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The time has come, for something for speed enthusiasts – tackle the intricate art of drift, with Japanese Drift Master, soon on GOG!

Japanese Drift Master is an atmospheric simulation that’ll take you to the beautiful land of cherry blossoms and, obviously, the capital of drift. You’ll immerse yourself in the thrilling world of competitive racing as you take on the challenge of drifting and racing on an extensive network of diverse roads and enchanting mountain trails. You’ll get to experience the adrenaline rush as you navigate through towns that grace the picturesque Haikama Lake; feel the excitement as you use your hard-earned savings to acquire new cars and indulge in the renowned Japanese tuning culture, adding a unique style to your driving adventures. Get ready to embark on a high-octane journey, where the spirit of drifting and the allure of Japanese car culture come together for an unforgettable racing experience!

Soon on GOG!
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SargonAelther: Hopefully there won;t be a single licensed car out there and little licensed music.

Licensed cars always kill racing games in the end.
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mqstout: Not always. NFS: Porsche Unleashed was probably (to me) the best racing game ever made.
Can you still buy it?
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Djaron: but then allow me to use this opportunity to bring up a point:
SPLIT / SECOND !
one of the best and funniest arcady racing game of the past decade or more
Great Game, but I'd add Blur* from 2010 too.
*Gameplay
Post edited May 30, 2023 by UCrest
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Djaron: i'm enthousiast, yet a bit cautious because nothing in the studio's past records gives any garantee about the ability to deliver a racing game...

but i really would like this game to be good/fun, especially because the sub theme appeals a lot to me, being a little inital-d junkie (and i also hope this game will be not too hard to mod either, for the same reason)

also, considering racing games are quite a rare thing on gog; one of the main reason (but not the only one) being that car manufacturers and music industry (both entities who usually are licensing their own IPs to cars/racing video games) dont really understand a damn thing about video game market and commercial cycles and usually only contract licensing deals for short amount of time (which are unfit for the way videogame market works), hence the reason why most great racing games from the past two decades get removed from every digital platforms stores after barely a couple of years

and other games are so big profile IPs from big publishers who usually are either not interested or even fiercely against the mere concept of DRM free, that getting any of those titles on gog is also mostly impossible because of legal issues

but then allow me to use this opportunity to bring up a point:
SPLIT / SECOND !
one of the best and funniest arcady racing game of the past decade or more

- Licensed/real cars: NO ! check...
- Licensed music: NO ! check (orchestral unique ost was made for this game)
- Obscure franchise for which future sequel title was cancelled: check
- Publisher: Disney Interactive, who kind of took advantage of gog's tech team work to undust an refresh their old retro games of famous animated movies licences, just so they could remove them from gog catalog shortly after, and to finally put them back on steam again to sell them in time with the "new cgi remasters" of some of said movies (i may be wrong with my theory, but from my pov, this is how it feels like)

so to be honest: which harm would it do to disney and disney interactive wallet to have the pc port for SPLIT / SECOND to reach the drm-free catalog ?
it would be a fair compensation for what happened with the flash-short span entry and removal of some disney's retro titles
Disney are the same idiots that after Lucasfilm and its constituent parts were bought made Lucasarts rebrand as Lucasfilm Games, never mind that Lucasarts has been around nearly as long as Lucasfilm. This being said if you were a Star Wars fan you knew Lucasarts made Star Wars related games as it had been under that title for decades.
I'm sure part of the reason was so they didn't have to just make Star Wars related games and Lucasarts has one of the most esteemed Adventure games catalog of the 80's and 90's, comparable to Sierra imo.
Disney were the same fools who tried killing "Lilo and Stitch" too because it didn't test well with focus groups.

Split Second was a great game but Disney had no clue how to market their GOOD original game product...Split Second and Haunted Mansion for the XBox were great. Haunt wasn't bad either. Even Sing It, their Karaoke games, were competently programmed. The same company that did "Haunt" did those earlier. The issue was Disney's game division should have been truly separate from Disney in general.
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mqstout: Not always. NFS: Porsche Unleashed was probably (to me) the best racing game ever made.
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SargonAelther: Can you still buy it?
Ebay used copies are ample. (But, yes, I know what you mean.)
Post edited May 30, 2023 by mqstout
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SargonAelther: Can you still buy it?
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mqstout: Ebay used copies are ample. (But, yes, I know what you mean.)
Now imagine this was a post-digital era game and there were no used copies. This is why I'm not a fan of using real cars in games. They ruin the longevity.
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SargonAelther: Hopefully there won;t be a single licensed car out there and little licensed music.

Licensed cars always kill racing games in the end.
Simply buy it (DRM-free) when it is available here and you don't need to worry anymore about possibly existing licences, that may expire in the future.

Btw: what's "little licensed music" supposed to mean?
If there's licensed music involved, it's a problem. Period.
Nobody will be saying in 15 years: "thank god, only 5 of the 23 tracks of the OST were licensed!"
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SargonAelther: Hopefully there won;t be a single licensed car out there and little licensed music.

Licensed cars always kill racing games in the end.
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BreOl72: Simply buy it (DRM-free) when it is available here and you don't need to worry anymore about possibly existing licences, that may expire in the future.

Btw: what's "little licensed music" supposed to mean?
If there's licensed music involved, it's a problem. Period.
Nobody will be saying in 15 years: "thank god, only 5 of the 23 tracks of the OST were licensed!"
I will buy it, but most racing games are not available on GOG. People generally can't buy every game in existence either, or keep track of every delisting on every platform. Even I have missed some Telltale games that are now gone. In the days of physical media, licensing was a publisher's problem. Now it's a user's problem and that annoys me very much. In the days of physical media, there was no such thing as being "too late" to buy a game. There is now. I can still buy NOLF and vanilla GTA VC, but I cannot buy Telltale's Game of Thrones. Not on PC anyway.

Sometimes licensed music can be removed for the sake of a re-release. That is a known practice, I'm sure you've heard of it. The less licensed songs the game had, the smaller the impact. On the other hand, you can't exactly remove cars from a racing game...
Of course if the publisher is unwilling to republish a game by removing licensed music, then the amount of licensed songs won't matter.
Post edited May 30, 2023 by SargonAelther
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SargonAelther: I will buy it, but most racing games are not available on GOG.
"Not being available on GOG" hasn't always to do with licensing issues.
There are a lot of racing games not on GOG that involve zero licenses.

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SargonAelther: In the days of physical media, licensing was a publisher's problem. Now it's a user's problem and that annoys me very much.
It has always been "a user's problem".
The only difference was that, back in the day (and with a little luck!), you have been able to find a second hand copy (or an overseen copy in the bargain bin) after a game got pulled from sales.

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SargonAelther: In the days of physical media, there was no such thing as being "too late" to buy a game.
Oh, yes - there was.
Trust me: if you decided too late to look for a game, and it had been pulled from the stores' shelves already - you'd run into trouble finding a legit copy.
Because people who had their copy, were most likely not willing to sell it early on.
So, if you came too late, you needed to wait patiently and regularily check pages like "Craigslist", etc.

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SargonAelther: [...] I can still buy NOLF and vanilla GTA VC, but I cannot buy Telltale's Game of Thrones. Not on PC anyway.
Well, but you CAN still buy it - even if "only" for consoles.
Telltale's "GoT" is from 2014. I'd say, you had enough time to buy it.
And it's not as if I'm not sympathetic...I missed out on some games (and I'm talking the old days here - nothing about the new "digital only" stuff).
I'm talking mostly console games. And mind you: I could still buy (most of) them - but to exorbitant prices.
And there's a line where I say: "nope! - it's not that important!"
My life goes on.

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SargonAelther: Sometimes licensed music can be removed for the sake of a re-release. That is a known practice, I'm sure you've heard of it. The less licensed songs the game had, the smaller the impact. On the other hand, you can't exactly remove cars from a racing game...
Of course if the publisher is unwilling to republish a game by removing licensed music, then the amount of licensed songs won't matter.
Of course I've heard of that practice. I even experienced it.
Thing is: if you remove stuff from a game, people will scream and moan how this isn't the version they remember, and that they "won't pay a single cent for this POS!!!", and that there are possibilities to get "the better version" via the "PB": "you know? - the version as the developers envisioned it to be!!!"
FAQ
[FAQ] Frequently Asked Questions
Ossu!

In this topic, we’ve prepared the most common questions about the Japanese Drift Master!

Please read this FAQ and if you can’t find the answer you’re looking for, feel free to ask on our Steam Discussions or Discord!

Q: What is JDM: Japanese Drift Master?
A: Welcome to the world's drift mecca – Japan. The game goal is to introduce the atmosphere of Japanese automotive culture and explore the roads where the drift was born.

Q: What genre is this game?
A: Simcade with friendly controls that will satisfy fans of more realistic games – although it is accessible enough to enjoy the game also to less experienced players.

Q: When will the game come out?
A: There is no specific date but our goal is to release the game within the year in early access.

Q: What is the game engine?
A: Unreal Engine 4.

Q: Is there any demo?
A: We are currently working on demo version, so stay tuned for more information.

Q: What about console releases?
A: At the moment we are focusing on the PC version but we do not exclude console versions.

Q: Is there any in game story?
A: In the game players will find a unique plot that combines elements of racing games from the west with visual novel storytelling from the east. Play through a story about a foreigner who wants to make a name for himself on the Japanese drifting scene.

Q: Is the game Open World?
A: Yes, miles of diverse roads inspired by real and well-known locations from Japan await you.

Q: What’s up with those car sounds?
A: While playing JDM, you’ll hear original car sounds, both recorded and implemented by our team, using unique technology, created specifically for this project.

Q: Will there be multiplayer?
A: Yes, after release we will work on the multiplayer mode.

Q: How much will the game cost?
A: There is no price yet.

Q: What control devices will I be able to use?
A: You can use a gamepad, steering wheel, or keyboard.

Q: Will there be a photomode?
A: Yes, we plan to add the photomode to the game.

Q: Who is the producer of the game?
A: The game is developed by Gaming Factory.

Q: Are you planning to make playtests?
A: We can't reveal anything at the moment.

Q: Are you planning to support mods?
A: Yes, in further development there is a plan to support mods.

Q: Where does the game take place?
A: In JDM, you'll explore the tourist areas around Haikama Lake which was created by our team.

Q: Will there be traffic in the game?
A: Yes, other vehicles will also drive around the map.

Q: Is there any weather system?
A: Yes, there will be sun, clouds, rain etc. but the main season is summer.

Q: Are there day and night cycles?
A: Yes, the passage of time is dynamic, there is a full cycle of day and night.

Q: Are only drift events available in the game?
A: No, there will also be race events and others.

Q: Is there an available car list?
A: Not at the moment.

Q: Will the police chase us?
A: There is no plan at the moment but maybe we will add something connected to the police chase in the future.

Q: Will there be paint and tuning shops?
A: Yes, you will be able to adjust the cars, their exterior, wheels and interior. Also there will be an option to paint the car and parts like wheels in the color you like. In further development we want to add a special system for stickers etc.

Q: Is there a damage model in the game?
A: We do not plan mechanical damage to cars, there will only be simple visual damage and scratches on the texture.

Q: Does the tuning give only a visual aspect?
A: No, it changes the way you drive the car, physics etc.

Q: What’s the game physics, it’s from another game?
A: No, the physics in the game is our proprietary system.

Q: Can we change the view in the game?
A: Yes, in the game there will be cameras like: close pursuit, far pursuit, from the bumper, from the hood, from the roof, from the cockpit, eyes/inside view.

Q: Can we look around in the game?
A: Yes, it will be possible to look around from inside and outside the car.

Q: Will there be any music in the game?
A: Yes, at the moment we are cooperating with music producer Naski but there will be more artists.

Q: Will this game be compatible with thrustmaster controllers?
A: Yes, we support steering wheels eg T300RS.
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BreOl72: <...>
I can't be bothered splitting this into a billion parts.

It doesn't matter why a game is not on GOG. You used GOG purchase as an argument for avoiding licensing issues in the future. "Simply buy it (DRM-free) when it is available here and you don't need to worry anymore about possibly existing licences, that may expire in the future." That doesn't help me if a game is not on GOG and never has been. Also Steam does not remove games from your library once they stop being sold either. This has nothing to do with DRM and everything to do with the ability to LEGALLY trade games. GOG does not allow us to trade games, despite them being DRM-Free. DRM-Free only allows you to legally preserve the game for yourself, not for anyone else... Once again, I said legally.

Finding a used copy is a million times easier than finding an unused Steam key, especially one that doesn't cost a fortune. Even if you do, there's no guarantee that it'll work or that you'll get a refund if it doesn't. GOG keys have short expiration times, so they are even more useless than Steam keys.

So far I've had little trouble finding various pre-Steam era PC games, especially thanks to the existence of used junk stores that offer notification service of stock alerts. That's how I got all 3 NOLF games, Alice 1, Scarface, etc. Something more popular, like GTA, are always available, no need to wait for any stock alerts.
Digital platforms killed all of this. Consoles are slowly being pushed towards digital-only too. See Alan Wake 2...

The release date of Telltale's GOT is irrelevant if I'm unaware that it exists. This was my point, but you seem to have missed it. There are probably hundreds of games that appeal to me, of which I am completely unaware of. I can't buy them if I'm unaware of them. For example, I was unaware of the Fallout Series, until Fallout 3 came out. I loved FO3 and then I went, bought and played FO1 and FO2. Thankfully they were still for sale. It's the same with telltale. I only became aware of them after they had already gone bankrupt. Some games got resurrected later, which I bought and liked, but most weren't. I'd like to play them now, but I can't... not legally on PC anyway. Like I said before, "People generally can't buy every game in existence either, or keep track of every delisting on every platform.". Whether the game is/was on GOG or not is irrelevant if it's no longer for sale. Physical releases are ALWAYS for sale (second hand), unless it is something ridiculously obscure. Delistings are a much bigger problem in the digital age than it used to be. Licensed content almost certainly dooms a game to a future delisting. This is why I want racing games to use made up brands, like GTA.

Of course removed content is bad, but having a game be resurrected partially is still better than not having it at all.
Post edited May 30, 2023 by SargonAelther
Hey Sargon. After hearing AW2 was going to be digital only unless it's from a drm free outlet llike GOG I will not buy it. The console market is already too DRM at it is and buying physical is the only real way to deal with it. In some cases it also exempts you from onerous EULA terms that give said THIRD party permission to scrape your gameplay data, likely to sell it to marketers or give to their own to develop a psychographic profile to sell you more stuff. Keep in mind this is a EULA for a bought digital copy of a standard sp RPG.
small concern for this upcoming game:

there is another brand of (rather poor) games called JDM Racing on Switch and probably a couple of similar name games on PC / steam as well; and this game's choice of name will probably gives the game misinformed bad reputation because of the confusion...

it's sad for those devs they didnt pay attention to that when branding their upcoming project
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Sarang: Hey Sargon. After hearing AW2 was going to be digital only unless it's from a drm free outlet llike GOG I will not buy it. The console market is already too DRM at it is and buying physical is the only real way to deal with it. In some cases it also exempts you from onerous EULA terms that give said THIRD party permission to scrape your gameplay data, likely to sell it to marketers or give to their own to develop a psychographic profile to sell you more stuff. Keep in mind this is a EULA for a bought digital copy of a standard sp RPG.
We'll see how Epic handles this. In this case this will not only be an epic exclusive, but al published by them, so Steam and GOG releases are uncertain.
Nice, looks pretty good so far! Always good to see more racing games!
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Sarang: Hey Sargon. After hearing AW2 was going to be digital only unless it's from a drm free outlet llike GOG I will not buy it. The console market is already too DRM at it is and buying physical is the only real way to deal with it. In some cases it also exempts you from onerous EULA terms that give said THIRD party permission to scrape your gameplay data, likely to sell it to marketers or give to their own to develop a psychographic profile to sell you more stuff. Keep in mind this is a EULA for a bought digital copy of a standard sp RPG.
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SargonAelther: We'll see how Epic handles this. In this case this will not only be an epic exclusive, but al published by them, so Steam and GOG releases are uncertain.
Yeah well we know who owns a lot of shares of Epic which is why I won't touch the store. That company is also a hack which makes shoddy knockoffs and they succeeded due to a closed market. I'm not thrilled they have their fingers in the pie of most talented original game companies like Platinum.