By Dan Grill on December 16th, 2011 at 10:08 am.
A couple of days ago, Remedy confirmed the rumour that Alan Wake would be at last be seeing a PC version. Our man Dan Griddled-octopus managed to coax a few (rather evasive) words on that subject out of Aki Järvilehto, Executive Vice President at Remedy, but before he could escape we sent Dan back with a couple of particularly burning additional questions. Specifically: that infamous “Some games are more suited for the intimacy of the PC, and others are best played from the couch in front of a larger TV screen” comment and on whether there’s a risk of Games For Windows Live. Did we get answers? Um. Sort of.
RPS: That couch quote. Has that changed?
Aki Järvilehto: First of all, that’s not our quote. With regard to why we are bringing it out on PC. There’s two reasons for that; now with Steam, we can do something like this, which we think is fairly awesome. At the same time, from a time perspective sometimes the stars just align that way and you have the possibility of doing something. We’re super-excited that we put out both games.
RPS: Right. Do you think certain games are more suited to the PC or the couch?
Aki Järvilehto: Thinking about distribution, games do have to reflect the platform that they’re built on. With Alan Wake PC, obviously we’ve spent a lot of time fine-tuning the control mechanisms, so it works well on PC and is an exciting, gripping experience, so you can focus on the storyline without struggling with the controls. I’m really impressed with, when you turn up all the graphics on a modern PC, I’m really impressed with what you’ll see there.
RPS: The other question is slightly desperate; can you promise there will be no Games for Windows Live?
Aki Järvilehto: (laughs) We don’t want to comment on other platforms. Today Remedy are supporting three platforms; Xbox 360, Steam and iOS. Those are the platforms we currently support. Do we plan on supporting more platforms in the future? Well, who in the industry wouldn’t? With regard to the specific question about GFWL, I think it would be unfair to comment at that right now.
RPS: I think we’re more concerned because certain games, even on Steam, still include GFWL functionality. Is that going to be involved?
Aki Järvilehto: Alan Wake PC will be released on Steam using Steam’s technology. Whether it will support any additional technologies in the future remains to be seen.
16/12/2011 at 10:11 bear912 says:
… I think this is good news?
16/12/2011 at 17:03 lasikbear says:
With regards to the news, I believe you could say that good is one of the adjectives you can use to describe news, as for this particular news, well we are not ready to reveal whether or not the news is able to be described that way, but we are aware of both that adjective and that there are other adjectives that exist to describe news.
16/12/2011 at 10:12 UnravThreads says:
For God’s sake, Remedy, answer the bloody questions.
16/12/2011 at 10:30 Squirrelfanatic says:
He didn’t answer ANY of those questions properly.
“With regard to the specific question about GFWL, I think it would be unfair to comment at that right now”
What now?
16/12/2011 at 11:49 MadTinkerer says:
It seems to me that he didn’t quite understand the question. It looks like he thought GFWL was a completely separate system and not one that could be used with Steam. Considering the result of mixing Steam and GFWL in my experience, this sort of attitude should be more common.
I don’t mind a completely separate GFWL version that’s sold via GFWL, but making me log into any other additional service when I’m running a game from Steam is a pain in the butt.
16/12/2011 at 12:00 hosndosn says:
Yes, it seemed like he didn’t even know what GFWL was. Which isn’t exactly soothing coming from the guy they deem knowledgeable enough about the PC version to do an interview about it.
Why exactly should games sell well on the PC if we’re clearly treated as the shit platform?
16/12/2011 at 12:02 Lars Westergren says:
>It seems to me that he didn’t quite understand the question
He no doubt understood it, but was probably unable or unwilling to give a straightforward answer because of either
a) Ongoing negotiations with Microsoft.
b) A non-disclosure agreement
c) Because he didn’t want to upset Microsoft, since angering powerful companies you may be dependent on now or in the future is not good business sense.
16/12/2011 at 12:15 Lord Custard Smingleigh says:
I can neither confirm nor deny that you will be locked in a small room and be force fed horse droppings. I can neither confirm nor deny that you will be legally obligated to change your name to Beverly.
16/12/2011 at 13:06 el_Chi says:
@hosndosn “Yes, it seemed like he didn’t even know what GFWL was.”
I felt the opposite was true – he knows exactly what GFWL is, he knows exactly how and why it’s so loathed by gamers, and he knows that if he admits now that Alan Wake will include GFWL, interest in the game will collapse mere days after its announcement.
My prediction: Alan Wake and GFWL, sitting in a tree…
16/12/2011 at 13:11 Kaira- says:
My prediction: no GFWL.
http://forum.alanwake.com/showpost.php?p=133518&postcount=114
16/12/2011 at 13:43 Wulf says:
That’s only a community manager, though. They can claim he was simply ‘mistaken’ with no harm done.
I don’t know. The way that this and the other interview was handled makes me really uneasy.
Instead of the PR spiel, why is “I’m not at liberty to say.” so hard? I could respect that, but please do cut the bull, Remedy. It’s annoyingly patronising.
16/12/2011 at 14:09 Urthman says:
It really sounds like he thinks you are requesting that they add GFWL because there’s some feature there that you want Alan Wake to have.
If developers don’t even know that PC gamers hate and fear GFWL and are begging them to leave it out, maybe RPS gentlemen who actually get the chance to talk to some of these guys could maybe say something about that?
16/12/2011 at 15:00 Zelius says:
I think he’s just dodging the question, because he’s unsure if the game will be released through GFWL in addition to Steam. Not that he’s unsure whether or not the Steam version will require GFWL.
“Alan Wake PC will be released on Steam using Steam’s technology.”
That quote makes it seem like they’re using Steamworks. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think any of the games on Steam that are bundled with GFWL also use Steamworks.
16/12/2011 at 17:46 RockinRanger says:
>That quote makes it seem like they’re using Steamworks. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think any of the games on Steam that are bundled with GFWL also use Steamworks.
I think Arkham City uses both.
16/12/2011 at 18:44 stupid_mcgee says:
@ Zelius: For the most part, you are correct. However, there is one anomaly I know of: Batman:Arkham City. All versions have GFWL, but the Steam version implements Steamworks’ cloud service and also has Steam achievements. So, the Steam version has the extra perk of using Steam’s Cloud service for save files and configurations, but it still requires GFWL. The Steam version also has both GFWL and Steam achievements.
16/12/2011 at 18:57 Nim says:
If you want a straight answer from a Finn, ask him in the sauna after you’ve given him a beer.
16/12/2011 at 19:14 subedii says:
Dawn of War 2 / Chaos Rising (first expansion pack) was also tied to Steamworks whilst also using GFWL for all its actual matchmaking and community stuff.
Was so bad that Relic eventually ditched GFWL altogether and went straight up Steamworks for Retribution (second expansion pack).
16/12/2011 at 23:31 Urthman says:
If you want a straight answer from a Finn, ask him in the sauna after you’ve given him a beer.
If you have to have drinks together naked in a steam bath to get a straight answer, I’d hate to see what you have to do to get a gay one.
16/12/2011 at 10:12 Casimir Effect says:
You’d have to be Jack Bauer to get anything out of this guy.
Can we do that? Can we get Jack?
16/12/2011 at 10:30 lhzr says:
you’d prolly need to send bauer to some finnish lessons if you want to get anything else from the guy than “i told you, it will work fine on pc, what more do you want from me???”
16/12/2011 at 10:21 Was Neurotic says:
So is the fucker actually any good, given its nearly 8 year development time? How has it fared reviews-wise on consoles so far?
16/12/2011 at 10:30 Oozo says:
Reviews were “generally favourable”, as Metacritic likes to put it. The writer’s I trust most, though, were a bit in two minds about it: The biggest strength seems to be the atmosphere. (The judgement of the writing and story seems to reach from “great” to “meh”.)
However, there was a lot of talk about it being one bad example for the “gameification” of games (to quote Tom Bissell). What with constantly telegraphing the answers to puzzles and one of the most non-sensical, random and annoying collectables in recent memory.
Then again, that’s only what I have read – still curious to check it out once it comes out on PC.
16/12/2011 at 10:31 Faceless says:
It’s a decent game, but nowhere near what Remedy can do and what they have shown over the course of the game’s development, back when it was a PC exclusive. Y’know, back when it was open world, had random tornadoes that picked up lorries and cars…
16/12/2011 at 10:45 Kaira- says:
I have hard time believing the game would’ve been better if it was open-world. Open world gzmes don’t tend to suit story-driven games. And as it happens, the pacing of the story was the reason why the open world concept was thrown away.
16/12/2011 at 11:08 Faceless says:
@Kaira-
You didn’t play many open world games if you think they can’t tell a good story. Just because TES games have a rubbish narrative does not mean all open world games are bad at it.
There’s a clear distinction between ‘open world’ and ‘sandbox’. The latter impedes story-telling, the former doesn’t.
The game wasn’t refitted for the better. Core concepts were dumped in a last ditch effort to finally ship the game. If you like the game, all the power to you, but claiming it is superior in its current state than what it was made out to be is just ignorant.
16/12/2011 at 11:20 Kaira- says:
@Faceless
I disagree. Open word may suit some styles of stories, but in the case of Alan Wake, I have hard time believing that open world would have been better than now, as the current style serves the story greatly, giving a sense of urgency. I do agree that some parts should have been far more open to give more touch of the world (for example, introduction to the village), but generally, tighter line seems to me to be the better choice.
To claim that “what-could-have-been” state is superior to what is now is stupid. It’s comparable to saying “it could have been better, as tehy promised, so it was then better than currently”.
It’s meaningless words, full of fury and thunder.
16/12/2011 at 11:26 Faceless says:
@Kaira-
So, you have never played Silent Hill 2 and you think extensive footage qualifies as “they promised”. I think this is my cue to depart from the argument.
16/12/2011 at 11:34 Kaira- says:
@Faceless
Oh I did play SH2, seeing how it’s one of my favourite games. It would seem though that you haven’t, as the open world pieces of the game were few, far between and very rarely had anything to offer storywise, only serving as going from one place to another (except the part with Maria). Otherwise the game was rather tight line, if only tad looser than Alan Wake.
16/12/2011 at 13:23 outoffeelinsobad says:
I thought it was generally accepted by now that open-world games are inherently conflicting with tightly-structured narrative? At best, they provide some trite dissonance, like collecting thermos’.
16/12/2011 at 10:21 GreatUncleBaal says:
Steam and GFWL combined doesn’t mean a definite no-sale, but it makes me significantly less likely to buy a game.
GFWL is just too much faffing, and does not improve my gaming experience. I’d be much more accepting of it if they just made the updating process less bloody irritating.
16/12/2011 at 12:27 ShadyGuy says:
Whie I dislike GFWL I find it pretty easy to ignore most of the time. I have an offline account, so I never even log in to the “service”. I only notice a game has GFWL when it pops up the login screen at the beginning.
16/12/2011 at 19:01 stupid_mcgee says:
GFWL isn’t a killer for me, but it always makes me shake my head. It’s more of a non-issue for singelplayer, as the only real service it provides in that instance is achievements. I’m fine with that, although I find it a bit silly and all.
Multiplayer is, mostly, okay, but I’ve never had as smooth of an experience with GFWL as I’ve had with Steam or even Gamespy. I suppose that’s mainly due to GFWL’s online model being P2P. Or maybe it really just is GFWL, as even running Res Evil 5 on LAN had all sorts of weird connection problems. Oh, and inviting friends is nowhere near as fast and fluid as games with Steamworks. The GFWL interface is just bad. It’s meant for consoles, and really doesn’t translate over well to the PC side.
GFWL: livable, but definitely not preferable.
16/12/2011 at 10:24 Zeewolf says:
LAME ANSWERS!!!!! :p
16/12/2011 at 10:52 Fierce says:
Really? I thought he answered the questions quite clearly. Here, I’ll show you.
RPS: That couch quote. Has that changed?
Aki Järvilehto: First of all, that’s not our quote…..At the same time, from a time perspective sometimes the stars just align that way and you have the possibility of doing something….
Translation: Sidestep + FUD insertion about the quote. It’s coming to PC cause we need more money.
RPS: Right. Do you think certain games are more suited to the PC or the couch?
Aki Järvilehto: Thinking about distribution, games do have to reflect the platform that they’re built on…. With Alan Wake PC, obviously we’ve spent a lot of time fine-tuning the control mechanisms….I’m really impressed with, when you turn up all the graphics on a modern PC, I’m really impressed with what you’ll see there….
Translation: Our game is suited to the PC because we took care with the controls and we need more money. We also worked on the graphics by adding AA and moving the Sharpen slider so those who give us money first would be compelled to tell their hesitant buddies to also give us money.
RPS: The other question is slightly desperate; can you promise there will be no Games for Windows Live?
Aki Järvilehto: (laughs) We don’t want to comment on other platforms. Today Remedy are supporting three platforms; Xbox 360, Steam and iOS….Do we plan on supporting more platforms in the future? Well, who in the industry wouldn’t? With regard to the specific question about GFWL, I think it would be unfair to comment at that right now.
Translation: Yes it will, and we’ll confirm it later, but it isn’t our fault. We’re going to shift the blame to Valve or pre-signed legal agreements. Please don’t let that stop you from giving us money.
RPS: I think we’re more concerned because certain games, even on Steam, still include GFWL functionality. Is that going to be involved?
Aki Järvilehto: Alan Wake PC will be released on Steam using Steam’s technology. Whether it will support any additional technologies in the future remains to be seen.
Translation: What the fuck did I just say earlier? Were you even listening? Do you not understand innuendo? Blame Valve! We can’t stop them co-supporting our support of GfWL. It’s all their fault! Please buy our game, it’s fairly awesome, the stars have aligned for it’s fine-tuning, and we’re really impressed with how you’ll be gripping your keyboard to play it. Who in the industry wouldn’t buy our game? We’re super-excited to see, as that remains to be seen.
Reading between the lines is more of an (perhaps cynical) instinct, than an art form.
[Christopher Hitchens, 13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011]
[When a Great Beacon fades, the World darkens twice.]
16/12/2011 at 11:15 Aemony says:
“We’re“?
We are you even listening?
Remedy are Dan Griliopoulos even listening?
Ugh, I’m so confused…
16/12/2011 at 11:18 Fierce says:
Than Järvilehtos’ plan is working~
16/12/2011 at 10:24 yhancik says:
The answers and questions feel so disconnected sometimes, it’s like the interview was conducted using Google Translate.
Also, this “now with Steam” is ridiculous and would be infuriating (if the game didn’t turn out to be not-so-great).
16/12/2011 at 10:24 Legion23 says:
I am annoyed in so many ways with Remedy… Stop pretending answering questions if you have nothing to say or aren´t allowed to do so.
16/12/2011 at 10:26 Cirius says:
Well that’s cleared that up then.
16/12/2011 at 10:28 eatfrog says:
steam just became this great thing. last year, it was still in its infancy and pretty lame.
16/12/2011 at 10:32 yhancik says:
Sorry I was off using the restroom, what’s that thing you call Steam?
16/12/2011 at 11:19 Aemony says:
Steam is the technical term for water vapor, the gaseous phase of water, which is formed when water boils. Did you wash your hands in hot water when you were using the restroom? If you happened to see some cloudy looking smoke coming from the water, you just saw some form of steam.
16/12/2011 at 10:29 sonofsanta says:
It’s like he had interview training with Ed Milliband.
16/12/2011 at 14:24 Josh W says:
It’s been hillarious and a little sad to watch the transition from fairly geeky random politician man to PR trapped labour leader.
16/12/2011 at 15:19 mickygor says:
These quotes are wrong at a time when the opportunity to earn money from the PC market is still going on.
16/12/2011 at 10:32 Echo Black says:
“now with Steam, we can do something like this, which we think is fairly awesome.”
What is this even supposed to mean? Alan Wake is from May 2010, and Steam was very much alive and kicking back then. I have several 2010 and 2009 purchases on my Steam account. Goddamn COD was on Steam in 2010.
I’m thinking on giving this game a miss just based on this whole being treated like a child PR talk. Roll you eyes all I want, there are more games coming out that I can keep up with anyways. Or maybe I’ll get it when it inevitably hits 5$ on Steam late next year .
16/12/2011 at 10:32 Palimpsest says:
Annoyed at the questions as much as the Remedy guy. Drill him, MAKE HIM SPEAK. When he says shit like “the stars aligned” ask what the fuck he’s on about.
16/12/2011 at 10:37 Matt says:
It means the Xbox exclusivity contract has expired.
16/12/2011 at 12:09 Palimpsest says:
I know that but get him to admit it, fuck NDAs
16/12/2011 at 10:34 Drake Sigar says:
I don’t think he has any answers. Hell, I don’t even think he knows what the questions are.
16/12/2011 at 10:35 rocketman71 says:
And again, another interview where all answers are loads of bullshit. If he was going to answer like this, it would have been better if he had kept his mouth shut. Every answer was shouting at me “Steam sale, steam sale!!!” and the last one was definitely shouting “do NOT buy this, it WILL come with GFWL”.
Their loss.
16/12/2011 at 10:36 Matt says:
So basically what he means is that it uses GFWL?
16/12/2011 at 10:38 Perkelnik says:
And in other news, Alan Wake will use GFWL and yes, Remedy is still Microsoft’s bitch.
16/12/2011 at 10:40 Bluerps says:
I think the problem with interviews like this is, that the guy simply does not know the answers and, in addition to that, is not allowed to simply say “I have no fucking idea”. So the only thing he can do is blabber something vaguely related to the question, without actually answering it.
16/12/2011 at 10:44 GeoGonzo says:
I thought that only a politician could manage so many non sequiturs in an interview. Pretty amazing!
16/12/2011 at 10:46 Echo Black says:
RPS: Right. Do you think certain games are more suited to the PC or the couch?
Aki Järvilehto: Thinking about distribution, games do have to reflect the platform that they’re built on. With Alan Wake PC, obviously we’ve spent a lot of time fine-tuning the control mechanisms, so it works well on PC and is an exciting, gripping experience, so you can focus on the storyline without struggling with the controls. I’m really impressed with, when you turn up all the graphics on a modern PC, I’m really impressed with what you’ll see there.
This is the most hilariously obtuse, insanely off-topic answer to a question I’ve EVER read
16/12/2011 at 19:15 stupid_mcgee says:
In all honesty, and sorry if this offends the RPS staff, but it is a rather bullshit question. The only real reason I can see for even asking such a question is for pure snark. What useful information could be gleaned from a forthright answer? If he says that some are better suited for the couch, it starts the whole moan and groan routine again. If he disavows the previous statement, people jump up and scream, “see!? What a twat!” It’s a loose-loose situation and I feel like the question was poised merely to put him on the hotseat and to deride his previous statements. One can do that if they wish, but you don’t need to field questions to do it, and it just wastes people’s time when you do.
16/12/2011 at 10:47 paralipsis says:
Odd. I guess word must be a bit confused at Remedy right now, because this post:
http://forum.alanwake.com/showpost.php?p=133518&postcount=114
in the announcement thread:
http://forum.alanwake.com/showthread.php?t=7525
seemed to totally confirm that they were definitely not going to use GFWL
16/12/2011 at 10:48 aldo_14 says:
RPS: Milk or two sugars?
Aki Järvilehto: It would be unfair to talk about tupperware at this point in time, but rest assured our fans will be delighted with the quality of our oranges when consumed in Italy during summer. We are super-excited to be tickling sloths with feather dusters.
16/12/2011 at 10:52 Echo Black says:
I laughed out loud at this
16/12/2011 at 11:12 Land says:
So did I.
16/12/2011 at 12:11 3philic says:
Best comment. :D
16/12/2011 at 12:21 sneetch says:
Genius!
I love this interview, normally interviews are a kind of boring question and answer back and forth; this is more a question and random words back and forth.
16/12/2011 at 13:25 outoffeelinsobad says:
+1
Mad libs during PR is super fun.
16/12/2011 at 14:55 InternetBatman says:
That was hilarious.
16/12/2011 at 10:54 Alexandros says:
Come on let’s give the guy a break, we all know what happened. They had the PC version of Alan Wake ready for some time now but they had an exclusivity agreement with Microsoft. Obviously that one expired and they’re launching the game, but they still can’t talk about it probably because some sort of NDA is in effect. The “couch” thing was all MS BS (hey, that rhymed, cool :)) and that’s that.
16/12/2011 at 11:30 Kaira- says:
This. Though I did read somewhere that apparently Remedy is now independent of MS, as they apparently are self-funding “American Nightmare”.
16/12/2011 at 12:26 sneetch says:
Yeah, MS told them to drop the PC version for their own reasons, the PS3 probably had some big name exclusives coming up at the time and they needed to be seen to be able to compete on the whole (incredibly sad, in many ways) “we have games that you don’t, hahaha” exclusivity thing.
Don’t hate the playa’ everyone, hate the console wars.
16/12/2011 at 13:15 V. Profane says:
Plausible, but still guess work, and these two uninterviews are not making me want to give Remedy the benefit of the doubt.
16/12/2011 at 10:57 Maldomel says:
I think next time you should resort to torture or threats to get some proper answers from that man. Seriously, ” At the same time, from a time perspective sometimes the stars just align that way and you have the possibility of doing something.”
Is that even an answer to begin with? The stars just align? Do they make up decisions based on full moons and tides too?
16/12/2011 at 12:17 Lord Custard Smingleigh says:
You can’t explain that.
16/12/2011 at 19:17 stupid_mcgee says:
Yes. He’s very obviously talking in a literal sense. There is nothing figurative about it whatsoever.
16/12/2011 at 10:58 Binary77 says:
I don’t really see why where someone chooses to play a game is such a big deal. I’ve played PC games on my sofa with a gamepad for years now, as a few others here probably do. It’s no less ‘intimate’ at all. I don’t know what he thinks some of you desk-bound guys get upto, in your rooms, when nobody is around…
16/12/2011 at 11:13 Shadowcat says:
Alan Wake, now sponsored by Sprunt. Cash back!
16/12/2011 at 11:19 Bungle says:
I will forever love RPS for pushing him on the couch quote. We love you for that.
I do have something serious I’d like to know though. If this game is all about the story, I’d like to hear Remedy announce that the sequels will be released for PC in a timely manner. With the sequel already announced, I wouldn’t even consider buying this game if I thought I’d never see the sequel, or have to wait two years after Xbox owners to see it.
The way I see it, they aren’t planning on releasing any sequels for the PC any time soon and they’re still treating the platform like an afterthought.
16/12/2011 at 11:35 Raiyan 1.0 says:
Well, Alan Wake sold around 330k hard copies (paltry for a 5-year-development period), and most of the additional digital sales came along with the free bundle with the 360 slim. I’m guessing they aren’t gonna risk it this time by keeping it an XBox exclusive.
16/12/2011 at 12:09 myca77 says:
@ Raiyan 1.0
Odd it seems that your numbers don’t match the 1 million that vgchartz say it sold at retail.
http://gamrreview.vgchartz.com/sales-data/13817/alan-wake/
Still not as good as they had hoped I guess, and a shame, as a friend of mine put it, “It’s the closest you’ll get to playing a Twin Peaks game”.
16/12/2011 at 12:12 Kaira- says:
@myca77
Well, you can look at it in two ways. I’d personally say the closest you can get to Twin Peaks is Deadly Premonition. Alan Wake would be more… how should one put it, Stephen King-like approach.
16/12/2011 at 12:57 myca77 says:
@Kaira
I’ve heard of that one before cheers for the reminder, not sure who did the translation though, if it’s the guys we worked with on El Shaddai I may give it a go.
But it’s official, I’m gonna (not really) start a petition for Season 3 of Twin Peaks in video game format.
16/12/2011 at 17:59 Oozo says:
The translation of “Deadly Premonition” is a curious case, in that there never was a proper “Japanese” version of the game. While the written text was mostly Japanese in “Red Seeds Profile”, all the voice work is English, even in the original version. I know, because the PS3 version never was localized, and I don’t speak a word of Japanese. Nevertheless, I was able to finish the game in the original version. (One of the most involving experiences of this year.)
So, I’m not sure if they worked with a special studio instead of the usual ones used to do the “post-release” translations…
16/12/2011 at 18:13 Bhazor says:
Yes Deadly Premonition is basically “What You Think Twin Peaks is Like: The Game”.
Honestly that show was a lot slower paced and much more down to earth than most people seem to remember. I rewatched the first season recently, they spent about a third of the season arguing about the saw mill. You may remember the dream sequences and the assasinated canaries and the alpacas but you tend to forget the twent minutes between those parts.
16/12/2011 at 11:28 Raiyan 1.0 says:
I’m not sure whether I should break my monitor out of rage at all the side stepping or laugh till my bladder bursts. Bit of both, I guess.
16/12/2011 at 11:36 adonf says:
I don’t think this guy understood that no one wants GWFL. His last answer sounds almost like “Ok if you want GFWL we’ll see what we can do but we can’t promise anything”. Am I the only one getting that feeling?
16/12/2011 at 11:53 Suits says:
That is your quote
16/12/2011 at 11:56 hosndosn says:
Their argument is seriously still “There was no Steam before but now there is so we can do PC”?!?
Steam has been hosting AAA third party games since… I have to be careful now as I don’t actually think it’s that long… but it’s certainly since before Alan Wake was originally released.
Bullshit “never admit a mistake” PR babble. Makes me strongly dislike them before even thinking about the quality of the game.
16/12/2011 at 12:45 V. Profane says:
Looking at my Steam account history I bought the Rockstar Collection, Football Manager 2009, and Bioshock in 2008!
16/12/2011 at 13:43 theleif says:
I bought Dark Messiah of Might And Magic in 2006, so it’s been a while.
16/12/2011 at 18:20 Bhazor says:
Dark Messiah was retail only I believe but required activation on Steam. Think of it as the prototype steamworks game.
16/12/2011 at 11:59 deadstoned says:
I still follow the golden rule that if the game uses GFWL I don’t need to buy it or play it. Last GFWL game for me was the Bulletstorm demo and even then GFWL asked for a CD-Key -_- . Nope sorry rememdy GFWL = no sale.
16/12/2011 at 12:35 foda500orama says:
They’ve already confirmed on their foruns that there will be no malware(GFWL) in this game.
16/12/2011 at 14:42 Pointless Puppies says:
Somebody should tell this poor bloke, then, because he apparently doesn’t know it.
16/12/2011 at 16:08 foda500orama says:
Judging his answers if you ask this guy his name he will probably find a way to dodge your question.
16/12/2011 at 19:24 stupid_mcgee says:
Yeah, because GFWL is malware. Never mind what malware actually means, let’s just throw around negative connotations. Activision is a death squad rape sweatshop. AIG serially killed my pets. McDs’ food molested me full of cancer.
16/12/2011 at 12:46 Khemm says:
[i]“RPS: I think we’re more concerned because certain games, even on Steam, still include GFWL functionality.”[/i]
OK RPS, I know you’re in bed with Gabe, but you could at least try not make yourselves look like fanboys.
If game X used GFWL on Steam, that means it was a GFWL game. Which means it’s FRAKKING VALVE that shoved that additional DRM layer down your throats. If you bought said game X in a box or from other digital distribution channels, you would have one DRM layer less. DUH!
It’s a shame you don’t bitch about Steamworks games on Impulse, I mean, I already use one client to download my game, why am I forced to run another client?!
Steam is an outdated, pre-2004 trojan horse which does nothing to stop piracy – actually, crackers almost always choose to crack Steam editions of games instead of other ones and pirates get free multiplayer when it comes to most Steamworks titles. Good job, Valve.
16/12/2011 at 13:26 bill says:
We don’t care what pirates do. Pirates always do their own thing regardless. We care what happens to paying customers – and paying customers shouldn’t have to suffer GFWL.
Paying customers often pay extra or pay again to get the game on steam.
that should tell you something.
16/12/2011 at 14:20 Khemm says:
@bill
Suffer GFWL? I can safely install my game offline, click play, choose offline profile and that’s it.
I don’t have to be online all the time while the files are being copied from the disc, installation won’t abort if I have no internet access, I don’t have to run any spyware in the background, my entire installation doesn’t get corrupted all the time or stuck in an endless patching-verifying cache-patching again because something failed to validate – verifying again loop, which is what has recently happened to my copy of Rage. Steam was stuck on this bullshit for an entire DAY!
Oh wait, I forgot – all my Steam games suddenly stopped working the moment I got a new router after like a month of having no internet on my computer, despite Steam being in offline mode. I kept getting errors preventing me from playing, had to go online and only THEN this crap started working. This leads me to believe there’s some hidden time limit which eventually forces you to re-activate.
Steam is an outdated, problematic piece of ****, yet here we have people ASKING for more Steamworks support. You know what, I’ll pray that you never suffer from the same bullcrap I’ve had to deal with as far as this client is concerned, because I guarantee you’ll join the “Steam is a nightmare that only inconveniences legit users” crowd. I don’t want any PC gamer to ever experience what I did, felt like flying to the USA and kicking Gabe in his three letters.
No wonder all my friends always get Steam games from torrents as “backup”, crackers provide a better service, their versions are Steamless and hassle free.
16/12/2011 at 14:59 InternetBatman says:
@bill This. I’ve never had a problem with a Steam game, almost every GFWL game I have has problems with it.
16/12/2011 at 19:42 stupid_mcgee says:
@ Khemm: Honestly, you’re little rant is chock full of hyperbole. Most of the issues you describe are exact problems that people have had with GFWL. But, whatever.
Your anecdote is not universal. I haven’t had a problem with RAGE. Ergo, by your logic, you are wrong and Steam is just fine. Yes, there’s hickups with Steam. There’s hickups within every system. You think GFWL doesn’t have them? As for the endless verifying thing, that was an issue with a Steam update that screwed things up for a few people. I’m not really sure why or what. It happened to some people with NWN2. It is recommended that you uninstall and then reinstall Steam. This has fixed the problem for the NWN2 users that had the issue.
Personally, I’ve had relatively few issues with GFWL. Still, I have helped numerous people on the Steam forums who have had all sorts of GFWL issues. Likewise, I’ve never had a problem with Steam. Still doesn’t mean that it’s flawless, and I’ve helped people try to correct their issues with Steam and Steamworks games.
The reason why people want Steamworks in games is because of all the stuff that Steam does. Friends, screenshots, trading, the huge sales, groups, voice and text chat, profiles, VOIP, anti-cheat, hardware and user stats, auto-patching, achievements, offline mode, storing save and configuration files in the cloud, etc. and there’s a lot of options to change around and tailor Steam to your liking.
Also, the reason why Steam probably required you to get online after you changed your router was because of Steam Guard. You can opt out of it, BTW. But it’s an extra layer of security to protect you, the customer. It has, at times, been a bit too protective, but I’d rather have it than not have it. And, no, there is no “hidden” timer for offline mode.
Oh, and your friends are petty thieves. Let’s be honest. That’s why they download “backups” of Steam games.
16/12/2011 at 22:38 dethtoll says:
@Khemm: So how much is Microsoft paying you?
16/12/2011 at 23:06 Bhazor says:
Re: Steam and GFWL.
Only one of those has stopped me playing a retail game and it wasn’t GFWL. “Steam server error, please try later”, eternally broken offline mode, an insistence on trying to install a program I already have and then refusing to launch because it can’t install that program, being banned for fortnight after complaining about an incomplete transaction.
The worst GFWL has done to me is required two hours to install all it updates.
But really they’re both obnoxious client based DRM so they can both kiss the darkest part of my pasty white behind.
16/12/2011 at 13:34 ZIGS says:
Next time you interview this guy, ask him what’s the meaning of life
16/12/2011 at 14:25 Hodge says:
He’s half man, half press release. He’s HIDEOUS.
16/12/2011 at 14:39 The Dark One says:
So, would you say that that Mr. Järvilehto was couching his terms?
…
I’m sorry.
16/12/2011 at 15:00 InternetBatman says:
I would say he reclined to answer the question.
16/12/2011 at 14:46 Pointless Puppies says:
One of the few times this image is appropriate to the story at hand:
http://img.tgfb.net/com/src/131586471455.png
Seriously, I love the response to the second question.
RPS: No, seriously, don’t sidestep the question. What was up with that quote?
Terrible PR Guy: SO ABOUT DISTRIBUTION GUYZ…..
This isn’t even sidestepping, this is flat out ignoring the question. Sounds like the guy memorized each and every response word by word and mechanically blurted them out completely regardless of what the interviewer asked.
16/12/2011 at 15:31 Tuor says:
The beatings will continue until morale improves.
16/12/2011 at 15:40 smoke.tetsu says:
He may not have understood the GFWL question especially the first question where he seemed to interpret it as asking if it’s going to be on an additional platform. Like if he asked if there was going to be a Mac or PS3 version.
I don’t interpret it as him confirming it has GFWL… especially from the second answer. He’s referring to GFWL as “additional” tech that is NOT included with the game currently.
That and the fact someone official at the Remedy forums already said it wasn’t going to have it does not make me interpret this as a confirmation that it has GFWL.
Also I get the feeling that with certain people at Remedy like this guy there may be a language barrier so stuff gets lost or misinterpreted in translation.
16/12/2011 at 16:05 Abundant_Suede says:
Thank god Steam was finally invented this year. I’m looking forward to using this virgin technology.
16/12/2011 at 19:54 stupid_mcgee says:
Not only Steam, but did you hear that EA, just now, finally launched a digital distribution service named Origin!?!? What took them so longzorz!?!?!?!?!?!
:p
16/12/2011 at 16:45 Beelzebud says:
Was he answering a different set of questions?
16/12/2011 at 16:53 XM says:
As they are not tied to M$ they are publishing it themselves then Steamworks I think it will use. http://www.videogamer.com/pc/alan_wake/news/remedy_to_self-publish_alan_wake_for_steam.html
17/12/2011 at 00:35 DocSeuss says:
Why the hell do people keep attributing the word of a Microsoft spokesperson to Remedy? For that matter, why do people continue to believe it’s Remedy’s?
The couch comment was never a Remedy statement, and they have never, as far as I can tell, said anything bad about the PC. They HAVE said they wanted it to come to the PC, but Microsoft wouldn’t let them.
Also, why are people blaming the game’s linearity on consoles? The 360 is capable of doing the game as an open world title, as evidenced by the fact that it’s drawing huge distances all the time in the game.
Remedy’s comfort zone has been linear games for a long, long time… or have you guys never played Max Payne 1 and 2? Because, y’know, if you haven’t, you should pick them up on Steam and you’ll get a great idea for the kind of game Alan Wake ended up being. It’s basically the same thing.
17/12/2011 at 01:40 wazups2x says:
Remedy already confirmed on their official forums that there will be NO GFWL. It will use Steamworks instead.
It is also being self published by Remedy, Microsoft isn’t involved in any way.