Adaptive Game Bundles: Sapphire Select
by Derek Wilson on June 8, 2005 5:33 AM EST- Posted in
- Software
The Process In A Nutshell (Trial and Purchase)
For every game that is installed, links for trial and purchase are dropped onto the desktop.
Running the trial brings up a screen similar to this one for each game:
From here, we can see how much time our trial has left, play the game a little more, or make a purchase. It does take a little bit of time to bring the game up once we've decided to play it, but other than that, there is nothing different than the normal experience. If we decide to unlock the game, we simply click on the buy option. In order to unlock or buy a game, we do need to have an internet connection.
Note that it is quite obvious how to pay for the game. In order to unlock the title for free with the Sapphire provided code, we must locate the coupon button. This is a nice little text link tucked away to the side.
Entering the code is as simple as typing it into the box that pops up. After this, Sapphire wants your email address for "important" emails.
Summing everything up, we see that our receipt is in the mail and we don't need a CD to play our game. That's definitely a nice feature.
And that's all there is to it.
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smn198 - Wednesday, June 8, 2005 - link
#13 No. I think you have install what is on the disk. You only connect to the internet to activate it.nitromullet - Wednesday, June 8, 2005 - link
I agree with the concerns about being able to re-install the game after a HD crash, any more info on this?Also, how long does the code you get with your video card last? For example, if I buy a new video card this year but I already own all the games available to me, can I wait a year until they come out with some that I want?
Houdani - Wednesday, June 8, 2005 - link
Aye, as #5 asked ... did you try playing after "buying?" Where there any clunky or slow interface nuisances when trying to play an unlocked game? Also, did the receipt include an activation code so you could re-install the game at your leisure?Menoob - Wednesday, June 8, 2005 - link
#9 You can simply backup your game, is that so hard?segagenesis - Wednesday, June 8, 2005 - link
What worries me more about these online based game delivery systems is longevity rather than other concerns. If these companies ever go out of business for whatever reason or by what #4 said your stuck. Look at Circuit City and DiVX.I still have a decent collection of old (10+ year old) PC games and I seriously doubt when Half-Life 2 is 10 years old I will be able to play it without having to break (crack) into it.
gbohn - Wednesday, June 8, 2005 - link
Errr.. and what happens when you recover from a hard drive crash (with a new drive) or upgrade to a new system?Do you need to ask "Mother may I", to be able to play the game you purchased on the new drive or system?
blwest - Wednesday, June 8, 2005 - link
Worthless.cHodAXUK - Wednesday, June 8, 2005 - link
It is a very nice idea, it would definately make me pick Sapphire over another amnufacturer who wasn't offering a worthwhile or flexible bundle.JuanT - Wednesday, June 8, 2005 - link
This is intriguing, is there any news on when this'll be available? I'm grabbing an X800 XL and I wouldn't mind getting Tribes Vengeance instead of Prince of Persia.From the sound of it though, it could be a while.
As much as I like Steam, I wouldn't want it used for all my games.
Araemo - Wednesday, June 8, 2005 - link
No CD required, are you guys sure? Did you try playing a purchased game without the DVD in the drive?While it would be nice to have one disk that worked for multiple games, I haven't played tribes:Vengeance since I got back from my last lan party, mostly because I'm too lazy to dig into that pile of CDs to play it! I miss the games that either A: don't require a CD to be in the drive, or B: Worked fine with an imagedrive(Though I haven't tried that with T:V yet.)