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General discussion (archive)WTF?!? Gamestop is buying Impulse?(143 posts)(143 posts)
(143 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted March 31, 2011
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mystral: We've had to pay more for consoles and games (usually about 30% more) from as far as I can remember.
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Delixe: Digital Distribution was supposed to elimintate that. The trouble is Publishers got there first and have made digital more expensive than retail which makes no sense to anyone.
Actually the prices for digital are the exact same as I find in retail shops here. Imo they just aligned digital prices on those for the biggest/most expensive European markets (Germlany and France/Benelux)and left it at that.
Posted March 31, 2011
I think the skepticism at this time is somewhat unwarranted. GameStop has done a fine job in managing Kongregate so far. Considering the GameStop has a few chains in Europe (or in the Republic of Ireland, at least), it will make sense to start serving them.
Posted March 31, 2011
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mystral: Actually the prices for digital are the exact same as I find in retail shops here. Imo they just aligned digital prices on those for the biggest/most expensive European markets (Germlany and France/Benelux)and left it at that.
And that's the trouble. Steam is far from competitive. I can buy Dead Space 2 for €13.99 from The Hut or €49.99 from Steam. Tough choice. DLC also never reduces in price. Liar of the Shadow Broker still costs 800 points despite the fact Bioware have signed off on the game. Digital to publishers seems to mean maximum profit, minimum cost. That's great for them but not good for the consumer.
Posted March 31, 2011
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mystral: Actually the prices for digital are the exact same as I find in retail shops here. Imo they just aligned digital prices on those for the biggest/most expensive European markets (Germlany and France/Benelux)and left it at that.
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Delixe: And that's the trouble. Steam is far from competitive. I can buy Dead Space 2 for €13.99 from The Hut or €49.99 from Steam. Tough choice. DLC also never reduces in price. Liar of the Shadow Broker still costs 800 points despite the fact Bioware have signed off on the game. Digital to publishers seems to mean maximum profit, minimum cost. That's great for them but not good for the consumer.
True. But considering that Steam's (and most American companies') world map seems to consist in North America with the US and Canada, and then a big blob called Rest of the World (Here be cash cows), they don't seem to find that a problem.
Posted March 31, 2011
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mystral: True. But considering that Steam's (and most American companies') world map seems to consist in North America with the US and Canada, and then a big blob called Rest of the World (Here be cash cows), they don't seem to find that a problem.
If anything the collapse of Impulse is proof you can't make a digital distributor who focuses on one market.

Still waiting for my old mate Chateaucock to chime in and say I was wrong and Impulse was the greatest gift to PC gamers.
Posted March 31, 2011
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mystral: True. But considering that Steam's (and most American companies') world map seems to consist in North America with the US and Canada, and then a big blob called Rest of the World (Here be cash cows), they don't seem to find that a problem.
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Delixe: If anything the collapse of Impulse is proof you can't make a digital distributor who focuses on one market.

Still waiting for my old mate Chateaucock to chime in and say I was wrong and Impulse was the greatest gift to PC gamers.
Well, Impulse's mistake was that in their world map they had forgotten to put the RoW blob.
Unfortunately Steam's success shows that you can certainly focus on one market and exploit all the others, provided you give some good sales to satisfy the people now and then.
Posted March 31, 2011
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Sielle: Was that 74.99 a digital or physical copy and did it include the international shipping? In other words what was the price before shipping?
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Delixe: That was digital on Impulse.
The LE version was a box only. The digital part of it was the same as the regular version. My guess is you had international shipping added for the physical box and that's what shot the price up.
Posted March 31, 2011
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Delixe: Yes actually.
Brainstorming... We need a website (doable), servers (not so doable without money!), actual games to sell (which we'll get sooner or later)...
Posted March 31, 2011
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Sielle: The LE version was a box only. The digital part of it was the same as the regular version. My guess is you had international shipping added for the physical box and that's what shot the price up.
22 Euro for shipping?? Jesus.
Posted March 31, 2011
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Delixe: Yep. Load up a proxy in Ireland or France or Spain and look at the horrors Valve will inflict on you wirh prices.
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mystral: Really. That's why I never buy anything from Steam except when it's on a huge sale.

It's nothing new, though. Western Europeans (except the British, for some reason) have always been considered cash cows by American and Japanese game companies.
We've had to pay more for consoles and games (usually about 30% more) from as far as I can remember.
Yeah, when did living in Europe automatically mean you have so much money that you could easily purchase a toilet seat made of gold, expensive cars and 50 to 60 euro games....
Posted March 31, 2011
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Delixe: That was digital on Impulse.
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Sielle: The LE version was a box only. The digital part of it was the same as the regular version. My guess is you had international shipping added for the physical box and that's what shot the price up.
I've bought stuff from Amazon.com and the shipping fee from the US to France was something like 5$. Even if you take 5 euros off that 75, that's still way too damn much, so stop quibbling.
Posted March 31, 2011
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KavazovAngel: Brainstorming... We need a website (doable), servers (not so doable without money!), actual games to sell (which we'll get sooner or later)...
You can get a bank loan for the servers. Small business loan. As for the publishers well expect them to hate us. Beamdog is a good example of how a DD get's started. Lots and lots of uninteresting games.
Posted March 31, 2011
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Delixe: Awesome! Brad Wardell himself is now talking to me on twitter. He is claiming Stardock have one price for their games converted to local currency. I hit him with the Elemental LE €74.99 price tag. Can't wait for the reply.
Did brad wardell reply to you?
Posted March 31, 2011
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drmlessgames: Did brad wardell reply to you?
Of course not. When Gabe Newell was on twitter he never repiled to people either. They are only on twitter to read the good stuff.
Posted March 31, 2011
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drmlessgames: Did brad wardell reply to you?
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Delixe: Of course not. When Gabe Newell was on twitter he never repiled to people either. They are only on twitter to read the good stuff.
He does reply on the impulse boards though. You could try there.
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussion (archive)WTF?!? Gamestop is buying Impulse?(143 posts)(143 posts)
(143 posts)