Feedback to GameTap "Review"

[Alpha]

 

So we've got a mixture of positive, but mostly negative feedback to the GameTap "Review" submitted by ShibaTheDog. It was posted on the Digg front page, but it appeared that it was pulled off for "unprofessionalism".

 

We're currently working on a follow-up review (should be posted within the next week) by Gryph, the Co-Owner of 1Emulation.

 

But first, a word from ShibaTheDog...

 

"I was the one who wrote this review.... I read some of these comments and I think it's being misunderstood. This isn't meant to be taken entirely seriously. GameTap does indeed suck, but that doesn't mean I was being completely serious with my words."

 

Either way, his review has caused much a stir. Here are the highlights of all the feedback he received.

 

The product was not made with the intentions of everyone deleting their MAME/Nesticle/zSnes/genecyst directories, ROMS, and configurations - and signing up. The service was not designed or intended for power-users. Do you think that the programmers and marketing groups are clueless to the existence of emulation? They run an emulation service - they are aware; thus, you are not part of the target demographic. Will your next stellar review cover how CompUSA is over-priced and has a "sucks ass" selection of computer components? How about a review of a new children's game? If you are not the target demographic, but almost "above" the demographic - chances are pretty good that you aren't going to get a whole lot out of whatever you're doing. People who run emulators for old console games, and people who only play current console games =//= target demographic.

[...]

Your system? Almost a really good system. Almost. If you didn't have a video card from 2001 with 64MB, you would have a really decent system. Even the low-end 7800's PCIe are going for a pretty good price - they aren't DX10 compatible - but Vista is worthless until (at least) SP1, so you should be safe.

 

»» Read the full response!

I'm not sure how the fact that you can pirate many of the games and play them in an emulator is a legit argument against getting gametap. If it is, then its also a legit argument against buying any game at all (although I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who have the mind of a 10 year old and still consider pirating software to be totally ok).

 

That said, I tried the service and thought it really sucked.

The argument was that pirated emulation does what gametap does BETTER and for FREE. And it isn't done by a company, but people who code just for fun.

 

And there's always Nintendo's WiiStore. Once you buy it there, you can always own it.

 

And it isn't like buying a game from way back in the day benefits the software makers in any way. If I buy Zelda 1 for NES from a secondhand shop, noe of that money goes to Nintendo. Now that the big N offers old games for purchase, there's an argument for them. Of course they don't give credit because I already purchased it for the NES, but that's neither here or there.

 

The point is that Gametap sucks for what it does: playing old games.

This is easily the worst "review" I've ever read. Kid leave your message board threads where they started... on your message board.

As far as legitimate emulation, Wii Virtual Console is the only way to go (they even get N64 emulation right, a feat that current PC emulators like 1964 still haven't got).

 

If you don't mind mild "copyright infringement" (or you want to play abandoned games that are simply no longer available anywhere else, or translated JP-only stuff) then go with the free emulators and ROM downloads.

 

There's really no room for GameTap and its buggy, crappy, web-based, Windows-only emulation "service."

I recently signed up for the 99 cent trial - for my 12 year old son - and canceled after the trial since he thought all of the games were "old and boring". I was told, OK, your account is canceled - but after checking my credit card, I noticed they charged me the same day I called to cancel. That's quite a coincidence! Had to call them, sit on hold for more than a half hour, before having to talk to a manager, and BARELY convinced them to refund my money.

 

Moral of the story: If you sign up for the trial, be very careful about canceling right away.

I think this review is unduly harsh. Gametap might not have the best selection of console games, but it has some really great PC titles (Beyond Good and Evil, Far Cry, Uplink)

This review is horribly written. Excessive use of caps and foul language. Don't get me wrong I am all for bad language. But, when you write a review, it makes it sound childish and one sided. Let me sum the review up for you: Yo bro, this crap sucks.

I signed up for one month. Their [GameTap's] junk won't even work if you have more than one partition on your hard drive. That put me out. All my systems have AT LEAST three, so it was a big no go for me.

To read all the feedback, see the Digg post.

 

To read the 1Emulation feedback and review from Shiba, Read the Review.

[solidius23]

now see thats what im talking about this place can still kick up a stir when we put our minds to it .

[James]

I'm rather happy with Mame and it's free

[Alpha]

I'm rather happy with Mame and it's free

Well, that was the entire argument James.

 

Do you want to download roms and emulators for free OR somehow repay the developers who made the games by signing up for GameTap's $10/month service?

[James]

Well, that was the entire argument James.

 

Do you want to download roms and emulators for free OR somehow repay the developers who made the games by signing up for GameTap's $10/month service?

 

The ones who created gametap or the original developers ? If it just gametap then the answer is no .

[Alpha]

 

Well, that was the entire argument James.

 

Do you want to download roms and emulators for free OR somehow repay the developers who made the games by signing up for GameTap's $10/month service?

 

The ones who created gametap or the original developers ? If it just gametap then the answer is no .

Well, that's only if you see GameTap as a connection to the original developers.

[James]

 

Well, that was the entire argument James.

 

Do you want to download roms and emulators for free OR somehow repay the developers who made the games by signing up for GameTap's $10/month service?

 

The ones who created gametap or the original developers ? If it just gametap then the answer is no .

Well, that's only if you see GameTap as a connection to the original developers.

 

I rather pay for the orignal its that simple really .

[Aoshi]

pulled off for "unprofessionalism"

man that kinda sucks, its true he may have had set a certain tone for the review but he was being truthful and i could have related to shat service by a subscription system.

 

i wonder, if gametap is so broken then how is it not bankrupt yet?

 

is it true it has games like bg&e and splinter cell, but isnt it like you download a piece and the run the rest on the net im not to sure but if so that is shat.

 

Basically gametap is xbox live arcade without the xbox and broken lol but legal

 

well the publicity would do some good, hope to here from gryphs review, is he going to do the same $1 trial?

[Lucandrake]

pulled off for "unprofessionalism"

man that kinda sucks, its true he may have had set a certain tone for the review but he was being truthful and i could have related to shat service by a subscription system.

 

i wonder, if gametap is so broken then how is it not bankrupt yet?

 

is it true it has games like bg&e and splinter cell, but isnt it like you download a piece and the run the rest on the net im not to sure but if so that is shat.

 

Basically gametap is xbox live arcade without the xbox and broken lol but legal

 

well the publicity would do some good, hope to here from gryphs review, is he going to do the same $1 trial?

 

He did say he's going to sign up for the service and do a review of his own.

[Gryph]

Yeah, I signed up last night. I hope to get some good time with GameTap today.

[Shibathedog]

plus emulation isnt illegal anymore, There was a law passed saying any software you cant just buy in a store (as in a real actual physical copy of the game) you are free to download.

 

The only reason why i wrote the review the way i did was to make it more fun to read, I read reviews now and find them boring, i believe if your going to read a review it should at least be fun to read and you don't feel like your reading this long review just because you have to in order to find out if something is good or not. Either that or make it short and to the point, in which case would have attracted an entirely different crowd of whiners.

 

Another thing i thought i would add: Last time i checked, No offense to anyone, we AREN'T a professional reviews site, sure we post reviews and news, but i don't see it in any way that is professional, we do it because we can, we are interested, and its fun sometimes. So i didn't even really feel the need to write in a professional tone. If i did this would have been completely different. I joined 1emulation because it was a laid back place where people with similar interests to mine could talk about stuff and relax. Maybe theres a decline in user activity because we are losing this laid back feeling and trying to be something we are not.