Good Old Games Beta Launches: No DRM, Folks!

[sixtyfps]

For those of you who like classic PC games and wonder what Steam's parallel-dimension non-control-freak doppelganger would look like, check out Good Old Games (http://www.gog.com):
Before you dive into GOG.com and start spending your money, there are some things you should know. The Early Access Beta allows you to: buy DRM-free games, join the community, add comments, write reviews, rate games and download additional materials to games you've already bought. Every Tuesday is Release Day at GOG.com, meaning that we'll add more games to our catalogue every week. Thursday is another notable weekday, when we announce which games will be added to our ever-growing catalogue the following week. So, what are you waiting for? Create your account (http://www.gog.com) and begin the GOG.com experience!

All games are rebuilt to run on XP/Vista (!!!). I bought the original Fallout games for $5.99 apiece. Their website is snappy, literate, fun, and won't punish you for buying games from them.

[menage]

Fallout? On Vista? Sign me up. Great way to get into the new one.

[Khash]

When I first red this piece I thought, "Wow, a bunch of games I've already played. No thanks.", and then I followed the link and saw Freespace 2...

[Purple Santa]

Oh this is so for me. I never played these classics...I signed on. But now only to find some spare cash...blood selling time...

[Gaz]

Got my sign up code. Oh god... these games are literally just under £3 for the most part, which is not a good price point for my bank balance. I'll probably end up grabbing Shogo first, as I've never played it, whilst most other games I've got a hard copy of them.

[*raoul]

I remember Shogo being pretty good--granted this was ten years ago, but 3 pounds is probably worth it.

[Gaz]

My mistake; it's just over £3. Damn exchange rate. Still, you get wallpapers, soundtracks, avatars, high quality scans of the original manuals and in the case of some games, even more. Like the game itself.

[civil_dead]

Man, I'm not a PC gamer, but this is too good to pass up. Especially for vacations and such.

99% of all the classic PC games talked about here I never played, or even really heard of. The other 1% I remember from seeing the box art as I walked by them at Best Buy. :o

[Varsity]

Now's your chance to make good, then!

[Zander]

This is pretty damn cool. Thanks for the heads up.

[Goronmon]

It hasn't launched yet. It is still in beta. :p

[jpublic]

Grrr. None of my email submissions get replies. :(

[civil_dead]

Grrr. None of my email submissions get replies. :(
Ditto. This is bush league, man.

[Philonious]

How long does it take to get a reply? I've been hankering for some Fallout and, oddly, some Arcanum... Which means that they also need to get Arcanum ASAP.

[Lutheran]

Looks promising

[Primus]

I signed up for this awhile ago and got my key a few days ago. Time to replay all 3 (good) Fallouts!

[Varsity]

How long does it take to get a reply? I've been hankering for some Fallout and, oddly, some Arcanum... Which means that they also need to get Arcanum ASAP.

Probably until the next wave of beta users are accepted, if they are at all before the site goes live.

[drakkarim]

looks very tempting, if their buy it/own it policy translates to me being somehow able to resell the game i buy then i'll happily send a big fuck you to steam, as soon as i find an email address for them anyway.

[jpublic]

How do the DOS games run? Dosbox? Patched EXE? I admit to being far more interested in these games if I can get them to run in WinXP in Windowed mode.

[Mot Wakorb]

Keys are going out on a day-to-day basis, each day a wave of keys is being sent out to ease into the system. I just got mine today, while I know others that received theirs' on Monday.

[Varsity]

looks very tempting, if their buy it/own it policy translates to me being somehow able to resell the game i buy then i'll happily send a big fuck you to steam, as soon as i find an email address for them anyway.

No, you can't resell. Stop being so greedy!

How do the DOS games run? Dosbox?

Yes.

[Wyrm]

This is a good idea.

DAMNIT. Someone stole my idea.

And they did it better, and funnier than I woulda done it.

[Demo_Boy]

DRM-free

I think their pricing will be unsustainable. Watch for price increases soon.

[Syl]

I'm in the beta; and if you sign up for it today; i'm pretty sure that you won't get into the beta until after the 23rd due to the deal they have going on.

That said, the "buy one get one free" deal they have going on for people who "registered before september 7th" has already lead me to buy 6 different games for the total cost of $18.
Fallout 2, Descent 1+2, Sacrifice, Freespace 2, MDK and MDK 2.

They came with soundtracks, they all run on XP perfectly well; and the site itself has LINKS TO MAJOR MODS OF THE GAME in each games subforum. It's pretty fucking amazing.

Once you buy a game, on your account page, you have a link to download said game. Already fully patched, as a single .exe . You can download it as many times as you want onto as many computers as you want as long as you're able to log into the website; It doesn't ask for a single bit of confirmation of anything when you run the install .exe aside from "where do you want to install" and "you might need to install a PDF reader because this game came with a 250 page fucking manual that we've scanned up perfectly for you and might help a little bit".

I'm extremely impressed with the beta so far.

[Varsity]

I think their pricing will be unsustainable. Watch for price increases soon.

I don't think so: it's not like these things need to sell in huge quantities for the site to break even. They've done no advertising at all, aren't having to fund their own titles, have no competitors...

[Panthera]

Sacrifice was bitchin'. Just want to say that.

[Harv]

I still have most of the games on their homepage on CD.

[ElfShotTheFood]

Got my invite this morning. Now it's just to decide what to buy first. ;)

[Kem0sabe]

Freespace 2 is definitly on my list of must buy games from the site, its probably still the best space opera on the pc. My only concern is the visuals, i hope there are some mods out there that improve that aspect of the game.

[F3nyx]

I'm surprised these idiots have the nerve to sell Freespace 2.

Freespace 2 is completely, legally free and has been ever since Volition released the complete source, and there's a gigantic community (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeSpace_2_Source_Code_Project) dedicated to reworking its source code and improving the graphics. And they're really goddamn good at it. Here's a link to the installer: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,42854.0.html (get the EXE version)

[Kem0sabe]

I'm surprised these idiots have the nerve to sell Freespace 2.

Freespace 2 is completely, legally free and has been ever since Volition released the complete source, and there's a gigantic community (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeSpace_2_Source_Code_Project) dedicated to reworking its source code and improving the graphics. And they're really goddamn good at it. Here's a link to the installer: http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,42854.0.html (get the EXE version)

Didn't know that Freespace was freeware now. Is it legal for them to charge for it?

[Emabulator]

I've been waiting for them to launch for a while now. I need a new copy of Fallout II. ;)

[Bumbuliuz]

Picked up Fallout 1 and 2 because I never played them and wanted to see thats all the fuss about. The service and pricing looks good. Im tempted to pick up the Freespace games for the nostalgia factor even though I own the both on discs.

I found this on Wikipedia about Freespace 2 and it implies that the game is not freeware like some people said.

"However, because the source code is under a noncommercial license, it does not qualify as free software."

[digitalErich]

I'm in, but I haven't bought anything, yet. I might pick up Giants:CK again just to support this service.

[Sl1pstream]

looks very tempting, if their buy it/own it policy translates to me being somehow able to resell the game i buy then i'll happily send a big fuck you to steam, as soon as i find an email address for them anyway.

You want to resell a digital copy of a $6 game? Really?

[ElfShotTheFood]

So I did the inevitable/obvious thing and bought Fallout, since I don't have the disc version anymore. One nice thing is that you get not only the game download but desktop wallpapers, manual, forum avatars, and the music soundtrack in MP3 format.

They're having a deal where you buy an Interplay title and then can get a second Interplay game for free, so I'll take them up on that offer.

[net7runner]

If they bring out Baldur's Gate or Planescape Torment I am sunk.

[GraveMatter]

I got Giants:CK and Fallout 2 as my free game....omg my poor wallet......

[Banacek]

Nice, gonna have to check this out. Thanks.

[Rommel]

Ownership rights are not the same as publishing rights.

It is completely legal to sell public domain materials. Ever been to a book store?

[Ravenlock]

Sonofa... so I was logged in and browsing their catalog a couple days ago, but didn't buy anything - now when I go to the site, it's auto-logged me out and there doesn't seem to be a place to log back IN. The homepage just has the "enter your email for early beta access" textbox.

And I deleted the email that had the beta key and the link to where you enter it. So now it looks like I'm hosed and can't take advantage of the buy-one get-one deal. *Grumble*

[PacerDawn]

Sacrifice was bitchin'. Just want to say that.

Sacrifice was good the first time I played it. Then I decided to play again using a different combination. I got all the way to one level that you simply could not win (you literally lost seconds into it), which told me that, if you choose the wrong combo, you are screwed late in the game.

At that point it got shelved for good.

[sixtyfps]

it's auto-logged me out and there doesn't seem to be a place to log back IN. The homepage just has the "enter your email for early beta access" textbox.

And I deleted the email that had the beta key and the link to where you enter it. So now it looks like I'm hosed and can't take advantage of the buy-one get-one deal. *Grumble*

https://www.gog.com/en/frontpage/login !!! :D

[Ravenlock]

https://www.gog.com/en/frontpage/login !!! :D

Was so excited. Tried the link. Took me back to the main page with the "put your email in to be notified" page. Am sad again. :( Thanks anyhow though.

[ElektroDragon]

Wow, I think my new signature quote is very fitting here....

[ElektroDragon]

However.... since I'm a sucker, I'm signing up.