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The main thing that got me over the "Physical vs Digital" debacle is that you can still burn physical backup DVDs of your digital games [which I do everytime I download a game]. Other than that, and as mentioned above regarding Amazon's fantastic no-hassle key policy, I've been doing digital games now for about 10 months and haven't looked back

Originally Posted by walkonshadows I see your point, I do. However I was merely pointing out a discrepancy that exist with this game Vs. other s with a digital variant. Something like: Penumbra Collection (also made by the same company) available at Amazon ($13.89 disc + shipping if bought by itself, and the digital version selling for $5.00, $10 when it's not on sale.) Battlefield 3 for PC ($40 disc) ($30 download) Saints Row: The Third ($42.49 PC) ($24.99 download) but to be fair I also found some examples going completely the other way: Alice: Madness Returns ($14.89 PC) ($24.73 download) Dead Island ($19.68 PC) ($22.49 download) My point is that, normally there would be the expectation that the digital version would be cheaper, as it is in most cases.

Don't forget, some of the DVDs you mentioned are being sold by 3rd party retailers [some fullfilled by Amazon, but the Amazon price is higher]. Example: Dead Island DVD [3rd party] = $20, Download = $22.50, Amazon DVD = $25.
http://www.amazon.com/Deep-Silver-40...2194774&sr=8-7

Yes,but for the most part it's only free shipping at Amazon if you get the order total above $25. By the time you add shipping to the 3rd party sellers, it's basically a wash and you might as well take the amazon price for comparison. But those 1 or 2 dollars isn't going to make up the difference between the versions anyway. Good catch, but still not enough. XD

Now I have waited for 2 games to come along so I could combine them and get the order total over $25 easy and therefor free shipping, but that doesn't mean much when we are talking about the download still being more expensive than the disc.

Originally Posted by UW_Shocks The main thing that got me over the "Physical vs Digital" debacle is that you can still burn physical backup DVDs of your digital games [which I do everytime I download a game]. Other than that, and as mentioned above regarding Amazon's fantastic no-hassle key policy, I've been doing digital games now for about 10 months and haven't looked back

That sounds like an interesting strategy - have you had the need to use any of those backups yet? Physically backing up my online purchases hadn't even occurred to me.

It's weird how much I've bought into the digital download model - I still love my consoles, but I am buying a LOT of games from Amazon and Steam lately.

Any chance we'll see a pre-order deal for Binary Domain?

Originally Posted by teknikalei That sounds like an interesting strategy - have you had the need to use any of those backups yet? Physically backing up my online purchases hadn't even occurred to me. It's weird how much I've bought into the digital download model - I still love my consoles, but I am buying a LOT of games from Amazon and Steam lately.

Keep in mind that if you ever NEEDED the backup, then that would mean the server/company you bought it from is closed and you can't re-download the game, meaning that any keys that needed to be validated upon install would not be confirmed. The backup is useless on any kind or DRM game (amazon/steam keys) that can't "call home".

Is there a way to find new digital download titles recently added to Amazon? I'm not referring to newly released titles as much as older games that were recently added to Amazon. For example, just recently (as far as I could tell) mass effect 1 was added as a digital download.

Tony you had mentioned your team is adding back catalogue titles from time to time, wanted to see how I could find them.

thanks!

Originally Posted by walkonshadows Keep in mind that if you ever NEEDED the backup, then that would mean the server/company you bought it from is closed and you can't re-download the game, meaning that any keys that needed to be validated upon install would not be confirmed. The backup is useless on any kind or DRM game (amazon/steam keys) that can't "call home".

If I understand it right, Amazon does not add any DRM to their downloaded games. So the bits you burn to a DVD will always work unless the origial publisher is no longer accepting the keys - e.g. if EA stops accepting online activations of their own codes. And for the recent DRM-free games, the downloaded 'copies' will always work regardless of Amazon - assuming windows XX still runs them.

Am I right?

Originally Posted by EliotAndrews Since I'm tempted by the $7.50 price for all those Genesis classics, I'm curious how the emulator "blows." Does it stretch the image? No graphical customization options? Bad button response? Big ugly borders around games running in the 4:3 aspect ratio? Any of those [for me] would result in a lost sale. Either way, I've dealt with SEGA's PC emulators in the past with the DOS "Smash Packs" from the mid-90's. The newest PC version of Sonic CD, which runs on the "Retro Engine," as well as Jet Grind/Set Radio's current-gen (Plus PC) announcement gave me hope that SEGA's been really busy with their emulator programming.

1: Somewhat wonky audio (but no commercial emulator seems to get this right)
2: It has four display filters: None, Linear, TV, and Enhanced. Source
3: The game selection menu is a bit slow.
4: If your video card sucks then playing the game is going to be a chore - I tried these games on a crappy GeForce 8400 GS. It ran TF2 in low to medium settings fine, but it couldn't handle this emulator.

In the end it's up to you to decide.

Originally Posted by Kitsune Sniper 1: Somewhat wonky audio (but no commercial emulator seems to get this right) 2: It has four display filters: None, Linear, TV, and Enhanced. Source 3: The game selection menu is a bit slow. 4: If your video card sucks then playing the game is going to be a chore - I tried these games on a crappy GeForce 8400 GS. It ran TF2 in low to medium settings fine, but it couldn't handle this emulator. In the end it's up to you to decide.

Your very first point, inaccurate audio, is definitely a reason to avoid this pack. Games like Shining Force II are particularly memorable for me, and I'd hate to hear the audio butchered by a bad emulator.

When the emulator is the biggest part of the port and will be used to market whole collections of games, it makes sense to have it emulate the audio perfectly. (It sounds like its poorly optimized for the PC, as well.) It's a shame, since I've played "Sonic Ultimate Genesis Collection" on a PS3, and all those titles ran very nicely. (I don't recall inconsistent audio in the titles I sampled, either.)

This is a definite pass for me - Thank you for your input, Mr. Sniper.

Hey guys,

Bunch of comments here I want to respond to in depth, and will do so later this evening. Swamped in meetings today.

Something I feel the need to comment on regarding physical prices vs. Digital is that you have to remember that the way retail works on the physical side is that you buy XXX number of an actual box, which then sits in a warehouse and hope that you bought the same amount that people want to buy.

So alot of time what happens is people look at the tons of boxes they paid for but aren't selling and decide they need to recoup SOME of their dollars for them, thus the random "sales" you see on the boxed product side.

While inventory management isn't something the digital side needs to deal with, we still have to pay a similar cost per unit sold, so unless we've got a planned promotion in place it doesn't make sense to match physical goods. Which is why we don't.

Hope this explains things better...I didn't realize this was how things worked either until I worked in retail.

Cheers,
Tony

Everything in the SEGA Genesis collection is handled by a single launch.

Originally Posted by Kitsune Sniper 1: Somewhat wonky audio (but no commercial emulator seems to get this right) 2: It has four display filters: None, Linear, TV, and Enhanced. Source 3: The game selection menu is a bit slow. 4: If your video card sucks then playing the game is going to be a chore - I tried these games on a crappy GeForce 8400 GS. It ran TF2 in low to medium settings fine, but it couldn't handle this emulator. In the end it's up to you to decide.

I own a lot of the actual carts and play them on my original Genesis system when I want to bother hooking it up. I've got to tell you... any small gripes I may have about the way the games are emulated are easily balanced out by the fact that I can play them from my PC with zero hassle.

So... long story short. If you're a real fan - no these don't replace the original carts (I cry at that thought) - but it is a GREAT way to enjoy the games right from your PC. I don't mind throwing SEGA a few extra bills so that they don't forget all us Genesis/MD/MasterSystem fans out there.

Originally Posted by Amazon DVG Deals Hey guys, I submitted the PM for that this morning but it looks like there wasn't anyone around to approve it. My bad, if the price is still in place tomorrow I'll follow up when we're all in the office. Cheers, Tony

Any word on this Amnesia price match?

Originally Posted by EliotAndrews Your very first point, inaccurate audio, is definitely a reason to avoid this pack. Games like Shining Force II are particularly memorable for me, and I'd hate to hear the audio butchered by a bad emulator. When the emulator is the biggest part of the port and will be used to market whole collections of games, it makes sense to have it emulate the audio perfectly. (It sounds like its poorly optimized for the PC, as well.) It's a shame, since I've played "Sonic Ultimate Genesis Collection" on a PS3, and all those titles ran very nicely. (I don't recall inconsistent audio in the titles I sampled, either.) This is a definite pass for me - Thank you for your input, Mr. Sniper.

No sweat. I personally couldn't get past the title screen on Phantasy Star IV on the PS2 Genesis collection... some stuff worked, some didn't.

Originally Posted by hal Everything in the SEGA Genesis collection is handled by a single launch. I own a lot of the actual carts and play them on my original Genesis system when I want to bother hooking it up. I've got to tell you... any small gripes I may have about the way the games are emulated are easily balanced out by the fact that I can play them from my PC with zero hassle. So... long story short. If you're a real fan - no these don't replace the original carts (I cry at that thought) - but it is a GREAT way to enjoy the games right from your PC. I don't mind throwing SEGA a few extra bills so that they don't forget all us Genesis/MD/MasterSystem fans out there.

I would give Sega my money if only they put some thought and effort into these packs instead of them being obvious cash grabs. The console Genesis / Sega collections were great... so why aren't these even half as good? :(

If you don't have the games, then this is fine, but if you do well, this isn't. :p

Originally Posted by Kitsune Sniper No sweat. I personally couldn't get past the title screen on Phantasy Star IV on the PS2 Genesis collection... some stuff worked, some didn't. I would give Sega my money if only they put some thought and effort into these packs instead of them being obvious cash grabs. The console Genesis / Sega collections were great... so why aren't these even half as good? :( If you don't have the games, then this is fine, but if you do well, this isn't. :p

I understand what you are saying and I don't disagree that it would be nice to have perfect emulation and a few extras. From my perspective though, the price is right - 48 games for about seven bucks. It's more of a convenience I suppose and everyone probably wants something different from packs like these.

Originally Posted by xspeedracerx Any chance we'll see a pre-order deal for Binary Domain?

I'd be interested in this too. It gets good user reviews, so I hope you guys don't pass it up (release is set for April 6). It looks like it'll be a Steamworks title, and I'm definitely fine with that. I prefer to buy my Steam games on Amazon anyway in case I ever have to deal with customer service.

Originally Posted by avwjase Any word on this Amnesia price match?

Yeah, the Gamestop price is still good and has been all day. I'm assuming all the hamsters were at the meetings with Tony but hopefully he can still get this matched for you. I already own it, but highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.

Oh, hai new thread! Was wondering why nothing showed up in my subscriptions.

If you keep putting nba 2k12 on sale, I'll be powerless to resist. In fact, I'll probably just go buy it this round, even though it's going to be sitting behind ME3 for a good while. Just wish steam would put it on sale (or better yet, it activated on steam)

Originally Posted by avwjase Any word on this Amnesia price match?

Originally Posted by CheapLikeAFox Yeah, the Gamestop price is still good and has been all day. I'm assuming all the hamsters were at the meetings with Tony but hopefully he can still get this matched for you. I already own it, but highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.

This just went through sorry for the delay. The hamsters and I were doing performance reviews all day...needless to say this did not reflect well on the "Close attention to detail" portion of their performance evaluation. One was fed to Mr. Pig.

Price should flip in 30 min.

Originally Posted by CheapThomas Is there a way to find new digital download titles recently added to Amazon? I'm not referring to newly released titles as much as older games that were recently added to Amazon. For example, just recently (as far as I could tell) mass effect 1 was added as a digital download. Tony you had mentioned your team is adding back catalogue titles from time to time, wanted to see how I could find them. thanks!

This is a great suggestion and one that I'll pass along to our site merchandiser.

Originally Posted by xspeedracerx Any chance we'll see a pre-order deal for Binary Domain?

Originally Posted by Vigilant I'd be interested in this too. It gets good user reviews, so I hope you guys don't pass it up (release is set for April 6). It looks like it'll be a Steamworks title, and I'm definitely fine with that. I prefer to buy my Steam games on Amazon anyway in case I ever have to deal with customer service.

I need to ping Sega about this. Thanks for the heads up.

Originally Posted by houdinilogic Oh, hai new thread! Was wondering why nothing showed up in my subscriptions. If you keep putting nba 2k12 on sale, I'll be powerless to resist. In fact, I'll probably just go buy it this round, even though it's going to be sitting behind ME3 for a good while. Just wish steam would put it on sale (or better yet, it activated on steam)

Hey there, should I update the old thread again letting people know the new one exists?

Also, glad you're psyched about the NBA 2K12 sale .

Cheers,
Tony

Originally Posted by Amazon DVG Deals This just went through sorry for the delay. The hamsters and I were doing performance reviews all day...needless to say this did not reflect well on the "Close attention to detail" portion of their performance evaluation. One was fed to Mr. Pig. Cheers, Tony

Haha that comment cracked me up. Hopefully the remaining hamsters learned their lesson though...

On topic, keep up the good work getting these deals together. I might also be interested in Binary Domain so hopefully you can get that from Sega.