too late for planetary pack - and it may have been Linux!!!

[lord of the mark]

In na earlier thread i reported siting a used Planetary pack ofr $30 US at EB.

I returned to the the EB and it was gone. I mentioned it to the sales guy, he said it was Linux!!! (I didnt even know this game was out in Linux)

So I'll probably just go buy Smac, unless I see a hotter deal on some other old game.

BTW, the store in question is the EB in Arlington, VA
at the "Fashion Center at Pentagon City" (Yes, its very close to what we know and love as the "Dept. of Defense at Fashion Center") . It has a good selection of discount and used PC games for an EB.

[Ivellios]

Re: too late for planetary pack - and it may have been Linux!!!

Originally posted by lord of the mark
So I'll probably just go buy Smac, unless I see a hotter deal on some other old game.

Just buy Alpha Centauri. Even without Alien Crossfire, it's one of the best PC games ever released and believe me when I'm saying it has a LOT of replay value.

[Flare]

~WEG~ Yep, the Planetary Pack is indeed in a Linux format as well. I saw one for Linux for $20.00 & snatched it up ASAP. ~Chuckle~ Unfortunatly, right now I do not use Linux, so....

[RGBVideo]

If you have AC, you can actually download expansion pack from HOTU, without any costs.

[Jamski]

*sssssssssssh*

This is ILLEGAL

-Jam

[Flare]

~WEG~ Well, a friend of mine actually had the expansion pack & a CD burner... ~Realizes what I just said~ Yea, Tuomerehu, as Jamski said, that is illegal! ~Wipes my brow~ That was a quick save.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Jamski
*sssssssssssh*

This is ILLEGAL

-Jam

and with reason - firaxis is definitely still in business, and may yet choose to re-release the xpack, or do a SMAC 2, or just use the name somehow. Its their intellectual property, and they have the right to it.

OTOH, it would behoove the industry to contemplate how in a case like this NOT producing a shovelware version is intensely frustrating for the fanbase, and how much this tends to create sympathy for the abandonware people. Is anyone aware of another case as extreme as this, where a functioning company refuses to publish a game or xpack that commands the kind of $ on the used market that SMAX does?

Is there anyway of organizing a campaign - say a petition, or email campaign, or whatever - to suggest to Firaxis that they rerelease the Xpack?
I mean its not like theyre averse to shovelware for this franchise - original SMAC is one of the most widely available $10 shovelware items around.

[Leland]

Originally posted by lord of the mark

I mean its not like theyre averse to shovelware for this franchise - original SMAC is one of the most widely available $10 shovelware items around.

Here's a crazy thought... what if the distributors don't want Firaxis to re-release the expansion pack because, like you said, they've got truckloads of SMAC to sell, which nobody would buy if there was an expansion pack available?

I'd definitely sign the petition though.