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Game Distributed Online Forgoes Publishers 84
KrackHouse writes "A group of developers from Black & White got together and used their bonuses to fund a project called Live For Speed. This online racing simulator uses the Internet as its distribution channel exclusively. No retail stores carry LFS and you need to use PayPal or a credit card to buy it.vIf this is successful will game publishers go the way of the RIAA and face irrelevance? LFS is much less expensive than a typical boxed title and if it ends up becoming a profitable venture more devs will surely jump on the solo bandwagon." It'll be a long time until this sort of thing becomes more common, and there's still a lot of consumer reassurance that comes from buying something in a box and having the disc laying around. It's a nice case study for what will inevitably become the way things are done, though.
product activation... (Score:2)
I'm getting a flashback from the HalfLife/CS cd-key problems already... and the site hasn't even loaded in the background (seems mildly slashdotted)
Re:product activation... (and other things) (Score:3, Informative)
That said, I'd like to point out that selling games on-line is nothing new. Wargames, my favorite genre, are now sold almost exclusivelly on-line, and there's lots of other independent games as well.
However, what most of the other games have in common is a well-
Re:product activation... (and other things) (Score:2)
Yes, because we all know that the quality of a book can be seen from its cover, don't we?
(And if you didn't catch the sarcasm there, don't bother with a reply.)
Re:product activation... (and other things) (Score:2)
Re:product activation... (and other things) (Score:1)
Re:product activation... (and other things) (Score:1)
Re:product activation... (and other things) (Score:1)
Re:product activation... (and other things) (Score:4, Insightful)
Yeah.. there's this open-sourced kernel called "Linux", and I heard the developers don't even maintain an official website. I bet the quality is even worse... [/sarcasm]
Re:product activation... (and other things) (Score:2)
Re:product activation... (and other things) (Score:1)
he judged the quality of the game based on the quality of the website. not too different from judging a book from its cover.
Re:product activation... (Score:1)
This is nothing new (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:This is nothing new (Score:2)
Re:This is nothing new (Score:2)
Re:This is nothing new (Score:2)
This is the last source version I will release for Racer (but the executables will still be free as normal
On the download page is this notice:
WARNING
There have been misunderstandings about the source code in the past time. This project is NOT OpenSource.
So, I'll take this news on a *finished* game anytime before that one.
Thanks to DRM (Score:2)
"Thanks to DRM, you know that something has been built in environment of unspecified degree of security, from source you cannot check, written by programmers you don't know, released after passing QA of unknown quality and which is released under a license which disclaims any responsibility..."
Q.
Re:This is just DRM folks (Score:2)
What are you trying to say...? There is no Santa Clause?!?!!
LIAR!! It can't be true!! Stop spreading FUD about Saint Nick!
They need to change their fonts (Score:2)
Does anyone know? (Score:1)
Re:Does anyone know? (Score:2)
rtfa
Re:Does anyone know? (Score:1)
hmmm (Score:2, Insightful)
And yeah, yeah.... I know... I'm planning on eventuall
Re:hmmm (Score:1)
What matters most: PRICE (Score:3, Insightful)
Price of this game: 12 lbs (~$18?)
Assuming this isn't a crap game (and often enough those $50 games are), this is the price you can expect to pay when you wipe out all the expenses of the box, the disc and jewel case, the instruction booklet, and the cut that everyone along the way gets.
So that means that even with the developer making a profit along withthe distribution bandwidth, they cut the price of a game by +60%.
Given how many stupid Xbox games I've bought, I hope that Phantom is able to have games similarly cheaply distributed using this same model. And considering it's a closed system, maybe it's the only fool-proof way to distrubute games this way.
Re:What matters most: PRICE (Score:2)
Depending how they play their greedy-card, they might turn out like Microsoft who charge an arm and a leg for minor updates... or be more friendly and give away stuff to keep their users...
Re:What matters most: PRICE (Score:1)
This is the first release requiring activation. All previous versions of LFS were free beta tests.
Re:What matters most: PRICE (Score:2)
I'm not refering to the beta version but the S-series...
As the programmers probably know, pricing and release-schedules can be make or break for games...
Re:What matters most: PRICE (Score:1)
put under the xmas tree? (Score:2, Insightful)
all of those are reasons for retail boxes. if a publisher would wake up and not demand exclusive rights, they could sell a happy retail box of this for $10 more than the online version.
Re:put under the xmas tree? (Score:2)
Re:put under the xmas tree? (Score:2, Insightful)
Comparing Game Publishers to the RIAA is silly. (Score:3, Insightful)
Sure, they finance and ensure the marketability of a product, but they're occasionally cabable of quality and innovation. They haven't tried to arrest the majority of their customers yet, either.
Making games cost money. Game publishers have money. They'll be around for a while.
Re:Comparing Game Publishers to the RIAA is silly. (Score:2)
Since you have to download the whole thing anyways why not sell the cd keys online? Simple, because the publisher locked Playnet into a contract forbidding them from doing
Re:Comparing Game Publishers to the RIAA is silly. (Score:1)
Huh? (Score:5, Funny)
See there used to be this thing called Mail (No E at the beginning) and when ppl used floppies (that's the slot in your PeeCee that you never use) they had Public Domain collections (Like Fred Fish for the Amiga). And some were freeware and others were shareware...like, oh Castle Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, etc (ID Software distributed via shareware for a long time)...
And why this game? There 's a much better Open Sourced game called Racer [racer.nl]...and unlike this game, it's available for Linux...
My guess is this KrackHouse guy probably has a stake in the company...
Honestly, Racer just looks better than this...
Re:Huh? (Score:2)
Re:Huh? (Score:1)
08-07-03: The v0.5.0 source code has been released. This is for Linux actually, though you can make it work on Mac/Windows as well. This is the last source version I will release for Racer (but the executables will still be free as normal).
If the author claims it's not open source, and then the author stops distributing the source, I think that qualifies it as not open source.
Re:Huh? (Score:2)
Unlike most copyrighted works, you can include the code in non-commercial products, Linux Distros can include the game without paying, and there's pretty much no fear of you ever having to pay for the game.
"... why this game?" (Score:2)
Re:Huh? (Score:3, Informative)
Possibly because with LFS if you go flat out down the road, and crash into the wall, you don't go flying into the air, thru the scenery, and then thru the floor into a void..?
Or maybe beacause theres opponents to race against, either AI or on servers the game can find for you?
Or it might be that the keyboard controls (once you work out how to use they keyboard) arent entirely digital, so when you press the left cursor to turn,
Re:Huh? (Score:1)
Re:Huh? (Score:1)
No publishers? (Score:4, Insightful)
Who do you think pays the developers while they make the game? Very few developers are in a position to publish a game without any outside funding. Web-based games are cheap to make, but does the world really need another Bejeweled rip-off? Who is going to pay for the 3 year development of a game and the engine license in the first place?
Then lets talk quality control. Its the publisher who does the QA. Now I know we all have different opinions about how well that works, but it is something. Along with quality control goes support. Who is to say there would even be a serious customer support webpage, let alone a call and email center?
Patches? See above for cash. Once the game is out the amount of money earned is basically set. The chance of extended support with patches is even more unlikely.
Broadband support is not ready. If you don't believe me, look how the Counter-strike population shot up once it became a retail product. That was a free game in the first place, but since it was a huge download it didn't REALLY blow up until someone could walk into a store and buy it at retail. Broadband is spreading but its just not there yet. Is a couple thousand units sold enough to justify making a top quality game in the first place? Enemy Territory was recently released and even at the delicious price of 0 it only has less than 8000 users online at a time. Assuming TEN times that many have downloaded it, that is eighty thousand units. 80k units at $50 each (yeah right for an online buy) = 4 Large. Blizzard (chosen because I could easily find the info) has about 150 employees. The sales from that game would earn each employee an average of 27k per year. For exactly one year. They definitely need a larger base than that, even given the well rounded up and generous numbers.
Then there is the physical product itself. There are so many questions there. Sure, I can make a backup copy once it is downloaded, but what if there is a problem with the download? Can I download it again for free? Do I have to buy it again because there was connection trouble. Don't have to worry about that if I walk into Best Buy. If the CD is defective they will exchange it for the same title. No thanks, I'll take the box, jewel case, and paper manual any day.
Don't even think about publishers going away just yet. Wallstreet analysts will be the first to correctly predict that one.
Re:No publishers? (Score:2)
Re:No publishers? (Score:2)
No, it's $4 million.
4 large == $4,000.
If you're going to use Italian mathematics please make sure to get the units correct. ;-)
Re:No publishers? (Score:1)
Man I'm glad I'm not Italian.
Zing!
Re:No publishers? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:No publishers? (Score:2)
Oh, I dunno, maybe they originally developed it in their own time, for themselves, and though other people might enjoy it? No, im sure that could never happen. ...what if there is a problem with the download? Can I download it again for free?
Ahem, read the site. You download the full game for free, as many times as you want (all 140MB of it), and its an unlock key youre paying for - until then youre limited to one track and one Car.
Re:No publishers? (Score:2)
Who paid the ppl when they were working on Counterstrike in their spare time? No one? And yet CS is good enough to be a retail product. How can this be? Could it be t
Re:No publishers? (Score:1)
Re:No publishers? (Score:1)
Cheap 3D engines that are "good enough" for commercial useage are quickly becoming commonplace. Most of the lower cost engines aren't bleeding edge when it comes to their featureset but certainly good enough to produce commercial games. Even if bleeding edge features are r
Re:No publishers? (Score:1)
Re:No publishers? (Score:1)
I think a big reason for this is that these low cost engines (I'd include a few others to the list like Torque and the much lesser known Fly3d) have only recently achieved a level of performance/features that would enable a dev team to pro
I've played it, it's good!!!! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:I've played it, it's good!!!! (Score:1)
Quality Assurance (Score:2)
Re:Quality Assurance (Score:1)
Re:Quality Assurance (Score:1)
Re:Quality Assurance (Score:1)
Re:Quality Assurance (Score:1)
Steam (Score:3, Informative)
This is Valve's [valvesoftware.com] technology to perform this kind of function. Not only can it perform a licensing function beyond being a point of purchase, it has the advantages of being an automatic updating/patching system. Because it manages licensing it could be used for "trial" play of a game. Pay $1 to play for a week. Decide if you like it. Pay the difference to buy it forever else your license expires. A risky proposition - but only for those that make crappy games.
Re:Steam (Score:2)
Valve (Score:3, Informative)
Steam lets you download a game you have access to(meaning, subscribed to from steam once the test ends. currently its all free) and play it on the fly. You only download the sounds/maps/textures that are about to be used, so the download time isnt too bad. It caches also, so after the first time you dont notice it as much. This is helping them betatest the new version of Counterstrike much easier, as they can push updates whenever they want and fix minor things without having to wait a few months to release another patch.
While the Steam system works great, Its scarey to think it will enable pay as you play style billing. Who really wants to pay $.50/min to play counterstrike? (example figure, again its currently all free, and in the future they'll start it with comparable prices as a one time fee, but you have no garuntee thats all they'll use it for).
The upside is of course Valve no longer needs a distributer so being bought out would be up to them. This is nice in the face of all the vivendi buyout rumours you see every few months.
Re:Valve (Score:1)
#2. Yeah, who wants to wait for a patch when we can play the broken patch now. Test the game for free for them, and then test the next broken patch some more later? That does sounds like a good deal to me.
and the big #3 What if the Steam server is down? How will you play? I can play my current Steam-free version of Half-life without being connected to the internet! I think the whole offline thing might catch on some day.
Re:Valve (Score:2)
#2 Its optional now, Everyone that wants to test is welcome to, Everyone that isnt dosn't have to. Just dont bitch when 1.6 comes out and theres something you dont like, you had plenty of time to help test and report bugs/inbalances. Personally I have 1.6(steam), 1.5, and 1.3 installed. You're not forced to play any.
#3 Then you dont get to play. Thats why I'm probably not going to use it once they start charging.
Steam (Score:2)
I don't care about boxes... (Score:2)
Another Example: Starscape (Score:1)
A company called MoonPod [moonpod.com] has released a game with the Internet being its primary distribution method.
You can pay more for a boxed copy if you want, but they have an instant-access online purchasing system that turns the crippleware demo into the full version.
The game is an asteroids-style 2d shooter with some turn based strategy mixed in.
I hope to see projects like this in the future from larger game developers. If the savings is passed on to me, I'm all for purchasing games, music, movies, or whatev
Works with Winex 3.1-1 (Score:2, Informative)
Very cool, I might just buy it.
Shelf space on the Internet is infinite (Score:1)
Argh (Score:1)