GOG.com - Breathing New Life into Old Games

[Rob Williams]

Are you a classic PC gamer looking for a new place to pick up some games? Enter GOG.com. This service currently offers well over 100 titles spanning nearly twenty years, and all are offered at reasonable prices. To make the deal even sweeter, in addition to included perks for each game, there's absolutely no DRM to be found across any title.

You can read our full evaluation of the service here and discuss it here!

[Doomsday]

aa yess. Final Fantasy VII on PC...its Awesome! and Dungeon Keeper 2..oh does it have Dune 2000?! i loved that game soo much! Deus Ex...love tha classics!

Just wondering if GOG.com has taken any extra precautions to avoid OS compatability issues - or do they simply avoid certain games due to these issues?

For instance, I'm a huge fan of Dungeon Keeper 1&2, and would like to play The Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall, but DK tends to not work well on anything past Win98, and Daggerfall requires a DOS emulator or something iirc, (it's been a long time since I've tried it).

Do you know how GOG.com is approaching issues such as these?

Originally Posted by Doomsday

aa yess. Final Fantasy VII on PC...its Awesome!

Yeah, except the part where the motorcycle chase sequence runs at mach 14 due to code that was written back in Windows '95 days.

But it looks like 5 seconds at the GOG.com website may have answered my initial question about compatability:

All games are Vista and XP compatible.

Thanks to our handsome programming team, the classics are now Windows Vista and Windows XP compatible. Now you can use your lightning-fast PC to unleash the full potential of those games you just couldn’t play properly on that busted old 386.

If that's 100% true, then I will be spending some money at GOG.com....

Originally Posted by Doomsday

aa yess. Final Fantasy VII on PC...its Awesome! and Dungeon Keeper 2..oh does it have Dune 2000?! i loved that game soo much! Deus Ex...love tha classics!

Also, none of the games you mention are available...yet. Thanks for getting my hopes up though.

[Rob Williams]

Originally Posted by Doomsday

aa yess. Final Fantasy VII on PC...its Awesome! and Dungeon Keeper 2..oh does it have Dune 2000?! i loved that game soo much! Deus Ex...love tha classics!

I also want Deus Ex! I have a feeling Final Fantasy VII won't happen soon, though. I don't believe Square Enix has ever sold their games via a digital means like this in the past, although that's not to say it will never happen... it'd be nice. BUT, I have to say that to truly experience that game, you need to go back and load up your PS1 ;-)

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Do you know how GOG.com is approaching issues such as these?

Yup, as you've found, the company makes sure to tackle these issues before selling the games. If you do happen to run into an issue, you should be able to find help with their support pages or forum topics. If the game in question is DOS-based, then there won't be a problem, because the DOSBox emulator takes care of everything.

In all the games I've purchased, the only real problem I've encountered was with Pro Pinball: Big Race USA. There, the title screen simply flew by at lightspeed, but the actual game itself runs just fine. I'm not sure why there's an inconsistency, but it doesn't effect the actual gameplay at all.

Originally Posted by Doomsday

Also, none of the games you mention are available...yet. Thanks for getting my hopes up though.

Yes, he was a little misleading there, haha. I'm still holding out for my wishlist I mentioned in the article...

When I started putting together my video game review blog, I realized early that I wanted to review the games I loved: the games that I kept coming back to over and over.

GOG has a lot of those games on hand. Not all of them, but a lot, and the collection grows every week. I'm very impressed with what they do -- and the fact that you actually *own* the game is a real plus. Do DRM, no copy protection, no limited activations. None of that.

Just pure gaming goodness.

I recently reviewed Patrician III, which is -- surprise -- available at GOG.com. Please check it out at LongTailGamer.com, and give GOG some well deserved attention. It's the best gaming deal on the market today.

[Doomsday]

Sorry, but those game remind me of the good old days! i have FF VII on my PC....i played it in 2007 again on my previous P4 on XP service Pack 2. Still play Dungeon Keeper II though, its still rocks! i hope they put on Deus Ex!

[Rob Williams]

LongTailGamer: Great to hear I'm not the only one who loves the service. I just can't wait until the selection grows... there are SO many classics I'd purchase without a second thought. Also, nice blog!

Doomsday: Oh, I know... it's easy to get excited when thinking about older games ;-)

[evilives34]

oh and if anyone didnt know the company that runs GOG made the witcher game for PC last year

[Brett Thomas]

I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with the selection. Like the rest of you, though, I have a HUGE list of games that I hope to see on there. Ultima 7 and 8 really need a proper, stable updating. And (geek hat: on) does anyone remember the OLD Microprose Magic: The Gathering? The one with the world you wander around in? It's been lost to the ages now for so long...you can get it to run in XP but it's a giant PITA.

Oh, what a long list of great games to eventually add...how about the Homeworld series?! Or the old LucasArts X-Wing and Tie Fighter?

[Kougar]

I would second the Xwing vs Tie Fighter.... just make sure it's the Collectors edition, because that one had 2x the resolution, better graphics, and I think it also had the extra expansions rolled in... I'm not sure anymore, there were so many Xwing games in that series!

[Rob Williams]

Originally Posted by evilives34

oh and if anyone didnt know the company that runs GOG made the witcher game for PC last year

As far as I know, that's the only game they've ever made, too. I wonder if they'll make another?

Originally Posted by Kougar

I would second the Xwing vs Tie Fighter.... just make sure it's the Collectors edition, because that one had 2x the resolution, better graphics, and I think it also had the extra expansions rolled in... I'm not sure anymore, there were so many Xwing games in that series!

Alright, toss my hat in for that one as well.

Well, some of the games you guys mentioned are actually available for free. Daggerfall, for instance. Microprose's MTG is too, I think. I don't think they can sell games that are already free...

There's actually a guide on how to install and play Daggerfall on Bethesda's website.

Anyways, GOG really is awesome.

[Rob Williams]

Originally Posted by Thraden

Well, some of the games you guys mentioned are actually available for free. Daggerfall, for instance. Microprose's MTG is too, I think. I don't think they can sell games that are already free...

There's actually a guide on how to install and play Daggerfall on Bethesda's website.

Anyways, GOG really is awesome.

You make a good point. I posted just the other day about downloading free games, and I kicked myself when a couple games I bought at GOG.com could be found there for free (and legally).