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General discussion (archive)Did GOG run out of GOOD OLD GAMES?!?(110 posts)(110 posts)
(110 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted August 29, 2013
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IAmSinistar: It's not only doable, but already done. I have the Amiga Forever emulator and it runs all the Amiga games I care too. The question is not of possibility, but practicality. Does GOG want to (a) license the Kickstart ROMS, (b) tweak the emulator so that it runs each game optimally, and (c) provide marketing and technical support for the results. This is on top of whether the games will make any money for GOG.

Other emulators are less or more complex, on a case-by-case basis. It is up to GOG to determine if the outlay justifies the return. At the end of the day that is the prime consideration. Not whether it can be done, but whether it can be done profitably.
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Dernagon: Well let's assume that it can be. You've already pointed out that Amiga Forever and Kickstarter have laid the groundwork. You have a product in place that's already done half the battle for you (ala what Dosbox also did). Would tweaking that Amiga emulator be realistically harder than it was to get a lot of these older DOS games to run? Almost all of those other platforms and consoles had more standardized hardware than DOS-based PCs.

And yes GOG would have to assume the liability for technical support, they already do this with all of their currently released games, its really no different.

Profitability, I don't know what the reasonable price point might be. Can the games be sold individually? I imagine that would vary. Newer consoles with "larger" games like say a Playstation title could probably easily be sold as a standalone. Titles from something older like an Amiga. Well it might be more practical to do combo packs from a particular publisher who released multiple titles on that platform. That's really a case by case basis. In principle though, there isn't much difference between what GOG has already done with PC games than they would need to do for other platforms/consoles. The X factor is admittedly on what legalities you might run into with those platform or console owners.
As pointed out many times before - the problem with Amiga is not the emulation (there has been many good ones for ages), but the licenses of the Kickstarter roms.

This is not a problem with DOSBox, and gog can therefore bundle each game with dropbox, but for Amiga games this means there are two options:

1 - Bundle each game with a fully functional emulator, which means each game must be sold with a licensed Kickstarter, which means that the price of the game will be GameLicense + KicstarterRom = MoreExpensiveGame

2 - Sell the emulator and the kickstarter separately, and only sell the game (disk-images) separately. This will bring down the price of the game to be on the same level as all others, but the game will no longer work "out of the box".
Posted August 29, 2013
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amok: As pointed out many times before - the problem with Amiga is not the emulation (there has been many good ones for ages), but the licenses of the Kickstarter roms.

This is not a problem with DOSBox, and gog can therefore bundle each game with dropbox, but for Amiga games this means there are two options:

1 - Bundle each game with a fully functional emulator, which means each game must be sold with a licensed Kickstarter, which means that the price of the game will be GameLicense + KicstarterRom = MoreExpensiveGame

2 - Sell the emulator and the kickstarter separately, and only sell the game (disk-images) separately. This will bring down the price of the game to be on the same level as all others, but the game will no longer work "out of the box".
From a user friendly standpoint and based on the precedent set by GOG so far I would say option 1 is the likeliest candidate. Not that emulators are difficult for a user to operate, but the idea is for all-in-one plug-and-play type products.
Posted August 29, 2013
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amok: As pointed out many times before - the problem with Amiga is not the emulation (there has been many good ones for ages), but the licenses of the Kickstarter roms.

This is not a problem with DOSBox, and gog can therefore bundle each game with dropbox, but for Amiga games this means there are two options:

1 - Bundle each game with a fully functional emulator, which means each game must be sold with a licensed Kickstarter, which means that the price of the game will be GameLicense + KicstarterRom = MoreExpensiveGame

2 - Sell the emulator and the kickstarter separately, and only sell the game (disk-images) separately. This will bring down the price of the game to be on the same level as all others, but the game will no longer work "out of the box".
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Dernagon: From a user friendly standpoint and based on the precedent set by GOG so far I would say option 1 is the likeliest candidate. Not that emulators are difficult for a user to operate, but the idea is for all-in-one plug-and-play type products.
then the Amiga games will be priced up.... and people will complain about the price for old games.

Also - you will end up with a lot of multiple licenses for Amiga roms....
Posted August 29, 2013
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amok: then the Amiga games will be priced up.... and people will complain about the price for old games.

Also - you will end up with a lot of multiple licenses for Amiga roms....
I would think it would depend on the game. The logical way to offset the bang for the buck would be to provide a bundle of games from a particular publisher. We already pay for bundles of older games. There has to be some combination that would be enticing for the users and profitable for GOG.
Posted August 29, 2013
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amok: then the Amiga games will be priced up.... and people will complain about the price for old games.

Also - you will end up with a lot of multiple licenses for Amiga roms....
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Dernagon: I would think it would depend on the game. The logical way to offset the bang for the buck would be to provide a bundle of games from a particular publisher. We already pay for bundles of older games. There has to be some combination that would be enticing for the users and profitable for GOG.
Maybe, but the I see no reason why not get Amiga Forever, which comes bundled with a lot of games already. http://www.amigaforever.com/plus/
Posted August 29, 2013
I'd love to see Mindcraft Software's games and considerably more of SSI's games (strategy and crpg) here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magic_Candle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Strategic_Simulations,_Inc._games
Post edited August 29, 2013 by Nomad_Soul
Posted August 29, 2013
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amok: Maybe, but the I see no reason why not get Amiga Forever, which comes bundled with a lot of games already. http://www.amigaforever.com/plus/
In the case of Amiga games then that is a valid point. But what about other consoles/platforms? Is there no viable argument for any of them? Is there an equivalent for the AppleII platform?
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Nomad_Soul: I'd love to see Mindcraft Software's games and considerably more of SSI's games (strategy and crpg) here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magic_Candle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Strategic_Simulations,_Inc._games
A little off-topic but yes I would pay for close to half of the SSI catalog.
Post edited August 29, 2013 by Dernagon
Posted August 29, 2013
Hmmm... So no traction on the GOG publishing retro sequels or spin-offs...

Alright what about foreign imports? Is there more classic titles that could be imported which were never released in the US but may have been successes elsewhere? Could that be a viable option
Posted August 29, 2013
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Dernagon: Alright what about foreign imports? Is there more classic titles that could be imported which were never released in the US but may have been successes elsewhere? Could that be a viable option
Stop pretending that there's a problem and trying to do GOG's work. Last time I checked the numbers still confirmed that GOG was in fact releasing more and more old games a year (despite the fact that people have been expressing concerns over a lack of more old games for at least two years since when I joined), only the ratio has shifted towards new games and especially indie. 2013 is far from being over, there's already been some pretty awesome classics this year and GOG has announced a lot of classics for the next weeks. We just got another Wing Commander game, Chaos Engine is coming soon - just sit back and enjoy the releases, I'm sure more awesomeness is to come.
Post edited August 29, 2013 by F4LL0UT
Posted August 29, 2013
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F4LL0UT: Chaos Engine is coming soon
Soon?

Are you The Doctor?
Posted August 29, 2013
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amok: Are you The Doctor?
Or a different Time Lord
Posted August 29, 2013
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Dernagon: Alright what about foreign imports? Is there more classic titles that could be imported which were never released in the US but may have been successes elsewhere? Could that be a viable option
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F4LL0UT: Stop pretending that there's a problem and trying to do GOG's work. Last time I checked the numbers still confirmed that GOG was in fact releasing more and more old games a year (despite the fact that people have been expressing concerns over a lack of more old games for at least two years since when I joined), only the ratio has shifted towards new games and especially indie. 2013 is far from being over, there's already been some pretty awesome classics this year and GOG has announced a lot of classics for the next weeks. We just got another Wing Commander game, Chaos Engine is coming soon - just sit back and enjoy the releases, I'm sure more awesomeness is to come.
Fair enough man. It's pretty obvious that the majority of the posters on here are not interested in this type of conversation regardless of whether it may benefit all of us. I don't believe GOG minds listening to ideas or suggestions of the customers. What if we did come up with an idea? Just saying. They aren't going to be offended.

Anyway, for the last time I don't care about the old versus new ratios and never made an issue of that. Had you read my many posts you'd have clearly seen that. I'm unclear how so many people translated ideas about packaging fan-made mods, emulating other platforms, GOG self publishing retro classic sequels, and/or importing unknown foreign titles as me complaining about too many new games and too few old games.

Dern: "Hey guys what might be some great ideas for GOG to explore?"
Forumites: "STFU."
Dern: "That's cool. Great chat guys."
........

EDIT: Maybe I should have started off my topic with that statement in BOLD. I'll admit that. My bad.
Post edited August 29, 2013 by Dernagon
Posted August 29, 2013
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Dernagon: Dern: "Hey guys what might be some great ideas for GOG to explore?"
Forumites: "STFU."
Dern: "That's cool. Great chat guys."
I LOLed for real. Thumbs up!
Posted August 29, 2013
GOG financing and/or self publishing retro sequels/spinoffs to classic IPs or even original IPs.

For instance. Take an unfinished franchise and complete it. I know this isn't the best example (again for licensing nightmare reasons), but look at Interplay's Lord of the Rings RPG from the 90s. They released Volume 1 to relative success and Volume 2 was a very limited release. Volume 3 was never completed. Something like that could be a great opportunity to make a retro game. Again realizing that you'd have to work out licensing with Interplay and the Tolkien Estate, etc.

Why would GOG ever want to do that? It will never be a part of their business model.

Well 5 years ago it wasn't part of the Netflix business model to create and/or finance similar work. Yet, here they are today. They resurrected Arrested Development and are making new episodes. They even took it a step further by making their own original IPs such as House of Cards and Orange is the New Black. Point is that it is an option were GOG to be interested. Self-publishing isn't out of the question or realm of possibility.


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Dernagon: Dern: "Hey guys what might be some great ideas for GOG to explore?"
Forumites: "STFU."
Dern: "That's cool. Great chat guys."
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Nirth: I LOLed for real. Thumbs up!
Is what it is. I expected to usual amount of flack. It is the internet after all.
Post edited August 29, 2013 by Dernagon
Posted August 29, 2013
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Dernagon: Dern: "Hey guys what might be some great ideas for GOG to explore?"
Forumites: "STFU."
Dern: "That's cool. Great chat guys."
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Nirth: I LOLed for real. Thumbs up!
Me too.
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General discussion (archive)Did GOG run out of GOOD OLD GAMES?!?(110 posts)(110 posts)
(110 posts)