After GameTap fired its entire editorial staff, the assumption was that the downloadable game service was in a decent amount of financial trouble. Recently, GameDaily conducted an interview with GameTap’s vice president of content, Rick Sanchez, in which he assured the interviewer that “the rumors of our death have been greatly exaggerated.” This apparently means the service is here to stay.
In regards to the editorial staff firing, Sanchez alludes to the fact that it was consumer disinterest, rather than a move to alleviate funds for a sinking ship.
...the decision to cease publication of our editorial product and our online video had more to do with customer feedback than anything else.
The most important aspect of the GameTap service is its ability to keep providing quality games. To that end, Sanchez states:
In the next couple weeks we'll be revealing a major new partnership deal, which should put to bed any notion that we're not active in the digital distribution space.
Sanchez then goes on to talk about GameTap’s move to more web-based games, which frankly, makes me dislike the service even more. I originally joined GameTap to get access to the few PC classics that they offer, like
King’s Quest. When I moved on to the larger PC titles, I was very surprised to find that few worked as well as they should. Regardless, I still think that axing a ton of staff is usually an indication that something more is going on other than broken games.
Contest:
4:27 PM on 07.02.2008
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Plus, like Brad says, your lucky if half the games even work.
They're owned by Turner Entertainment, which is part of Turner Broadcasting, which is part of CBS, which is part of Viacom, which is one of the fucking BIGGEST companies on the planet.
Again... Why?
Dreamcast games don't seem to work with my PS2 controller (via USB connector) so I am forced to not play them at all since playing with a keyboard would bite hard.
Then again, I don't play many of the "newer" PC games from the service. I get my Sam & Max, NeoGeo, and classic game fix from them. My PC isn't top of the line anymore so I don't really bother with the newer games on the service.
Again, I payed $60 for a year and I've definitely gotten my share of gaming from them. I'd recommend it without reservation, ESPECIALLY for adventure game fans as the service has a bunch of older ones as well as a few good new-ish point and clickers.
GameTap is owned by Turner Broadcasting, so that kinda helps them out with the TV spots I guess
Kind of like if GM fired their juggling staff, the first thought I would think was "Why does General Motors need a juggling staff?"
But some titles just don't work or have problems and support in most case will tell you to "update the video card drivers"... In the end I was pissed off and canceled the subscription.
I actually still think it's a great idea, if you just are looking for something to spend some hours with, GT offers millions of gameplay hours at pratically nothing, but without improvement to the service and a better catalog (very spotty, great RPGs (all bioware/black isle titles) and turn based strategy (all sid meier and impression games) and pretty lame adventure and action games....