Originally Posted by Idiotekque Hey Tony, not sure if you missed this question or thought it was a joke, so here it is again. (Ooh, yellow name now.) "And to change the subject and ask a legitimate question: Any update on the Call of Duty sale you mentioned, Tony? Can you please sell your soul to Activision the devil so that we can get a wicked good bundle deal on MW1-3, Black Ops, and WaW? I think we can agree that $19.99 sounds fair, yes? "

Hey dude,

Sorry I missed this. I'm working on a COD bundle but not sure exactly when it will drop. Stay tuned .

Cheers,
Tony

Originally Posted by Amazon DVG Deals Hey dude, Sorry I missed this. I'm working on a COD bundle but not sure exactly when it will drop. Stay tuned . Cheers, Tony

Thanks. Looking forward to seeing what you can pull off.

Originally Posted by Mac the Geek Companies change their policies the way my wife changes clothes. I love Amazon for having this policy; but I wonder how it works on the back end. Does Amazon browbeat the publisher into making good on activation-depleted licenses for free? Or does Amazon pay the publisher for another license, and write that cost off as "customer service"? If the key-replacement policy entails a quantifiable cost to Amazon, there will always be a danger of the policy being canceled at some future point. It's a perq, not a contractual obligation, and could cease to exist at any time.

I think Amazon will continue to carry their KEY replacement policy; however if it is abused, I can easily seeing Amazon putting a reasonable limit on how many replacements you get: per game or per account.

Originally Posted by CheapLikeAFox The problem is with Steam it's a pain in the ass to get them to remove a game from your account. So every time you get a new key from amazon you would have to ask Steam to remove the game from your account, wait the two weeks it takes for them to respond to CS and hope they do it.

Well they even do that? I thought that was the joke with Bad Rats, that you were stick with it forever. I would just open another account.

Originally Posted by N_B Yes, you can play offline. Once the SecuROM activation is performed for the game, it stays that way unless you erase the SecuROM activation files or make major changes to your PC's hardware like change the motherboard or several other components at once.

Thanks for the response. Like I've said, I really want the bundle - - - but the DRM stuff goes over my head and I got too much shit going on to invite more headaches.
PS OCTOFUN1 is dead, if no one else has noted it.

FYI guys if any of you are sports games/soccer fans you should check out our Fifa 13 deal tomorrow-Sunday we'll have it for $25.99.

Cheers,
Tony

Originally Posted by pantsattack Well they even do that? I thought that was the joke with Bad Rats, that you were stick with it forever. I would just open another account.

Nategator said they will remove a game from your account if you email them and ask them too. I've never tried it because I hoard all my games and have never had activation issues, but I think technically they can do it. I would just be very clear about what you ask for. Don't want them to mess with your account.

Speaking of sports games, it would be nice to see a repeat of the EA Classics bundle that ran not to long ago with Madden 08 and NHL 09 for $5 (or even cheaper?). I totally spaced and missed that one.

Originally Posted by Amazon DVG Deals Hey dude, Sorry I missed this. I'm working on a COD bundle but not sure exactly when it will drop. Stay tuned . Cheers, Tony

I pretty excited for this. I really want to play Black Ops again. Hopefully this isn't a massive letdown price wise. As great as Tony and Amazon are, I have little faith in Activision

Originally Posted by Amazon DVG Deals FYI guys if any of you are sports games/soccer fans you should check out our Fifa 13 deal tomorrow-Sunday we'll have it for $25.99. Cheers, Tony

What about FIFA 12? :P

Originally Posted by Amazon DVG Deals FYI guys if any of you are sports games/soccer fans you should check out our Fifa 13 deal tomorrow-Sunday we'll have it for $25.99. Cheers, Tony

Me and at least 12 of my friends are soccer fans and since I already got Fifa 13 day one (been a fan since Fifa 98 lol), I will make sure to tell friends about that awesome deal

Originally Posted by Mac the Geek Companies change their policies the way my wife changes clothes. I love Amazon for having this policy; but I wonder how it works on the back end. Does Amazon browbeat the publisher into making good on activation-depleted licenses for free? Or does Amazon pay the publisher for another license, and write that cost off as "customer service"? If the key-replacement policy entails a quantifiable cost to Amazon, there will always be a danger of the policy being canceled at some future point. It's a perq, not a contractual obligation, and could cease to exist at any time.

Originally Posted by shaggyc That's a great point. I've wondered how they do this, keys don't just magically pop out of the sky.

I imagine places like Amazon buy keys in massive bulk sales so as to bring the cost of the individual keys down thereby making a profit ( they ARE still making a profit selling both Batman games at $10, and all the other great deals they have).
............Most of the time awesome deals like that are only done to promote a service, and then hope to make up that cost by repeat business later down the line, or even what else is bought at the same time in that "shopping trip". In the business this is known as a "loss leader". Such as just recently when UbiSoft in an effort to promote their UPlay Service, had games for $1. Amazon however does this regularly, so they have to be making a profit. That and they can't be depending on what else is bought at the same time because their digital goods can't be added to a shopping cart and must be bought one at a time. So they have to be buying massive lots of the keys at a bulk discount either from Steam or the publisher themselves (most likely).
............It's also apparent that they are driving the traffic to justify those bulk sales from the publisher or they would not continue to do so. This is probably how they can have such a casual attitude about replacing a key. There's only going to ever be a small percentage of people who need that option. It isn't that Amazon buys another key, it's that that save a certain amount left over from the bulk sale for that purpose, again because the individual keys were so cheap to begin with, it allows this option at all. Of course over time, they will know exactly what percentage that is, and will adjust the policy (either not seeing any value in it anymore due to too many people asking for new keys killing the policy outright, or not offering deals on games with additional DRM until they have been patched out).
............I also imagine that the associated cost of selling a digital good is much cheaper than the psychical option (bandwidth/server cost Vs. warehouse/shipping cost). I can see Amazon looking at retail games going completely digital, as is the trend much like other media is (newspapers and magazine media is dieing off more every year in favor of their "kindle" brethren versions. Amazon is following Steam's lead. I will also state that if Amazon does create a client, then please at the very least make it auto-update a game like Steam. If your going to go to that effort Amazon, do it right. If you aren't interested in creating a client due to it's need to have certain features (due to the bar being raised by Steam and customers coming to "expect" those features as a base minimum) then simply keep doing what your doing with Steam key sales exactly like this latest Batman game deal. Why compete directly with Steam, when you can use them to promote YOUR sales.
............It's entirely possible that Amazon, due to the fact that they don't have the administrative cost (yet) in distributing these games like Steam, that they will be able to undercut Steam at their own game. It's possible that in a years time, we will all be buying as a matter of preferential choice, our games from Amazon sales, rather than Steam's, and simply activating our Amazon games on Steam's client. Why exactly does Amazon need to make a client, when they can use Steam as their client? Tony has already stated that there hasn't been any significant difference in sales between DRM Free versions and their Steam counterparts when both are offered at the same time for the same price. I also remember him saying at one time that this entire endeavor was something of an "experiment" by Amazon. I think at this point they've moved out of beta.

P.S. Tony, expect to be getting more tattoos, we now know what your willing to do to make a sale.

not sure whether to jump on the FEAR pack

Originally Posted by walkonshadows P.S. Tony, expect to be getting more tattoos, we now know what your willing to do to make a sale.

My Little Pony preorder Challenge. Call it "tony's ponies".

Everyone on this site would buy 3.

And since he'd probably chicken out for that.... I submit this as a proposed tatoo. Change the blue for black, to match amazon colors, of course:

I'm dreaming of a 75% off The Walking Dead sometime early next year.

Originally Posted by N_B Given how money grubbing Valve is,

I'm sorry, but what? What has Valve been doing to warrant that statement? They have tons of sales, they have now made games being dirt cheap and at significant savings a common thing where it was unheard of before. They pretty much created the digital games market and how we get the sales mentioned above. Oh, for their own developed games they support them for a long time and give out tons of content for them for free instead of charging for it like almost everyone else.

Money grubbing NOT found.

Originally Posted by walkonshadows I imagine places like Amazon buy keys in massive bulk sales so as to bring the cost of the individual keys down thereby making a profit ( they ARE still making a profit selling both Batman games at $10, and all the other great deals they have). ............Most of the time awesome deals like that are only done to promote a service, and then hope to make up that cost by repeat business later down the line, or even what else is bought at the same time in that "shopping trip". In the business this is known as a "loss leader". Such as just recently when UbiSoft in an effort to promote their UPlay Service, had games for $1. Amazon however does this regularly, so they have to be making a profit. That and they can't be depending on what else is bought at the same time because their digital goods can't be added to a shopping cart and must be bought one at a time. So they have to be buying massive lots of the keys at a bulk discount either from Steam or the publisher themselves (most likely). ............It's also apparent that they are driving the traffic to justify those bulk sales from the publisher or they would not continue to do so. This is probably how they can have such a casual attitude about replacing a key. There's only going to ever be a small percentage of people who need that option. It isn't that Amazon buys another key, it's that that save a certain amount left over from the bulk sale for that purpose, again because the individual keys were so cheap to begin with, it allows this option at all. Of course over time, they will know exactly what percentage that is, and will adjust the policy (either not seeing any value in it anymore due to too many people asking for new keys killing the policy outright, or not offering deals on games with additional DRM until they have been patched out). ............I also imagine that the associated cost of selling a digital good is much cheaper than the psychical option (bandwidth/server cost Vs. warehouse/shipping cost). I can see Amazon looking at retail games going completely digital, as is the trend much like other media is (newspapers and magazine media is dieing off more every year in favor of their "kindle" brethren versions. Amazon is following Steam's lead. I will also state that if Amazon does create a client, then please at the very least make it auto-update a game like Steam. If your going to go to that effort Amazon, do it right. If you aren't interested in creating a client due to it's need to have certain features (due to the bar being raised by Steam and customers coming to "expect" those features as a base minimum) then simply keep doing what your doing with Steam key sales exactly like this latest Batman game deal. Why compete directly with Steam, when you can use them to promote YOUR sales. ............It's entirely possible that Amazon, due to the fact that they don't have the administrative cost (yet) in distributing these games like Steam, that they will be able to undercut Steam at their own game. It's possible that in a years time, we will all be buying as a matter of preferential choice, our games from Amazon sales, rather than Steam's, and simply activating our Amazon games on Steam's client. Why exactly does Amazon need to make a client, when they can use Steam as their client? Tony has already stated that there hasn't been any significant difference in sales between DRM Free versions and their Steam counterparts when both are offered at the same time for the same price. I also remember him saying at one time that this entire endeavor was something of an "experiment" by Amazon. I think at this point they've moved out of beta. P.S. Tony, expect to be getting more tattoos, we now know what your willing to do to make a sale.

The enter button would like a word with you.

Originally Posted by N_B Valve has horrible customer service policies such as permanently disabling an entire Steam account and all of its games if a customer makes a chargeback on a single purchase. Valve also doesn't not offer real game refunds. It only give store credit (Steam Wallet) which is not a real refund in that it simply keeps the customer's money and gives him something else instead. And, even those "refunds" are very rare. Valve also doesn't offer telephone customer support. Valve is a billion dollar company. It can afford to do much better than that, but Gabe prefers to sit his fat ass on all his billions instead of spending it on customer-friendly policies and support. Valve has these sales to make money. With a oversaturated games market (supply glut) and a poor economy Valve has to have these sales to make money. Before the recession hit in late 2008, Valve didn't have sales on Steam like it does now. In addition Steam's games catalog has exploded in the past four years. There are simply too many games chasing too little disposable income. That is why PC games are now so cheap and on sale so frequently. LOL! I am sure you think that Apple created the digital music player too. First Valve supports its games to generate continued sales. It doesn't do this because it wants to give you something. It does this because it wants to make money. Second, Valve tends to ship its games with less content than many other games so that when it adds content later, users like you think they are getting something extra when in fact you are just finally getting a complete game. Take Team Fortress for instance. When it was first released it had a grand total of five maps and not even all five of those maps could be played in all of the game's few multiplayer modes. In addition the game had no single-player component or bots whatsoever. It took over two years for the game to finally get a decent set of official maps and some of those "official" maps were made by users and not valve's developers. Left 4 Dead is another example of an incomplete/short Valve game that took awhile after release to get a decent amount of game content. And even then Valve never did deliver on the promised free content for that game and instead sold Left 4 Dead 2 instead. It is found if you take your head out of Gabe's ass and look around objectively.

It is obvious from your responses they would be damned if they do, damned if they don't.

Refunds, if you do a preorder and request a refund before the game comes out you will get one. Otherwise who gives refunds for games nowadays?

I'll give you the point on their CS. It is notoriously slow and poor and does need to be upgraded.

That have sales to make money, they don't have sales to make money, seems they are ed either way in your sight.

I didn't say they created the digital market entirely, but they are responsible for it being the size it is now, regardless if you wish to believe it or not.

Supporting their games to get more sales, the horror. Seriously, what the hell did Valve do to you to make act like such a douche bag?


They aren't perfect, no company is, but here is a reality check about money, they are a business and that is a pretty damn high priority for any business out there, to make money. Valve is ing everyone over left and right and just laughing about it like many others are.

I don't know what your problem is with them, they must of raped your dog and beat your sister or something because they could give away unicorns with every purchase and you would still bitch about something. They literally are damned if they do damned if they don't from the stuff you described.

I can't help but laugh at anyone who thinks for a second that any of these companies actually are on your side somehow. They're businesses. They want to make money, that's it. Is Amazon any different? No, the only difference is that we have the good fortune of having a sales guy who takes his job seriously and is a nice dude.

There's no reason for Steam to do anything differently. They are making a ridiculous amount of money, therefore there is no reason to change anything. Changes cost money, so why spend money on them if everyone is already buying your stuff? It's not that complicated. It would take a massive user boycott for anything to change (Steam strike, anyone?), and that's not going to happen.

That said, Steam offers a pretty good service regardless of their flaws. There's not much use in complaining about it, though I understand the negativity.

Originally Posted by N_B I don't expect Valve to change, but it's a damn shame that it doesn't.

Sure, I agree with that. I could say the same about 99% of life in general though.

Originally Posted by N_B Actually it's a shit service, but most consumers are too stupid or lazy to understand that until it bites them in the ass. And, even when it does they are too complacent to do anything substantial about it.

That's subjective. It's easy, it allows you to mingle with your friends, and it works. Obviously you think it's terrible, and in some ways I'm sure I could pick it apart too and say the same thing, but it's for video games dude.

It's easy, it generally works. Diving into the technicalities is like arguing that that pig over there should put a little more effort into his oinks. Who really cares that much?

(For the record I like DRM-free just as much or more than I like Steam, so you're not talking to a Gabe-ite.)