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MS & Game Rentals

Posted by samzenpus on from the your-games-have-been-assimilated dept.

pin_gween writes "Technology News says Microsoft has entered an agreement with Exent to provide On-Demand Video Games. So far, only 6 Microsoft games are licensed to the on-demand service (which costs from US$4.95 to $14.95 a month for access to anywhere from 50 to 300 titles). MS titles are "Age of Empire," "Age of Mythology," "Dungeon Siege," "Mechwarrior," "Rise of Nations" and "Zoo Tycoon." Exent lured MS with the "the shelf life can be prolonged and create additional revenue for the publisher not generated by the retail channel"."

16 of 155 comments (clear)

  1. How long until this is cracked? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This is going to be like that Quake shareware CD, free games for everyone!

    1. Re:How long until this is cracked? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      Yes it was cracked shortly after it was released with a program called qcrack. It also gave you access to the full versions of Heretic, Hexen, Doom I, Doom II, and a bunch of other games that were on the CD. It was like Christmas all over again when that crack came out.

  2. Yes... Just what the doctor ordered... by Fallen+Kell · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Because you all know you want those 3-4 year old games for $5-15 month charge when you can buy then for $5 bucks...

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    1. Re:Yes... Just what the doctor ordered... by d34thm0nk3y · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Most of the time I finish a game I never play it again. Most of the movies I watch I never watch again.

      I think a subscription business model for video games and movies is a good idea. You can always buy the ones you want to play over and over...

    2. Re:Yes... Just what the doctor ordered... by NanoGator · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "Because you all know you want those 3-4 year old games for $5-15 month charge when you can buy then for $5 bucks..."

      If the game selection's interesting, I'd much prefer this service. Mainly because I don't like rummaging through bargain bins nor do I typically find them as cheap as $5.

      Then again, anything can be made to sound stupid if you leave out the right details.

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  3. The Borg Jokes Are Dead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful
    from the your-games-have-been-assimilated dept.

    How much farther can geeks beat a joke into the ground? The Microsoft Borg joke wasn't funny to begin with, yet slashdot keeps flogging it to death for some reason. Our of all the topic icons on slashdot, only Microsoft gets the crappy, derogatory icon. Why is that? There's no good reason you guys can't use the MS logo just like for all the others. It's also funny how many Microsoft ads there are on slashdot. You guys hate them so much, yet have no problem taking their advertising dollars. Nice hypocrisy there.

  4. SegaChannel by blueadept1 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    In the 90's there was a thing here called "SegaChannel" by the local cable company (Rogers). It was $30.00 a month, and you got access to about 50-100 games, that changed about half of them every month.

    We need that back! It was probably the most value that I have ever gotten for my money to do with games. (excluding free)

    1. Re:SegaChannel by damiangerous · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It wasn't something dreamed up by your local cable company. The Sega Channel was created by...Sega, and it was pretty much everywhere in North America (and I think the UK too). It was a cool concept, it actually worked, and it had "exclusive downloadable content" like import-only games way ahead of its time. I seem to recall it being $24.95 here (from the now defunct TCI cable). Unfortunately, it came too late in the life of the Genesis to really catch on.

  5. Age of Empire by Meagermanx · · Score: 5, Funny

    Age of Empire. It's like Age of Empires, but with just one!

  6. Sure, why not? by phaetonic · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'd rather download a program via my broadband in a few minutes to an hour sometimes than go to a video rental store only to find the copy they said was available over the phone is not able to be found. However, the titles MS is offering leaves much to be desired.

  7. Only Hardcore Gamers Need Apply by Dr+Tom+Danger · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Oh ya, I can't wait to shell out 14.95 for a solid MONTH of Zoo Tycon. Where does the time go?

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    suck my ping!

  8. a more likely reason by frovingslosh · · Score: 3, Interesting
    "the shelf life can be prolonged and create additional revenue for the publisher not generated by the retail channel"

    I'm not very familiar with the Microsoft game line, but are not most or all of the games offered ones that there has been a follow-up sequel to? Might Microsoft not see this as a way to gain revenue while at the same time use an old version of a game to promote a newer version of the game? I noticed the obvious absence of the Microsoft "Train Simulator" here, the game that even beta testers reported in bug reports "Unable to have fun with this game" and suspect it's because there is no sequel (the game rapidly lost it's shelf space). So while other companies sometimes release an older title into the wild as a way to promote a newer version, Bill has decided to charge users a reoccuring monthly fee for people to receive such promotions of new games. Nothing new there from the way Microsoft normally views their customers.

    --
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  9. XBox 2 by Saiyine · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Maybe is just a purchase in anticipation of a valve's steam like download service for the new xbox 2??

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  10. How about newer games? by antdude · · Score: 4, Insightful

    These games are old. How about a selection of newer games?

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  11. What a Pathetically Stupid Idea by ewhac · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I'm pleased to see that Microsoft has started early in pissing off their distributors and retailers, who really don't appreciate vendors doing an end-run around them, leaving them with shelf stock that's harder to sell.

    That said, I don't think the retailers have anything to worry about immediately, as you'd have to be an idiot to pay $14.95 a month to rent a game you can buy for $20.00.

    I just bought a copy of Dungeon Siege, which included the Legends of Aranna expansion pack, for $20.00 at Fry's. Not only do I own the damn thing and not get dunned every month, but I also don't have to install some insidious piece of spyware/copy-protection enforcement sh*t which phones home reporting my usage and any other damn thing they "need" to know about. Mechwarrior 4 can also be found on the cheap rack for $20.00. And if you really want an amazing bargain, grab Loki's Descent 3 for $4.95, which includes the Mercenary expansion pack.

    This is a really, really dumb idea.

    Schwab

    --
    Editor, A1-AAA AmeriCaptions
  12. Why isn't this more popular already? by AtlanticCarbon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    As other posters have mentioned, we gamers do have the desire to get games over the net. Not only that, a lot of games that don't have much replayability and I'm satisfied with a rental.

    Why are there only old games? What about even selling games digitally (yeah, I'd accept some DRM crap for the convience)?

    So what's the holdup?