ddickinson: But GOG has not really had a spotless record when it comes to the quality of their service or the games they host. Like I said, some games are/were broken for quite some time, yet GOG continued to sell the game. They made it clear that there is no guarantee the in development games will ever be releases. I would think GOG can get away with a few screw ups when you compare them to the amount Steam has had over early access. I guess time will tell, I just hope these early access games don't effect the amount of older and full release games we get. If it is an addition then great, but if it starts to effect the main store then that is not so good.
I have never understood fanboys. I mean I like GOG as a service, but I am not blind to how they behave and the lack of quality with some things. I tend to stick to games from GOG as I don't like Steam, I have bought a few DRM free games from Humble if they are not here, but if they are here I tend to wait for a sale to get them here as I do like GOG on the whole and I like my games all in one place. I do hope early access will work out for GOG, and that they keep it curated and perhaps it if works well it will bring more customers and could possibly make Steam improve a few things, which I doubt, Steam is too large at the moment to care.
Let's see if other early access developers do the same and start to put paywalls up. It just seem ridiculous to go early access then charge again for the service early access is supposed to provide. But that is not the greediest thing I have seen in gaming, if nothing else they are getting worse for their greed in the gaming industry.
Steam is probably what, 90% of the market, 80% minimum? As long as they have such a market share they won't care. Too many gamers are happy with Steam and their service, which is fine, I am not hating on anyone that likes Steam, but it would be nice to see them improve their service, and of course, get rid of all that DRM. :-)
I always think of Kickstarter as an investment, so there is more of a risk with that. But early access seemed a little different, there is a product that is kind of done, it should just need a bit more investment and work. But more and more just release pre-alpha versions rather than beta or even full alpha.
Agreed, they've definitely messed up more than once, and I have no doubt that it'll happen again. That's just how things go. I've always gotten the feeling that the people at GOG generally give way more of a damn than those at Steam do, but mistakes still happen.
I also won't be surprised when an In-Dev game goes sideways and falls apart. It's always a possibility and GOG can't put a gun to their head, either literally or figuratively by way of binding contracts.
Sure, they could sue the hell out of a developer for breaching their contract, but what would they even get out of it, aside from the time, effort and legal fees involved?
If In-Dev does take priority, they'll end up seeing it in lower numbers. The probability of people purchasing full items versus incomplete ones with no idea when they'll be finished won't be favorable to that approach, I'm certain.
People love that feeling of being a part of the "best" thing. From pastimes like video games or sports, to supposedly more important topics like religion.
I used to be more bound to sticking with just one service, but I won't let that service tell me what I can play. So now I get stuff from Steam or Humble if it doesn't show up here.
If other alpha/beta developers go that route, it'll probably sour people on the whole concept that much faster. (Or at least, I hope that it will. Who knows with some people.)
I think they care in terms of GOG being their main competition. As such, I'm sure they consider what GOG's doing and how to counter it when it's convenient to do so.
To me, In-Dev/Early Access is as much gambling as Kickstarter, just with
maybe slightly more favorable odds for the consumer.
I backed my first Kickstarter a few months ago, and that was only because of the team involved and what they're trying to resurrect. Even with that, I know it could all go wrong.
j0ekerr: Konami just felt that there's a lot more money to make from pachinko parlors. The development cost is merely a fraction of that of a videogame, and they get to exploit their old stablished IPs which means they don't have to invest a single dime in new designs. And think of all those bored gambling-addicted japanese constantly putting in quarters.
It's like an alcoholic dad pimping out his daughters.
As far as I know, the Wii-U is not a bad console itself, it's just that its gimmick didn't impress anyone.
Pretty much. Doesn't make their actions less obnoxious, but they are understandable.
I don't think it's bad, I just think Nintendo mismanaged it until it got tag teamed to shit by Sony and Microsoft.