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I think CD Projekt might just be my new best friend. Sure, the Polish-based publisher’s announcement of the awesome sounding downloadable game service, Good Old Games, might have influenced the feelings expressed in the previous sentence, but I’ve always liked them, honest!
GOG.com is an on-demand platform that will be stocked with classic PC games. That, in and of itself, is great, but what about it is providing me with that extra oomph of excitement? Firstly, the games will be cheap: priced at either $5.99 or $9.99. Secondly, the games are all guaranteed to work perfectly with Windows XP and Vista (sorry, Mac users), can be downloaded an infinite number of times, and will come with cool extras. Thirdly, and here’s the big one, every game will be completely DRM free. YES! Thank you, CD Projekt, for realizing that people don’t like copy protection in their legitimately purchased digital downloads.
“Our main goal is to create a user-friendly site with the best classic PC games for a price that might be considered impossible to achieve,” GOG.com managing director Adam Oldakowski stated. “The people behind GOG.com are gamers and we all know how difficult it is to find a lot of classic games. So we’ve started building a great games catalogue, gotten rid of the copy protection that gamers hate so much, optimized the games to work on modern operating systems, and made them cheap enough that piracy seems like a rip-off. It’s so easy to buy, download and install a game and then get deeply involved in the community; we’re very confident that gamers will absolutely love the site.”
So far, most of Good Old Game’s content is coming from Codemasters and Interplay, with titles like Fallout, Fallout 2, Freespace 2, MDK, Operation Flashpoint, and TOCA Race Driver 3 set to make an appearance when the service launches this September. Though if you can’t wait that long, there will be a closed beta starting in August that you can sign up for on the site.
CD Projekt has also revealed that one of their chief goals is to get all of LucasArts' titles added to the service at some point. Why hello there, fans of classic adventure games. Can you see yourself buying a bunch of games you’d previously missed out on once Good Old Games launches?
This is exactly how digital distribution should be used. The only thing that could make it better is if all the games would work on Windows, Mac, and Linux.
I think that if something like this can be successful, it could send a strong message to those publishers that insist on stuffing their games full of pain-in-the-ass DRM.
That being said, I really hope gamers at large can come to the same realization and learn to support a good thing when it comes along.
I dunno about getting in on games that I missed as I hit up most of the gems already. However, having lost almost all of said gems, I most certainly will be RE-hitting up some of these. A lot of them from the looks of it...especially if lucas gets in on this.
On-demand services suck because they never get out of the US quickly enough.
I'm still waiting for f*cking GameTap to come to Europe.
At least let me login and play the free games goddamnit!
This is fucking awesome news, although I've got a lot of the 'classic' PC games {most even legit).
If this takes off it'll really be a kick in the face for all the dickheads that whine about piracy ruining them, showing that quality really is a bigger incentive than any retarded-DRM they can shove on a disc when it comes to getting people to the checkout.
I'll see how the service is before I stick my dick in it. I'd much rather just have these games on steam. The whole having all your games on one program would be nice.
Giants and Sacrifice look great, it's nice to see those games getting another chance at appreciation, but why are there racing games in there? Seriously, what the hell are they going to offer anyone that the millions of billions of other racing games out there don't?
And then there's MDK, which has been developed and published by no less than 10 different companies over the course of it's lifetime, and now there's another one to add to the list.
Fallout: Tactics, Freespace 2, Giants: Citizen Kabuto? Do want.
@Galagabug:
All of these games are already available on the internet to pirate if you're so inclined. Including DRM in these releases would be closing the barn door a decade after the horses got out. It would help nothing, and hurt the consumer. It's very smart of them to leave them DRM-free.
Oh man, this is pretty much exactly what I want. I'd love to buy older games, but worries about Vista compatibility are a turn-off. I'd totally dig another playthrough of Freespace 2, and I never really gave Sacrifice a good go -- my PC at the time couldn't handle it so well.
Besides, anything that gets Giants into more people's hands is good with me. That game was awesome, and as British as afternoon tea. I'll keep my fingers crossed for the beta.
@uglyphil - I believe TOCA 3 and McRae 2005 are the best of each series. They've aged pretty well too - TOCA 3 still looks ace.
@timmy the cat: Holy crap - I hadn't thought of the non-adventure Lucasarts games. X-Wing and TIE Fighter were two of the first PC games I played, and I loved them to death. Another playthrough would be very welcome. Wonder if Alliance will be included -- I never got a chance to play that one. Ooh - and maybe the first two Dark Forces games will be there, too. They look like hell now but the level design was golden.
1. Some of these games are legally freeware. Freespace 2 can be leagally downloaded on the internet. Sure it's conisdered "Abandonware" (as the company no longer exists), but in the EULA for Freespace 2 itself it says you can distribute the game freely (?!).
2. Doesn't Gametap already do this, for cheaper AND more? You can download several titles like Deus Ex GOTY edition for free on Gametap, and subscribe to them to get a VERY large library of classic games.
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21 comments + 95764 views
yeah registered for the beta the moment I saw this in the Clogs :-)
This is exactly how digital distribution should be used. The only thing that could make it better is if all the games would work on Windows, Mac, and Linux.
To quote Yahtzee "it could only be more awesome if it had tits and was on fire"
Sounds AWESOME. And it's from CDProjekt Red, the company who made my favorite game of 2007 (the Witcher)!
Dang, I think I can throw away my discs now.
Maybe now I can finally see what the big deal is about Fallout.
can be downloaded an infinite number of times, and will come with cool extras. Thirdly, and here’s the big one, every game will be completely DRM
as amazing as all this sounds, how do they plan on getting more than one subscriber? people aren't nice. they'se gonna get raped.
Oh this is going to be ugly...
Get it to work on Mac and I might be interested in playing some old PC games.
Hell. Yes.
@galagabug
I think that if something like this can be successful, it could send a strong message to those publishers that insist on stuffing their games full of pain-in-the-ass DRM.
That being said, I really hope gamers at large can come to the same realization and learn to support a good thing when it comes along.
People payed for that radiohead album, so they´ll probably pay for operation flashpoint and fallout. I know I will.
Needs more Mac games.
I just looked at the website.
It's deigned so Mac like. They even have agoddamn Apple monitor, with default Leopard wallpaper behind a generic Aqau window.
What. The. Fuck. Throw us a bone here.
I dunno about getting in on games that I missed as I hit up most of the gems already. However, having lost almost all of said gems, I most certainly will be RE-hitting up some of these. A lot of them from the looks of it...especially if lucas gets in on this.
I was just (last week) thinking how rad it would be to play tie fighter/x-wing again, oh to play them again one more time.
On-demand services suck because they never get out of the US quickly enough.
I'm still waiting for f*cking GameTap to come to Europe.
At least let me login and play the free games goddamnit!
This is fucking awesome news, although I've got a lot of the 'classic' PC games {most even legit).
If this takes off it'll really be a kick in the face for all the dickheads that whine about piracy ruining them, showing that quality really is a bigger incentive than any retarded-DRM they can shove on a disc when it comes to getting people to the checkout.
I'll see how the service is before I stick my dick in it. I'd much rather just have these games on steam. The whole having all your games on one program would be nice.
I saw Fallout 1 and 2 and became excited.
I saw Sacrifice and shouted out with joy.
I saw Giants, and now I will subscribe.
Bring QFG5 and some of the sierra ones to the service and they have a customer. You can't buy that anywhere except on ebay now.
Yeah, sure, I'm in.
I maybe interested. Need to check this out.
Giants and Sacrifice look great, it's nice to see those games getting another chance at appreciation, but why are there racing games in there? Seriously, what the hell are they going to offer anyone that the millions of billions of other racing games out there don't?
And then there's MDK, which has been developed and published by no less than 10 different companies over the course of it's lifetime, and now there's another one to add to the list.
I actually still have a copy of Sacrifice, and just loaned it to a friend.
This looks really interesting. As has been mentioned it'd be nice to have this on steam so-as to use one thing to get them all, but still. Rock on!
Fallout: Tactics, Freespace 2, Giants: Citizen Kabuto? Do want.
@Galagabug:
All of these games are already available on the internet to pirate if you're so inclined. Including DRM in these releases would be closing the barn door a decade after the horses got out. It would help nothing, and hurt the consumer. It's very smart of them to leave them DRM-free.
Oh man, this is pretty much exactly what I want. I'd love to buy older games, but worries about Vista compatibility are a turn-off. I'd totally dig another playthrough of Freespace 2, and I never really gave Sacrifice a good go -- my PC at the time couldn't handle it so well.
Besides, anything that gets Giants into more people's hands is good with me. That game was awesome, and as British as afternoon tea. I'll keep my fingers crossed for the beta.
@uglyphil - I believe TOCA 3 and McRae 2005 are the best of each series. They've aged pretty well too - TOCA 3 still looks ace.
@timmy the cat: Holy crap - I hadn't thought of the non-adventure Lucasarts games. X-Wing and TIE Fighter were two of the first PC games I played, and I loved them to death. Another playthrough would be very welcome. Wonder if Alliance will be included -- I never got a chance to play that one. Ooh - and maybe the first two Dark Forces games will be there, too. They look like hell now but the level design was golden.
I am officially excited. I love cheap games.
Well, it may actually work, I believe their audience will be "old kids turned 30 something" replaying the games for the nostalgia factor...
Quoting: "1. We’ve got games your 10-year-old won’t be better at."
I mean, people with jobs that won't mind paying 10 bucks, I can't really see a halo kid getting excited for fallout or sacrifie...
Officially, DO WANT
There is a few bad problems with this:
1. Some of these games are legally freeware. Freespace 2 can be leagally downloaded on the internet. Sure it's conisdered "Abandonware" (as the company no longer exists), but in the EULA for Freespace 2 itself it says you can distribute the game freely (?!).
2. Doesn't Gametap already do this, for cheaper AND more? You can download several titles like Deus Ex GOTY edition for free on Gametap, and subscribe to them to get a VERY large library of classic games.
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