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/
I guess Gamestop saw the writing on the wall and knows the console game publishers are trying to find a way to kill off the used game market, a major source of their revenue. How ironic that they jump aboard the Digital Distribution that caters to PC gamers when it was Gamestop that not only abandoned the PC games market but discouraged the promotion and marketing of PC retail games. It's a matter of time that the digital distribution becomes mainstream in the console market as a way to control the sales of their games and help kill off the rent/used game market.
I know I am about a month late to this party, but I literally just learned about this transaction today. What a shame, this transaction only makes want to support Steam even more. I used to view Impulse, Steam, and other digital distribution as the only promoters of PC gaming. I doubt I will buy anymore games from impulse now that Gamestop is calling the shots. Besides, I have my doubts that Gamestop can pull this off, how are they going to win over all the PC gamers they shunned in the past? The only way I see Gamestop actually making this work is trying to position itself as digital distribution system for console games, provided if the console manufacturer's allow for third party distribution systems. The future is looking bleak for Gamestop.
If Gamestop fails, they earned their fail by their previous actions. I think it's sorta ironic that Brad didn't seem to factor in Gamestop's reputation, when Stardock makes extreme efforts to maintain goodwill themselves.
That said, Steam does need a competitor, and Impulse is still the best bet, provided Gamestop is willing to play dirty.
I really don't want Steamworks DRM to become standard, it's just giving too much power to the DD provider for my own comfort.
DRM will be the standard for everything because everything eventually will available online. There will be no purchasing of programs or OS or anything that would normally be considered necessary for a traditional computer to operate: no memory, no HDD, no SSD, no graphics cards, no audio cards... Zilch, nuttin, nada...
All you will need is a computer-like device that will get you to the internet which itself will be perhaps 20-fold broader than the current broadband standard to allow for the biggest loadspeeds to facilitate hardcore gaming, movies and any thing multimedia your hearts will desire. Even schools have the potential of being closed permanently with google-inc's new cloud computing concept.
It will be interesting to see how this concept evolves from the chalk-board to the real world.
-.-
yeah... Aeligos... in about 15 to 20 years maybe even 25 years no offense, I've love to see that now... so I won't have to be an old man by the time we get that stuff.
Until Stardock seperates itself from Impulse/Gamestop I will not be buying any more programs from them. I don't care what digital distribution service they go with but I do not trust Gamestop at all.
I hate to say it, as I wanted to give Gamestop the benefit of the doubt- but the Deus Ex scandal + a general decline in selection and deals means I no longer wish to support Impulse. I hope Stardock gives customers the option of Steam/Impulse/Direct Purchase in future.
Gamestop is playing dirty, but in a way that won't work and will alienate people.
I agree, although I wouldn't want to buy from Steam either, unless the game was not tied to Steam (ie. Steam couldn't take your access away) and also didn't use Steamworks. But direct purchase would be the best option for me if it could be made available for games as well as Desktop applications like Fences.
Best regards,Steven.
As good as Fallen Enchantress looks (and it does look great! Even more so after the UI Dev journal), I'm just not willing to deal with gamestop. This thing with Deus Ex is minor relative to gamestops history. It is a big deal for the precedence it sets. But gamestop does worse. One could have predicted this Deus Ex scenario simply by looking at gamestoppers historical anti-competitive practices. It'll get worse. Already they seek out exclusive digital distribution deals. And just so much more.
I am strongly anti-privacy. But in this case... I bought E:WOM. E:WOM sucked. But Stardock said it would make things right. And it said it some more. They went on and on about the famous support. A year later and the game actually sucks worse than it did at the beginning of the year. But only one guy is working on it. All the others are working on E:FE. But maybe thats okay because Stardock is giving this game for free to everyone who bought E:WOM last year. But then, Stardock goes and sells Impulse (which is our access to this game) to a despicable company. You have to agree to this shady companies terms before gaining access to Stardocks now infamous product support. You either accept gamestops methods or you can't get your game fixed. I don't accept their terms nor their methods.
So, since E:FE is the product support for E:WOM. And since I bought E:WOM last November. Well, maybe I oughta look into a pirated version. I have paid for it since it is the only product support option for E;WOM. So it wouldn't really be pirating would it? I'm not so convinced. And likely won't make E:FE my first and only pirated game. But damnit, why is it there are so many motivations to pirate? The motivations go far beyond trying to get something for nothing. Hell, I thought about buying Civ5 at retail, then destroying the faux install disk and pirating a user friendly version. Bah. It all started turning to shit once gaming got big.
I'll say this- I'm getting the game free, and Impulse is not a bad program, so I won't be boycotting FE.
There's enough good to great games out there, that no individual platform can keep me using it due to exclusive games. Steam can't, so Impulse really can't. Right now I am upset and disappointed with how Gamestop has treated customers since the Impulse takeover. I am upset enough that I am not buying anything on there for the foreseeable future. This will make me less likely to purchase future Stardock games, unless I have alternate methods of acquiring them.
Hopefully Stardock realizes this and their future games won't be exclusive to one distribution site.
I think part of the deal with Gamestop was that Stardock Entertainment needed to remain Impulse exclusive for one year from the takeover. I'm not sure whether there was also a requirement for Stardock to put FE on Impulse. Depending on the terms, they might need to put at least one new game on Impulse.
Gamestop is giving out a $50 gift card to make up for their crap at least on the Deus Ex crap. That was shady, but at least they are doing kinda right...
They're not doing right. They're just making a payoff. Doing right would start with giving all purchasers the free ticket for onlive. Then if they want to pay for an apology, they can give store credit or whatever.
They still achieve their aim. And that is to intercede a competitors promotion. Unfortunately the payoff will have some affect in this "me" society that can't look past the end of it's own nose. Still, I hope that an increasing number of people learn that it is in their own personal interest to not deal with these sorts of companies. They will follow the money. It should be you the consumer that drives the market. Doing business with them is akin to accepting their business practices and all that it entails.
They're all retarded. If you bought the game, you're not going to be using on-live. Severe mental problems are the topic of concern. Whoever it was at GS that thought they needed to worry about this half baked promotion is mentally deficient.
They did fix their mess. I lost trust in them due to this, but they're going to get another chance. They are running out of chances though, and I do wish Stardock would stop being Impulse-exclusive when they are allowed to do so.
How does this purchase or teamup affect the future of Impulse Marketplace? Is it DOA? Are will we still have the option of selling our old games?
Ask Gamestop.
Hey Frog leggs...
What are you guys planning to do to replace the OD interface for the apps I bought? I can no longer download the apps in one tidy spot no longer!
For now, Mark - go to store.stardock.com and click on the MyAccount link, then log in using your email & P/W. You can download all the installers for the individual OD apps there.
A replacement for Impulse is in development.
Two of the 3 announcement links were still active and I read them both. Nowhere did it say anything about PC games. Interesting.
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