4 ms·

GoG was never a back catalog, does anyone else find it annoying how these "authors" decide they want to write about something and choose something as stupid as

GoG was never a back catalog, does anyone else find it annoying how these "authors" decide they want to write about something and choose something as stupid as talking about how GoG is no longer something it never was?

seanflyon 12y ago
I thought that Good Old Games primarily focused on good old games.
- Jtsummers 12y ago
  http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2008/10/time-to-buy-fallout-2-gog-open-to-the-masses/ http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2008/10/time-to-buy-fallout-2-... One of the earliest articles on it I could find. Updating old, out-of-print games to run under modern Windows versions and selling them was their initial goal. At some later point they began selling more and more recent games (as I recall, some months lag between them and other sources for a while) until they got to their current state of selling both classic and modern games.
  - mreiland 12y ago
    Thank you, that was basically my point. They are not a 'backlog' of games, they're a company you pay to get games working properly on newer versions of windows. What they were is a far cry from things like the abandonware sites.
    - Jtsummers 12y ago
      That wasn't my intent. My intent was to point out that they started off as a back catalog. Sure, they did the heavy lifting of updating the games to run under XP/Vista, but they still didn't offer contemporary games until a few years into their existence. Even now, that's a major reason people go to them: to find old games that aren't available from other (legal) sources with mods already in place to make them playable (plus, it avoids the risk of malware from your pirated copy of Fallout 2).
      - mreiland 12y ago
        right, and valve is also a backlog centric company because it continually adds games that are not coming out at the time it adds them. This is just stupid word play to try and get it to say what you want. They have from the get go been a company that sells the service of selling games. That's it. GAMES. This has not changed, was anyone really shocked when they started selling indie titles? Having a catalog of old games doesn't make you a company with a "backlog", it makes you a company that sells a product that happens to be old games. Because under your criteria, Vavle is a backlog company because it puts old games up on steam. These absurdities result because of the stupidity of trying to define it that way. They are a company who sells a product. That product was originally selling older games repackaged for new OS's, and as they've grown they've started selling more lesser known games, indie games, and finally, current games. Their only real hard claim is that they're DRM free and that's always been the case.
        Jtsummers 12y ago
        You keep writing backlog. Backlog and back catalog (the latter being what the rest of us are talking about) are two different things. A backlog is work you have to do and haven't gotten to yet. A back catalog is a list of a companies products (including out-of-print, obsolete, etc.). But a more general usage applies to Good Old Games as they started, a collection of otherwise out-of-print (in a manner of speaking) games. Indie and contemporary games came later, it's not wrong to talk about their history this way and it's still an image many people have for them. Now, if you think that we're talking about a backlog, then yeah. We'd be fucking morons. I doubt they have a backlog of orders considering their delivery method.
        mreiland 12y ago
        > You keep writing backlog. Backlog and back catalog (the latter being what the rest of us are talking about) are two different things. It's been long enough that I don't recall if it was you or not who originally started using it in that manner. backlog is a shortening of the term 'back catalog', and the poster in question pointed that out, I simply ran with it. Since I don't recall exactly, I won't accuse you of having edited your post, but someone did as I can't find it now, but it was definitely used in that manner. > But a more general usage applies to Good Old Games as they started, a collection of otherwise out-of-print (in a manner of speaking) games. GoG started as a company that made it convenient to play older games by patching/adjust/configuring them to play on newer versions of Windows. That was their service. They weren't selling older games, they were selling the service of making them work on newer OS's. They have never been strictly a "back catalog" company, ever. Never in all of the time that I've been using them have I ever considered them to be an "old game" company. Characterizing them in that way is a mischaracterization. It's like calling MS an OS company because they happen to sell an OS (hint: they're a software company), or calling YCombinator a software forums company because they happen to run software forums. It's stupid.
shmerl 12y ago
For a while, old games were their main focus. Then they changed their strategy. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GOG.com#Rebrand_to_GOG.com https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GOG.com#Rebrand_to_GOG.com
- mreiland 12y ago
  They are not, nor have they ever been, a backlog of games. They started out as a company who charged for making older games work on newer versions of windows. A company, not a backlog of games.
  - seanflyon 12y ago
    They started out as a company making old (back catalog) games work on newer machines. So yes they were never a back catalog, they were a company that maintained and sold a back catalog.
    - mreiland 12y ago
      and MS is a backlog-centric company because they still support a "back catalog" of programming languages like C++ and C# version 1.0. lets stop with the stupidity.
      - seanflyon 12y ago
        Microsoft does support their back catalog, but it is hardly their focus. They focus primarily on current and future offerings of their various products. GoG on the other hand came about as a back catalog company. That is what they did. It's in their name. We all understand that they have branched out and offer new games as well, thus the article about how they are no longer just a back catalog company. I don't understand your hangup about this.
        mreiland 12y ago
        and IBM is still supporting software and hardware from 40+ years ago, are they a back catalog company too? You're trying to redefine words to mean what you want them to mean, I hope you don't approach technical decisions in the same manner. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05WS0WN7zMQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05WS0WN7zMQ

seanflyon 12y ago

I thought that Good Old Games primarily focused on good old games.

Jtsummers 12y ago
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2008/10/time-to-buy-fallout-2-gog-open-to-the-masses/ http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2008/10/time-to-buy-fallout-2-... One of the earliest articles on it I could find. Updating old, out-of-print games to run under modern Windows versions and selling them was their initial goal. At some later point they began selling more and more recent games (as I recall, some months lag between them and other sources for a while) until they got to their current state of selling both classic and modern games.
- mreiland 12y ago
  Thank you, that was basically my point. They are not a 'backlog' of games, they're a company you pay to get games working properly on newer versions of windows. What they were is a far cry from things like the abandonware sites.
  - Jtsummers 12y ago
    That wasn't my intent. My intent was to point out that they started off as a back catalog. Sure, they did the heavy lifting of updating the games to run under XP/Vista, but they still didn't offer contemporary games until a few years into their existence. Even now, that's a major reason people go to them: to find old games that aren't available from other (legal) sources with mods already in place to make them playable (plus, it avoids the risk of malware from your pirated copy of Fallout 2).
    - mreiland 12y ago
      right, and valve is also a backlog centric company because it continually adds games that are not coming out at the time it adds them. This is just stupid word play to try and get it to say what you want. They have from the get go been a company that sells the service of selling games. That's it. GAMES. This has not changed, was anyone really shocked when they started selling indie titles? Having a catalog of old games doesn't make you a company with a "backlog", it makes you a company that sells a product that happens to be old games. Because under your criteria, Vavle is a backlog company because it puts old games up on steam. These absurdities result because of the stupidity of trying to define it that way. They are a company who sells a product. That product was originally selling older games repackaged for new OS's, and as they've grown they've started selling more lesser known games, indie games, and finally, current games. Their only real hard claim is that they're DRM free and that's always been the case.
      - Jtsummers 12y ago
        You keep writing backlog. Backlog and back catalog (the latter being what the rest of us are talking about) are two different things. A backlog is work you have to do and haven't gotten to yet. A back catalog is a list of a companies products (including out-of-print, obsolete, etc.). But a more general usage applies to Good Old Games as they started, a collection of otherwise out-of-print (in a manner of speaking) games. Indie and contemporary games came later, it's not wrong to talk about their history this way and it's still an image many people have for them. Now, if you think that we're talking about a backlog, then yeah. We'd be fucking morons. I doubt they have a backlog of orders considering their delivery method.
        mreiland 12y ago
        > You keep writing backlog. Backlog and back catalog (the latter being what the rest of us are talking about) are two different things. It's been long enough that I don't recall if it was you or not who originally started using it in that manner. backlog is a shortening of the term 'back catalog', and the poster in question pointed that out, I simply ran with it. Since I don't recall exactly, I won't accuse you of having edited your post, but someone did as I can't find it now, but it was definitely used in that manner. > But a more general usage applies to Good Old Games as they started, a collection of otherwise out-of-print (in a manner of speaking) games. GoG started as a company that made it convenient to play older games by patching/adjust/configuring them to play on newer versions of Windows. That was their service. They weren't selling older games, they were selling the service of making them work on newer OS's. They have never been strictly a "back catalog" company, ever. Never in all of the time that I've been using them have I ever considered them to be an "old game" company. Characterizing them in that way is a mischaracterization. It's like calling MS an OS company because they happen to sell an OS (hint: they're a software company), or calling YCombinator a software forums company because they happen to run software forums. It's stupid.

shmerl 12y ago

For a while, old games were their main focus. Then they changed their strategy. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GOG.com#Rebrand_to_GOG.com https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GOG.com#Rebrand_to_GOG.com

mreiland 12y ago
They are not, nor have they ever been, a backlog of games. They started out as a company who charged for making older games work on newer versions of windows. A company, not a backlog of games.
- seanflyon 12y ago
  They started out as a company making old (back catalog) games work on newer machines. So yes they were never a back catalog, they were a company that maintained and sold a back catalog.
  - mreiland 12y ago
    and MS is a backlog-centric company because they still support a "back catalog" of programming languages like C++ and C# version 1.0. lets stop with the stupidity.
    - seanflyon 12y ago
      Microsoft does support their back catalog, but it is hardly their focus. They focus primarily on current and future offerings of their various products. GoG on the other hand came about as a back catalog company. That is what they did. It's in their name. We all understand that they have branched out and offer new games as well, thus the article about how they are no longer just a back catalog company. I don't understand your hangup about this.
      - mreiland 12y ago
        and IBM is still supporting software and hardware from 40+ years ago, are they a back catalog company too? You're trying to redefine words to mean what you want them to mean, I hope you don't approach technical decisions in the same manner. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05WS0WN7zMQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05WS0WN7zMQ