Forums > News > GameFly to launch digital client for PC games
Corn Popper (69027) on 8/9/2011 5:45 PM · Permalink · Report
GameFly, the subscription-based video game rental service, plans to make a dramatic entry this coming holiday into the digital market for PC games. The company announced plans to debut an online digital store for PC games within a digital client that includes a number of other features, such as "Unlimited PC Play." GameFly subscribers will have access to "a large and ever-growing collection of titles" for the Windows/Mac that can be downloaded and played as many times as they want.
Users of the client will able to catalog their video games and create personal customized game libraries to share. In addition, GameFly subscribers will be able to manage their queues for game rentals. The client also includes a store where anyone, including non-subscribers, can pre-order upcoming new release games and purchase used games.
The new desktop client will offer up-to-date news and information streams with the latest in the video game world. The Shacknews.com feed will be part of the mix, as well as a deep collection of HD trailers, videos, and screenshots. Users will have a customizable online identity and be able to engage other users as part of the client's social features.
A closed beta for the client will begin on September 8, with codes being handed out to GameFly members at an event in Los Angeles. The public launch for the client is planned to take place in the holiday season for the United States and United Kingdom.
Pseudo_Intellectual (66362) on 8/9/2011 5:53 PM · Permalink · Report
Thank heavens Shacknews.com is named explicitly as part of their plans! I'm sure that will be taken as a very promising sign by everyone here.
BurningStickMan (17916) on 8/9/2011 9:58 PM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Pseudo_Intellectual wrote--]Thank heavens Shacknews.com is named explicitly as part of their plans! I'm sure that will be taken as a very promising sign by everyone here. [/Q --end Pseudo_Intellectual wrote--] Oh, come now. You're talking as if all GameFly did for Moby was hire away the two remaining founders and put their logo at the bottom of the page.
formercontrib (157510) on 8/9/2011 10:09 PM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start BurningStickMan wrote--] [Q2 --start Pseudo_Intellectual wrote--]Thank heavens Shacknews.com is named explicitly as part of their plans! I'm sure that will be taken as a very promising sign by everyone here. [/Q2 --end Pseudo_Intellectual wrote--] Oh, come now. You're talking as if all GameFly did for Moby was hire away the two remaining founders and put their logo at the bottom of the page. [/Q --end BurningStickMan wrote--]
What have they done so far? Please tell, sounds very interesting, especially as long as i think about i'm unable to find one single thingie they did so far, enlighten me - por favor... :)
Corn Popper (69027) on 8/10/2011 7:05 AM · Permalink · Report
Change takes time...
formercontrib (157510) on 8/10/2011 8:41 AM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Corn Popper wrote--]Change takes time... [/Q --end Corn Popper wrote--]
Amazing: When was the change in ownership? Approx. Oct. 2009, or?
Since then, i can't remember reading a SINGLE SENTENCE of the new owners. All we get, in now almost 2 years are your annoying, lame, boring and continously repeated sense- and useless phrases, Mr. Lim. Sure, that confirms only one thing: That you are the marionette for their Punch-and-Judy show, i'm sure this must really annoying for you too.
But the situation, and these are facts is f.e.: The site lost far too many, REALLY IMPORTANT members in this time, probably not all because of this situation - but for sure most because of this.
Examples wanted in those 2 years?
Sciere (Ranked 1 ever, Admin) Macs Black (Ranked 4, Contributor) Xoleras (Ranked 8, Admin) Sicarius (Ranked 10, Contributor) MegaMan X64(Ranked 38, Contribuor)
Only the members of the Top 40. About half a dozen of Approvers, including me too in the meantime.
Sure, Sure - like Life overall - Moby is a coming and going. But most of them won't return ever. Most of those losses aren't compensable, Admins&Approvers - and also contributors still don't grow on trees, especially when the competitive sites increases continously.
Noone expects wonders here, but silence, absolutely zero comments from the new owners, no design concepts, no involvement of the existing community in the plans for the re-design - what shall people think?
Not to forget: I'm sometimes a fan of statistics. Actually for 2011 we're on the way to less than 280.000 Contribution pts. for the 2011 Top 50 contributors. What means, less than 78% (!) of the 2010 result. Each year since 1999 this result was bettered, but now it looks like we can't beat not only 2010, also not 2009, not 2008, even 2007 could be critical.
I expect - as said, that you are in the meantime nothing more than the punching ball in this game, but you decided to accept this, so you have to live with critics.
But, the new owners should double-check this situation, and if there's really interest, more interest than implementing sales instruments to the existing Moby-site - it's not 5 minutes before 12, it's at least 3 min. after 12...
Corn Popper (69027) on 8/10/2011 3:25 PM · Permalink · Report
No, it was Sep last year
I have asked to release concept art but we have to wait. If you're familiar with Shacknews it took them awhile to revamp that site as well and now look at it.
Cavalary (11445) on 8/10/2011 5:06 PM · Permalink · Report
Concept art? What for?
You know, if you buy a place and expect to make something out of it other than just a cheap method of plastering ads to a still large number of gamers, you also invest in it. Like, you know, hiring a programmer to fix bugs and add enhancements actually desired by the active members (and specifically NOT by some marketing people from an office somewhere!), then also maybe paying some approvers to cover whatever areas are needed, the really helpful kind I mean, to both clear queues and make contributors feel safe about submitting what they can knowing that errors will be caught instead of either them always second-guessing themselves (those that do) or the users seeing incorrect information that slipped through the current terribly overworked volunteer approvers.
shrug Just 2 cents from a new and not that active user.
Unicorn Lynx (181775) on 8/11/2011 8:32 AM · Permalink · Report
Concept art? What for?
You know, if you buy a place and expect to make something out of it other than just a cheap method of plastering ads to a still large number of gamers, you also invest in it. Like, you know, hiring a programmer to fix bugs and add enhancements actually desired by the active members (and specifically NOT by some marketing people from an office somewhere!)
Totally agree. We have discussed this many times before: most people here are not interested in a visual re-design. What we need are bug fixes and some key features implemented, which we have all discussed and agreed upon.
There was a short time period when Brian was hanging at the approvers forum and actually making some changes that we requested. Now he has completely disappeared. We have no contact whatsoever with the site's programmer. Nobody listens to our requests, and the site is going to be re-designed in God knows what way - but surely not the way we, the people who work on the site, want it to be.
vedder (70822) on 8/11/2011 9:07 AM · edited · Permalink · Report
I'm mostly concerned about who is doing the redesign and what his input is. I very much welcome the idea of a redesign, but I'm a bit anxious about not knowing who is doing it. If it's someone who never used the site on a daily basis, how does he know what needs improving and what not, how much information are you and Brian funneling from feedback in the community forums (such as the "Moby Feature Wishlist" thread) to this unknown developer? Why haven't we, the people who use this site on daily basis for hours on end not been asked for input?
I don't agree with this angry mob forming which seem to be going on. And I think people should cut Rob some slack, he's not the one ultimately in charge and he is actually the one person we do have regular communication with. Don't shoot the messenger.
But I do understand where these feelings come from and the lack of transparency in a site that's so ENORMOUSLY invested in its community is the primary cause. As a professional designer and active approver and contributor I feel I am more than qualified to at least be part of some QA team, so that I'd be able to give my input. Or what other guarantees do I have that the new design will improve on all the annoyances, bugs and missing features the current design has?
Patrick Bregger (301035) on 8/11/2011 3:58 PM · Permalink · Report
I absolutely agree. While I definitely understand the concerns people have, mostly because I share them, nothing good can come out of acting like Corn Popper is the new satan.
Nevertheless it is obvious that the "community management" is lacking. These anger outbursts don't come out of nowhere.
BurningStickMan (17916) on 8/11/2011 6:21 PM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Patrick Bregger wrote--]I absolutely agree. While I definitely understand the concerns people have, mostly because I share them, nothing good can come out of acting like Corn Popper is the new satan. [/Q --end Patrick Bregger wrote--] I'm not sure where that comes from, but speaking strictly for myself, I have never equated Rob with Satan. I'm absolutely frustrated with the situation, but don't blame Rob for it, and have missed any posts where someone made this personal.
For the record, I think his only fault is shaky PR skills. But I actually appreciate a blunt style over fluffy PR doubletalk... when it's working in our favor of course. Unfortunately, we haven't gotten much information or direction even before GF took over.
Unicorn Lynx (181775) on 8/10/2011 4:01 PM · Permalink · Report
Each year since 1999 this result was bettered, but now it looks like we can't beat not only 2010, also not 2009, not 2008, even 2007 could be critical.
You bet. You don't need to be an expert on statistics - all you have to do is hang on the site a bit. Get a feel of how much stuff is being submitted and how many approvers are active and how many discussions are held in the forums.
I feel Moby is like a ship without a captain that is just drifting somewhere in dangerous waters, the crew abandoning it one by one.
And now the captain appears and says: "Hey guys! Great news! The owners of our ship have done such a great job repairing another ship!"
LepricahnsGold (142745) on 8/12/2011 3:55 AM · Permalink · Report
As I am not an admin or approver (I am a contributor), I only learned that Sciere left from joyvalley. He said he, Jeanne, Servo and a few others were doing all the approvals, anymore. Learning who all seems to be gone is disturbing to me. I an not in the top 10 (I am #11) and I am entering my 7th year here. Shocking to realize how long it has been. This is the first I have heard that the site has been sold. I hope the site doesn't end up in the crapper. I like this place and have been proud to be a contributor.
Unicorn Lynx (181775) on 8/10/2011 3:55 PM · Permalink · Report
Change takes time...
You mean the change from your less-than-enthusiastic attitude in the past to a complete indifference? Why, this change doesn't seem to take that much time. This change is visibly taking place.
Rob, you do realize people are leaving the site for good? You are not at all worried that some of the people who did so much for the site are no longer there? You are not alarmed that Sciere has lost his patience and quit?
And now you are posting this news item, which is basically a slap in our faces. Nice job, Rob. Let's see how many more people will read this and quit the site.
Scaryfun (20370) on 8/10/2011 10:06 PM · Permalink · Report
So that's why when I was told by an approver to message Sciere about some correction, I never got a response. :(
Also, I was surprised no-one posted about GameFly's previous acquisition of Direct2Drive back in May - http://www.shacknews.com/article/68567/gamefly-acquires-pc-digital-distributor
So, this upcoming digital client is just an offshoot of that. But will they use MobyGames data to "create personal customized game libraries to share" or for descriptions for used games that can be purchased?.
Pseudo_Intellectual (66362) on 8/10/2011 10:13 PM · Permalink · Report
Whatever our role in the new service is apparently isn't important enough to include in the same boilerplate press release crossposted over at Shacknews.com and here.
GAMEBOY COLOR! (1990) on 8/11/2011 12:39 PM · Permalink · Report
I didn't know either! Indra has also left for good it seems. :(
Rola (8483) on 8/10/2011 10:47 PM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Unicorn Lynx wrote--] Rob, you do realize people are leaving the site for good? You are not at all worried that some of the people who did so much for the site are no longer there?[/Q --end Unicorn Lynx wrote--] Why should they become worried? The information submitted by those people (and You too) stays on the site. It's already enough to generate interest in potential visitors ( = better pagerank). And after the site visuals etc. get revamped they'll have the new crowd, the youtube/twitter/facebook/myspace generation of people, who will gladly use the new digital distribution offers, after we (the dinosaurs who were buying games in boxes!) step aside.
Unicorn Lynx (181775) on 8/11/2011 3:59 AM · Permalink · Report
Why should they become worried?
Because once everybody leave, no one will submit information to the site or approve it, and the site will stagnate and die.
BurningStickMan (17916) on 8/11/2011 5:09 AM · edited · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Unicorn Lynx wrote--]Why should they become worried?
Because once everybody leave, no one will submit information to the site or approve it, and the site will stagnate and die. [/Q --end Unicorn Lynx wrote--] While this sounds dramatic, it does seem unlikely GF or anyone would pay for an approval staff. Volunteer work is likely the only way Moby could be profitable or break even. Shacknews probably gets a mention because more people are interested in current gaming news than gaming's past (unsurprising), and that pulls traffic capable of supporting itself through ads.
Somebody bring me Sisko! (8) on 8/11/2011 8:30 PM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Rola wrote--][...] And after the site visuals etc. get revamped they'll have the new crowd, the youtube/twitter/facebook/myspace generation of people, who will gladly use the new digital distribution offers, after we (the dinosaurs who were buying games in boxes!) step aside.[/Q --end Rola wrote--] What Oleg said. Also! In a year, when you've finished your database design curriculum, you might think about the effect of all the new app/database integration technology already available now, where all the nice information can be exchanged automatically (all that facebook/Google+ shit f.e.). Granted, you still have older titles, reviews, the forum, a.s.o. But for that it takes dedicated people. You'd better not piss them off; it's bad to lose such experience in the long run. In other words: "It sucks being on such a big project all alone."
Rola (8483) on 8/11/2011 8:44 PM · edited · Permalink · Report
The point is you guys are talking to a wrong guy, that's all because I couldn't add the explicit <tt>< sarcasm ></tt> tag (available in upcoming HTML5, yay!). Next time I'll put some emoticons so that my ironic tone is more visible, Okay? BTW: are you familiar with the term "devil's advocate"? (not the Keanu's flick)
Somebody bring me Sisko! (8) on 8/11/2011 9:39 PM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Rola wrote--]The point is you guys are talking to a wrong guy, that's all because I couldn't add the explicit <tt>< sarcasm ></tt> tag (available in upcoming HTML5, yay!). [/Q --end Rola wrote--]Puns deserve better. Keep practising!
[Q --start Rola wrote--]Next time I'll put some emoticons so that my ironic tone is more visible, Okay? BTW: are you familiar with the term "devil's advocate"? (not the Keanu's flick)[/Q --end Rola wrote--]Playing the cheap wild weasel card went outta style a very long time ago, my man.
Rola (8483) on 8/12/2011 2:21 AM · Permalink · Report
It must be either my bad English... or you having something personal with me? Why otherwise I'd be flamed for being... on the same side? Last time I got attacked for no reason here was by an Estonian guy, but I could blame this on the "good ol' fashioned" national prejudice thing?
Somebody bring me Sisko! (8) on 8/12/2011 3:14 AM · edited · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Rola wrote--]It must be either my bad English...[/Q --end Rola wrote--] It's either this, or I suffer from Herzog Syndrome. Nothing personal, rest assured.
[Q --start Rola wrote--]Last time I got attacked for no reason here was by an Estonian guy, but I could blame this on the "good ol' fashioned" national prejudice thing?[/Q --end Rola wrote--]I didn't attack you; just called BS on that rather convenient "devil's advocate" response, accept my apologies if wronged. And no, you can't blame this on "good ol' fashion" as half of my family is of Polish descent, and I'm no fan of group hallucinations either.
Back to business; back to Spielfliege!
LepricahnsGold (142745) on 8/12/2011 5:05 AM · edited · Permalink · Report
[Q --start BurningStickMan wrote--]and put their logo at the bottom of the page. [/Q --end BurningStickMan wrote--] F.Y.I. In MobyDark theme, the GameFly logo does not appear at the bottom. I use the MobyDark theme so I never saw the GameFly logo.
charmante charmante on 8/12/2011 9:33 AM · edited · Permalink · Report
Spam
Daniel Saner (3503) on 8/13/2011 4:10 PM · Permalink · Report
This would probably be the time to start writing a crawler, so you can dump your own mirror of MG's encyclopedic content if you want to have long-term access to it.
Also, it seems like a good time to place bets on the features of the new MobyGames. Here goes, I claim it will have:
- friend lists, photo sharing, video upload features
- a blog for every user, that no one is going to read
- a Twitter-like stream to post your 'now playing' to people who don't care
- lacking functionality to view 90% of the data collected on each game (namely the 90% not relevant to the games also offered through GameFly's new distribution service), with the promise that they're "working on" bringing it back, which will last the remaining 2 years of MobyGames' vegetating existence before it is "integrated" into GameFly's other sites, with only a few core bits from the game summary pages being transitioned.
Unicorn Lynx (181775) on 8/14/2011 4:42 PM · Permalink · Report
Man, now you're scaring me...
I want to be re-assured that none of the information documented here will be lost. I don't care what is added; I just care that nothing is lost.
Rob, you gotta reassure me, otherwise I'm going nuts.
Corn Popper (69027) on 8/15/2011 11:53 PM · Permalink · Report
no data is going away
Unicorn Lynx (181775) on 8/16/2011 3:55 AM · Permalink · Report
Good to know! :)
Rebound Boy (20110) on 8/16/2011 1:46 PM · Permalink · Report
"Good to know! :)"
Wouldn't be to sure about that, Oleg. I was thinking quite some time about posting something to this topic. Reading about the overall development which took place over the last few years makes me indeed sad. This is despite quitting my approval duties and most of my contribution activity long before those developments. Looking at the GF business model, seeing the lack of information on MG concerning pending changes to the site, hearing about approvers leaving quietly...why should anyone of MG's users be overly enthusiastic about this. If I understood correctly two of the top three contributors stopped working for the site (in both contributing and approving), along with more people. This alone implies something bad will happen to the site. What I'm also wondering about is how bad the lack of communication really is? Were there even no approver-internal discussions or at least farewell statements? Very sad. In the end it looks like almost complete rip-off, at least this is how it feels. Contributors invested time, some supported with donations, some put even more time into it as approvers, and many if not all firmly believed in the founders' statements what this site is all about. Naive? Romantic? Nostalgic? Geek? So what, I say!? Actually it was a project like this. And I felt fine with it.
Back to the quote at the beginning, for me commercialization of the project means information is not lost in the first place but can for example mean you will have to pay for it. Feels funny to think about this. And I also don't think that the "lifetime" or "survival probability" of all information contributed increases in a commercialized environment. Companies are prone to merge with other companies, shift attention, fail, etc. Compared to a project which is run "privately", these changes put the information in much more danger of being lost. This shows that the project should have been placed on a broader base in the first place. Open source community comes to mind...but it's to late anyway, we should have realized this earlier, maybe as soon as 2000/2001...
Of course I may be absolutely wrong and the future will bring some fantastic/wonderful new improvements to MG. But my stomach tells me otherwise, so I decided to post at least one final statement, not neglecting this opportunity, as it may very well be the last one. And I hope it won't get censored...but in that case I would at least have some kind of certainty...
So long.
Daniel Saner (3503) on 8/17/2011 1:49 PM · Permalink · Report
Even if it will turn out that I was completely wrong, and I certainly hope so, and good things are going to start happening to MG, it still won't change anything about the uncertainty you mention due to the new business situation. Of course no one had any guarantees whatsoever even back when the site was held privately, but it definitely feels like things are more volatile now.
In fact, it comes down to the same discussion as with the DRM issue. People take comfort in the reassuring statements from the holding company's reps, and dismiss the worst-case scenarios as unrealistic and far-fetched—until they happen. If reputable mega-companies like Microsoft and Yahoo! can't be arsed to think about their customers, who spent lots of money on their products, before flicking the red switch (and getting away with it!), I don't feel overly confident that GameFly would care about the uncountable man-years of volunteer work that went into the MG project should there ever be a reason to flick that same switch.
