Bard's Tale "leaked," Thumb predicts industry trend

[ThumbBot]

Yesterday here at the Thumb, we wrote about the GTA San Andreas leak, and how it clearly indicated an industry trend towards highly publicized, marketing-driven "code thefts." We may not have intended it seriously, but our keen sense of industry trends must have been at work behind the scenes, compelling the post to appear when it did.

Today Brian Fargo and inXile games, creators of the upcoming The Bard's Tale game, announced that they would be surreptitiously releasing an "official, unauthorized leak" of their game.

"The Bard's Tale is a highly original game in the same category as a Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Half-Life 2 and Halo 2 so we feel some sort of leak that sounds similar to what they have experienced may be the next logical step in our launch plans," said Brian Fargo, in a released statement. "Of course we would immediately condemn the leak and make every effort to stop it if we proceed with it."

Continued, "If anyone finds information on websites with links to unauthorized downloads, information, scans or videos, please contact us at shamelessmarketing@inxile-entertainment.com." We wholeheartedly approve of and enjoy this emerging trend, if only because I randomly wrote about it yesterday.

Posted by Jake Rodkin



Associated Companies
- inXile Entertainment

[RumRogerz]

Honestly now
this sort of stuff has been going on for YEARS. You can never stop these guys in the underground. You may cripple them, but they always rebuild and spread even more, fueling their desire to release. I actually have never seen so many release groups before. Ever since the big ones split up, more have popped up - teams are getting bigger.
I think every game/publishing/labels/distributors knows about this shit. And there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. Its the digital age. Its very easy to copy this stuff and spread it. And we all know no matter how many copy protectors they throw on a cd, those warez teams have a few select people who can dismantle it in no time. (kudos to them, its not easy)

[Kolzig]

I don't care about Bard's Tale but this news rocks.

Brian Fargo

[Jake]

RumRogerz:

Honestly now
this sort of stuff has been going on for YEARS. You can never stop these guys in the underground. You may cripple them, but they always rebuild and spread even more, fueling their desire to release. I actually have never seen so many release groups before. Ever since the big ones split up, more have popped up - teams are getting bigger.
I think every game/publishing/labels/distributors knows about this shit. And there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. Its the digital age. Its very easy to copy this stuff and spread it. And we all know no matter how many copy protectors they throw on a cd, those warez teams have a few select people who can dismantle it in no time. (kudos to them, its not easy)

This post broadcast on a pirate signal emitting from some top secret underground dance club full of rollerblading phone phreakers.

Seriously, what the heck are you talking about?

[manny_c44]

I'm going with Jake, what the hell are you talking about?

Anyway, this response finally got me a little interested in Bard's Tale, oddly enough. So I'm off to see what this is all about on gamespot....

[Wormsie]

I liked that "fueling their desire to release" bit.

[tabacco]

RumRogerz:

Honestly now
this sort of stuff has been going on for YEARS. You can never stop these guys in the underground. You may cripple them, but they always rebuild and spread even more, fueling their desire to release. I actually have never seen so many release groups before. Ever since the big ones split up, more have popped up - teams are getting bigger.
I think every game/publishing/labels/distributors knows about this shit. And there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. Its the digital age. Its very easy to copy this stuff and spread it. And we all know no matter how many copy protectors they throw on a cd, those warez teams have a few select people who can dismantle it in no time. (kudos to them, its not easy)

Did you actually READ the news item?

[tabacco]

manny_c44:

I'm going with Jake, what the hell are you talking about?

Anyway, this response finally got me a little interested in Bard's Tale, oddly enough. So I'm off to see what this is all about on gamespot....

I got a demo at E3. It's a pretty cool game, actually.

[manny_c44]

It sounds like it will be funny. And long. And if it can be both, I think I'll buy it. But I may wait for the PC release, depending on how bad the PS2 version is.

[n0wak]

"Funny" and "long" often means that, before long, it stops being funny. Unless they have inconceivable amounts of dialogue and copy so that nothing repeats, but that's kind of a stretch.

Games that focus on humour should be short.

[DanJW]

n0wak:

"Funny" and "long" often means that, before long, it stops being funny. Unless they have inconceivable amounts of dialogue and copy so that nothing repeats, but that's kind of a stretch.

Games that focus on humour should be short.

<muffled attempts to recommend the game through an NDA gag>

[baconian]

Treesus:

<muffled attempts to recommend the game through an NDA gag>

what? is it both funny and long? is it good? is it great?
these arent things youve signed a NDA about. just some adjectives, go on.

[DanJW]

Well, it's not excessively long. But it is both funny and great

[manny_c44]

Its always nice to get excited about a game shortly before it comes out. Bard's Tale will be out in 4 days I think, and Treesus' recommendation is a good sign.

I also just like playing a game I don't know much about and just being wowed by it, Armed and Dangerous comes to mind. That game came out of nowhere for me.

[Moosferatu]

IGN published the first review of it yesterday. They seemed to really like it, and only appeared to fault the combat system which they called average and repetative. I'm definitely getting it next week.

http://xbox.ign.com/articles/558/558833p1.html

[Intrepid Homoludens]

deadworm222:

I liked that "fueling their desire to release" bit.

"We can meet up if you loyk." *









* More Fable reference, baby.

[Wormsie]

Intrepid Homoludens:

"We can meet up if you loyk."

REVENGE!!!

[Intrepid Homoludens]

"Eiw, you're disgusssssting..." --- HA! Thank god for that little bar at the bottom of Explorer that tells me where I'd go if I clicked that link.

wormsie Trep

EDIT: I miss feisar!!!

[Wormsie]

[Rodi]

Brian Fargo is funny. He should work for the Thumb.

[Kenty]

omg 20 comments on a news item!!!11111

is this a record?

[Wormsie]

No, I'm pretty sure it's a butterfly.

[Jake]

I ran into an inXile employee - likely president Matt Findley - at a concert last night. He was trying to rally the men in line for the toilets together to piss on the fence instead of being forced to wait in line to take a leak. It didn't work, but at least he was trying loudly. He sounded excited that Bard's Tale is in stores tomorrow too, when it was revealed in the conversation that he worked at inXile. So this story isn't going anywhere in particular, but it was amusing, and very random. I mentioned that Idle Thumbs was given the cold shoulder when we requested a review copy and that caused a slighly awkward moment, at which point two toilets opened up, ending the conversation. Oh well.

[mercatfat]

We have to get back to the place we were, where software piracy is not the focus of our lives, but it's a nuisance. I know we're never going to end prostitution. We're never going to end illegal gambling.

But we've got to reduce it, organized piracy, to a level where it isn't on the rise. It isn't threatening people's lives every day, and fundamentally, it's something that you continue to fight, but it's not threatening the fabric of your life.

[DanJW]

Yes, stop pretend IP theft now!