Good Old Games Not Really Gone

[Steve Butts]

Good Old Games Not Really Gone

When an announcement appeared on GoodOldGames.com [http://www.gog.com] Sunday saying that the company was "closing down the service," many gamers were understandably worried about their rights to access digital versions of the games they had purchased from the website. Despite assurances that the company would find a way to make those games available in the near future, the statement mystified many gamers. But the prospect of having access to the games again, and the company's statement that GOG.com "cannot remain in its current form" led more than a few to speculate that GOG.com was merely being relaunched or folded into a larger service.

Today, GoodOldGames.com confirmed those speculations by announcing a new, redesigned website. The company's spokespeople, dressed as monks, revealed the details of the redesign and also announced that Baldur's Gate would be added to the service. The site has been made easier to use, which is a claim so common to these presentations that it's almost not worth repeating. (No one ever says of a redesign, "We wanted to make the site harder to navigate.") Users will also have the option to create mixes of certain games that share specific associations.

It's quite a marketing stunt, and it seems that GOG.com feel these misleading statements and the inconveniences caused to its customers is a fair way to generate buzz for the relaunch. Gamers who paid for digital copies of games through GOG.com were told that the service was closing and were unable to access the content they owned for a few days and, given the ambiguous nature of digital media ownership, GOG.com may have generated an unnecessary amount of negative interest in its brand.

A statement on GOG.com reads:

"First of all we would like to apologize everyone who felt deceived or harmed in any way by us closing down GOG.com without any warning and without giving access to your games. We apologize for that from the bottom of our hearts!"

In talking with PC Gamer [http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/09/22/gog-com-apologise-for-hoax-closure/], GOG.com goes further to say, "we don't have a huge marketing budget and this why we could not miss a chance to generate some buzz around an event as big as launching a brand new version of our website."

A counter on the site reveals that the new version of GOG.com will launch tomorrow morning at 8am EST.


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[Lost In The Void]

This makes me happy, I was so sad when this news was announced and now I'm much more excited about it

 

[Ldude893]

Well, THIS is a relief.

Wait...the spokesmen dressed as monks? Why don't they have a picture of that?

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

That is a terrible marketing stunt.

I will never use that site because of this. And I've been considering a few purchases prior to the shutdown, since these old games can run on pretty much anything.

 

[Casimir_Effect]

I actually think this is a pretty good marketing stunt as now people are more aware of the main drawback of digital downloads. Their pull is that you download the entire downloader. If you back that shit up right, you will never need their website again. Whereas if Steam dies, you be right screwed.

Perhaps they should have done it another way. But this did get them a load of exposure and I imagine most of the people declaring they will never use the site will do say in the future. Where else can you get some of the games they sell (optimised for current OS) without going to piracy? And if you don't think you'll ever want games that old, then the site wasn't meant for you anyway.

 

[Joe Deadman]

The confrence was kinda cool. I still feel this was all a bit silly though.
Oh also apparently they'll be making more videos as the timer counts down (4 I think they said).
Here's the first:

 

[linwolf]

Well I think it's a bit tactless way to promote their site.
Will buy something from them in future probably, but they have lost some of my respect.

 

[Jhereg42]

I was pretty sure this was coming mostly because of the "in it's current form" comments, so I was not too worried. Hopefully this won't hurt them, because CD Projeckt is one of the "Good Guys" in the industry.

 

[Zer_]

Yeah, pretty much what I thought.

 

[Matt_LRR]

to be fair, I'd never even heard of GoG until this relaunch, so, worked for me, I guess.

-m

 

[Aisaku]

That was scary... going to backup my purchases as soon as it's back online.

 

[dududf]

Bit of a dick move. But effective.

I guess I'll give gog a bit of a peep.

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

we don't have a huge marketing budget and this why we could not miss a chance to generate some buzz around an event as big as launching a brand new version of our website

Translated from marketroid to english:

"We are assholes who are perfectly fine with lying to people if it gets us money"


Seriously what is so hard about "we are re-launching the website with a new look, to celebrate we are having a 10% off everything sale".

Congrats on making sure I never buy anything from your site because it can no longer be trusted.

 

[cerebus23]

it was a great marketing thing cause how many websites covered it and how many people that never heard of it posted in those articles?

 

[TLatshaw]

This was almost as cheesy as making the audience clap for Tinkerbell during a community theater production of Peter Pan.

 

[Sartan0]

Hmm I better add my bookmark back then. As long as it is still DRM free I am so picking up a few of those games.

 

[Ekonk]

Bit of a dick movie. But effective.

I guess I'll give gog a bit of a peep.

"Dick movie"

I know though. I feel like I don't wanna check it out because of this prepostorous stunt. But I never knew about it, so it might be good.

 

[Moriarty70]

to be fair, I'd never even heard of GoG until this relaunch, so, worked for me, I guess.

-m

That's been the story about all this. So many people hadn't heard of the site but would have been customers if they had. I've been in since day one and people are still amazed whenever I mention what they're about. The best way to put it is that GoG is my Messiah.

I think everyone who's acting really upset about this is just ashamed that they got "punk'd". They'll start using it again the moment they see a game that makes them say "I remember that game, I loved it!"

 

[mjc0961]

I'd never heard of them before this, but they pretty much guaranteed that even though I do know now, I won't give them a single cent.