Direct2Drive moving over to Gamefly, better back up anything you bought

[KaOTiK]

Got an email from D2D tonight.
http://www.direct2drive.com/staticpage.aspx?topic=d2d-transition

Basically they are moving over to Gamefly now and will have their own client (yippy like we need another client). The scary part is this:


Download your favorite game purchases from Direct2Drive. We plan to have as many game files as possible available on GameFly. Just to be sure, please download your old game files before the transition.

Download all of your non-game files (like Prima Guides). These will not be supported by GameFly after the transition.

I'm glad I've only bought games from them.

 

[paperfist]

Glad I only bought Civ V from them and activated it on Steam.

My email sounds a little cloudy on the topic from D2D, but it could be wicked if we are now able to rent PC games.

"Like free games? The Client has hundreds of games labeled "∞" for "Unlimited PC Play." This library of games is free for GameFly members to download and play as long as your membership is active. Free Client Download

Start for free, play for free! If you're new to GameFly, you can start your 30-day free trial membership now to rent games and play these Unlimited PC Play titles for free in the Client! When signing up for GameFly, please use the same e-mail address that you use on Direct2Drive; this will help us connect your accounts in the future."

 

[you2]

Yea; this has me some what I concern; i do not have that many games on d2d; but does this mean they will be lost after the merger ? They should allow you to move them to steam
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Oh well only 2 of hte three games I have from them are non-steam - not a huge loss.
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I should probably downlaod them to my linux raid; not sure if it would be the end of the world if i lost them.

 

[marmasatt]

This is a problem with digital distribution and digital rights protection. I see this trend occuring in the future. If only the huge (or first) platforms, ie Steam are going to prevail, and you have to track down all of your purchases for the other half dozen or so little platforms that keep buying each other out - it's going to be a major inconvenience. It's like Origin and Steam are going to be all that's left. That might be easier in the long run, but a monopoly is not good either.

Edit: My Gamefly account is actually suspended because I had a credit card dispute with them. (They tried to charge me the extra month when I cancelled during the 30 day promotional period). So they won't let me reopen an account (I tried already). So how is this going to affect me for my D2D purchases I wonder?

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

This is why the only games I bought from them were for the keys. They always seemed like a crappy company to me.

 

[you2]

I have nothing bad to say about them; this is clearly a merger (they were likely purchased - sort of like gamespot buying impulse).

This is why the only games I bought from them were for the keys. They always seemed like a crappy company to me.

 

[Craig234]

Ugh. I have 24 games on them.

 

[lupi]

hey look, another reason to not want/use all these online software sellers.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

The free play games are if you're a gamefly subscriber. They have a selection of games that you can install and play all you want for free. I don't know if there's a max # of free games you can have installed at a time but gamersgate is beta testing a similar concept.

Their library of games is pretty limited at the moment.

edit: Their client is in open beta now so you can try it yourself. I also wrote up a quick overview a while back. http://digitalgamedeals.com/gamefly-digital-downloads-beta-preview-and-beta-codes/

 

[RavenSEAL]

Never liked D2D, Steam and GamersGate always had better prices and support.

 

[911paramedic]

I have no idea where I bought some of my games, but I know I have a few from D2D. I'm pretty sure I got my helo sim from them, and a couple others but I just don't remember. Ugh.

Steam or physical copy from now on.

 

[GullyFoyle]

Bought COD:BO and registered key on Steam.
Bought Battlefield 3 and registered key on Origin.

I'm good.

 

[Wyndru]

This is a problem with digital distribution and digital rights protection. I see this trend occuring in the future. If only the huge (or first) platforms, ie Steam are going to prevail, and you have to track down all of your purchases for the other half dozen or so little platforms that keep buying each other out - it's going to be a major inconvenience. It's like Origin and Steam are going to be all that's left. That might be easier in the long run, but a monopoly is not good either.

I agree. I even think Steam is vulnerable regardless of how popular they are right now. Money is a powerful motivator, and I think if someone offered Valve enough $$ they would have no problems selling off Steam. It's unlikely (especially now), but if they ever started having financial problems this could easily become a possibility.

 

[nyker96]

damn I still got some games from them. I need to DL, didn't even play yet.

 

[Skott]

I got the email last night too. I have two or three from them. Bought them dirt cheap too so if I do lose them its not much of a loss really.

 

[aigomorla]

omg WTF is up with game makers and clients.

im getting so tired of having so many clients open..

You got steam, and if ur into BF3, you got origin... and now another?

Seriously.. can someone smart and intelligent realize pretty soon were gonna have more ram taken up just from the loader clients then the actual game?

 

[shingletingle]

Yea; this has me some what I concern; i do not have that many games on d2d; but does this mean they will be lost after the merger ? They should allow you to move them to steam
-
Oh well only 2 of hte three games I have from them are non-steam - not a huge loss.
-
I should probably downlaod them to my linux raid; not sure if it would be the end of the world if i lost them.

How would they let you move every game to Steam when Steam is a different company? Explain that one.

 

[frozentundra123456]

I agree. I even think Steam is vulnerable regardless of how popular they are right now. Money is a powerful motivator, and I think if someone offered Valve enough $$ they would have no problems selling off Steam. It's unlikely (especially now), but if they ever started having financial problems this could easily become a possibility.

Agreed, I am much more skeptical of steam than most on these forums, and am also concerned about such a thing happening to them.

After all, as you said, they are a business, and their primary goal is to make money. Right now it is a win/win for Steam and gamers, but anything could happen.

 

[Via]

Wow, this is really stinky.

With more and more purchases being of the online variety (not only games, but videos and other stuff as well) I think congress needs to do something for the little guy and enact some sort of "grandfather" legislation that requires servers containing games you've purchased to be available indefinitely.

 

[ImpulsE69]

This has always been a risk, not sure why it's a big surprise. That is why digital downloads should NOT be the same price as retail. All of you who preorder and buy digital download games at full retail price are crazy. Retail price has cost of manufacturing, distribution, packaging, etc figured in. Basically when you buy it at the same price as the B&M you are giving them free money. Nothing wrong with that inherently if you enjoy the game I suppose, but there is no guarantee that by the time you actually get to that backlog of games that they will actually be there. I don't know about you, but I have better things to waste money on. (before someone says it, yes, I know they have bandwidth, servers, storage etc), I would need to see some hard figures before I would say it costs as much or the same.

The plus side is, if they move to universal keys (as opposed to keys that only work on certain stores) then all you need is the key and could download the actual game from anywhere (even gasp..torrents).

The plain fact is that they need to stop the "games" from specific stores mentality. This is counterproductive to both the sellers and the buyers. (Just look at the various opinions about Origin, Steam, etc).

 

[frozentundra123456]

Wow, this is really stinky.

With more and more purchases being of the online variety (not only games, but videos and other stuff as well) I think congress needs to do something for the little guy and enact some sort of "grandfather" legislation that requires servers containing games you've purchased to be available indefinitely.

Good idea, but probably not a big priority to congress. I mean they cant even pass a budget.

One reason I liked Direct 2 Drive is that once you downloaded the game you did not have to sign in or anything to play it. So I dont see any problem with direct 2 drive being taken over as long as you have downloaded all the games and backed them up.

Even in offline mode with Steam, you still have to have the client installed I believe, which to me is less desirable that the D2Drive model. What steam has going for it is the prices and selection of games. And the matchmaking, etc, if you are into that, which I am not.

Unfortunately I am afraid what we are ultimately coming to is the always on internet requirement, so that there will not be any real off line mode of any type, even if you purchase the game on Steam or on a DVD. Then we will be totally at the mercy of the distributors for the entire life of the game.

 

[zerocool84]

This has always been a risk, not sure why it's a big surprise. That is why digital downloads should NOT be the same price as retail. All of you who preorder and buy digital download games at full retail price are crazy. Retail price has cost of manufacturing, distribution, packaging, etc figured in. Basically when you buy it at the same price as the B&M you are giving them free money. Nothing wrong with that inherently if you enjoy the game I suppose, but there is no guarantee that by the time you actually get to that backlog of games that they will actually be there. I don't know about you, but I have better things to waste money on. (before someone says it, yes, I know they have bandwidth, servers, storage etc), I would need to see some hard figures before I would say it costs as much or the same.

The plus side is, if they move to universal keys (as opposed to keys that only work on certain stores) then all you need is the key and could download the actual game from anywhere (even gasp..torrents).

The plain fact is that they need to stop the "games" from specific stores mentality. This is counterproductive to both the sellers and the buyers. (Just look at the various opinions about Origin, Steam, etc).

Tons of games, whether you buy retail or digital, still require something like Steam. It seems more and more are going that way so buying retail doesn't mean much anymore.

 

[Red Storm]

I agree. I even think Steam is vulnerable regardless of how popular they are right now. Money is a powerful motivator, and I think if someone offered Valve enough $$ they would have no problems selling off Steam. It's unlikely (especially now), but if they ever started having financial problems this could easily become a possibility.

Steam is the reason why Valve won't have financial problems. They could release all their games for free and still be very comfortable. Think about it, they get a cut from every game sold on Steam. That is huge. It's more important to them than all the game IP they own.

 

[Via]

I'm glad I read this more closely. Looks like I better delete my CC info from D2D.

It's not that I don't trust gamefly (I don't know much about them), it's that I don't like the fact that they're taking my CC info without my permission.

 

[Via]

So I'm back from the holiday for about 24 hours and figured I'd use the time to download all of the games I've never played off of D2D.

Not gonna happen - I'm getting dialup-level download speeds from their servers. I'll be lucky to grab one game at this rate.

Nice.