Rest of World - The Latest

Evo

Evo

Tank
Joined
May 6, 2005
Messages
6,517
Reaction score
7
The Steam group Rest of World is still alive and kicking in its attempts to make Steam a fully open digital distribution platform. They are trying to get all publishers on Steam to make their games available world wide without restrictions. The group now has over 7,000 members and also has a new video, check it out here.
 
Aww. Boo hoo. I'm sure the publishers have tears streaming down their cheeks as we speak.
 
I'm not particularly phased one way or the other, though of course opening up to a wider audience would be better. I just think they won't care.
 
They would've been better off making a petition instead of a Steam group, tbh.
 
That video tells me... "We're bored without games, brb suicide." D:
 
seems odd to spend that much time on something you hold no financial stake in
 
If it is going to be "fully open" I'd like it to be available for other platforms. Mac and Linux, of course. They don't have to have the same games. For instance, Tomb Raider exists for the Mac and having Steam for the Mac would allow the publishers to expand their distribution.
 
The Steam Group is like a petition, but it's made up of users who actually have Steam and whose information is a direct reflection of lost sales. Let's say of those 7000 members 1000 are Australian (one of the bigger countries hit most by the trend), of those, Valve could demonstrate that say over 50% have bought a game in the last 6 months and perhaps 25% have bought over 10 games over Steam.

It's figures like these that for me make the Steam group the better option, because it gives the Publishers a way of figuring out just what the effect of their actions is, only if they bother to get the data in the first place, though.

I have to say I think 7000 is below what the group should be aiming for. It needs to be in the 10s of thousands before Publishers will take note. I'd urge anyone who isn't directly affected by Publishers not selling games in other territories but who feel for the victims to join the group and show their support.
 
I thought the video was pretty horrible, or at the very least cheezy, to be honest.
SLOW MOTION = INSTA DRAMATIC ART

But it really is ridiculous that publishers restrict regional availablility. How do they keep track of it? Steam preferences? IP address? In the end, I find it doubtful publishers will even pay attention, much less take note, and even much less likely to actually do something.

Samon said:
I just think they won't care.
Click to expand...
This.

Also, online petitions have always been laughably useless.

Sorry to poo on anyone's parade, but I'm just stating the realistic.
 
Shinobi said:
seems odd to spend that much time on something you hold no financial stake in
Click to expand...

Seriously? That's odd to you? Do you find volunteer charity work odd too?

Edit: Also most of the internet, such as YouTube.
 
LOL at making a video.

Anyway, I'm sure that the publishers behind these games have a lot more knowledge of what the best methods of distributing "their" games than people speculating on forums.
 
Crispy said:
I have to say I think 7000 is below what the group should be aiming for. It needs to be in the 10s of thousands before Publishers will take note. I'd urge anyone who isn't directly affected by Publishers not selling games in other territories but who feel for the victims to join the group and show their support.
Click to expand...

Crispy they are people who can't purchase certain games online via Steam, not the starving, disease-riddled population of the third world.
 
Samon said:
Crispy they are people who can't purchase certain games online via Steam, not the starving, disease-riddled population of the third world.
Click to expand...

Gamers adding a bit of colour to a situation? UNPOSSIBLE!
 
I'm in the group, even though I live in the US. I don't see any reason why these publishers won't offer their games to the rest of the world.

That being said, the video was terrible. It made the group look like spoiled manchildren who take their games way too seriously.
 
I'm in the group, but that vid is terrible, soo not the kind of message/attention you want to get.
 
Ubisoft seem to be the worst culprits. I'd love to rebuy Beyond good & evil through Steam, because my retail copy edition won't work with Vista, but I know the Steam version does. I find it kind of bizarre that a French company doesn't distribute to Europe tbh.

Hokey video, but I'll sign up, and if you are non-US I can't see any harm in doing so either.
 
I liked the video. It reminded me of sigur r?s.
 
Buveed said:
Anyway, I'm sure that the publishers behind these games have a lot more knowledge of what the best methods of distributing "their" games than people speculating on forums.
Click to expand...

Why would you assume they are infallible, simply because they are publishers?

Do you also think that George W Bush is the correct in every decision he makes because he sits in the Oval office?

Lets have a look at some awesome publisher decisions of the past: -

Doom 3, after having hyped the games release to the absolute max, Activision in their infinite wisdom decided that the best way in which to launch the game on the global stage was by staggering the release so the US had the game 10 days before the RoTW. Result = record levels of piracy from European players frustrated at the 10 day delay, which lost both them and iD several million $. Lesson learned by publishers since then = try and release triple AAA titles if not on the same day then the same week (Tues US, Friday RoTW).

November 16, 2004 a day that sits big in the hearts of every HL fan as that is when Valve finally released HL2 to the world and universal acclaim. However it's also the day that Activision thought was the ideal time despite an almost complete absence of advertising and public attention to release their own Source powered game; Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines developed by Troika games, a descendant company of RPG experts Black Isle Studios. Result = despite being a relatively good action RPG and receiving fairly good reviews, the game sold poorly within it's first month because of the competition (most people buy 1 game a month, not 2) and never recovered, forcing cash strapped Troika to close their doors shortly afterwards.

Publishers are no more infallible than anyone else, and it is often the case that the bigger they are, the dumber they become. The notion that Ubisoft in not capitalizing on Steams global reach is a good thing when there is clearly an audience out there for sales beyond the borders of the US is beyond retarded tbh. :dozey:
 
Ubisoft hates you!

In Febuary I contacted Ubisoft via their Solution Center and asked if "Beyond Good & Evil" will somewhen be available on Steam. (I contacted the german-speaking support) Their reply came very quick and was very short:

nur das Spiel "Beyond Good and Evil' wird definitiv nicht ?ber die Steam Platform verf?gbar sein
Click to expand...

Means:
Just BGE will definitely not be available on Steam.
 
Kirkburn said:
Seriously? That's odd to you? Do you find volunteer charity work odd too?

Edit: Also most of the internet, such as YouTube.
Click to expand...

Charity is different obviously. this is a commercial company

would you voluntarily work at macdonalds for free?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

MFL
Fascinating look at the ongoing psychological evolution of flat hieirarchies.
Replies
2
Views
2K
Tollbooth Willie
Tollbooth Willie
B
From Warren Spector to Arkane Studios: Half-Life 2's cancelled Ravenholm episode
Replies
2
Views
10K
Clan Wolf 2
Clan Wolf 2
Omnomnick
Steam Hardware Pre-Orders Now Available
Replies
15
Views
5K
ríomhaire
ríomhaire
B
Marc Laidlaw releases Half-Life 2: Episode Three's plot
Replies
32
Views
39K
BabyHeadCrab
BabyHeadCrab
Omnomnick
Steam Client Beta Adds Video Streaming
Replies
4
Views
5K
-smash-
-smash-
Back
Top