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General discussion (archive)Amazon is killing Gamersgate and might one day kill GOG(109 posts)(109 posts)
(109 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted June 13, 2012
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StingingVelvet: I used to get everything non-Steam and non-GOG on Gamersgate, barring amazing sales. The main drive there was that Gamersgate added no real DRM of their own, so you just got the files with whatever the publisher put on it. Similar to GOG you could back the files up and stop caring whether Gamersgate lived or died.

Amazon has now taken over this role however. No DRM of their own, no client to run, no work-around needed and no hassles. Plus they have a better interface and payment setup than GG ever did. They have basically killed GG for me, I would only use GG for a massive sale.

If Amazon delve more into older games I could see them also challenging GOG.
Amazon randomly shows up to curb stomp all kinds of folks. I shit you not Amazon Prime Instant Watch Video showed up randomly the other day on my XBox 360 dashboard and the interface already beats the shit out of the last 3 incarnations of Netflix Instant on my XBox 360. They're dumping tons of content on it, so much so Netflix seems to be panicking and throwing titles like Thor onto Instant Watch.

So yeah, what Amazon has done, and remember they went crazy with this around November of 2011, so it's been just over 6 months, with their downloadable store has been amazing. I think they really do see themselves offering a one stop iPad type device for all media and a set top box (Roku style) for your living room.

I've paid for Prime for 3 straight years and never regretted it. I've returned products for my fault and theirs, never a hassle. I don't honestly know how they manage to be that big and only be douches to other businesses and not customers (come on, the one click thing is kind of douchey, even now, but we've all heard about Bezo's control freak tendencies). I know that sounds "no duh, you don't treat your customers like shit!" but seriously, how many other companies pull that off once they're huge? Yeah, that's what I mean.
Posted June 13, 2012
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mistermumbles: I'm sorry, but... come again? Choosing a different vendor because a person can't be arsed to enter a credit card number for a purchase? Can people become any more lazy? That's taking instant gratification to an even higher level of ridiculousness.

I, for one, prefer my CC info not to be stored on a server, no matter how secure it may be.
Get off your superiority trip man. I've written like 5,000 words in this thread but you're acting like CC# storage is the only factor involved here. It IS an added convenience to just click buy, saying otherwise is silly. On top of a list of other things it could sway me to get a game there rather than here.
Posted June 13, 2012
I find it a bit ridiculous to sell Steam exclusives as downloads. Basically you just sell the serial code. The download is not neccessary and probably also not faster than directly from Steam. Also the prices cannot be that different if you only sell 10 digits and the profit margins should be very small. It makes sense to offer Steam codes in as many distribution channels as possible, but it will not mean there is much competition. How much competition can you make about selling 10 digits with one or two clicks and setting up a website for it?

So neither Amazon nor GG should bother in offering a download for the games that are tied to Steam. Reduce the costs as much as possible. The service is really not needed. You'll have to connect to Steam anyway.
Post edited June 13, 2012 by Trilarion
Posted June 13, 2012
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Trilarion: I find it a bit ridiculous to sell Steam exclusives as downloads. Basically you just sell the serial code. The download is not neccessary and probably also not faster than directly from Steam. Also the prices cannot be that different if you only sell 10 digits and the profit margins should be very small. It makes sense to offer Steam codes in as many distribution channels as possible, but it will not mean there is much competition. How much competition can you make about selling 10 digits with one or two clicks and setting up a website for it?

So neither Amazon nor GG should bother in offering a download for the games that are tied to Steam. Reduce the costs as much as possible. The service is really not needed. You'll have to connect to Steam anyway.
You realize Amazon has about 100 times as many servers as Steam and probably 100 times the bandwidth as well, right? Their datacenters are spread all over the US thanks to EC2, Amazon is in a whole different class from Steam as far as network infrastructure goes.

Essentially, yeah, Amazon download speeds kill Steam's in most of the US.
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mistermumbles: I'm sorry, but... come again? Choosing a different vendor because a person can't be arsed to enter a credit card number for a purchase? Can people become any more lazy? That's taking instant gratification to an even higher level of ridiculousness.

I, for one, prefer my CC info not to be stored on a server, no matter how secure it may be.
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StingingVelvet: Get off your superiority trip man. I've written like 5,000 words in this thread but you're acting like CC# storage is the only factor involved here. It IS an added convenience to just click buy, saying otherwise is silly. On top of a list of other things it could sway me to get a game there rather than here.
I'll add another one, here's an email I got from Amazon.com today:
Greetings from Amazon.com.

You saved $14.97 with Amazon.com's Pre-order Price Guarantee!

The price of the item(s) decreased after you ordered them, and we gave you the lowest price.

The following title(s) decreased in price:

Lollipop Chainsaw
Price on order date: $59.96
Price charged at shipping: $59.96
Lowest price before release date: $44.99
Amount to be refunded: $14.97
Quantity: 1
Total Savings: $14.97
The refund has already been processed. In addition Amazon.com is big enough to negotiate pre-order bonus content for some games (maybe all games soon).

Brand new game for 45 USD: check
Exclusive pre-order content: check
Free release date shipping with Prime: check
Post edited June 13, 2012 by orcishgamer
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussion (archive)Amazon is killing Gamersgate and might one day kill GOG(109 posts)(109 posts)
(109 posts)