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The bloating of the PC/Console game store - Occhidiangela - 04-24-2005
Game Stop Weds EB
Does this really matter?
Guild Wars is establishing, I think, a bridgehead in the land of "it's all online, even buying the game. Who needs a damned disc?" Didn't Half Life 2 do something like that as well, with their Steam download schme? Or do I have that wrong?
Do any of you think that it matter that two game store chains have merged?
Occhi
The bloating of the PC/Console game store - Wyrm - 04-24-2005
Well, it somewhat doesn't matter since they've both been basically the same store for quite a while now, just look at the daily deals they both offer.
At the same time though, they've been each others biggest competition: having pricing wars as well as different pricings for used games that have been good for gamers.
Since you brought up Guild Wars, I wonder if this now means that you'll get both preorder items from EB/Gamestop now.
The bloating of the PC/Console game store - Swiss Mercenary - 04-24-2005
In response to Occhi, yes, Half-Life 2 was distributed on Steam... Unfortunately, putting it in as few words as possible - Steam sucked. Big time.
As for the Guild Wars bit, since your pre-order item is activated by punching in your pre-order key (Which you have already received), you'll be getting the item that you were told you would get back when you pre-ordered.
And, yes, Arena.net does want to cut the middle man, and sell expansions on-line - however, they will also be available at stores.
The bloating of the PC/Console game store - WarLocke - 04-24-2005
Occhidiangela,Apr 23 2005, 08:59 PM Wrote:Guild Wars is establishing, I think, a bridgehead in the land of "it's all online, even buying the game. Who needs a damned disc?" Didn't Half Life 2 do something like that as well, with their Steam download schme? Or do I have that wrong?
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On the one hand, this whole 'sell it over teh intarweb' scheme is good because it means I can actually get a game if/when I want it. The Babbages in my local mall has been slowly but surely shrinking its PC section in order to cram more console crap into the store, and I can easily see a day when they eliminate their PC section entirely.
On the other hand, what happens if I buy a game online and then have to reformat? Or my hard drive just dies? Having a physical disk with the data is a nice thing, too. Argh. :(
The bloating of the PC/Console game store - Swiss Mercenary - 04-24-2005
WarLocke,Apr 24 2005, 02:38 AM Wrote:On the other hand, what happens if I buy a game online and then have to reformat? Or my hard drive just dies? Having a physical disk with the data is a nice thing, too. Argh. :(
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The concept is that you can download it again, and activate it through the key that you wrote down in a safe place, or through your account, in the case of Guild Wars/Half-Life 2.
The bloating of the PC/Console game store - Ashock - 04-24-2005
Occhidiangela,Apr 23 2005, 06:59 PM Wrote:Game Stop Weds EB
Does this really matter?
Guild Wars is establishing, I think, a bridgehead in the land of "it's all online, even buying the game. Who needs a damned disc?" Didn't Half Life 2 do something like that as well, with their Steam download schme? Or do I have that wrong?
Do any of you think that it matter that two game store chains have merged?
Occhi
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Occhi, Guild Wars - worth getting or not? Since I just bought a new machine, I never got the chance to play the Beta.
tia
-A
The bloating of the PC/Console game store - pakman - 04-24-2005
I personally think the whole "games over the internet" thing is a bad idea. Yes, I know it attempts to stop pirating and other issues. What about for people that don't have an broadband or cable connection, though? Personally, when I go home over the summer and on Christmas break, I go back to dial-up. Why? We have no need for high speed internet at home. Steam is horrible, the concept is there, but the implementation is a disaster. If I had been at home and installed HL2, I would not have been able to play it because of the validation over the internet issue.
Besides, I don't go to EB or Gamestop, every time I go in there, all I see is console games. I'm not a huge fan of consoles, so I don't really care who takes over whom.
The bloating of the PC/Console game store - Zippyy - 04-24-2005
pakman,Apr 24 2005, 12:42 PM Wrote:I personally think the whole "games over the internet" thing is a bad idea. Yes, I know it attempts to stop pirating and other issues. What about for people that don't have an broadband or cable connection, though? Personally, when I go home over the summer and on Christmas break, I go back to dial-up. Why? We have no need for high speed internet at home. Steam is horrible, the concept is there, but the implementation is a disaster. If I had been at home and installed HL2, I would not have been able to play it because of the validation over the internet issue.Steam was a disaster two years ago. It's stable now. Well, everything is stable except for the friends service, which hasn't been up since 1973.
Besides, I don't go to EB or Gamestop, every time I go in there, all I see is console games. I'm not a huge fan of consoles, so I don't really care who takes over whom.
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The bloating of the PC/Console game store - Occhidiangela - 04-24-2005
Ashock,Apr 23 2005, 11:31 PM Wrote:Occhi, Guild Wars - worth getting or not? Since I just bought a new machine, I never got the chance to play the Beta.
tia
-A
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Hmmm. I enjoyed the play I had in the beta events I participated in, however, I would suggest you ask Skandranon or some of the other RBD GW crowd for a more detailed opinion.
Levels end at 20, multi classed, and "get to the team PvP events" seems to be the idea. I also see GW as having some variant potential.
I'd say give it a whirl.
Occhi
The bloating of the PC/Console game store - LochnarITB - 04-24-2005
Occhidiangela,Apr 24 2005, 02:13 PM Wrote:I'd say give it a whirl.And, on that note, I will add that I received notice yesterday that my copy had been shipped by EB. At this point, I have not decided if I will even play it. All my gaming time is being invested in WoW, which I finally gave in and tried shortly after I pre-ordered Guild Wars. D'oh. :wacko:
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The bloating of the PC/Console game store - Thecla - 04-25-2005
Ashock,Apr 23 2005, 09:31 PM Wrote:Guild Wars - worth getting or not?
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FWIW (I played a few of the earlier GW trials, but none recently), IMO whether or not Guild Wars is worth getting will depend on what you're looking for.
GW struck me as a very mission oriented/competitive game. I think it will have a lot to offer in that regard, as well as in a team vs. team or pvp play, as a kind of rpg/fps hybrid (with plenty of updatable content). I'm not so sure it will work as well in the classic "let's go beat up some monsters" Diablo style. Actually, I think WoW doesn't do so well there either -- it's probably ultimately more an instance-type EQ game than a MMORPG version of Diablo.
On the original topic, myself I would much prefer non-CD internet enabled games than the reverse.
The bloating of the PC/Console game store - Ashock - 04-25-2005
Thecla,Apr 25 2005, 12:08 AM Wrote:FWIW (I played a few of the earlier GW trials, but none recently), IMO whether or not Guild Wars is worth getting will depend on what you're looking for.
GW struck me as a very mission oriented/competitive game. I think it will have a lot to offer in that regard, as well as in a team vs. team or pvp play, as a kind of rpg/fps hybrid (with plenty of updatable content). I'm not so sure it will work as well in the classic "let's go beat up some monsters" Diablo style. Actually, I think WoW doesn't do so well there either -- it's probably ultimately more an instance-type EQ game than a MMORPG version of Diablo.
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So, are you buying it, Clawed One?
-A
ps. Thx, Occhi.
The bloating of the PC/Console game store - Dozer - 04-26-2005
Reminds me of the IGN/Gamespy merger - interesting, but not really that important in the long run.
The bloating of the PC/Console game store - Thecla - 04-26-2005
Ashock,Apr 25 2005, 08:40 AM Wrote:So, are you buying it, Clawed One?
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I'm not sure -- I think I will wait and see how GW looks after it's released before I decide; I did cancel my WoW subscription though...