Bionic Dues Now Available on Steam, Arcen Store

[Misery]

And I just want to say, I'm still addicted to the bloody thing.

Same thing that happened with Skyward, hah.  It's another "doesnt get old" sort of game that I never burn out on. 

Here's hoping that expansions can happen with this one, because it sure as heck is off to a fantastic start.

[Pepisolo]

I see Bionic Dues is now in "Featured Games" -- hopefully that helps.

Oh, yeah. That should make a difference.

[Jukelo]

And when the inevitable cavalcade of Arcen patches comes out, all I have to do is re-install steam each and every time!

You're wondering why sales of this title have been lean, I was a lost sale.  Steam exclusivity was the culprit.

The game comes with its own updater, so I doubt you need steam to even get the patches.

[Mick]

And when the inevitable cavalcade of Arcen patches comes out, all I have to do is re-install steam each and every time!

It's much better than the days where I had to install and uninstall my CD-ROM drivers every time I needed to load something onto my computer from a disk. That was really annoying.

At least it got less painful when I learned I didn't have to open up the tower and unplug the drive from the motherboard each time.

[Misery]

It's better than CDs, period.

I'm not exactly organized and the damn things just get EVERYWHERE.  ...they're STILL everywhere.   I can lift up the TV and hey, there's some CDs under there that do who knows what.

Trying to find the right disc for the right game each time I want to run it..... yeah, I"m glad I dont have to do THAT anymore.

[Wacky Willy]

It's better than CDs, period.

I'm not exactly organized and the damn things just get EVERYWHERE.  ...they're STILL everywhere.   I can lift up the TV and hey, there's some CDs under there that do who knows what.

Trying to find the right disc for the right game each time I want to run it..... yeah, I"m glad I dont have to do THAT anymore.

I swear, steam users are worse than Mac users.  I'm able to sort my disks just fine, thank you, no need for steam to hold my hand.

I understand if a steam-free version is not possible for the linux port, but I'm a PC user and all I'm saying is, if steam didn't make you sign some sort of exclusivity contract, I'd happily buy a steam-free version off the arcen store if it became available.  In the meantime, I'll pass.

[Misery]

It's better than CDs, period.

I'm not exactly organized and the damn things just get EVERYWHERE.  ...they're STILL everywhere.   I can lift up the TV and hey, there's some CDs under there that do who knows what.

Trying to find the right disc for the right game each time I want to run it..... yeah, I"m glad I dont have to do THAT anymore.

I swear, steam users are worse than Mac users.  I'm able to sort my disks just fine, thank you, no need for steam to hold my hand.

I understand if a steam-free version is not possible for the linux port, but I'm a PC user and all I'm saying is, if steam didn't make you sign some sort of exclusivity contract, I'd happily buy a steam-free version off the arcen store if it became available.  In the meantime, I'll pass.

Oh, the disorganization of the discs isnt because of "being spoiled by Steam" or anything along that line.  It's been that way since the days of old, back when floppies were the main type of storage and hard drives werent a thing yet. Used to be floppies EVERYWHERE, wherever I happened to be.  Stupidly, there's actually still a few of those lying around here.   I practically INVENTED "disorganized".

The discs though became a plague akin to locusts loooooooooooong before Steam existed.  Or any other distribution platform.  One of these days I should do something about them, but..... ehhhhh. Why do today what I could do next century?

The main reason why I prefer the Steam method.... or any other distribution platform.... or simple direct downloads.... isnt even that, but it's just my extreme impatience.  2 seconds of looking for a damn disc is about 50 hours too many.

As for "exclusivity contract"..... what?   I honestly dont even know what that is.   Steam makes you sign something?   ....actually I cant remember ANY of the distribution platforms doing that.  Even Origin didn't require that I do anything particularly funky, and that's freaking ORIGIN (the funkiness started AFTER it was all set up).   Is there something I missed here?  Certainly possible, I can barely remember what month it is half the time.

[Tridus]

As for "exclusivity contract"..... what?   I honestly dont even know what that is.   Steam makes you sign something?   ....actually I cant remember ANY of the distribution platforms doing that.  Even Origin didn't require that I do anything particularly funky, and that's freaking ORIGIN (the funkiness started AFTER it was all set up).   Is there something I missed here?  Certainly possible, I can barely remember what month it is half the time.

He's saying that if Arcen didn't sign an exclusive deal with Steam to distribute Bionic Dues, that they should get it up in their own store.

[Teal_Blue]

It's better than CDs, period.

I'm not exactly organized and the damn things just get EVERYWHERE.  ...they're STILL everywhere.   I can lift up the TV and hey, there's some CDs under there that do who knows what.

Trying to find the right disc for the right game each time I want to run it..... yeah, I"m glad I dont have to do THAT anymore.

I swear, steam users are worse than Mac users.  I'm able to sort my disks just fine, thank you, no need for steam to hold my hand.

I understand if a steam-free version is not possible for the linux port, but I'm a PC user and all I'm saying is, if steam didn't make you sign some sort of exclusivity contract, I'd happily buy a steam-free version off the arcen store if it became available.  In the meantime, I'll pass.

I am not sure what exclusive rights may bring with it, or if each 'vendor', ie GamersGate, GOG, GreenMan Gaming, Gamestop, Desura, etc... charges a fee to list a game? Or perhaps it means simply having one place handle the distribution instead of the devs? But there is probably some major reason Arcen decided to do it this way. Maybe if they don't have to do all the various contracts and details for each vendor then it leaves them time to code games, or have a little free time with the family, like a life? 

But maybe after a certain time, like 3, or 6 months or a year, then they could branch out to other vendors? I don't know if its even attractive to do so, but there is probably a reason for Arcen to have it all on steam. Anyway, sorry for the angst, i know what it feels like,  there used to be a mac game called Myth that was so cool, and well... i had a pc and could only think about getting it because i couldn't afford a whole other computer just to play one game, haha, but its crazy like that sometimes.

Anyway, i hope it gets on other sites at some point and you can enjoy it,

-Sincerely,
-Teal

[Tridus]

Guys, they said the reason it's only on Steam is that they don't have a way to provide updates to the Linux version, and Steam does. A Windows only version could be released elsewhere and use its own updater, but Steam handles all this automatically on every platform.  I'd expect to see it available elsewhere at some point in the not-too-distant future (at least for Windows).

I'm not sure it's really related to the point, anyway. If Steam sales aren't meeting expectations, having other outlets selling it doesn't change that. Steam is the majority of the market, if the sales there are disappointing it's going to hit the bottom line really hard no matter what. The real question is why aren't things going well on Steam?

[chemical_art]

I'm not sure it's really related to the point, anyway. If Steam sales aren't meeting expectations, having other outlets selling it doesn't change that. Steam is the majority of the market, if the sales there are disappointing it's going to hit the bottom line really hard no matter what. The real question is why aren't things going well on Steam?

Probably, but I will say there is the potential that limiting it to steam may have caused reducing reporting of news. With less vendors, less opportunities to advertise, and much more vulnerable to having that single vendor not advertising the game during launch.

Again, potential, I have no idea for sure. But it is not as simple as gains from linux only buyers vs sales from non steam buyers. More avenues for sale = more exposure as well.

[zespri]

And when the inevitable cavalcade of Arcen patches comes out, all I have to do is re-install steam each and every time!

You're wondering why sales of this title have been lean, I was a lost sale.  Steam exclusivity was the culprit.

The game comes with its own updater, so I doubt you need steam to even get the patches.

Does Bionic Dues come with its own updater though? I somehow doubt it, being supported on linux and all....

[Jukelo]

Does Bionic Dues come with its own updater though? I somehow doubt it, being supported on linux and all....

Actually it's a mistake on my part - there is indeed a 'BionicAutoUpdater-windows.exe' file in the game dir, but it is...the Skyward Collapse updater which for some reason was kept in there.

[chemical_art]

Does Bionic Dues come with its own updater though? I somehow doubt it, being supported on linux and all....

Actually it's a mistake on my part - there is indeed a 'BionicAutoUpdater-windows.exe' file in the game dir, but it is...the Skyward Collapse updater which for some reason was kept in there.

It was still left in there? I thought that was an alpha thing.

Yes, there is a SC updater...and EULA license.

[keith.lamothe]

Yea, the updater is still there but doesn't actually work at this time.  That's the piece we have no linux equivalent for, incidentally.