Filed under: Gaming
Would you like to play a game?
Who among us hasn't seen the geeky "Wargames" from 1983? More to the point, who didn't want to play Global Thermonuclear War with Joshua, the lovable hunk of circuitry that teaches us that, "The only winning move is not to play." So true, Joshua. So true.To learn the lesson for yourself, check out Defcon. It's an online, multiplayer game (you can play solo if you wish as well) that challenges you to outwit your opponents and blow them all to smithereens. After all, what's a little mutually assured destruction among friends?
Defon costs $25US and is available from Ambrosia's website.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
adam said 2:54PM on 4-23-2007
The quote is "Shall we play a game"
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Gen. Turgidson said 3:11PM on 4-23-2007
Unfortunately, Introversion and Ambrosia have decided to charge Mac owners more for the software and make the registration keys platform dependent.
Mac keys work on all platforms, but Windows keys only work with the Windows and Linux versions.
So, if you're in my position (bought Defcon when it came out for Windows last fall; switched to a MacBook Pro when my PC died around Christmas; have since been using Crossover to play Defcon, albeit buggily and with no multiplayer), you're either going to be BootCamping or paying out another 25 bucks if you ever hope to play it multiplayer again. Introversion is not even offering an upgrade option where you pay the extra 7 bucks or whatever to get a Mac key.
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SwissFreek said 4:18PM on 4-23-2007
I totally dig the line "Cleanse the world of Windows users by battling them online!" Roger that.
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michael @ ambrosia said 4:35PM on 4-23-2007
Gen.,
Making the Mac version of DEFCON work "the right way" was not trivial, and required a great deal of work. "The right way" being that the Mac version's network play is interoperable with both Mac and Windows, and that it runs on all Macs - PowerPC and Intel.
To do this, we had to completely rewrite Introversion's networking scheme, which took over 3 months. If you noticed, Introversion released a new Windows version that included our networking scheme.
We're the reason all of Introversion's titles have been brought the Mac at all, and we're also committed to ensuring they will perform how Mac users expect. This sometimes requires additional development. In the case of DEFCON, there is a premium in the price, but you're getting a premium product.
We hope you'll agree. :)
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Gen. Turgidson said 5:00PM on 4-23-2007
Michael,
I'd be more than happy to pay the seven dollars difference or whatever to support Ambrosia's costs. However, I've already paid Introversion for their development and art and do not think that I should have to pay that again in order to support your development on the Mac side of things.
I'm assuming that Ambrosia's 25 dollar price represents your costs in porting DEFCON, plus a license fee that you paid Introversion, either in general or per unit sold.
Convince Introversion to waive that fee for users who want to support Ambrosia but have already purchased DEFCON from Introversion. If I provide Ambrosia with proof of purchase for my Windows copy, why don't I receive a reduced price Mac 'upgrade' that reflects only Ambrosia's development costs or the price difference between the Windows and Mac versions?
Introversion's really stepping in it with this type of crap, essentially punishing their earliest supporters and advocates. If I had waited until today to purchase, I'd have a version of DEFCON of with a key that works on three operating systems, all for the price of $25. Since I purchased it back at 1.0, I now have to pay a total of $42 for the same functionality.
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Josh said 5:24PM on 4-23-2007
I also emailed to ask about options. It's a great game, but its not a $40 game. Unfortunate.
, heidiulx
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Cranky said 7:07PM on 4-23-2007
Gen. Turgidson,
I feel your pain, but it's the same deal with every other Mac game I've ever used, with exception of WoW. Civ 3/ Civ 4, for example. Just because I owned the Windows version doesn't mean Aspyr's going to cut me a break on the Mac version.
I wish they did, it would be nice, but it ain't going to happen. What if I owned a PS2 version of a game and wanted to play it on an XBOX 360? Out of luck.
I guess I don't understand why Introversion is feeling your wrath on this one. Your idea is a great idea but the licensing on this game is pretty much standard.
--Cranky
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YodaMac said 6:46PM on 4-23-2007
Kinda off topic... but...
Did you know there is actually a Hollywood re-make in the works for "War Games"?
And, the more important question.... "Why???????"
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anon said 6:55PM on 4-23-2007
"Just because I owned the Windows version doesn't mean Aspyr's going to cut me a break on the Mac version. I wish they did, it would be nice, but it ain't going to happen."
Bad business practices like this are why otherwise law-abiding consumers are driven to use keygens and cracks.
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Stephan Tual said 8:04PM on 4-23-2007
I had preordered this (fantastic) game over Steam the day they let people preorder it. I therefore paid something like 9$. Paying 25$ just to run it on the Mac really is probably not worth it if you already have a copy. But it's well worth it if you've never tried it :D
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