Where can I buy a serial number?

[Johan2]

Since Direct2Drive doesn't allow purchasing the title from my country and I don't have a CD/DVD reader to use coaster distributions of the game, I've managed to find an alternative distribution channel for the binaries.

However, I'm still willing to pay for the game, as with all games I own and when it comes to software what I buy is a license to use it. The convention in the game industry is that the license to use it is coupled with a token which the game uses to validate that the customer has a license to use the title.

So, since I've managed to save you the entire distribution overhead, could you please return the favor by telling me how I go about buying just a serial number for the game?
(I.e. the five-part gobbeligook that I enter on the installation screen).

PS. No, I won't require support for the binaries I obtained. If I run into problems I'll simply wait for patches to come out or another couple of months until Direct2Drive allows me to buy the software. That should eliminate any concerns you may have regarding having to support distributions you can't vouch for which makes the support argument moot.

PPS. Cost is a very small factor in my purchasing decision, instant gratification is a BIG factor and is what I require of all publishers of entertainment. Those that meet my needs get my money and those who do not don't (free market 101).

[kalniel]

Wait for the game to be released in your country and then buy it from digital download.

[Johan2]

Wait for the game to be released in your country and then buy it from digital download.

Thanks for the quick reply Kalniel.

1. What date is that for Sweden?
2. Why don't you have synchronized release dates for all countries?

On the second question, what is the rationale for having different dates? Isn't US currency ($) obtained from other countries worth just as much worth as that obtained from the US?

[kalniel]

1) April 24th - there might be a small delay after that for it to appear on the digital download shop (http://www.atari-store.eu/)

2) Good question - the same thing applies for a lot of releases, not just of games. I think it's partly to do with distribution logistics and partly to do with additional time for the regional differences. The first of those only really affects retail release, but you can understand why shops would put pressure on Atari not to sell the game in their country before they could sell it in their shops.

[Johan2]

Great, thanks for the replies.

Especially the second one was interesting, since I'd not thought of the external pressure factor; retail shops trying to fight the more responsive on-line store market by more or less forcing the supplier to artificially withhold goods.

That explains a lot. Had this artificial trade barrier not existed, the traditional stores would have lost revenue to the newer breed while from a supplier's point of view the gross total revenue would've been *at least* the same. So let's all just hope that retailers like Wallmart quickly loose their customer base for goods like these to online stores, because this trade barrier won't vanish until the market share of retail stores shrinks to a fraction of what it is today.

[kalniel]

In my opinion it's heading in that direction, however, retail sales, especially for console games, are still hugely important and you don't want to annoy people who are selling your games for you.

[MBK1011]

retail POS for PC games is generally shrinking, certainly UK shops like game and its subsidaries have much smaller PC game displays than they used to due to loss of market to digital distribution and management platforms, most notably steam, and more efficient, cheaper, online e-tailers. Admitedly chains like Game do hold a larger and better priced catalogue online in order to compete with these e-tailers, but they also do it at the internet level, they no longer try to compete with online stores via their high street stores


As for the console market its only a matter of time really, the high street is no longer really the capital market for such products and over time you might see the presence of media stores begin to shrink. I imagine at some point Game/Gameplay will probably make a decision to merge its stores despite the different target audiences in favour of cost savings, especially in the current climate

[Johan2]

1) April 24th - there might be a small delay after that for it to appear on the digital download shop (http://www.atari-store.eu/)


As promised, the title was indeed downloadable from Atari.
Direct2Drive seem to not yet have enabled Europe for your title which might cost you some sales (time to call them up?)

I was not aware that Atari itself offered a "steam-like" service which was a big surprise for me.

Right now downloading at 18 MBit (2 megabytes per second) which for me passes as more than acceptable and even good. So kudos for a great service.

Just for future reference, is there some mechanism in your download service which makes it able to also manage maintenance (I.e. patching of Atari titles when you release them) such as that provided with Steam? Or do I use the traditional method of scouring the website for an X MB exe-file to patch the game?

PS. Seeing as I've got a 100 mbit internet connection, faster would of course have been better. However waiting ~45 minutes for the download isn't that bad and certainly better than the traditional alternative of jumping into the car and driving ten miles to a game outlet, so a 4/5 stars for the download service in this regard.

[kalniel]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm not sure on the patching mechanism to be honest - at the moment I think you have to apply patches as you would the disk game (make sure you have activated your digital download first - sometimes people patch straight after installing the digital game and it then asks for a disk to be present).