Releasing the exact same bundle of games at the exact same price that Steam users got would be a step in the right direction...

Careful what you wish for. It could be regionally-priced. :P

Haven't tried Rocket Ranger by now, but I was quite disappointed with the Amiga emulation of Defender of the Crown. Some parts of it run much too fast (for example raiding a castle) while others were quite sluggish (for example tournaments).

You might look into selling games separately (though bundling a few relevant titles together) here but providing a massive bundle discount (prominently displayed) for people who buy all the games. Or "buy title x, get title y free"-type deals. Just some ideas.

Thanks for the effort.
Does that mean *all* the ones in the anthology be brought to GOG at some point?. Ones like the TV Sports ?? (was one of my favorites back in the day)

Great, let's fight customer abuse with even more customer abuse! Instead of, you know, asking Cinemaware to do this one simple thing and just release the anthology here as well, they are bloody encouraged to put up exclusive content here (read: withhold said content from other paying customers).

Because, hey, they may just find a sucker or two willing to pay $6 for some exclusive bonus content. That's not making good, that's a cash grab. It's customer abuse. And for the love of God you are asking for it.

While the timing and pricing of the Steam anthology is regrettable, it was out of Cinemaware's hands. Instead of nuking all of their plans on GOG and just offering the barebones anthology, they have an opportunity to salvage their standalone releases by offering added value to customers. This whole mess might be a blessing in disguise for those of us that crave bonus content.

What do you think is one of the positives of buying a game on GOG aside from DRM free?. the bonuses of course. And even though some devs are tight (ie Risk of Rain - we get zero bonuses) - its very nice when a dev does include stuff you cant get anywhere else (or at least all in one place).
Steam has more than enough exclusives. Why not GOG?.

Sorry, I don't buy into their "Teh big bad evil publisher did this behind our backs"-narrative. Cinemaware's an American company, right? If the publisher really was to blame, then there'd be lawsuits going off left and right.

Dude, are you aware that the Steam anthology contains all sorts of bonus content? You know, Amiga/DOS-versions, soundtracks and the like? And they're continually adding more content. That's pretty far from barebones.

Every solution other than releasing the Anthology here is just bullshit. And "exclusive" (artificially scarce) bonus content is just a convenient means for CW to justify their bullshit.

It certainly is a blesssing in disguise for Cinemaware, if they learn that they get rewarded for mistreating their customers.

because there is nothing wrong with a bit of double standards!

true...

i use steam , gamersgate and maybe others only for small games, casual games like those small bookworm games, and hiddenobject, unfortuntaley they sell these at extreme high prices, new versions are 9.99 euro or sometime 20 buck :D hahahaha

noway i pay 20 bucks for a digital HOG( hiddenobject game) with drm
i rather wait, then it comes on dutch versions (the texts) for 5 tot 8 euros , on cd/dvd and DRM free.

Based on my limited understanding (and some guessing) about the situation, I think Cinemaware can't legally offer the Anthology themselves on GOG, or anywhere else, as that is a product by another company (Kalypso). Of course they have the rights for the games as such, but not necessarily, and presumably, for the Anthology collection.

I suppose they could make other kind of combinations and bundles of their games, and name them differently though.

Well, let's not rush to judgment before seeing the evidence.
It really all comes down to what exactly those bonuses are. There are some bonuses on GOG which have made me re-buy some games that I already own. So if they can come up with something cool, I think it may well be worth a few dollars. Of course it must be something more than a PDF manual in each case.

I suppose they could terminate their contract with Kalypso if they wanted to, but they would also have their games removed from Steam, and at least for a while, even Wings remake removed from GOG. I don't think it makes any sense for them to even consider that.

The sad fact is, that even a bad publisher deal on Steam will make them more money than self-publishing on GOG. That's simply how the userbase and other things are. For that very same reason, there are games that are exclusively on Steam, but very few that are exclusively on GOG.

Heck, even the Witcher series is on Steam, so being a GOG exclusive is really a bad move financially...

Let the evidence speak for itself then:

Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Exhibit C
Exhibit D

The verdict

The only reason i can see why they didnt self publish themselves is due to retail outlets. I couldnt honestly see myself actually buying the anthology it at retail. I wish they would just take the bullet and terminate the contract with Kalypso and self publish on digital at least.