Pricewatch!

Originally Posted by Fnord
Vampire the masquerade: Bloodlines (one of the best games of all time) is currently on sale on Steam.

Originally Posted by JDR13
It should be illegal to sell VtM:B that cheap.

I have to agree with these guys. Pick it up for $4.99 if you don't already own this one.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/2600/

Runs just fine at 1080p with Windows 7 and the modding community is still supporting the game with new unofficial patches and fixes as recently as a couple months ago.

Nice, got both 2W2 and (finally!) VtM:B, together for under EUR 18!

Divinity 2 Dragon knight saga is currently 75% off on gamer's gate:
http://se.gamersgate.com/DD-D2KNS/di…a?caff=2620971

I have seen Sims Medieval for cheap on Ebay - is it safe to buy it used or is this game bound, too ?

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
I have seen Sims Medieval for cheap on Ebay - is it safe to buy it used or is this game bound, too ?

What do you mean 'bound'? I have it on my Mac (and PC), and it is an EA game, but doesn't have always-on DRM or anything. Not sure about Origin requirements now …

I think he means user-bound, as in: once it's activated, it's tied to an account. Like Steam or GFWL.

Yes, that's what I mean. Dragon Age was bound as well if I remember correctly …

Not really a cheap price, but anyway … : I was astonished to find Terraria boxed today. Says 20 Euros. Steam is required.

It occurred to me that the borders between online games and "steamed" games (read : originally offline games, but then again online games, because a permanent online connection is REQUIRED, unless you use that "offline mode") begin to blur. I think now that Steam is the Death of all Offline games.

Many German players who would love to play "Satinav's Chains" have said in the official TDE forums that they will boycott it because of Steam.

Germany is different than the rest of the world. Ha !

An update : Yesterday I have seen "Burntime" as well. Someone has brought it out and published it on CD.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burntime

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
Many German players who would love to play "Satinav's Chains" have said in the official TDE forums that they will boycott it because of Steam.

And they are totally wrong to do so. Daedalic is the world's most productive adventure game publisher & developer at the moment. They need Steam to maintain their international business. The boxed business for adventures is dead outside of Germany. Germany alone isn't big enough to make a living. See the Daedalic post at Adventure-Treff for more details.

So far Steam rufused to carry their adventures. Deep Silver opened the door for them. Thanks to their Dead Island blockbuster they have a much better relationship with Valve now.

So again, Daedalic needs Steam to survive. They can't compromise at the Steam thing. They must push this through now, because they have a chance to prove to Valve that their games sell. Then maybe Valve allows Deadalic in as a publisher.

It's make or break time for Daedalic. They would be well advised to leave everybody behind who wants to boycott Steam. It's not unlikely Steam sales will overcompensate the loss by factor 10.

Skyrim once again at the $40 pricepoint over at Newegg. Free Shipping too.

@Gorath : Well, that might be. But German pen & paper RPG players are very conservative - or that's how I see it.

And personally - I really tend to see "steamed" games more and more as "online games".

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
@Gorath : Well, that might be. But German pen & paper RPG players are very conservative - or that's how I see it.

And personally - I really tend to see "steamed" games more and more as "online games".

To both points: Would you rather have no games at all?

According to Daedalic they will go bankrupt if they can't do business internationally (without being cheated).

If that's true they can't be considerate of luddites. You can't build a growing business on a shrinking user base. You have to go where the potential user base is. If this means leaving the most conservative customers behind, then I guess Daedalic will find the right way to say "Fuck off, and don't let the door hit you on the way out!".

"Online games" is nonsense. Maybe you should rather try it with a cheap game while on sale instead of reading tea leaves all the time. Just buy a 10€ game with the typical Steam disclaimer at your local store. Then type in the Serial number and download the current version, in the language of your choice, from Steam. No need to enter any personal data. Then start the game once, switch offline mode on and enjoy all the advantages Steam has.

Originally Posted by Gorath
To both points: Would you rather have no games at all?

Yes. Definitely yes, because I want to OWN a game, and not RENTING it. That's the difference: it's pretty simple.
I admit that having Steam (or any other similar platoform) is comfortable enough for me, and it allows me to save physical space, but DRM and stupid mini-expansions politics are slowly killing this market as we know it, or badly they're shaping it in a way that I simply don't like, nor understand.
So I can see the point in distributing the game via Steam, but I can equally understand who wants to boycott it.

Originally Posted by Ball_Breaker
Yes. Definitely yes, because I want to OWN a game, and not RENTING it. That's the difference: it's pretty simple.

In this context very selfish. If they don't make the game, nobody can play it. If they release it via Steam you can still ignore it and others can play it. You don't lose anything while others gain something if they want to.

For many smaller or niche developers, digital distribution is really the only way to go. They won't sell enough units to warrant the investment needed for a major retail store release, plus the stores wants to promote the big sellers (that they can sell for a higher price), so they will probably feel a bit reluctant diverting valuable shelf space to more niche products.

Yes, but the Daedalic case shows that the problem with digital distribution is the same it always has been with boxed: There's a gatekeeper between the publisher/developer and his potential customers. If Steam says "Adventures are dead", the door is locked.

Steam is not the only digital distributor though (although it is undoubtedly the largest). Gamer's Gate seem to be easier to deal with for niche developers than Steam. Hopefully Daedalic will be able to sign contracts with several of them in the future, rather than limiting themselves to just steam.

They'll certainly sign with whoever they can, but unfortunately Steam is by far the biggest. See the sales numbers for The Witcher 2. It's not clear the numbers on other services rectify expensive English voice-overs. But who would buy an adventure game with German voices and EFIGS subtitles?

I'd rather have native voices and English subtitles. Don't ever listen to anyone finish talking before I start clicking to read the next part anyway.