Good Old Games Interview
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GB: While offering the games DRM-free is great for us gamers, do you think this will scare away some publishers and developers worried about piracy? Tom: Absolutely, it might. There's probably an equal number of publishers, though, that are excited by the prospect. Piracy is always a concern, and it's never really been easier to get illegal copies of games... but we think that most gamers would rather buy something legitimately than pirate it -- you just have to give them a reason. Our reasons being that the games are cheap and they'll work on your hardware. Oh, and it's legal. That's cool, too.
GB: How do you intend to keep all of these classic titles running with modern hardware and software? Couldn't future operating systems like Windows 9 introduce changes that make this very difficult?
Tom: Very good question, and I've been assured that our amazing programming team has it covered. It's quite a task for us to ensure compatibility with modern PCs, but by some stroke of genius it's worked out; we'll do everything in our power to make sure that we don't get shafted by future operating-system overhauls or other major advances in computing.
GB: In addition to compatibility issues, there have been a lot of unconventional copy protections used over the years (manual references, code wheels, etc.). How will you address these obstacles?
Tom: Magic. We'll use magic or whatever is at our disposal. I love code wheels -- if we have to offer up a printable code wheel, or give away the answer, or whatever -- we'll make it happen. We're going into unfamiliar territory with a lot of our plans for GOG.com, and we're constantly adapting to make sure that gamers ultimately get what they want and need.
GB: How far back in time do you intend to take your game library? Could we see something as early as Dunjonquest or Akalabeth? How about full versions of classic shareware titles like Moraff's Revenge?
Tom: We could go back as far as we want, really. We'll be taking fan feedback into consideration when looking at which games we want to bring to the site, and in the end our goal is just to be a one-stop shop for the best PC games of all time. It doesn't really matter what time period they're from, as long as we can make sure they work.
GB: Should you obtain the rights to sell all of them, do you plan on offering entire series (the Ultimas, Wizardrys, Gold Box games, etc.) at a reduced price point?
Tom: Bundles are definitely something we're considering; they won't be offered initially, but we will offer them eventually.
Thanks for your time, Tom!
