Stepping into the chilly waters of ESD

#1 The part about that that I think sucks is that (as I follow it) after spending all that time downloading the thing to play for two or three days, then the copy you "rented" won't function any longer, and if you do decide to buy the game then you have to wait for it to come in the mail.

At least the GG model lets you keep the game you downloaded. Hell, so does RealArcade.

Schnapple

#2 It isn't really the same thing as Garagegames because eb1.com is basically an ESD video(game) store so you only rent the game. You play the game via streaming and you have to download a large buffer at the beginning depending on your connection speed and which game. It also only supports broadband users at the moment. The biggest thing that sucks about it is the download manager for it only supports win 95,98,ME. I went to download Alone in the Dark and I couldnt because I only run win2k.

-Tim aka Spock

#3 Well, there are ups as well as downs to this concept (re: the Alone in the Dark ESD idea): The upside is represented by the fact that broadband users can "rent" the game for an unlimited amount of play for about forty-eight hours. Under ten dollars isn't that bad, considering I've seen one of my friends play games for less time, spending his money on the retail release. The downside is the fact that if enough people played the ESD rental for a short period of time, they might decide that they don't like it, and won't buy the retail release.

However, there is also an up to the downside: Unlike a standard demo, Infogrames will be receiving some money whether or not the player decides to purchase the game after the rental-period is up. This might signify some minor revolution in the method in which players are allowed to play a demo-version of a game. If I were to hand it over to the Slashdot tech-heads who have nothing better to do than hack Linux into a TiVo (that's a backhanded compliment, but a compliment nonetheless), I'd give them less than the demo-period to hack the game into a format that can be played well beyond the rental-period. So, we're probably not looking at a revolution, since there's nothing that can't be done.

I agree that it's completely different than the GarageGames setup, but I think that we should all think hard about getting a good demo out the door prior to -or coinciding with- our games' releases. From demos, we can get feedback, bug reports, et cetera. But that's a different post that's either been done or will happen at some point.

#4 It's only for 48 hours, and I doubt well advertised (I just happened to see it while cruising IGN for other stuff), so I doubt the impact will be quite that much. They are taking a risk, sure, that people won't buy it--but if it is a good product then they'll make money on it. If it's bad, perhaps they are doing this just to make SOME money off it.

#5 T2 is the only game I've ever spent more than $20. The rest of the games I've waited until it's been out awhile and get it at a deep discount (all versions, one boxed set, $39.95 at CompUSA / Best Buy)

Spending $10 to rent a game for a couple of days doesn't do me any good unless I can cash in six months from now and get the game half price.

Also, let's assume I'm a hacker (I'm not)... you're going to give me a copy for 1/5th retail price two days before the retail version is even out!?! Can't beat that.... I'll have it hacked and distributed to my 10 best budddies for $1 a copy.. and before everyone else even gets a chance to play it.