Command Ops: Battles from the Bulge Released

[Jason]

<strong>[ Announcement ]</strong>

<p><a href="http://www.matrixgames.com/products/377/details/CommandOps:BattlesfromtheBulge" target="_blank"><strong>Command Ops: Battles from the Bulge</strong></a>, from Panther Games of Conquest of the Aegean fame, is out now.</p><blockquote><p>Matrix Games, Slitherine Strategies (www.slitherine.com) and Panther Games (www.panthergames.com) are very pleased to announce that Command Ops: Battles from the Bulge is now available!  This new release brings wargamers the pinnacle of historical accuracy and realism in operational command on the subject of one of the most intense and important engagements of the Second World War.  Command Ops: Battles from the Bulge is wrapped in a very playable and modern interface and includes an extremely capable AI opponent as well as editing tools to make your own maps, scenarios and units.

Be sure to check out the G<a href="http://www.matrixgames.com/products/377/downloads/Command%20Ops:%20Battles%20from%20the%20Bulge" target="_blank">oogle Earth Battlefield Tour and Game Concepts video</a> as well to get an in depth look at the gameplay and historical context for Battles from the Bulge! </p></blockquote><p>Before you get excited, though, check those <a href="http://www.digitalriver.com/dr/v2/ec_Main.Entry17c?SID=45905&SP=10023&CID=0&PID=991725&PN=1&V1=991725&CUR=840&DSP=&PGRP=0&ABCODE=&CACHE_ID=0" target="_blank">prices</a>. </p><p>Edit -  Here's a <a href="http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/fb.asp?m=2477691" target="_blank">comment</a> from Erik Rutkins of Matrix on the cost:</p><blockquote><p>Yes, it has just been released! We completed the final QA a bit sooner than expected. The price is accurate and I'm sure it's a bit of a surprise as it's higher than the current COTA price by $20. However, with the time each of these releases takes development-wise and the attention to detail required for this level of historical realism, we see these as more on the same level with a title like War in the Pacific now. We feel BFTB is one of the highest quality wargames on the market, period. With that level of development effort, frankly the higher price is necessary if we want to make it viable for Panther to continue investing as much effort into future releases. 
</p></blockquote>

 

[Sovard]

Fuuuuck. I would have bought it at $50 even, but an $80 digital download is absurd.

Extremely bad business sense is guiding this decision, which is pretty common in niche purveyors like this. They're pushing full editing tools to justify the price, but 95% of the people buying it won't ever touch the editor.

What they should be doing is selling it at $35 without, and $50 with editor. Send out some free copies and have the word of mouth drive sales through the roof. They could be selling several thousand of copies instead of a few hundred.

What a totally misguided move. I wouldn't be surprised if Panther Games announces studio closure by the end of the year, most likely fueled by this entirely avoidable problem.

 

[PorkaMorka]

Well, it's possible that game prices need to go up to support more obscure genres continuing to exist, after all games have been priced at 50-60 for a long time, and sometimes niche hobbies have to pay more for their stuff, for example ASL modules are like 100 bux.

But that being said, those prices made me 100% certain to not give them a dime.

I would just feel like a bad consumer if I paid 80 bucks to download some software that I might not even like.

It's interesting that they're marketing it purely to the hard core (who else is going to take that 80$ risk), instead of going with normal prices in an attempt to bring in borderline war gamers which is a much bigger crowd.

Especially puzzling considering COTA was popular enough to be easily torrented.

And here I was thinking they had finally turned over a new leaf (as they are planning to release a demo eventually).

 

[entertainer]

$80? Torrent time.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Hey, they are selling broken pieces of shit like Close Combat re-releases for 50$, so it's obvious that a game sequel where developers actually put work into making it work properly and improving it is worth 80$.

Also, cmon, guys don't be so cheap. It's a real premium game. I would gladly pay 80PLN for a digital download of it . If I wouldn't dislike commanding anything that is bigger than a battalion, that is.

It's interesting that they're marketing it purely to the hard core (who else is going to take that 80$ risk), instead of going with normal prices in an attempt to bring in borderline war gamers which is a much bigger crowd.

Except that it's a game for hardcore wargamers. It's made specifically for people who like wargames but aren't satisfied that majority of them has shitty command & controls.
Probably anyone in the West who can get into such a game and play it more than a few hours has a job that makes him able to easily afford paying 80$-100$ for games made specifically for people like him.

 

[Burning Bridges]

Well I would pay three times as much for Jagged Alliance 3 or Red Baron 3 or Grand Prix Legends 2 .. that is not the problem. This real time stuff is not for me, but if you really want the game you should be happy even if it costs a bit more.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

It's not a real Real Time game. It has pause and three speeds of time progression - Real Time is one of them, but it's terribly slow, so mostly, the game is either paused or played in accelerated time. At this scale, it's much better than Turn Based where one has to babysit every sub-unit.
Also, it allows coordinating plans, so that units would do stuff at specific time.

I have never got into it, though. I have the first part of the series, but somehow I always end up playing lower level RTWs like Armored Brigade and Firefight instead. I'd love to play such a game where I would command a battalion or a company, though.

 

[Jason]

NWS has the CD version for $70. Still pricey, but that's $20 off the Matrix price.

 

[Annonchinil]

I own CotA but despite the interesting ideas and concepts simply found it not interesting. I was hoping to give the engine another try but will probably wait for the demo.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

I think that the game would be enjoyable for much more people if it would be on lower level, for example one would command a battalion or a company.