TotalGaming.net: Phase 2 launched!

http://www.totalgaming.net
from WinCustomize Forums

TotalGaming.net delivers PC games electronically

Popular no-DRM gaming service enters new phase

For Immediate Release:
Contact: Brian Clair ([email protected])
Phone: 734-927-0677 X 129

Livonia MI – July 19, 2005. Stardock Entertainment, best known for its award-winning PC strategy games such as The Political Machine and Galactic Civilizations has released TotalGaming.net: Phase 2. TotalGaming.net is an electronic distribution network in which users can pick a game, press a button to buy it, and then immediately download it. Users download their games through Stardock’s Secure Software Delivery system, Stardock Central.

Stardock has already lined up agreements with companies such as Ubi Soft, Take 2, Strategy First, and others to put their games on to TotalGaming.net. In addition, Stardock is working with numerous independent game developers to get the best Indie titles onto the service. Phase 2 of TotalGaming.net represents the latest expansion of the gaming network to include a host of new indie game titles and additional purchase options.

"We have two distinct goals for TotalGaming.net," said Brian Clair, Director of TotalGaming.net at Stardock. "First, we want to provide a proven electronic distribution channel for publishers who want to leverage their classic game assets. Second, we want to provide an outlet to independent game developers to get their games out there."

In addition to having titles developed by Stardock such as Galactic Civilizations, The Political Machine, LightWeight Ninja, and others, better known offerings such as Robin Hood, O-R-B, and Disciples II: Ultimate Edition are also available. Independent games such as Chronic Logic’s Gish, BreakQuest by Nurium, Jets‘n’Guns by Rake in Grass, Astral Masters by Apus Software, Xeno Assault II by Jagged Blade Software and more have been added as well.

Users can either purchase games individually or they can purchase a TotalGaming.net membership which provides them with tokens that can be used buy the available titles at a discounted rate.

What makes TotalGaming.net stand out is that rather than relying on Digital Rights Management (DRM), it has a model that is more akin to iTunes. Customers use a secure client called Stardock Central to download the games where they are "activated" via the program at the server. The technology, called Secure Software Delivery (SSD), was developed and used for Stardock’s corporate software products for several years. Once the game is downloaded, gamers can burn their titles to CD for use on all their personal computers (similar to how users can burn their iTunes purchased music to CD). Stardock believes that this increased convenience to users far outweighs any theoretical benefit that the heavy use of DRM provides.

"As game developers, we are intimately familiar with software piracy," said BradWardell, President & CEO of Stardock. "Over the years, we have concluded that the best way to combat piracy is to reward your customers with greater value. Our system makes it more convenient to play by the rules than to pirate the games."

Stardock hopes the comb    ination of server-side security and client side convenience will give TotalGaming.net a technological edge over other electronic distribution networks. The system was used during 2003's launch of Galactic Civilizations. The game was released simultaneously at retail outlets world-wide as well as electronically, the first major PC game to do so.

"Gamers want to know that when they purchase a game, it’s theirs – forever. They don’t want to have to worry whether the company they purchased the game from is still around 3 years from now. They don’t want to have to worry about losing serial numbers or whether they can install it on their new computer," said Wardell. "We believe that electronic distribution of games can be a great boon to first-tier publishers and Indies alike if gamers feel secure in what they are buying."

Individual games on TotalGaming.net vary in price and can be purchased individually. Alternatively, users can purchase a TotalGaming.net membership for $69.95 and receive tokens to purchase games at a substantial discount.
TotalGaming.net’s website is http://www.totalgaming.net. It also provides forums, daily news on the game industry, game-related articles and help for independent game developers.

# # #
About Stardock: Stardock is the world’s leading developer of Windows enhancement utilities. Its software is used by over 10 million people worldwide, as well as major companies like nVidia, ATI, Alienware and Microsoft. It runs the website www.WinCustomize.com that is visited by over 3 million different users monthly.
Its software can be found on the machines of end users, corporate desktops, and even in movies and TV. Stardock also develops PC games such as the award-winning Galactic Civilizations and 2004’s popular political strategy game, The Political Machine. Stardock’s home page is www.stardock.com.

TotalGaming.net
Individual games sell for between $5 and $50 on their own
TotalGaming.net membership is $69.95 which provides additional discounts to the aforementioned games.

Home page: http://www.totalgaming.net

Trademark Notices:
Total Gaming™, Stardock®, and Stardock Entertainment are trademarks of Stardock Corporation.

All other trademarks are held by their respective owners.

Sample Screenshots:

 
14,421 views 22 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Gish and Uplink are two of my favourite 'indie' games
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Great news ....
Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Ah. So that's why for instance "World War II: Frontline Command" is listed on SDC... I was wondering about that. I could swear that I didn't see anything about Stardock on the box I got. ...though, I tried the serialkey I got when I bought it to see if it worked, but no. I suppose it's a different one?
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Niiiice. I just got a subsciption 1 1/2 weeks ago.

I still have tokens. What games have you all tried and which do you recommend? So far I have tried Base golf, Chess, and Word Wars.
I suppose Galactic Civilizations is next.
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I got BreakQuest, I think it's brilliantly done...very original. Good for a time-killer when you're bored.
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I agree about BreakQuest, quality game.

thomassen: If you didn't buy it from Stardock, you'd have to contact whoever you did buy it from . . . Stardock is effectively a different distributor; they won't have you on their records as you didn't buy it from them. I'd guess Stardock makes new serials as well.
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I thought so. I was just checking due to my notorious curiosity. I don't really need to download it, my excisting copy works fine.
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
lol award winning games? What award did they win. Worse game ever created? Or Game created entirely using windowblinds skins?
Oh well. Wont catch me forking out my hard earned cash. May as well p*ss it down the toilet. *flush* there goes another 10 bucks!
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Protocol45, Smartest move you ever made saving your $10.00.

You are going to need it for an education.
Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top

lol award winning games? What award did they win. Worse game ever created? Or Game created entirely using windowblinds skins?
Oh well. Wont catch me forking out my hard earned cash. May as well p*ss it down the toilet. *flush* there goes another 10 bucks!

Does breathing require concentration on your part?

What awards? Galactic Civilizations won numerous Editor's Choice awards including from Computer Gaming World, Computer Games Magazine, Games Domain and several others.  The Political Machine won several editor's choice awards as well and was featured on CNN, Time Magazine, Newsweek, CNBC, and MSNBC.

Maybe you should get out more before commenting.

Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I believe Stardock gets a lot of applications for inclusion on TotalGaming.net, and you can be sure not all of the submissions are gems . . . only solid titles that have quality gameplay get onto the service. Most of the games on there have demos, so if you have any doubts, it's easy enough to try one out and see for yourself.

As for awards, let's just take one example from the new games - Gish, one of my favourites, was voted IGF Game of the Year 2005, the Home of the Underdogs rates it a Hot Dog, and GameTunnel's Game of the Year 2004 (note that BreakQuest is also no. 5 on there). These aren't the bargain bin.
Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top
featured? doesnt mean its good. Enter The Matrix was featured on every channel and every magazine. We all know how that went.
Reply #13 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I guess the difference is that these games are the best of the games that have already succeeded in a tough market. Enter The Matrix was sold on the basis of its hype - when you make a game based on a license, that's what you get - while these games were chosen on the basis of their gameplay.

Most TotalGaming.net games have already succeded in getting the attention of critical game players and reviewers, their rough patches have been smoothed over, and they are now getting a wider audience. That's why they're such a good deal.
Reply #14 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Plus you won't find Enter the Matrix on TotalGaming.net because it wasn't a good game.   As GreenReaper pointed out, we're choosing our new titles based on gameplay and how fun they are.

Reply #15 from WinCustomize Forums Top
BreakQuest is great fun, I'm getting no work done atm

Reply #16 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Okay, I'll be flamed for this comment definately, but nevertheless... I'll just have to get this of my chest. Why is everybody I see commenting here so happy about this phase 2 of TotalGaming.net? I mean... you get f*cked big time by Stardock and still you guys sound happy. So, you paid a lot for a subscribtion and did not get in return what you expected. Now Stardock charges you big money and finally deliver what they should have done in the first place. I really don't understand why everybody is happy now... I realy don't.
Reply #17 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I'm not quite sure where you're coming from, Speedy . . . subscribers as of (I think) May get all the games they had before phase 2 plus the things that new subscribers get (10 tokens plus an extended period of time to spend them). I don't see where they've got a bad deal there, considering newer subscribers would have to pay for those games. In that respect, it's a better deal for previous subscribers, but then that's a bonus for loyal customers.

I think that the majority of people did feel they had got what they expected from the existing subscription, although I am aware that there were some problems late last year with the release of new games - they all got released within the time period of subscription, but in a lump rather than gradually. The problem that led to Phase 2 was that the model wasn't working out, as the price would have to rise (or the period would have to shorten) to pay for access to all the games. The new system means that people only pay for the games they actually want, and so more choice can be offered.
Reply #18 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Hi GreenReaper,

Something went wrong with my last post, so if it appears in between... I'm sorry. I do aggree with you that early subscribers got the best of both worlds, I just think that world 1 was better than world 2 (providing Stardock was supplying subscribers with the amount of games expected).
So... I fully understand this step from Stardock's and developers point of view... I just don't understand the subscribers reaction. I see (almost) only positive reactions, while to me it looks like this phase 2 is a step back for subscribers.

Martin

By the way, I'm from Holland and as you know we like things cheap
Reply #19 from WinCustomize Forums Top
The situation was previously that subscribers got all the games. Now, they don't. This is true.

The reality is that they would not have gotten all the games that were recently added to TotalGaming.net, and nor would new users. These games would simply not have gone onto the network. Why? Because subscribers had not paid enough to cover the license costs of purchasing those games! Maybe half of those games could have been added to TotalGaming.net, assuming that new members continued to subscribe . . . which they might not have if the games had not been there.

This is what I was saying about the model breaking down - it turned out not to be possible to continue adding games without increasing prices, quite aside from the other reasons for changing, like developers thinking they were getting the short end of the deal because less popular games were making money off their popular game . . .

Now the situation is that old subscribers have all the old games and 10 tokens to purchase new games. Given that most games are 2 tokens, they get about 5 games, which ends up being about 1/2 of the new games, in terms of tokens.

So realistically, these subscribers are getting what they would have got anyway, only they get to choose which games they buy, rather than having to get ones they don't want because they're the ones that Stardock feels the majority of subscribers would want - or worse, because they're the ones Stardock could get for cheap.

As for new subscribers . . . look at it as a bundle where you get to choose what's in a bundle. They can get about 5 quality games for $70. Is this worth it? I'd say it's still a good deal - $14 for a game like Gish or BlockQuest is not at all unreasonable. And they're ones they can choose, rather than having to get "the Strategy bundle", which widens the market. I guess we shall see if people are willing to buy it!
Reply #20 from WinCustomize Forums Top
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Te amo, te extraño y te necesito mucho.

Tu Papi

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Reply #21 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Umm, I've got to think Google didn't translate that properly for me...
Reply #22 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Spanish spam at it's finest