This is my first review, so all feedback is appriciated.
Good Old Games is a digital distribution site, similar to Valve's Steam, that was recently launched by CD Projekt, the Polish game publisher that was behind The Witcher. As the name implies, the site focuses on aquiring distribution rights to games that are both difficult to find and a chore to adapt to non-DOS OS systems and reworking the code so that they are easily available to the public. The project is presently in Beta, but so far looks very promising.
Catalogue - C+
The service is new, and as such it's catalogue is still growing. GOG states in it's FAQ that every Tuesday is release day, and that something new will be available every week. If they live up to that promise, the catalogue should be quite impressive by the time the site completes it's Beta stage and is fully open to the public. So far there are two publishers that are on board, Interplay and Codemasters. The games they pulled from these two publishers make for a very good collection of classic titles. A sample list includes the entire Fallout series, both the core Descent Series and Freespace, Stonekeep, Giants: Citizen Kabuto, Perimeter, and Operation Flashpoint. There is a lot of promise here as well as a lot of room to grow considering that Interplay classics Baldur's Gate, Torment, and Icewind Dale have not been added to the publisher's list yet, but I feel that in order to get a high rating here they will need to get at least two more publishers (Perhaps Bethesda, Eidos, and whoever owns the classic Microprose and SSi rights)to play ball.
Economics - A
The price is definately right. All games run from $5.99 to $9.99, and several come in packages that make them more appealing. Freespace 2 and Descent 3 both come with their expansions at $5.99, and Descents 1 and 2 are combined for the same price. Not bad. Also figuring into the economics is that once the title is purchased you may download it again whenever you want, onto whatever computers you want, with no SecuROM or other copy protection. Other downloadable goodies such as reference cards, game manuals, and wallpapers are released to you when you purchase the game as well. The economic model they are operating under appears to be a winner to me.
Website/Support - A
Setting up an account is a breeze, the actual transaction worked well for me. The catalogue is easy to navigate and offers several different filter options based on publisher, pricing, user ratings, and Genre. These options are, however, expected of any digital distribution site and not enough to bump this up to an A rating. What bumped this item up for me was the site's willingness to test various mods with their updated EXE files and provide suggestions, links, and support for those modifications. Everyone knows that modding can be a difficult proposition with some of these old games, so their willingness to accept the fact that PC Gamers are going to seek out those mods and not only test them but offer links and suggestions was a brilliant move on the part of the community manager. They will also offer added support for members, which for those who have been trying at times to get old games to work properly on their PCs is a godsend.
Community - B+
I did not grade down the community due to any issue major issues of stupidity on the part of it's present membership. So far everyone has been polite and easy going, offering suggestions for mods to be tested and install sequences. Beta comments and suggestions I've looked at were helpful and mature. I think that it has a lot of room to grow, and since the site is obviously in Beta I fully expect it to. The present rating is based upon what I think it could become.
Overall - A
In my opinion this project has a lot of potential and as long as CD Projekt remains dedicated to it's growth this will be seen as a godsend in gaming community. I would suggest that people who have not had the chance to experience many of these games to give it a try.
Good Old Games is a digital distribution site, similar to Valve's Steam, that was recently launched by CD Projekt, the Polish game publisher that was behind The Witcher. As the name implies, the site focuses on aquiring distribution rights to games that are both difficult to find and a chore to adapt to non-DOS OS systems and reworking the code so that they are easily available to the public. The project is presently in Beta, but so far looks very promising.
Catalogue - C+
The service is new, and as such it's catalogue is still growing. GOG states in it's FAQ that every Tuesday is release day, and that something new will be available every week. If they live up to that promise, the catalogue should be quite impressive by the time the site completes it's Beta stage and is fully open to the public. So far there are two publishers that are on board, Interplay and Codemasters. The games they pulled from these two publishers make for a very good collection of classic titles. A sample list includes the entire Fallout series, both the core Descent Series and Freespace, Stonekeep, Giants: Citizen Kabuto, Perimeter, and Operation Flashpoint. There is a lot of promise here as well as a lot of room to grow considering that Interplay classics Baldur's Gate, Torment, and Icewind Dale have not been added to the publisher's list yet, but I feel that in order to get a high rating here they will need to get at least two more publishers (Perhaps Bethesda, Eidos, and whoever owns the classic Microprose and SSi rights)to play ball.
Economics - A
The price is definately right. All games run from $5.99 to $9.99, and several come in packages that make them more appealing. Freespace 2 and Descent 3 both come with their expansions at $5.99, and Descents 1 and 2 are combined for the same price. Not bad. Also figuring into the economics is that once the title is purchased you may download it again whenever you want, onto whatever computers you want, with no SecuROM or other copy protection. Other downloadable goodies such as reference cards, game manuals, and wallpapers are released to you when you purchase the game as well. The economic model they are operating under appears to be a winner to me.
Website/Support - A
Setting up an account is a breeze, the actual transaction worked well for me. The catalogue is easy to navigate and offers several different filter options based on publisher, pricing, user ratings, and Genre. These options are, however, expected of any digital distribution site and not enough to bump this up to an A rating. What bumped this item up for me was the site's willingness to test various mods with their updated EXE files and provide suggestions, links, and support for those modifications. Everyone knows that modding can be a difficult proposition with some of these old games, so their willingness to accept the fact that PC Gamers are going to seek out those mods and not only test them but offer links and suggestions was a brilliant move on the part of the community manager. They will also offer added support for members, which for those who have been trying at times to get old games to work properly on their PCs is a godsend.
Community - B+
I did not grade down the community due to any issue major issues of stupidity on the part of it's present membership. So far everyone has been polite and easy going, offering suggestions for mods to be tested and install sequences. Beta comments and suggestions I've looked at were helpful and mature. I think that it has a lot of room to grow, and since the site is obviously in Beta I fully expect it to. The present rating is based upon what I think it could become.
Overall - A
In my opinion this project has a lot of potential and as long as CD Projekt remains dedicated to it's growth this will be seen as a godsend in gaming community. I would suggest that people who have not had the chance to experience many of these games to give it a try.
