@bluesforbuddha @bowlisimo @impynickers I think GOG and Steam are almost alone in the business model built around thoughts like “We’ve accepted that DRM doesn’t work – if people want to pirate then they will pirate, so how do we convince them not to pirate? Build a service that’s better than piracy.”

Gabe recognizes that piracy is a problem with service, not tech, which is something that every damn media company needs to realize. GOG started out with piracy as their biggest competitor and has always been focused on how to beat it. They actually said that more people find out about their service through piracy than from anything else: they find a game on a torrent that came from this “GoodOldGames” place, are convinced to check it out, and end up preferring their service to The Pirate Bay or whatever.

It’s like how the dudes up there still don’t get why Netflix takes up more Internet traffic than TV piracy!

@bowlisimo GOG for the win. They put their heart on their sleeve and win customers by being awesome.
If you can gain the respect of potential customers, would people want to spend money on your products? I hope so. I love the concept of it. Much cozier than the experience I have had chasing after EA for preorder bonuses they promised me. Isn’t it crazy how polarized the industry is?

@beige Oh, for sure. It’s a light in the dark, though they still get pirated just like everyone else. In fact they get criticized for how aggressive they are at going after them, but look! This is what I’m talking about! They didn’t need to do this at all. They could’ve just said, “Well…whatever, tough shit, that’s not our fault.”

I’m taking this from Extra Credits, but it’s my new favorite phrase, “Get these guys some money!”

YesssssssssssSSSSSSSSSUH!

Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom on GoG.

@rocgaude I already bought vanilla Thiev at GamersGate some time ago. How much is the Gold update worth?

What I’m really waiting for is Thief II, which isn’t available digitally anywhere.

You can buy Thief Gold on GOG now.

Quick Squad Service Announcement:

GoG is giving away Empire Earth: Gold Edition free, so long as you claim it before 10.59 GMT on the 14th of December

Also: A belated thanks to everyone who suggested stuff, I’m going to try for each, and to answer Rampant’s question I mean ‘conversion game’ like… if there was a friend who wasn’t into games at all, what’s the one game that you’d show him/her to say “Yeah, this is what it’s all about/is a type of experience you can have in games” powerful stuff that makes an impression, even on doubters. For me for example, I love Ar Tonelico, Star Ocean and stuff like that, but if I want to convince someone? I bust out Persona because it can cross barriers and invest people easier.

@redswir1 Then buy it! Now! You are never going to find those games for cheaper than $2.99 in a format that works on modern machines. The first one is “required reading” — the other two are good, but it’s the first one that is most fondly remembered for most people.

Forget the Vampire game and get Bloodlines, which is 75% off on Steam right now.

Realms of the Haunting is cool but huuuuugely dated.

The Phantasmagoria games are awful but brilliant at the same time.

Ghost Master is good fun.

Haven’t played the rest.

Any suggestions for the Good Old Games Halloween sale guys? I still haven’t bought Gabriel Knight.

I learned all I needed to know about Britannia over a 56k connection on Ultima Online (I could talk for days). Still, free Ultima IV on GoG? *yoink*

Speaking of GoG, not only are 1-3 cheap, but 4 is currently free

Escapist story: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/112721-Best-RPG-Ever-Available-for-Free-Download

Sounds promising!

I LOVED Wing Commander. I loved the story-heavy aspect of it and for that reason even though the space combat was far inferior to LucasArts’ games I always preferred them. Malcolm McDowell in 3 and, particularly, 4 was amazing.

Never played P2, always wanted to. Hope it’s part of the deal.

I’d play Wing Commander IV again if GoG released it, probably not the older games. That 2D space stuff is too old and too rough to go back to now.

Dungeon Keeper, Ultima Underworld, and Wing commander: Privateer being released simultaneously on GOG pierces me with a lance made of nostalgia. 2011 certainly is a year where the titan-like video marketing machine has me and my ilk squarely targeted with pinpoint precision.
The one thing I fear in this world? Being crushed to death by a horde of things I love.

This month at retail my eyes are fixed on Alice: Madness Returns. It looks like a breath of fresh air.
Duke Nukem Forever is coming from the wrong place at the wrong time for me, not that I don’t think there would be a context where I would pick it up … at least out of nostalgia. Probably not at full price.
Infamous 2 looks fun, but ultimately its a franchise I could have waited another year for. Loved the first one, but I am going to wait.

Playstation Store’s relaunch has uncovered some gems that caught my eye. Pixel Junk Shooter 2. Love the first one, and its something I can see myself co-oping all weekend. Parasite Eve, a game that I always meant to try but did not.

Aside from it all, the Witcher 2 still has me enthralled.Though I am fighting the temptation to play the leaked Deus Ex Human Revolution Preview build. I know it will be better if I wait, regardless of my justification.

@shingro If this is the hardest F U I can give to DRM, then so be it.

Also, try visiting a torrent site that has the Witcher 2 on it, you’ll find that pirates are bickering amongst each other and scrambling for excuses. There are some real entitled mother-effers out there.

Edit: Maybe this will scare a few of them, but I doubt it.

So is The Last Express on Good Old Games a big deal or something? http://goo.gl/GpxDY

Okay, same question – Police Quest series. All for $10.

I’ve always wanted to see a straight-up police procedural adventure game and read about these a while ago and how they lead up to the SWAT franchise.

@bowlisimo I’ll probably be in Mass Effect 3 as well. Y’know what, I wouldn’t be surprised if I saw the Nanosuit in those games too.

Anyway, everything from Cyan games is on sale at GOG – Myst, etc. I haven’t played any of those games and am wondering if I need to go over there.

GoodOldGames Christmas Sale has begun: http://www.gog.com/en/frontpage

The one thing I’m looking at is Another World but I’m wondering if this is in fact the definitive version of the game. Does it work better with a controller?

@beige It’s definitely a reflection on our society’s mentality today. All of the old standards and institutions are crumbling apart so there’s a lot of “end of times/apocalyptic” chatter on the collective conscious. Personally, I (and most of us here) like to live on the “let’s build this shit back up to something better suited for us” side of the fence. Happy to be here.

@jeffgrubb …or I could never buy it and not have to worry about upgrade fees at all. Zing! Instead, I recommend hopping over to GOG and grabbing some Infinity Engine classics while that shit’s hot and cheap.

Well, I already did manage to accustom myself to the Dark Engine.

To clarify however:
System Shock 2 – finished, consider superior to BioShock.
Neverwinter Nights – girls have told me to play it.
Vampire Masquerade – sitting on my hard drive.
Dragon Age – sitting on my hard drive
The Witcher – sitting on my hard drive, really enjoyed the first hour.
King’s Bounty Armored Princess – sitting on my hard drive
Torchlight – played an hour, already have enough of this genre

If I decide to go down on this: should I actually play the Infinity Engine games BEFORE I play Dragon Age?

@bowlisimo I just try to be careful as to what I add to my already 100+ game pile of shame (shame meaning games I currently OWN and have yet to boot up). I do what is necessary.

ANYWAY. Black Friday stuff. Retail chains have a couple deals that I guess are gonna be worth waking up at five in the am to grab like Dragon Quest IX (another franchise I’ve timidly danced around) for $17 and Red Dead Redemption (I just haven’t had the time to get around to it I swear) for $29. Maybe GOG will have deals on the Infinity Engine stuff.

Lordy, Red, is the gushing adulation spewed forth on the Infinity Engine games from the entire Internet not enough to convince you that you should at least give them a shot?

Planescape: Torment and Baldur’s Gate II are by far the best games from this batch, but that doesn’t mean you should pass up the others, not by any means. If you’re going to play Baldur’s Gate II, you may as well play Baldur’s Gate first to get the whole story. Planescape stands by itself.

Here are short summations of each one that I’ve played:

Planescape: Lengthy, great story, great writing, LOT of reading. Chris Avellone. Unconventional (for AD&D 2nd Edition) levelling system for protagonist. Imaginative gameworld unlike pretty much anything you have ever dealt with. Floating skull with acerbic wit. Opportunity to beat the game with dialogue. Work of genius.

Baldur’s Gate: Traditional fantasy RPG with some memorable characters and lots to do. Story is decent, but isn’t told as well as some of the future games. Party members, in particular, don’t have much in the way of “sidequests” while they’re with you. This is something which came about with Planescape and BG2. It’s worth playing for the story context, though.

Baldur’s Gate II: Holder of (apparently – to my shame, I’ve never got there) the Best Ending of Any Game, Ever. Sprawling, lengthy adventure set in fantasy world with interesting twists – pseudo-industrial and steampunk elements in some places. In other words, it doesn’t feel like Lord of the Rings. Excellent story and characterisation. Top-notch voice acting. Play it. But if you’re going to play BG first, be warned that the intro to BGII spoils the shit out of BG‘s “big reveal”.

Icewind Dale: Passed over by many as the poor man’s Baldur’s Gate, in practice it’s still a decent game. Much more combat-heavy than Baldur’s Gate and the story doesn’t directly involve the protagonist like BG. Fun, though, particularly in multiplayer.

All of the above involve the “tactical pause” battle system, where battles play out in real-time, but you can pause and “queue” actions at any time, much like the PC version of Dragon Age. It takes time to get used to, but it’s a great system that allows for very strategic combat.

Neverwinter Nights: Excellent if you prefer playing as a single character. Closer in style to the more recent BioWare games like Dragon Age, though technologically inferior. Decent story in the main quest, fantastic story in the expansions, shitloads of downloadable user-made modules available, work of brilliance if you play in multiplayer with a good group.

If you’re the slightest bit interested in excellent, non-linear storytelling and some of the best RPGs ever to grace the PC, you should check them out.

@angryjedi whoooooooooooooo!

Ahem.

Please.

Thank you.

@impynickers Divine Divinity is like a cross between Baldur’s Gate and Diablo. It’s good. Not perfect, but pretty decent, certainly. I also wrote a few blog entries about it a couple of years back and as such “divine divinity” has been in my top searches ever since. That qualifies me as some sort of guru.

Septerra Core is interesting. It’s a JRPG, but made for the PC. I wrote an article about it for GOG a while back, in fact.

Age of Wonders I vaguely remember playing at some point but I can’t remember a thing about it. I may be thinking of one of the many other games with “Age of…” in their title.

@unmanneddrone Colour me interested in a Vampire MMO… were it not for the type of people likely to gravitate towards it. I don’t know; I could be wrong. I’m just not enamoured with the idea of forming a coterie with “TeamEdward069” and “Jacob4eva”. An exaggeration, of course. It might be fantastic, you never know. I’ll retain an air of cautious interest for now.

Also, I just had a spending spree on GoG. Devine Devinity, Age of Wonders, Septerra Core.
I vaguely remember playing demo’s for the last two back when they were popular. I don’t think I ever imagined then that a service like GoG would exist. I know I have heard a lot about Devine Devinity, and it seems like a solid game.

Okay so, people keep telling me that Baldur’s Gate 2 is the good one that I definitely need to play. What about the first one on GOG?

@RedSwirl Now now, I wouldn’t say one is better than the other. Subjectively, indeed, you’ve predilections. One is a cyberpunk horror game, the other a strange steampunk thriller opus. The vanilla System Shock 2 has its faults, especially in regards to weapon degradation and perhaps an even more sloppy last third than what people accused Bioshock of having.

But when all is said and done, to have a slick, smooth and stable System Shock 2 again – with mod support, plus the user-created Ponterbee Station missions etc. etc. – I would be pleased as punch.

By the by, is anyone looking forward to Homefront? Red, weren’t you looking for games involving that against-all-odds freedom fighting aspect? I’m really intrigued by the hometown America fightback, moreso for the level design and nailing the same attention to detail as Alan Wake, Mafia II and K&L2 (the latter simply as a gauge for incredible detail). Maybe a more subtle Freedom Fighters spiritual successor?

GOG how about some goddamn System Shock 2 huh? Give me the ability to install the game on something newer than Windows 98 with a least a modicum of something resembling ease huh? Let the unwashed masses that are the BioShock fanbase finally get to play the better game huh?

GOG.com is back tomorrow at 1pm GMT.

And they’re bringing Baldur’s Gate plus Tales of the Sword Coast with it for $9.99.

They also say they “know the other games you have in mind… and we have the same games in mind, too.”

OMG CAN HAZ TORMENT PLZ?

@bowlisimo From left to right: trooper from Rise of the Triad, Maya from Septerra Core, Professor Tim from The Incredible Machine, Gabriel Knight, King Graham, me, a gravestone.

@angryjedi Who are those last three guys in line?

@RocGaude You’re having the GoG guy on the squadcast?

Also,

Hey. It may all be bullshit and a marketing stunt, but I still raised my glass in GOG’s honour tonight. Let’s hope there’s good news tomorrow. Announcements are inbound, apparently.

@feenwager: Oh, you.

I WILL get around to playing Myst someday. 🙂

That said, I have played quite a few of my GOG collection. Gabriel Knight, The Incredible Machine, Rise of the Triad and Descent in particular. Fond memories.

But…but…wherever will I buy old games I think I want to play but in reality I’ll definitely never really play and probably won’t actually ever install?

@angryjedi Then long live GOG. Hopefully Tom will be able to enlighten us with some of the hows and whys when he’s on the show.

It’s true… GOG is dead… for now, at least. However, two things give me a bit of faith. One, your friend and mine Mr Tom Ohle emailed me back very briefly in an email with lots of smileys telling me not to worry, and that it didn’t mean GOG was going away.

The second thing is that rumours are rife that the CEO of CDP had been spotted speaking on financial forums telling investors to “ignore what was happening on GOG”. The theory is that GOG is leaving beta and relaunching as its final product, possibly with a Steam-style standalone client. This is all based on anecdotal evidence, though. We should know more in the next week.

@bowlisimo Steam at least has a clause in its EULA stating that if they ever go out of business the DRM on all their games will unlock.

@sinfony lol, nice. I didn’t know you could do that, I haven’t messed around with water much. I’ve really just been dwarfing it up inside the mountain, had a dream that I built Dwarrowdelf.

@RedSwirl WHAT?! I loved that service. GoG was fantastic. I had like 9 games there. I hope it’s just a publicity stunt, or at least let me download my games one last time. This is what everyone who uses STEAM quietly fears.

Aw crap. I was intending to eventually buy Another World but never got around to it. They could’ve at least had some kind of massive “Going out of Business” sale.\

You know Fumito Ueda was partly inspired by that game?

Whoah Whoah Whoah, how did we let the death of GoodOldGames get by us?

Has anybody tried to install and play what they got from there? It’s DRM free so everything you bought from there should work… just so long as you actually downloaded it.

I have the install files for every game I bought there sitting on my hard drive but none of them actually installed