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The new 1.18a patch to Starcraft: Brood War makes the game free-as-in-beer and remasters the pixel art as well as campaign assets:
For one, it will be preceded by a patch to the 19-year-old StarCraft: Brood War client, and this new 1.18a client will reportedly not change the mechanics of the game. To prove that out, this patched version will still be able to connect to players using the existing 1.16 patch (which came out all the way back in 2009). Among other tweaks, like better compatibility with newer versions of Windows, the new patch will include two important updates: the ability to connect to and play against owners of the upcoming remastered version, and the change to a wholly free product. Once the patch goes live, the original StarCraft Anthology will be free-as-in-beer to download and play in both single- and multiplayer modes.
Also at VentureBeat.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 28 2017, @06:11AM (3 children)
I'm not just picking on Blizzard here. It seems to be a trend that nearly all big game studios (and entertainment studios in general - movies for instance) are facing.
I think this is clear evidence that this money before all culture increasingly invading so many aspects of companies today is ironically not the way to make money. For any poker playing soylentals, it seems akin to a poker player who is afraid to lose their money when playing. For soylentals still with their sanity, that translates to a great way to make sure you do exactly what you're trying to avoid. The symptoms are even the same. Companies are very afraid of taking any risk that they can't precisely measure. Uncertainty and major change is all but completely taboo. Do what you know, and then do it a million times more. If Notch had pitched Minecraft to any major studio he would've been laughed out of the place. "Yeah.. so you wanna make a game where you play with blocks? No story? No hero? No villain? And super pixelated graphics on top of it? I tell you what. I'll fund it. No, not that idiotic idea - but whatever is you're smoking because I want some! Now get outta here!"
All games that are coming out of these studios are increasingly derivative mush that's watered down to the lowest common denominator. Replace games with movies and you have a similarly accurate statement. That said I think we're currently in a serious golden age of gaming but the gems aren't coming from Activision, EA, or Ubisoft. They're coming from small studios in pursuit of fun over profit, yet the profit somehow emerges even in the complete absence of the absurd marketing budgets that these other companies have. We could say that the companies are just doing what works, but it doesn't. Even as the demographic size of gaming has increased by tens of millions on population increases alone (let alone demographic expansion) new consoles sales are a joke compared to the PS2. Adjusted to their per-capita performance they're a really really bad joke. And the "bread and butter" of companies revenues continue to fade. Assassin's Creed Syndicate was a flop, Call of Duty Infinite Warfare was a flop, all of these things are flopping left and right. And the companies frequently blame everything except their own lack of connection with the market. Must be mobile... Yeah, Candy Crush Saga is totally just stealing all the gaming market away. Funny how Minecraft managed to sell tens of millions on PC and console. Guess Candy Crush Saga resonates more with the demographic for Assassin's Creed and Call of Duty, than the demographic for Minecraft. Yeah... that must be it.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Tuesday March 28 2017, @06:46AM
This is also a example of a software company supporting their product after 20 years. That is nearly unheard of.
(Score: 2) by Pino P on Tuesday March 28 2017, @12:34PM
If Notch had pitched Minecraft to any major studio he would've been laughed out of the place. "Yeah.. so you wanna make a game where you play with blocks? No story? No hero? No villain? And super pixelated graphics on top of it? I tell you what. I'll fund it. No, not that idiotic idea - but whatever is you're smoking because I want some! Now get outta here!"
Yet Alexey Pajitnov didn't get the same reaction to Tetris.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Tuesday March 28 2017, @06:25PM
> we're currently in a serious golden age of gaming
Game studios and movie studios have the same problem: Excessive processing power.
Much of the public expects amazing visuals for their cash, so the studios (spending millions to create and promote their stuff) would rather put out a great-looking crummy story than a fantastic story which looks dated. Video chips manufacturers help the studios push the envelope, to sell hardware.
Independents have to generate original stories and experience, because they don't have the AAA/blockbuster budget (and a get-noticed rather than get-return-on-9-figures set of constraints).