Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Atari, ToEE, And P2P Distribution For Games?

Posted by simoniker on from the try-before-you-buy dept.

Txiasaeia writes "In a very strange turn of events, it seems as if Kazaa (and only the 'official' Kazaa, not any of its non-spyware derivatives) is offering a copy of Atari's new PC RPG, Temple of Elemental Evil for download. What makes this particular case unusual is the fact that, once you download the 6-hour time-limited 'demo', you can unlock the full game for $49.95. While Steam has been doing this with Counterstrike, Kazaa is footing the bill for the bandwidth for ToEE, which makes it one of the first times that a major game publishing house has embraced a P2P client as part of its official distribution network. Is this latest move by Atari an attempt to garner media attention (especially with the RIAA and Kazaa in the news), or are they seriously embracing P2P as a legitimate source for game distribution?"

3 of 39 comments (clear)

  1. Not a bad idea... by bjb · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Frankly, this is good not only for P2P by showing a legitimate use, but also for the company distributing the software. First, the company can host it in one place and foots the bill for the bandwidth doing that. Next, someone downloads it to their machine. As long as the consumer keeps the download on their machine (which probably happens more than expected), future downloads can be made from that person's machine, using that person's bandwidth instead of the company's. Quite a good plan, actually. If anything, the company at least saves some percentage of download bandwidth, since at least a handful of them will not be on their bill.

    If this proves successful, it will only help keep P2P around for a lot longer than the RIAA could hope.

    --
    Never hit your grandmother with a shovel, for it leaves a bad impression on her mind...
  2. Correction by emj · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Steam is not a P2P application, it is a way for Valve to control which game you have installed and which games you are allowed to play on the internet with. When SteamBeta was released the first time (~ yr ago) it maxed out the 700Mbps it had allocated, and now when stable they maxed out yet again. Compare this to f.scarywaters.com statistics where the slashdot crowd alone managed to get it to 1.4Gbps (the double) in less than 3hrs... Now P2P certainly isn't the solution for commercial vendors, but for amatuers sure..

  3. KaZaA is a P2P program... by JonoPlop · · Score: 4, Interesting

    "KaZaA will foot the bill for bandwidth?" It's a peer-to-peer program; the users supply the files over their own bandwidth. KaZaA pays nothing.