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Rockstar Republishes Wild Metal For Free
Thanks to several readers for pointing to the download section on the official Rockstar Games site, where they've just released full PC title Wild Metal (also sometimes known as Wild Metal Country) for free download. The page explains: "Another vintage title from Rockstar North, then known as DMA Design, Wild Metal (1999) is a 3D strategic vehicular combat game." The game originally debuted on the Sega Dreamcast, with the PC version getting a limited release, and a C+VG review mentions "this is a good [LAN-specific?] multiplayer game... lots of tanks, lots of ammo, lots of big explosions." The original, top-down view Grand Theft Auto is also available for download on the site.
...for Rockstar! The game would have otherwise been abandon-ware and never again seen the light of day. But they apparently see the value of releasing older games as a marking moev to gain better exposure and build a customer base (those who get the old game today might get a new game tomorrow, and that's money in Rockstar's pockets!)
There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.
Yeah, there ought to be a standard in the industry - develop, sell, wait 5 years, check if the title is ready for the bargain bin and if so, release to the public domain.
It's nothing but good for the developer.
How is Rockstar supporting the open source world? They've re-released a closed-source game (unless I missed the source download link somewhere) and ported it to a more modern closed-source platform.
The original GTA's were not about the Graphics at all, they were all about the game play. It's a top down view of the city and you basically just drive around attempting to complete missions and running the monks over for lots of extra money. The bikes go really fast but are impossible to handle, the tanks run everything over and make everything blow up. All the weapons are basically the same, what this game brings is sass. It's worth the time to play and honestly I enjoy playing it far more than I enjoy playing GTA3/VC
I'm glad Rockstar has this much respect for its gamers. They actually seem to realize that if they lose sales due to people's preference of their old games over their new ones, then it's a problem with the new games, not with the "cheap" people who don't want to play them.
Rob (Of course, I don't think Rockstar is in any danger of slipping into a creative slump, but still)
Whoa, whoa, whoa - put away the tinfoil hat there dude. The reason they don't want others distributing the file (or even links), is because they want people to actually have to stop by their website. Its all about advertising. They give away a free (classic) game, which makes them look good, and attracts attention. Then, people flock to download it from their site - and while they're there, they get to look at all the pretty ads and maybe browse around while they're D/Ling. Spread the word, maybe make a sale or two... all for the cost of bandwidth. If they just let the file run free on BT's and whatnot, no one would have a reason to stop by the R* website. Thats all. :)
Oh, wait, I played this game. Unless you're playing it for multiplayer (which is still crap), it's horrific. I made the mistake of spending 10$ on the Dreamcast version in a clearance bin. Don't waste your time downloading it unless you're playing it with at least 4 people.
To summarize, it has horrid, empty, repetitive landscapes. You end up fighting the controls to v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y climb up cliffs to get at items. If you meet the AI, it'll usually wait until you're in range, and then fire a whole bunch. It doesn't really try to flank you or do anything cool, not that it'd matter (since all tanks tend to be really slow). Sound wise, get used to the sound of a tank engine. That and shooting is all that Rockstar included. There are no music tracks at all. It's one of the bottom 10 Dreamcast games ever released. Naturally, IGN gave it an 83% and called it a "surprisingly deep game once you get into it" -- but they're shills anyways. PlanetDreamcast's review is much better.
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Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
I'm in favor of giving away games for free. Honestly I am. But Sometimes Free Isn't Free Enough explains why game companies should be doing the free games thing a bit differently.
The upshot is: learn from id Software. Their games will now live forever, with no overhead for the developer, because they released their source. Even source releases under a not-quite-free license would be better than a binary-only release. As a bonus, the game assets (graphics, models, music, sounds, etc.) can all be sold for use with the freely available clients, providing a small trickle of income over the longer term.
Anyway, I got flamed for this in the comments on the story when I wrote it, and I expect more, so FLAME ON! :^)
Curmudgeon Gamer: Not happy