I didn't even see a "classic mode." I only saw one icon on the desktop and that's what I click. I love gog's simplicity. I'll look again though.

I'm not sure that it's licensing so much as that we're really grasping at straws now.

We've run out of good material.

Sure there's still many old games out there not on a GOG but a brief browse through Underdogs or Abandonia and asking yourself "Would I pay $5.99 for this crap?" might shed some light on recent lack of material.

Well 'classic' is a bit objective, but I can see what you mean.
I come here for the old games and the focus has shifted from old games to indie games, which is why it's no longer Good Old Games.
So yes I would like to see more 'classics' or even just regular old games like Sudeki, but we'll just have to be happy with the rate of releases as they are now.

This more my bucket of preference.

I lived through most of the "classic age" (if there is such a thing, it being the moving, subjective thing it is), and even with nostalgia on full, I prefer not to look that far back. A hand full of self indulgent titles aside, I'm far more interested in farming 2007 than 1997. I would even like to see us on a far more contemporary release schedule.

None of those are classics. Nothing made in the mid-2000's can be a classic, not enough time has past. Unless I see a DOSbox or SVM window come up when I boot the GOG shortcut, I won't be satisfied.

If I don't see Spacewar! from 1962 I won't be satisfied.
None of those DOS / SVM things you talking about can ever be classics.

Really?

The thing is, we all use "old" (or "classic") in a different way. You can see it as relative to now, meaning that a game that comes out now will be old in 10 or 15 years. But people tend to see it as relative to their birthdate, or to the peak of their young gaming years. Old (classic) is what feels old (classic). Possibly what relates to another stage in life. Anything that is merely old because "oh my oh my, how time flies, I never realised it" will struggle to be considered as old or as classic.

Try it with historical events and movies. Is "Batman Begins" an old classic ? When will it be ? Well, depends on your age more than on the current date.

In other words : 10 years old games ARE old. They are older than we realise. And if we don't realise it it's because WE are older than we realise.

Hell, I'm only here because I'm waiting for Transylvania and its sequels. Even though I played it when I was 11, I've never forgotten that damned werewolf.

The other day I turned on the local "Classic Rock Station" and they were playing Jane's Addiction. Do I really need to add anything else to this comment? :P

Independance War 2 was released on GOG when it was 9 years and 11 months old. Can't be a classic, not enough time had passed since it was originally released.
Serious Sam: The First Encounter was released on GOG when it was 9 years and 8 months old. Can't be a classic, not enough time had passed since it was originally released.
Icewind Dale Complete was released on GOG when it was 9 years and 3 months old. Can't be a classic, not enough time had passed since it was originally released.
Icewind Dale 2 Complete was released on GOG when it was 8 years and 1 month old. Can't be a classic, not enough time had passed since it was originally released.

SHOGO, MAX + MAX 2, Freespace 2, Fallout 2, Kingpin: Life of Crime, Jagged Alliance 2, Seven Kingdoms 2, Alien Nations, Septerra Core, Gorky 17 and Pro Pinball Fantastic Journey were also all released before 10 years from original release date had passed. Are all those not classics as well, since a decade hadn't pass?

Weird to learn that Fallout 1+2 and Jagged Alliance 2 do not satisfy you, nor Carmageddon 2 or Chaos Overlords. But, to each his own.
Weirdly enough, it is available on steam.

It's sad when licensing issues are a brick wall between classics and potential buyers.


This is the same reason the Lunar games never came to PSN.

Good stats JMich! I posted a similar response in a similar thread that cropped up a couple of months ago with similar conclusions going back a number of months into last year with the same conclusions as well. Took me a few hours of digging through GOG game release RSS feed and looking at game cards to yank the original release dates but pretty much the same conclusions as you've given.

The only variable that exists really is how an individual personally decides what the term "old game" means and what "classic game" means as there is no single universal definition that the industry nor every gamer on the planet recognizes as a defacto definition. It is very much a personal distinction at best. Likewise, what does "new game" even mean? A new release in the last month? In the last year? 2 years? There is no definition. But if a game is no longer considered "new", what is it considered? Old? If someone doesn't consider a game released in 2001 "old", do they consider it "new"? If so, these are very arbitrary and subjective definitions of the terms old/new/classic pertaining to games IMHO. Furthermore, the term "classic" does not even necessarily refer to the age of something but rather to it's quality and I think people confuse the use of that word to describe something thinking it means it is a synonym for "very old" when it isn't.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic

"A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style, something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality."

Even a new game just released could be called a "classic" game really. When it comes to the age of games and determining what is "old" and what is "new" or some other designation, I'm rather hard pressed to find anything released 10 or more years ago as being "new" with the broadest definition of new.

With JMich's stats, 43% of the games being 10 or more years old (10+, plus the Pre-2K), I'd say GOG is doing a great job of releasing old games, many of which are arguably classics personally. All of these adjectives are however very subjective.

I think that many people just do not like new game releases or indie releases however and that tilts their perception into thinking that they've seen 20 indie/new games released when they see one released and ignore all the actual old games that get released. Just a misperception.

Having said that, I know from GOG speaking about this in the past that they'll continue to release as many oldies and goldies as they're able to negotiate, and they're good at doing so. Personally though I'd like to see them releasing more new releases and newer AA and AAA games and day-1 releases on top of the oldies. All of these "new release" games that are coming out now - at some point under some definition of "old" or "classic" will achieve that title and become old/classic games also, and I believe that it would have been nice to buy such titles from GOG all along from day 1 onward than to only be able to buy them once they've aged for 10-20 years and let Steam and other companies that don't care about DRM-free like GOG does for the most part make all of the money off the titles.

Keep up the good work GOG! Keep up the good statistics JMich! ;oP

Why are you referring to when they were released on GOG, as opposed to when they were released originally? M.A.X. 1/2 were released in 1996 and 1998 respectively, Fallout was released in 1997 and Fallout in 98. Jagged Alliance 2 was released in 1999.

And who says there's a magic rule about 10 years? What if I say that if it's made after the year 2000 it's not a classic?

Labeling anything beyond the 90's or year 2000 as a classic is just wrong, what's next Mass Effect and TES: Oblivion are classic? I don't want to live in such a world.

Sudeki, a 2005 Xbox port is a classic now?

Ah, like when someone tells me they don't know who Nirvana is.

Or when someone uses Nirvana as a "old" reference. :)

Back on topic.... Chaos Gate!!!! Give me this and all indie releases shall be forgiven.