Here's a good article that goes into some detail on the Gamestop / Impulse / Stardock team up.
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/31/stardocks-brad-wardell-talks-about-selling-impulse-to-gamestop/
Are you aware of the fact that Gamestop owns Kongregate? That's certainly worth pointing out.
Anyway, I'll refrain from participating in the drama currently going on and take a wait-and-see stance for now. Brad, will Stardock have any influence over Impulse::Reactor's development or is that now purely Gamestop's/Impulse division's job to see to it that the service blossoms into a viable alternative to Steam, as you have originally envisioned?
But it involves promotion space. I have read reports from indie developers, that their sales drop up to 95% when they aren't on the Steam store mainpage anymore. I guess the same is true for Impulse. If Gamestop decides to promote only AAA titles on the frontpage (or even sells the space to the highest bidder), indie developers will certainly get hurt.
That's an excellent point - the indie games I've bought on Impulse have been because I saw them on the front page and was intrigued enough to take a look. I don't normally spend the time to go looking for them in the A-Z catalog.
I feel JUST like Jim Raynor in Brood War when he, Fenix and Mengsk allied with Kerrigan. "I know what you mean Fenix. I'd love to believe that she's on the level but there's a part of me that just knows better...."
From peoples posts about GameStop (MAN what a fitting name...GameS-T-O-P! A permanent STOP to ALL games THEY don't approve of make truckloads of money from) I believe they will do everything in their power to make as much money as humanly possible NO matter what gamedeveloper DIES in agony!
....and selling frontpage space seems SO obvious for them that it stands out like a naked chick on a soccerfield!
I saw this on April 1st and figured it had to be an April Fool's joke. I decided to wait for a few days just to see if that was the case, which is why it took so long for me to respond to this. I have mixed feelings on this. However, I feel that I have reasons to be optimistic on this. For one thing, unless I read wrong, the original team in charge of Impulse is still going to be running it (I believe I read that they were moving to Dallas). However, what I am unsure of is wether or not they or anyone else at Stardock will have any say in changes made (a concern that at least VonVentrue above shares). I think that if that question was answered, it could put some of the irrational fear on these forums to rest. As many specific details as possible would be great, as most of what I've read has been somewhat vague.
I can see where not having to run a digital distribution platform would make it easier to actually develop games. While I'm not sure if Valve running Steam has anything to do with it, last I heard, my friend was still waiting for Half Life 2 Episode 3. Would this have been finished and released already if Valve's attention wasn't divided?
I agree with earlier statements that this deal brings more financial resources to the table to make improvements to Impulse. As far as the core of Impulse is concerned (how my games are attached to my account not my hardware, the archives/backups, not having Impulse running or even installed while playing the game), I would hope Gamestop wouldn't be dumb enough to mess with that, as they would loose a significant amount of Impulse's current customers. As I said before, specific information on this would be great.
I have decided it best not to give into the fear, dissapointment, anger, and, for lack of better description, the outright paranoia of some of the earlier comments. While it remains to be seen what will happen in the future, I sincerely believe that Brad really believes that this deal will work out well for all involved. Time well tell if Gamestop really has our best intrests at heart or have lied to us all including, in my opinion, Stardock. As far as the short term future is concerned, the next game that I'm planning to get, Sins Rebellion, seems to be getting a retail release, so if all else fails, I can buy it that way. I would just like more FACTS and rational discussion about the matter, rather than the fearful/angry opinions that seem to make up the bulk of the posts thus far.
Despite the uncertainty, fear, and hatred... I preordered Sins Rebellion today anyway.
Gamestop has screwed many of us over in the past and might just do it again. However, Brad's stamp of approval does currently have meaning to me and so I am willing to give Gamestop one LAST chance to prove they aren't just another evil empire.
Gamestop executives, if you are monitoring these forums you will see where your reputation currently is, and what you need to do to mend it. Don't disappoint those of us who are willing to "see how it goes".
Anyone know yet how much GameStop paid for Impulse?
A truck load of used games.
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/04/06/indies-vs-gamestopimpulse/#comment-659902 (additional comments farther down, and that one is in reply to the one above it)
If I am understanding it correctly, the number under "Galaxies Served" on their website (http://starruler.blind-mind.com/) is the number of games sold. Currently it is at 16,052. The selling price is $24.99. That would be $100,284.87 of $401,139.48 (which kind of disproves the statement of the person he is replying to that no one makes money on Impulse. It is worth remembering that Blind Mind Studio only has three people at it (including the owner).
I would just ask that people give them the benefit of the doubt.
I know you understand this Brad because you've talked about how beneficial it is to us the end user, that Stardock is a privately held company. You've told us how Elemental was initially profitable; but due to your commitment to post sale support, you've invested resources and made decisions which have guaranteed its unprofitably. How you can make decisions based on long term profitability over short term. Decisions motivated by developer passion and end user experience. How you and your employees are free to participate in community discussions. And more. You tell us these things are not possible with a share held company. I agree. And I respect the way you have done business and appreciate your customer centric decision making. Stardock has been a bright star in an otherwise dull sky. Whereas Gamestop is a blackhole I've learned to steer well clear of.
The executive officers and voting shareholders who've made the decisions to scam their customers and employees are still there. These were calculated decisions not accidents. They made the choice to go to court rather than to pay their employees. They choose to offer a payroll plan which gives them kickbacks on hidden fees. They carefully crafted the hidden fees into customer reward plans. They made the decision to charge a bogus tax on service plans. And more. I judge the corporation based on the decisions of its leadership. The employees have nothing to do with this for they have no say over these things. The employees and department heads can be full of compassionate enthusiasm for the customers they service. Their minds can be full of bright ideas and passion for the gaming world. They can be all starry eyed over all the good things they plan to do for the industry. But they don't have a say in these things. They are given a job. Their bosses ultimately decide for how long and in what way these jobs are done.
A lot of those Impulse copies were discounted, so it's probably less then that.
Yes, but it is hard to factor discounts in. It is rough number that does not consider quite a few things in fact.
Maybe GameStop gave them in-store credit?
I hate gamestop, and refuse to shop there for years now because of their slimely business practices and how often they try to rip off the customer by selling used games for full price. Suffice to say impulse lost a customer, I will not do business with gamestop. Its sad to see Stardock get Souled Out. If Brad really thinks Gamestop cares about the PC Platform and indie developers and the like then he is a big fool, Gamestop does not care.
A small history lesson, Gamestop was the business that killed PC Gaming in brick and mortar Retail, and they did it with a smile. I myself watched for years as their offerings shrunk and shrunk until PC Games was a tiny rack in my town, which is better at least compared to most people i know whom told me PC Racks disappeared altogether in their gamestops. They wont change their stripes, all they want is money since they see how much business steam has.
This move really reaks of selling their soul to the devil in the hopes Gamestop with a foot now in the digital platform can use its resources to kill off Steam.
Nice...
Alright, so I read an interview from PC World concerning the sale and Brad says the following:
If Impulse isn't best of breed technology, then what is, Steam?" says Wardell. "Steam is the most popular, to be sure, but technologically? Let me put it this way. The technology difference between Impulse and Steam is such that any objective developer who looked at the two would overwhelmingly...let's just say the gulf is significant enough that it's not really a 'depends on your point of view' thing.
Would you, Brad, care to expand on this? I know you were just responding to remarks by some analyst, but I got curious anyway. It doesn't really seem to matter if Steam is technologically superior or not. The features available on Steam are just better in my opinion than what's been available on Impulse, or even just better implemented.
I'm not sure what tech either him or GamersGate are talking about here. It's sure not Steamworks, because that has one key feature going for it that Reactor doesn't: it's available. To quote someone else: Shipping is a feature. A really important feature. Your product must have it.
It's pretty relevant because a lot of the push for Steam now comes from Steamworks enabled games, which give the developer a lot of features (achievements and cloud saves are two flashy ones) for not a lot of work. Nobody seems to have an answer to it. There's a comment in this thread from 2009 about THQ using Reactor in Red Faction: Guerella (which I believe also used GFWL).
Well... the sequel to that is using Steamworks when it comes out later this year. So really... it doesn't matter how good the tech is if only one guy has a solution people can actually use.
If we're just talking about the store backend and getting games for sale tech... then maybe. Obviously I've never seen any of that stuff. But clearly the Steam tech is "good enough" given the amount of volume it does, and the GamersGate and soon to be former Impulse heads sniping each other in interviews really doesn't mean much of anything given their vested interests.
Because that's exactly what it is.
Why the heck would I give the benefit of the doubt to someone that has repeatably shown me nothing but contempt?
This right here is truth, I've observed gamestop since i was a teenager, and the sad fact is GameStop has just gotten worse each year. They have done nothing at all to warrant being given the benefit of the doubt. Year after Year all they've done is not only screw over PC Gamers, but rip off all their customers and its debatable as to how negatively they've affected the gaming industry as a whole. EA and other Companies do have poor opinions of GameStop and their alleged Blackmailing for exclusives doesnt help anything either.
Gamestop has proven through action they are well deserved of all the hate they receive, what sealed their fate in my eyes is the whole Lending out new games to their employees and despite being open and used, they sell those to customers at full price as if it it was never used. Much less the fact they open almost all their new games and just have bunches of "display boxes" and try to claim those are new and that its for security. Which is a load of bull since no other retail store like Best buy or Wal Mart or Target ETC do it.
Just wanted to chime in my support for the ponies. All Hail Twilight Sparkle!
I get the pony hookup every Friday that I can. I should totally put on a Pony Avatar.
My biggest concern over the Gamestop sale is the future support for Indie titles we don't really see on Steam. On the other hand, even big retailers like Amazon.com have rolled out good Indie support -- better than Steam. Also, some of the Steam overlay stuff is turning into a memory hog. And what gives with it hiding all the games in that /common subfolder? Irritating. Meaning maybe it's Steam that will eventually turn into an industry dog, here. Despite all its cool features. And the way I keep buying most of my games from it because of its cool features and great deals. How long can they keep that up, really?
We do have other good venues like GoG and GamersGate to which we may turn.
Still, I refuse to be anti-Gamestop just because they are "corporate". Since when did nerd-rage mean anti-corporate? Corporations are the engines that drive computer technology forward. IBM labs, Intel, blixx, I'll say it:
Capitalism, Ho!
Gamestop could do some interesting things. Some online London retailer (name escapes me right now) has an interesting return-credit (buys back your old digital download games for store credit by removing the license) model. Would be interesting if Gamestop implemented something like that.
Anyway, after cruising the forums, I'm now concerned about how gamemakers will support IMPULSE now that it has been sold. I don't want to have any patching problems. I admit I won't buy any newly released titles from Impulse until the dust clears.
For me, though, the lodestone is Indie support. Lots of my favorite games these days are "Indie" releases. Software development seems to have taken a turn back to the old folks-in-a-garage model, and I'm likin' it. If you ain't got the games, you ain't gettin' the dollars. Amazon and GamersGate have most everythin'. Personally, I think I'll buy more from Amazon. I'm comfortable with building a digital library through them.
My two cents (because I had to plug the ponies),
-MrBats
I support plenty of "corporations" in the game industry.
Just not the ones with a bottom of the barrel approach, and that's what Gamestop has shown me in the last 4 years. Like telling me I can't get a game on release day unless I "pre-order", even though they have 100 unclaimed copies sitting in their store. Why? So they can add one more person to their release day pre-order sales figures, to show that "Yes, yes! We have a place in this industry, see?! We're not just milking every last drop of dust we can out of brick and mortar sales!"
And now they want to bring their business acumen to digital sales? Mmmmm yeah, no. I'll go to their competition and sleep better at night.
That first one, is because of Gamestop's mistreatment of retail- forcing employees to shill pre-orders or lose hours. When you need hours, you'll do anything to keep them.
I believe that Stardock was better then the competition. I don't believe that Gamestop is worse. That's how little regard I hold Valve and Gamersgate in.
I'll give Gamestop a chance to rebuild their image, but if they don't, it won't hurt me to write them off- and become a tinfoiler myself.
One thing I've realized if you can't boycott everything though- I don't want to end up living in a shack in a wood, chopping my own trees, and making an "oak" to kill Jerry Lawler in the Mid-South coliseum by cutting myself like an emo with an axe.
Lets put it this way:
When a private company gets too big of a market share it may be a bad thing for consumers.
When a public company gets too big of a market share it will be a bad thing.
This is because share holders own publicly traded companies and they are in it for the money. With a private company there is a small chance the owner(s) may prefer to provide a great service over maximizing profits.
Quick update:
It seems that for one reason or another Star Ruler may be pulled earlier than originally planned.
Link: http://forums.blind-mind.com/index.php?topic=3235.60
Star Ruler is also on sale right now, which is kind of strange. I was pretty tempted to buy it at it's sale price but the uncertainty over when it's going to vanish changed my mind. Maybe it'll go on sale on Steam.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:
Sign in or Create Account
