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Microsoft Clears MechWarrior4 Free Launch
Vamman writes "If you've been following the drama surrounding the free release of MechWarrior4, then you're probably aware that the initial announcement, made last summer, was a bit premature. Now, nearly a year since that announcement was made, MekTek Studios has announced that Microsoft Legal has given clearance for the free release of Mechwarrior4. This move by Microsoft Games couldn't come at a better time for the community, as the owners of MechWarrior are attempting a reboot of the franchise."
Microsoft is evil...but mechs are soooooo cool(and impractical).
Yet Microsoft is evil...
But mechs are really, really cool.
*head explodes*
People replying to my sig annoy me. That's why I change it all the time.
So is Microsoft no longer evil? I'm sure some slashdotters will find a way of turning this nice move by Microsoft into something sinister.
You need to check out this mod, it probably better than anything MS will ever kick out the door. http://www.mechlivinglegends.net/
Releasing the one-before-last as freeware seems a pretty sensible move for anyone marketing a franchise (yes, I know that MS aren't the ones pushing the new MW to market, but this is still relevant).
Releasing Bioshock 3? Put Bioshock 1 out as freeware. You're not going to lose any money, the people who were going to buy it won't wait 3 years just to get it free (especially when you've already released 2). All you do is potentially pull more people into the game who will take a look at it and think "hmm, if I like this one that's 3 years old, maybe I'll like the one they're about to release".
Developers are starting to talk about not wanting to release demos, and instead going with payware. This would allow multiple tiers of demo-type experience for the consumer. For example, with Mass Effect 3, it could work like this:
Tier 1: Freeware of ME1, released onto BitTorrent or equivalent to minimize distribution cost
Tier 2: Payware demo from the current release (perhaps including a full-access version of ME 2)
Tier 3: Full-cost version of ME3
This may be the way forward. I might be okay with losing demos, if I'm going to be able to see previous versions of the game in freeware form.
It's 2010 - people should have learned by now boycotts are useless. The gaming community as a whole don't care about politics and only want to play the coolest games. How did that boycott of Madden work out? What about Left 4 Dead 2?
they didn't release the source code too! My head would explode if somebody rigged up the engine to play turn based Battletech rules.
*ahem*
How's it feel to be strapped into a 45 ton walking nuke reactor at 6am?
Damn fine, that's what. Damn fiiine.
Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
Ok, so where do we download it then?
The current licensee is trying to renegotiate their terms with Topps after plunging into debt via some astonishingly poor management.
There's no such thing as a free launch.
-
sig sig sputnik
Microsoft's intention to "reboot" the MechWarrior franchise would be a good sign of future computer gaming to come, but there are two other issues: copyright and the intentions of the current owners.
The issue is that while the computer gaming rights were being traded around, the MechWarrior name itself was being traded around too. It is currently held by a company called WizKids which has granted full publication rights to Catalyst Game Labs, and is being rather proactive with it.
WizKids was nice enough with Catalyst and the printed game, but I have no idea how they negotiate the licensing of computer games, or how much creative control they're going to exercise over the finished product. Can anyone confirm if this is really a problem?
You cannot truly appreciate Dilbert until you read it in the original Klingon.
I was always told, there's no free launch.
Microsoft owns the IP for BattleTech-related computer games outright.
They initially licensed it to Activision, who either developed in-house or doled it out to third-party companies (Like Zipper Interactive for MW3, and FASA Interactive for the MechCommander series).
Eventually Microsoft bought/absorbed FASA Studios and MW4 was brought in-house.
What is MW4 was initially supposed to be MW3. It's actually a back-port of the Virtual World BattleTech simulator's "Tesla" system. Unfortunately for Activision, FASA Studios (which at that time had never released a game) was behind schedule on both MW3 and MechCommander. Since MechCommander was closer to being finished, Activision jerked MW3 and handed the project to Zipper.
Eventually the Tesla back-port was completed and Microsoft released MW4. What's more, it was actually ported BACK to the Virtual World cockpits as well and become the current "Firestorm" series.
This, actually, is why MekTek has enough experience with the engine (they've been doing development for Virtual World for a couple years now) to re-release MW4.
All of you are forgetting that MW 3 was the pinnacle of the series. And MW 4 was horrible.
http://wwww.zerospeaks.com
This is a good thing. I have a legal copy of MW4:Vengeance, and trying to run it in Vista or Win7 is a nightmare. Because of the SafeDisc protection embedded with the game, my newer gaming rig REFUSES to read the older discs. Checked all of the SafeDisc drivers, and looked the issue up in all of the communities. Sure enough, it's a genuine issue. So - the ulterior motive for Microsoft here could be that they just don't want to waste time/money/resources to fix their failed DRM. Let the community do what they will, it's obviously a strong enough one. I'm just waiting for them to do the same with the Flight Simulator franchise. (The entire Flight Sim team was laid off after FSX. Incredibly sad. Flight Sim, despite being a M$ product, was/is absolutely INCREDIBLE.)
More companies really need to do this to older games! Starcraft sort of did it by including a no CD "crack" in one of their updates a few years back. Dungeons and Dragons Online went free to play after several years of falling $15/month subscriptions. Now I think they have more players than they did at the peak of their subscriptions! Newegg included a free copy of Rainbow 6 Vegas 2 in one of my orders just labeled "free gift" and I totally love it! It made me seriously consider playing other versions (until the reviews said they sucked). There's no better way to get someone involved in a series of games than giving them an older version of it for free. It reeeeeally makes them wonder how awesome newer versions of the game are.
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F.Feedback
What are your favourite *free* or open source PC games? Action, shooters, adventure, strategy (Does anyone play Freeciv?), whatever? What are the *coolest* free games in graphics, story, etc? Cheers.