Yeah its Free, But You Still Gotta Pay For It....
by Jerane Alleyne · in General Discussion · 05/21/2002 (11:41 pm) · 5 replies
Well, its late...I'm taking a break from doing some map textures, so I though I'd rant...
I actually have two things of concern. First:
At the beginning of this month, Gamespot launched its new service, which essentially is a pay service that gets you access to movies, special coverage, higher speed downloads, and so on. now, while some of this is understood (I guess), what really kills me, is that Probably more than half of the material that was free the previous month, you now have to pay for. This not only includes movie reviews, previews and game footage...but screenshots and game reviews! Additionally, free demos can only be downloaded from their servers through the pay service (although this was done earlier).
Now, I can underwstand that the state of online game mag companies for quite some time has been a bit shakey, and this seems to be one of their solutions (IGN and Gamespy to a degree), and this can probably cut down heavy or traffic...but to go so far as to make you pay for screenshots and full text reviews on games, that I think is a bit much. Its true that the service is pretty cheap, but it really doesn't seem fair. Who knows, maybe I'm just cheap :)
I would hope that they try to better balance their strategy in the future...
OK, the next thing...
This has been something that has gone on fo ra bit, and I wonder how long before it fades out...game mods going retail.
I remember when they first announced Counterstrike as a retail game. I personally thought this was one of the silliest moves in gaming business? What kind of profit can you see from a game that has been free for years?? Even with the "Single Player Campaign", would you really buy a game that has no mod support for others, as opposed to getting the original, and having numerous mods available? It makes more sense to package the mod with the game (which was also done), or even better...just release the standalone mod for the console, where it would make more sense profit-wise. I'd really like to see how that UT Mod Urban Warfare actually does, for kicks.
OK, back to work...or maybe sleep...whatever I have time for :P
Jerane Alleyne
==============
Lead Artist, Manager
www.eventalpha.com
I actually have two things of concern. First:
At the beginning of this month, Gamespot launched its new service, which essentially is a pay service that gets you access to movies, special coverage, higher speed downloads, and so on. now, while some of this is understood (I guess), what really kills me, is that Probably more than half of the material that was free the previous month, you now have to pay for. This not only includes movie reviews, previews and game footage...but screenshots and game reviews! Additionally, free demos can only be downloaded from their servers through the pay service (although this was done earlier).
Now, I can underwstand that the state of online game mag companies for quite some time has been a bit shakey, and this seems to be one of their solutions (IGN and Gamespy to a degree), and this can probably cut down heavy or traffic...but to go so far as to make you pay for screenshots and full text reviews on games, that I think is a bit much. Its true that the service is pretty cheap, but it really doesn't seem fair. Who knows, maybe I'm just cheap :)
I would hope that they try to better balance their strategy in the future...
OK, the next thing...
This has been something that has gone on fo ra bit, and I wonder how long before it fades out...game mods going retail.
I remember when they first announced Counterstrike as a retail game. I personally thought this was one of the silliest moves in gaming business? What kind of profit can you see from a game that has been free for years?? Even with the "Single Player Campaign", would you really buy a game that has no mod support for others, as opposed to getting the original, and having numerous mods available? It makes more sense to package the mod with the game (which was also done), or even better...just release the standalone mod for the console, where it would make more sense profit-wise. I'd really like to see how that UT Mod Urban Warfare actually does, for kicks.
OK, back to work...or maybe sleep...whatever I have time for :P
Jerane Alleyne
==============
Lead Artist, Manager
www.eventalpha.com
#2
The gamespot thing is just lame
--KallDrexx
05/22/2002 (2:43 am)
CS retail is mainly for people who don't have Half-life, so It was a good move imho. You can also play ever mod out there but the main HL game and I don't hink you can play the HL expansions (though you might be able to). Eitehr wya I don't doubt it's sold quite a bit.The gamespot thing is just lame
--KallDrexx
#3
Actually, everything-web-for-free is slowly going away, just face it.
What do you think their bandwidth costs are, with all those demos, screenshots and whatnot, vs. revenue from advertisements (which I presume 0.1% of visitors actually CLICK)
Behold the day micropayment is practical.
05/22/2002 (3:50 pm)
You're just being cheap.Actually, everything-web-for-free is slowly going away, just face it.
What do you think their bandwidth costs are, with all those demos, screenshots and whatnot, vs. revenue from advertisements (which I presume 0.1% of visitors actually CLICK)
Behold the day micropayment is practical.
#4
05/22/2002 (4:43 pm)
Unfortunately free-web is shrinking. ISP charge out the wazue for bandwidth and without some sort of revenue, sites just can't maintain anymore cuz ads just don't cut it these days. I just wish ISP's would team up with the popular sites and make some deals. I hate having to pay 40 a month for internet access and on top of that pay 10 bucks for every site I wish to visit.
#5
"Wow, some guy who works part-time at McDonalds just told me he saw the game and he said it rocks and I really care what the thinks... wait. I don't. Why the hell do I care what he thinks?"
I check Ign and Gamespot and other gaming sites less than once a month, and I manage to keep up my knowledge on the stuff worth knowing.
Who cares if Jimmy Jimmy Bean Blasters will only ship with 30 playable characters instead of 32? They think you do... and that's their business.
They're people competing to keep their job, and most do it by writing cartoony BS in place of quality analysis of the game. "I was eating cheese while playing, and then the cat kicked me and I spilled milk all over her wedding dress! Ahhhh, this game rocks! Buy it now for the sake of cheese NOW!"
Unless these sites have gone under a major makeover in the past few hours, they're still just a lot of flashy junk that no one really should care about. Of course, there's always someone who will want to know some unimportant fact about some unimportant game written by some unimportant author. Oh, but he once wrote for PC Gamer so he's gotta be credible!
05/22/2002 (5:14 pm)
Just don't use them. Anyway, who needs online gaming sites?"Wow, some guy who works part-time at McDonalds just told me he saw the game and he said it rocks and I really care what the thinks... wait. I don't. Why the hell do I care what he thinks?"
I check Ign and Gamespot and other gaming sites less than once a month, and I manage to keep up my knowledge on the stuff worth knowing.
Who cares if Jimmy Jimmy Bean Blasters will only ship with 30 playable characters instead of 32? They think you do... and that's their business.
They're people competing to keep their job, and most do it by writing cartoony BS in place of quality analysis of the game. "I was eating cheese while playing, and then the cat kicked me and I spilled milk all over her wedding dress! Ahhhh, this game rocks! Buy it now for the sake of cheese NOW!"
Unless these sites have gone under a major makeover in the past few hours, they're still just a lot of flashy junk that no one really should care about. Of course, there's always someone who will want to know some unimportant fact about some unimportant game written by some unimportant author. Oh, but he once wrote for PC Gamer so he's gotta be credible!
Associate Stefan Beffy Moises
And I will never ever visit Gamespot again, I promise...
almost everything interesting is protected now and you have to pay only too see some screens or videos... that's ridiculous! R.I.P., Gamespot!