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Outrun Online Arcade

Harmunt

By Harmunt
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mushashi

mushashi

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The wonders of digital distribution, at least with physical stuff, once it's printed, it exists forever and you can track down a copy if you have the will.

Supposedly Microsoft hold the exclusive US license to the Ferrari name and sub-license it to others, might explain why it was an XBLA exclusive in the US.

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Blu3Flame

Blu3Flame

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That article has been updated now.

UPDATE: SEGA has provided Eurogamer with the following statement with regards the XBLA version of OutRun Online Arcade: "Due to the expiry of the contract with Ferrari, OutRun Online Arcade will remain offline on PSN but will still be available on XBLA until Dec 2011."

Anyone interested in the XBLA version best get it while they can. On a side note it looks like Coast 2 Coast has disappeared from Steam as well.

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mushashi

mushashi

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You can still get the physical PC version on the reload white label for under a £5 if people want that version, the draw distance and rock solid 60fps are nice, though reading around, it sounds like all the home conversions have problems in terms of bugs and just how close to the original arcade versions they all actually are (a bit of checking shows it's even starting to disappear from physical retail :blink: )

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Majora

Majora

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If they de-list games from XBLA, don't they normally keep them available to re-download if you had already purchased it? I just think this affects the sales of new copies. Or at least I'm sure that's what happened with the likes of Speedball and Double Dragon when they got removed from the service.

Oops beaten.

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Harmunt

Harmunt

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Xbox 360 owners have a longer window of opportunity to get it before it disappears forever... :(

UPDATE: SEGA has provided Eurogamer with the following statement with regards the XBLA version of OutRun Online Arcade: "Due to the expiry of the contract with Ferrari, OutRun Online Arcade will remain offline on PSN but will still be available on XBLA until Dec 2011."
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TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap

TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap

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Ehm, isn't this a 7 year old game? Anyone even remotely interested in this had the chance to purchase this game in various guises on various format for more than 5 years and you can't really blame Sega for pulling the plug after all this time if they have to cough up (steep) license fees every year.

Although I suppose a warning would have been nice (for gamers as well as Sega, it may have resulted in some last day purchases spike).

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Harmunt

Harmunt

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I'm confused why boxed versions of games aren't affected by this... What about all those licensed racers out there that the company's no longer own the rights to. Are they cleared from shelves across the country?

What about arcade machines? Will Outrun2SP disappear from my local arcade now??

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Mr. Gerbik

Mr. Gerbik

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I'm confused why boxed versions of games aren't affected by this... What about all those licensed racers out there that the company's no longer own the rights to. Are they cleared from shelves across the country?

What about arcade machines? Will Outrun2SP disappear from my local arcade now??

I assume they stop manufacturing those, so when store supplies run out you can't get it new anymore. And your local arcade can't buy a brand new cab anymore, but if it already has a Outrun cab then its customers can happily keep enjoying the game.

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Cthulhu Steev

Cthulhu Steev

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Ehm, isn't this a 7 year old game? Anyone even remotely interested in this had the chance to purchase this game in various guises on various format for more than 5 years and you can't really blame Sega for pulling the plug after all this time if they have to cough up (steep) license fees every year.

Although I suppose a warning would have been nice (for gamers as well as Sega, it may have resulted in some last day purchases spike).

Outrun Online Arcade only came out last year. I have all released versions on XBox and PS2 but it's still nice to have a (albeit cut down) version on my PS3 HDD.

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TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap

TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap

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Generally licenses work on the production side of things, rather than retail. For example, I did some licensed games for which we had to pay a yearly fee as long as we produced the products containing those games, as well as a fee on every unit sold. I suppose this would include selling the stuff online as every online sale could be considered a new copy. This fee per unit isn't generally a problem, but once sales dwindle the yearly fee can become higher than the revenue the license generates, which is usually the moment to pull the plug. This is probably what happened with Outrun 2.

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Kelthink

Kelthink

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Generally licenses work on the production side of things, rather than retail. For example, I did some licensed games for which we had to pay a yearly fee as long as we produced the products containing those games, as well as a fee on every unit sold. I suppose this would include selling the stuff online as every online sale could be considered a new copy. This fee per unit isn't generally a problem, but once sales dwindle the yearly fee can become higher than the revenue the license generates, which is usually the moment to pull the plug. This is probably what happened with Outrun 2.

You'd think a smart company might generate a bit of news (unofficially or whatever) that the license might not be renewed, thus generating a little bit of last-minute cash. But nah, Sega, being the dipshits they are, sat on it.

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Sprite Machine

Sprite Machine

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On a side note it looks like Coast 2 Coast has disappeared from Steam as well.

Jesus. :facepalm:

I literally reinstalled this two days ago. I assume if I delete it again in future, Steam will still have the files to download it to my account again, right?

Incidentally, it works great with the Xbox pad. Automatically maps all the buttons.

For anyone who missed out, there's always piracy... :unsure:

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S0L

S0L

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Online play will still work (or at least work as well as it ever did...) - it uses the Live or PSN servers, so whilst they're running, the game will still do matchmaking etc.

Amazing how many people are saying they wanted to buy it now it's gone. If they'd all done it when it came out, you'd probably have OutRun3 now :P

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S0L

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