SS2 to appear on GOG.com soon?

[663d94c9c5b23redrain85]

Take this with a huge grain of salt, it's just a rumor right now.  But there are claims that SS2 will appear on GOG.com soon, with a Steam release to follow later.

http://www.gog.com/forum/general/system_shock_may_be_coming_link/page1

It's just SS2 for now.  No SS1 in sight.

One thing I found interesting is mention that the version of SS2 being released is a "port".  Meaning what, exactly?  Did they just do the minimum to get SS2 running on modern machines, or more than that?  I doubt they used any NewDark code.  In fact, if anything, this release may complicate patching the game with NewDark.

[663d94c9c5d42voodoo47]

it's no secret that they were trying hard to get the rights. fingers crossed. as for complicating the patching, no, unless they are going to encrypt/mess up the resources.

[663d94c9c6179Marvin]

I wonder what the release will do to the server ... I hope you prepared for this, Kolya.

[663d94c9c62e7Briareos H]

Who knows, maybe this guy is Le Corbeau.
On second thought...

[663d94c9c6440Kolya]

I'm sure they will try to sell a working game, that is they will use New Dark straight away, if they actually got the rights.

[663d94c9c658aJoin2]

So, how about we help it sell this time? Get spammy.

[663d94c9c66a0Briareos H]

Considering how it ranks on the GOG wishlist, there's not much work to do. The hardest part of getting it into the hands of the masses (SS2Tool) is already done.
Plus, RPS are going to talk about it.

[663d94c9c67a1voodoo47]

exactly. as soon as it's available, it will sell like hotcakes.

[663d94c9c68b9Join2]

Hotcakes is not good enough, it ideally should sell like alcohol. The companies needs revenue for future work (Shock 3?) as well as profits for whatever they spent getting the rights for Shock 2, porting and whatnot.   

[663d94c9c6a19Marvin]

Except Shock 3 would be shit if released today. Why ruin a perfectly good series?

[663d94c9c6e57ZylonBane]

The companies needs revenue for future work (Shock 3?) as well as profits for whatever they spent getting the rights for Shock 2, porting and whatnot.

I very much doubt the profits from any single title on GOG would be enough to finance the development of a modern FPS/RPG. GOG is strictly a "long tail" operation.

[663d94c9c7043Join2]

True. System Shock 1 then.

[663d94c9c72ceJoin2]

*System Shock 1 on GOG.com

Except Shock 3 would be shit if released today. Why ruin a perfectly good series?

Not necessarily. Sure, the chances are extremely high though. 

[663d94c9c7737Zygo]

I very much doubt the profits from any single title on GOG would be enough to finance the development of a modern FPS/RPG. GOG is strictly a "long tail" operation.

Yeah. They sold 50k copies of The Witcher 2 on GOG in its 1st six weeks post release. Pretty good, and a decent amount of money given GOG is CDP's own distribution channel but they won't be financing TW3 from their GOG sales.

SS3 would probably be kickstarter fodder, assuming they're actually legit and have cleared things up legally with both insurer and EA.

[edit]
Word Mark    SYSTEM SHOCK
..
Serial Number    85407835
Filing Date    August 25, 2011
Current Basis    1B
Original Filing Basis    1B
Published for Opposition    March 5, 2013
Owner    (APPLICANT) Meadowbrook, Inc. CORPORATION MICHIGAN 26255 American Drive Southfield MICHIGAN 480346112
Attorney of Record    James A. Henricks
Type of Mark    TRADEMARK. SERVICE MARK
Register    PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator    LIVE

Which is a change from EA's dead registration. Funny published for opposition date though

[663d94c9c789evoodoo47]

they just had a downtime (already back). probably just server overload.

Image: http://static.gog.com/upload/forum/2013/02/d98ee244d6270c5546bc536544fa423664e5b895.png

[663d94c9c7b54Rainalkar]

http://www.flesheatingzipper.com/gaming/2013/02/fear-me-hacker-system-shock-2-to-resurface-with-gog-release-soon-steam-to-follow/


Fingers crossed...

[663d94c9c7d0dKolya]

That company (Nightdivestudios) which suggests on their page to have made this deal is 3 months old and so is their webpage. A guy called Stephen Kick is its CEO. Blog. He's a character artist and NightDive looks like his one man startup.

Yeah, not very likely.

[663d94c9c7ea7ZylonBane]

Ummm... did that GOG error image... change?

[663d94c9c7fc9Kolya]

It's not an actual error image, but an image someone uploaded on their forums as the address shows.

[663d94c9c80b0ZylonBane]

Oh well that's boring.

[663d94c9c81ccvoodoo47]

do note that no GOG personnel has participated in the speculation topic on the GOG forum. if this was a hoax, they would deny it rather quickly, I think.

and it wouldn't be the first time a random guy managed to do something considered close to impossible (hey, maybe his mother works at that insurance company).

[663d94c9c8385Briareos H]

RPS: You have updated the Night Dive website to read: “System Shock franchise to resurface with GOG/Steam release”. What is your involvement in the release and is the digital version an update, with high-res textures etc, or a straight re-release?

Kick: Night Dive Studios secured the license to distribute the game, and made the initial modifications to allow the game to run on most current operating systems.

Rambourg: There are some user-made mods out there which do phenomenal work on the game’s stability, but none of them were quite perfect, so we took the game to our expert techninjas to analyse and swat the remaining bugs. It was some work to get it done, but as this is a game that we’ve wanted to release for four-plus years, it was also definitely a labour of love.

So who's taking bets? I'm putting 50 nanites on a DDFixed release.

[663d94c9c84c8voodoo47]

one emp grenade it's going to be 1.3.11 (and without Timeslip's approval duhh, it's GOG, so they probably already have it).

but really, who gives a damn? as long as the resources are intact, we can patch the hell out of it without breaking a sweat.

[663d94c9c890eunn_atropos]

Rambourg: Yes, indeed. With the help of Stephen, we’ve pulled out all of the stops to make this a virtual collector’s edition. In addition to the soundtrack, the GOG.com version of the game will have concept art, maps of the Von Braun, a interview with Ken Levine, the first pitch document, and much more.

Three times hooray^^ This release is exiting news. Can't wait to see how this turns out.
Btw: which parties will benefit?  Night Dive and G o...O G (just kidding ZylonBane^^). Will EA also open its calcified, vein covered hands? And there is nothing in there for Irrational Games, I guess?