TroyHepfner
May 30th, 2009, 08:32 PM
I just finished a grueling week of web site updates. I didn't realize how many games we had collected on the site until I had to go through and update nearly every web page!
We now offer most games through either GameCenterSolution or directly from developers. There are several reasons for this:
Big Fish Games changed their pricing earlier this month to $6.99 per game, and they now automatically enroll you in their monthly game club. We received a few e-mails about this from unhappy visitors, who don't like the automatic enrollment irregardless of the price and the fact that you can cancel at any time. So we're going to try to minimize the number of games we acquire through Big Fish. If it's a good game, though, and we can't get it through any other channel, then we'll offer it through Big Fish Games.
PlayFirst changed their affiliate program, which meant we had to update a lot of download and buy links. And they have had some problems with their new program that they still haven't fixed after more than two weeks. So we now offer most of those same games through other channels.
We have been able to contact a number of developers directly and work out affiliate deals. By getting games directly from developers, we cut out the middle man so more profit from each sale goes to the developer and not the distributors. We think it's very important to support the developers in this economy, especially the independents like us, who have been hurt from the recent price wars between the big game portals. The portals and other distributors have been slashing prices left and right, which means developers now get pennies for each sale instead of dollars. It is hard to keep developing quality games for those kinds of prices.So now we carry roughly 1/5 of our games directly through the developers, a handful from Big Fish and PlayFirst, and the rest (about 2/3) through GameCenterSolution.
Some of the benefits of this for you are:
No subscriptions required! For most games on our site, you can purchase them without being automatically subscribed to any kind of game club!
Ability to install on as many computers as you own! Most games are not node-locked or limited to a certain number of computers. So when you buy a game from us, you can install it on your computer, your laptop, your kids' computers, etc.
Good deals on pricing! GameCenterSolution discounts many of their games, even though you won't see the cheaper prices on our web pages. That's because they change their prices so frequently and without telling us, so we choose to display the full price of the game. But we put a note at the bottom of each game page about this, and we encourage you to click the Buy link to see what the actual discounted price is. You might be surprised how cheaply you can get some of the games!
Lots of good games that you won't find on many other sites! By getting games directly from developers, we're picking up some fun games that, for whatever reason, the portals decided to skip. And we're able to get Mac and Linux versions that the portals don't have.And of course you always know what you're getting when you download a game from us, because we still play every game and assign it a rating before we list it on our site.
We're also negotiating special discounts and promotions directly through developers, some of whom are willing to work with us on this. For example, for the month of June we will be offering Mystic Mine at a special discounted price thanks to the developer, Koonsolo! More on this on Monday...
So even though it has been a lot of grueling work this week, I trust it has been worth it. You're getting some good clean games at some good prices when you shop with us!
We now offer most games through either GameCenterSolution or directly from developers. There are several reasons for this:
Big Fish Games changed their pricing earlier this month to $6.99 per game, and they now automatically enroll you in their monthly game club. We received a few e-mails about this from unhappy visitors, who don't like the automatic enrollment irregardless of the price and the fact that you can cancel at any time. So we're going to try to minimize the number of games we acquire through Big Fish. If it's a good game, though, and we can't get it through any other channel, then we'll offer it through Big Fish Games.
PlayFirst changed their affiliate program, which meant we had to update a lot of download and buy links. And they have had some problems with their new program that they still haven't fixed after more than two weeks. So we now offer most of those same games through other channels.
We have been able to contact a number of developers directly and work out affiliate deals. By getting games directly from developers, we cut out the middle man so more profit from each sale goes to the developer and not the distributors. We think it's very important to support the developers in this economy, especially the independents like us, who have been hurt from the recent price wars between the big game portals. The portals and other distributors have been slashing prices left and right, which means developers now get pennies for each sale instead of dollars. It is hard to keep developing quality games for those kinds of prices.So now we carry roughly 1/5 of our games directly through the developers, a handful from Big Fish and PlayFirst, and the rest (about 2/3) through GameCenterSolution.
Some of the benefits of this for you are:
No subscriptions required! For most games on our site, you can purchase them without being automatically subscribed to any kind of game club!
Ability to install on as many computers as you own! Most games are not node-locked or limited to a certain number of computers. So when you buy a game from us, you can install it on your computer, your laptop, your kids' computers, etc.
Good deals on pricing! GameCenterSolution discounts many of their games, even though you won't see the cheaper prices on our web pages. That's because they change their prices so frequently and without telling us, so we choose to display the full price of the game. But we put a note at the bottom of each game page about this, and we encourage you to click the Buy link to see what the actual discounted price is. You might be surprised how cheaply you can get some of the games!
Lots of good games that you won't find on many other sites! By getting games directly from developers, we're picking up some fun games that, for whatever reason, the portals decided to skip. And we're able to get Mac and Linux versions that the portals don't have.And of course you always know what you're getting when you download a game from us, because we still play every game and assign it a rating before we list it on our site.
We're also negotiating special discounts and promotions directly through developers, some of whom are willing to work with us on this. For example, for the month of June we will be offering Mystic Mine at a special discounted price thanks to the developer, Koonsolo! More on this on Monday...
So even though it has been a lot of grueling work this week, I trust it has been worth it. You're getting some good clean games at some good prices when you shop with us!