6 ms·

I wish they would do this with more games. Give it something like a window after so many years (5/7/10 w/e) then just release them as free. They have made all t

I wish they would do this with more games. Give it something like a window after so many years (5/7/10 w/e) then just release them as free. They have made all the money they are going to from it.

mrduncan 17y ago
I suspect that it's mostly an issue of money. Releasing a game, even for free download, costs money in the form of staff, servers, bandwidth, etc.
- presidentender 17y ago
  If there's DRM involved, the conversion from disc to bare .exe would have a minimal cost involved, I suppose. But releasing your game as a torrent would erase the cost of servers and bandwidth. EDIT: MechCommander was released as a torrent. Microsoft (you know, that Microsoft) owns the IP.
  - klipt 17y ago
    But releasing your game as a torrent would erase the cost of servers and bandwidth. A game via torrent? It's probably already been "released" for them...
    - daveungerer 17y ago
      They only get the promotional benefits if they create an official release.
      - rogermugs 17y ago
        or if some idiot out there finally figures out how to monetize torrent... even an included movie ad or something... or a modified game that shows a boot screen with an advert would be completely acceptable to me.
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]
- Batsu 17y ago
  Not to mention with the advent of digital distributors such as Steam, making an ancient game available for $2 still draws in a couple buyers every now and then without any marketing or much effort. In fact, Commander Keen, a game that was released by iD Software 20 years ago, is available on steam right now for $5. Naturally, there should be some drop off point in sales where the PR becomes more worthwhile than the couple bucks.
johkra 17y ago
I personally like Good Old Games (gog.com), a store for DRM-free and compatibility tested old games. I bought quite some games which are running perfectly well on my notebook with integrated graphics. And since the prices are low enough and I want to encourage this behaviour (DRM-free, tested), I happily pay the publisher of these old games.

I wish they would do this with more games. Give it something like a window after so many years (5/7/10 w/e) then just release them as free. They have made all the money they are going to from it.

mrduncan 17y ago

I suspect that it's mostly an issue of money. Releasing a game, even for free download, costs money in the form of staff, servers, bandwidth, etc.

presidentender 17y ago
If there's DRM involved, the conversion from disc to bare .exe would have a minimal cost involved, I suppose. But releasing your game as a torrent would erase the cost of servers and bandwidth. EDIT: MechCommander was released as a torrent. Microsoft (you know, that Microsoft) owns the IP.
- klipt 17y ago
  But releasing your game as a torrent would erase the cost of servers and bandwidth. A game via torrent? It's probably already been "released" for them...
  - daveungerer 17y ago
    They only get the promotional benefits if they create an official release.
    - rogermugs 17y ago
      or if some idiot out there finally figures out how to monetize torrent... even an included movie ad or something... or a modified game that shows a boot screen with an advert would be completely acceptable to me.
deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
Batsu 17y ago
Not to mention with the advent of digital distributors such as Steam, making an ancient game available for $2 still draws in a couple buyers every now and then without any marketing or much effort. In fact, Commander Keen, a game that was released by iD Software 20 years ago, is available on steam right now for $5. Naturally, there should be some drop off point in sales where the PR becomes more worthwhile than the couple bucks.

johkra 17y ago

I personally like Good Old Games (gog.com), a store for DRM-free and compatibility tested old games. I bought quite some games which are running perfectly well on my notebook with integrated graphics. And since the prices are low enough and I want to encourage this behaviour (DRM-free, tested), I happily pay the publisher of these old games.