Gametap Q&A

[if76]

Gamastura.com (http://www.gamasutra.com) has an interview (http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20050622/handy_01.shtml) with Blake Lewin (founder?) of GameTap, the soon-to-be-launched vintage game distributer.
The idea was to go to the publishers and say, "hey look, you have this back catalog sitting here, just like the film studios did back in the '50s and '60s when TV came along." So what we wanna do is license these catalogs, and create this network in the same way we created Cartoon Network or TCM. They were very amenable to that. Sounds like a great idea but I'd like to see games that I can't already download in the form of a ROM. I want old PC and PSone games.

Editor: It sounds like what the Phantom could have been and isn't.

[TrackZero]

Hrm. Seems an odd choice to put this on the PC. To me it'd make far more sense to team up with Nintendo or Microsoft and use their consoles as delivery systems for this (considering they're both already going after similar 'download-smaller-games for a small fee' markets with the Revolution and Xbox Arcade).

[Babbster]

Sounds like a great idea but I'd like to see games that I can't already download in the form of a ROM. I want old PC and PSone games.

In other words, you want to see games that you can't already easily steal.

If you want old Playstation games, you need look no further than eBay. I just took a glance and there were over 200 pages of listings there. Old PC games are harder to deal with (in terms of compatibility) but they CAN be found as well (again, including on eBay).

[if76]

In other words, you want to see games that you can't already easily steal.

If you want old Playstation games, you need look no further than eBay. I just took a glance and there were over 200 pages of listings there. Old PC games are harder to deal with (in terms of compatibility) but they CAN be found as well (again, including on eBay).

Ok perhaps I'll clarify. I'd like to be able to play old PC and PSone games on an impulse and for a cheap montly fee. While getting into bid wars, filling out the required information, and waiting a week for my product to arrive in questionable condition sounds fun, I'd rather have access to a large library of games that I can download and play when I feel like it.

[if76]

Hrm. Seems an odd choice to put this on the PC. To me it'd make far more sense to team up with Nintendo or Microsoft and use their consoles as delivery systems for this (considering they're both already going after similar 'download-smaller-games for a small fee' markets with the Revolution and Xbox Arcade).

Ok
A.)Why would Microsoft or Nintendo make available a bunch of old games when they're sure to take away profit from their new games?
B.)If Nintendo or Microsoft wanted to do something like this for their systems why on earth would they partner up with GameTap instead of just doing it themselves?

[mister_slim]

Ok
A.)Why would Microsoft or Nintendo make available a bunch of old games when they're sure to take away profit from their new games?
B.)If Nintendo or Microsoft wanted to do something like this for their systems why on earth would they partner up with GameTap instead of just doing it themselves?
Well... Nintendo and MS are both doing similar things, Nintendo with the Revolution and games from their past systems, and MS with the Live Marketplace.

[Derwin]

I really like this idea, it seems like the corporate power of Warner Communications (in which they admit they don't know much about the gaming industry) and the gaming companies that signed on could really make this work.

[Varsity]

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS, Inc.) and America Online, Inc. today announced a three-year agreement to work together to add the AOL® Instant MessengerTM (AIM®) and ICQ® instant messaging services to Turner's new GameTap service.
Oh crap. Please don't mess this up, guys...