Prey To Be Digitally Distributed
Gamasutra has word that the Human Head/3D Realms title Prey will be digitally distributed in a manner similar to the Steam service, though not over Steam itself. The Game xStream service, the chosen distribution channel, seems to offer improvements over Steam as well as convenience. From the article: "Gamers will be able to pre-order and pre-load Prey onto their hard drives, ready for instant activation and play upon the official release date...Or, after the official release, players will be able to buy the game and begin playing in minutes, as if the full game was already downloaded. This is what sets Game xStream apart from anything else the industry has seen."
They should save alot of money by skipping publishing and packaging. Will the savings be passed on to us? Also there will probably be some gray area in 'owning' the copy. If it still costs $50 i'd like to have an actual copy that I can back up, or sell later, etc. All the same questions from the HL2 release.
"A key to Game xStream's appeal is its dynamic streaming, which takes place in the background even after the game has been started."
Hope you don't go beating levels too quickly.
I hate Steam, from the little I used it (Original HL/Counterstrike only). I don't like it as a distribution method or a game playing method. When I uninstalled it, it was using a GIG of my hard drive. A gig!
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...is a new distribution service icon in my taskbar for every game developer.
...just posing as a FPS.
A massively complicated character generation process could explain how you could be "playing" within minutes of buying the game...:-)
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Prey was announced back in 1996 after duke nukem. What does 3d realms do all day?
drug law enforcement is modern day witch hunting.
Very strange headline, but OK, I will:
Dear Lord, please make me digitally distributed. Thank You.
I don't see how they expect us to download full games over a 33.6k modem.
Oh, whoops...we were talking about Prey, so I thought it was 1997 for a minute there.
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.
...someone develops a program which manages all the game management programs.
and how long ago was Prey announced? Wasn't this the Quake (1 or 2, I forget) killer from long ago?
It is more productive to voice thoughtful opinions (reply) than to judge (moderate) others.
Look at these screenshots!
http://web.archive.org/web/20011130144626/http://w ww.powerplayinfo.com/
Erm, didn't Steam allow exactly that? If you pre-ordered HL2, it downloaded all the content over the month before the release date, and then at midnight, barring their servers falling over, you could play straight away.
http://atlas.secs.oakland.edu/~lcmatero/prey/histo ry.htmThe history of Prey, the game that could not be
"Champagne for my real friends - and real pain for my sham friends!" http://ericblade.postalboard.com/
There must be a way, because nobody will buy a non-online game you can't play without being online.
his is what sets Game xStream apart from anything else the industry has seen.
Sorry, but I still can't understand what makes this service different than Steam. Looks like the marketing people have been locked up with their game in 3D Realms' basement for ten years.
Hack your mind out of its sandbox.