. Very slow and clunky. Combat looked atrocious.
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