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General discussion (archive)System Shock is coming to GOG this week?(151 posts)(151 posts)
(151 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted January 17, 2012
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jefequeso: Notice the System Shock 2 naysayers only showed up after it was confirmed that the 19th's release wasn't System Shock 2.
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bitter_luddite: SS2 naysayers? You mean like the GOG Staff? They have made very clear just how unlikely it is they will secure the rights to either System Shock.

Companies use GOG because it is basically found money for them. EA isn't going to spend significant money or effort on an old release. Obviously anything is possible in the long run, but the rights situation would almost have to sort itself out. EA is very unlikely to care enough to sort it out themselves.

Explaining reality isn't "naysaying". The truth is that these threads pop up so often that most people just don't bother anymore. There are only so many ways you can say "not impossible, but extremely unlikely."
Really? Last I knew they were still trying to secure all the rights.
Posted January 17, 2012
The article that was linked clearly says that currently EA has rights to the trademark and an insurance company has the right to the content. Now, I don't know if you need to have both in order publish a game here, but it seems that you have two actors, one of which is already signed up here and I guess an insurance company wouldn't really mind to actually make a buck or two from an IP they're sitting on without it doing anything.

Furthermore, we already have UU, which was made by the same company and published by Origin, ie., the company whose games sell like cupcakes on GOG. Following the same logic, I really don't see where the issue is. GOG isn't going to develop new IP, it just wishes to publish an old game.

Please correct me in the likely case that I'm wrong.
Posted January 17, 2012
If GOG has definitively said that SS2 is unlikely to come here, I'd appreciate it if someone linked me to it.
Posted January 17, 2012
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jefequeso: If GOG has definitively said that SS2 is unlikely to come here, I'd appreciate it if someone linked me to it.
If I remember correctly, when EA was announced, they said that they were/will be working on getting the games here, similar to what they did with Hasbro and the D&D licensed games.

Here it is: While the agreement between Electronic Arts and GOG.com brings back many acclaimed and well known franchises, it doesn’t include the much anticipated System Shock or Syndicate series at this time.

We've received Syndicate and apparently the GOG team thought in June that getting SS was a possibility, so why not give them a chance to prove us once again how dedicated they really are (like we need any extra proof).

On a side not, may I ask why people are distinguishing between SS1 and SS2 when discussing IP rights?
Post edited January 17, 2012 by de_Monteynard
Posted January 17, 2012
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jefequeso: If GOG has definitively said that SS2 is unlikely to come here, I'd appreciate it if someone linked me to it.
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de_Monteynard: If I remember correctly, when EA was announced, they said that they were/will be working on getting the games here, similar to what they did with Hasbro and the D&D licensed games.

May I ask why people are distinguishing between SS1 and SS2?
Well...SS1 is easily available for free, for one thing, while SS2 isn't :P.
Posted January 17, 2012
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jefequeso: Well...SS1 is easily available for free, for one thing, while SS2 isn't :P.
Wait, SS1 is free? Since when? And where? Most importantly, is it a legal free release? This would present an interesting possibility for GOG, by offering SS1 for free when the rights are finally sorted out.
Posted January 17, 2012
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jefequeso: If GOG has definitively said that SS2 is unlikely to come here, I'd appreciate it if someone linked me to it.
When they announced EA they said that the System Shock and Syndicate series were not planned "at this time". I don't know if we got any blue text giving more details than that, but 1 post links this G4TV article which explains the current situation with SS.

http://www.gog.com/en/forum/general/gog_com_s_catalog_gets_huge_with_addition_of_classic_ea_titles

http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/713030/the-lost-history-of-system-shock/
Posted January 17, 2012
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jefequeso: Well...SS1 is easily available for free, for one thing, while SS2 isn't :P.
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de_Monteynard: Wait, SS1 is free? Since when? And where? Most importantly, is it a legal free release? This would present an interesting possibility for GOG, by offering SS1 for free when the rights are finally sorted out.
I doubt it's technically legal.

http://www.systemshock.org/index.php?topic=211.0
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jefequeso: If GOG has definitively said that SS2 is unlikely to come here, I'd appreciate it if someone linked me to it.
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kodeen: When they announced EA they said that the System Shock and Syndicate series were not planned "at this time". I don't know if we got any blue text giving more details than that, but 1 post links this G4TV article which explains the current situation with SS.

http://www.gog.com/en/forum/general/gog_com_s_catalog_gets_huge_with_addition_of_classic_ea_titles

http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/713030/the-lost-history-of-system-shock/
And they did get Syndicate. So...

(I'll take a look at the article when possible. The page won't open on this computer)
Post edited January 17, 2012 by jefequeso
Posted January 17, 2012
Well, i kind of knew it would be Syndicate. Thatll certainly be a great addition to GOG, but still im disappointed it wasnt System Shock.
Posted January 17, 2012
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de_Monteynard: Wait, SS1 is free? Since when? And where? Most importantly, is it a legal free release? This would present an interesting possibility for GOG, by offering SS1 for free when the rights are finally sorted out.
I already mentioned this on the previous page along with the current state of the System Shock license (http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/713030/the-lost-history-of-system-shock). The original System Shock has been updated to run on modern systems and was made available to everyone for free by means of System Shock Portable.

System Shock Portable: http://www.systemshock.org/index.php?topic=211.0

As far as I know, it's legal as no one over at the TTLG forums have objected to it but they do take offense to free copies or .iso files of SS2.

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de_Monteynard: On a side not, may I ask why people are distinguishing between SS1 and SS2 when discussing IP rights?
I would assume because System Shock 2 was made by Irrational Games (a company formed by Ken Levine and two other members of Through the Looking Glass). Through the Looking Glass merely assisted Irrational Games by giving them the Dark Engine and allowing them to work in a corner of their office.

The game was intended to be something completely different until EA who held the the trademark rights suggested that the game become the sequel to System Shock. Ken Levine loved the idea and made a few revisions to the plot and began work on what would become System Shock 2.

Anyways, since System Shock 2 was a joint venture between Irrational Games and EA with Through The Looking Glass providing the game engine, obtaining the rights to this particular game may be more difficult than obtaining the rights to series' former installment.
Post edited January 17, 2012 by SDF121
Posted January 17, 2012
I bet you all $10 worth of games it is Syndicate! :p
Posted January 17, 2012
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sloganvirst: I bet you all $10 worth of games it is Syndicate! :p
Umm ... http://www.gog.com/en/forum/general/syndicate_on_gog_com_on_19th_of_january_plus_a_contest/page1

I'll take Another World, please.
Posted January 17, 2012
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jefequeso: If GOG has definitively said that SS2 is unlikely to come here, I'd appreciate it if someone linked me to it.
They talked about SS in the EA announcement video. They addressed future prospects after they made a special point of saying no SS among the first EA games. I recall them being FAR less than optimistic, but you should go ahead and track it down yourself if you care. I'm going off of memory, and their English is not exactly perfect.

Just to be clear, I'm not saying it would be impossible for EA to consolidate the rights. People who think it would be fairly easy are probably right. What people don't seem to appreciate is just how low a priority this is to a company like EA. Remember, in the past they have been perfectly happy to let games they already own rot in their archives. So, once again: not impossible, but not very likely.

One more thing: almost every game on GOG could be found online before GOG acquired it. Most of them could already be made to run on modern machines. System Shock 1 is not unique in that regard.
Posted January 17, 2012
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jefequeso: If GOG has definitively said that SS2 is unlikely to come here, I'd appreciate it if someone linked me to it.
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bitter_luddite: They talked about SS in the EA announcement video. They addressed future prospects after they made a special point of saying no SS among the first EA games. I recall them being FAR less than optimistic, but you should go ahead and track it down yourself if you care. I'm going off of memory, and their English is not exactly perfect.

Just to be clear, I'm not saying it would be impossible for EA to consolidate the rights. People who think it would be fairly easy are probably right. What people don't seem to appreciate is just how low a priority this is to a company like EA. Remember, in the past they have been perfectly happy to let games they already own rot in their archives. So, once again: not impossible, but not very likely.

One more thing: almost every game on GOG could be found online before GOG acquired it. Most of them could already be made to run on modern machines. System Shock 1 is not unique in that regard.
But this just doesn't make sense to me. EA has already released several games on GOG, including Syndicate (which I gather was also considered a "hard to get " title). What exactly is it that's stopping them from releasing the single most requested game on the GOG wishlist? I mean, EA themselves don't have to deal with the licensing, apart from their own share of SS2, right?

I apologize if this is a dumb question. As I said, I can't actually get to the link about SS2's history from this computer.
Posted January 17, 2012
System Shock's rights are so raped and scattered, if GOG ever gets it they deserve a medal.
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussion (archive)System Shock is coming to GOG this week?(151 posts)(151 posts)
(151 posts)