Why so expensive?

Gary Grigsby's strategic level wargame covering the entire War in the Pacific from 1941 to 1945 or beyond.

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Knavey
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RE: Why so expensive?

Post by Knavey »

Someone needs to post a poll with Feinders choices as a the selections!
 
 
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Widell
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RE: Why so expensive?

Post by Widell »

Hmm, this price tag question pops up now and then - The simple answer is: Because Matrix choose to price it that way. Enough people has, and probably is, buying itm so Matrix decide to keep the pricetag at $70 or whatever it is. Anyone that does his/hers homework properly should then realise this is not the place to question if Witp is worth $70 or not [;)]
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Mifune
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RE: Why so expensive?

Post by Mifune »

Most of us would spend $70 for WitP II, Matrix has us well trained. I hope when WitP II happens they update the graphics engine so wide screen monitors can properly work. I do not mind the ancient game engine (it offers great play) but most players computers are modern and would appreciate support for modern computers.
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Nikademus
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RE: Why so expensive?

Post by Nikademus »

I spent 80$ on 8-bit War in Russia back in the 80's.

with paper boy money.

boo hoo on the cost of WitP [8|]
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DuckofTindalos
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RE: Why so expensive?

Post by DuckofTindalos »

YOU were a paper boy?
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Nikademus
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RE: Why so expensive?

Post by Nikademus »

yep.

this was before cnn.com. People read newspapers.

[:'(]
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DuckofTindalos
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RE: Why so expensive?

Post by DuckofTindalos »

Nonononono, wait... YOU were a paper boy???

How'd you make your rounds, on a flatbed? Or did your customers have to come by your house to pick up their paper? You don't seriously expect us to believe that your fat ass ever sat on a bike seat?[:'(]
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tsimmonds
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RE: Why so expensive?

Post by tsimmonds »

ORIGINAL: Nikademus

I spent 80$ on 8-bit War in Russia back in the 80's.

with paper boy money.

boo hoo on the cost of WitP [8|]
ORIGINAL: Terminus

YOU were a paper boy?

No, he just knocked one off his bike and took his money[;)]
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rtrapasso
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RE: Why so expensive?

Post by rtrapasso »

ORIGINAL: irrelevant
ORIGINAL: Nikademus

I spent 80$ on 8-bit War in Russia back in the 80's.

with paper boy money.

boo hoo on the cost of WitP [8|]
ORIGINAL: Terminus

YOU were a paper boy?

No, he just knocked one off his bike and took his money[;)]

[:D] [:D]
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Nikademus
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RE: Why so expensive?

Post by Nikademus »

ORIGINAL: Terminus

Nonononono, wait... YOU were a paper boy???

How'd you make your rounds, on a flatbed? Or did your customers have to come by your house to pick up their paper? You don't seriously expect us to believe that your fat ass ever sat on a bike seat?[:'(]

You are in error. My ass is not fat. Ask my GF. [:'(]

Regrettably we can't ask your GF about the size of yours (though given your yearly candy intake, we can take a good guess), since your GF is made of plastic. [:'(]


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Nikademus
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RE: Why so expensive?

Post by Nikademus »

ORIGINAL: irrelevant


No, he just knocked one off his bike and took his money[;)]


your confusing me with that Atari 2600 paper boy game. [:D]
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RE: Why so expensive?

Post by bradfordkay »

I was going to let all this pass, but in retrospect thought that I should respond.

"It's actually not THAT uncommon (not to imply that it is common of course), depending on the game of course. Starcraft came out in 1998, and it still receives new updates, and Half-Life received patches for quite some time. Both games are multiplayer (and huge sellers) which would naturally help. Blizzard completely revamped Diablo 2 4 years after release, to provide a much, much more interesting experience and making skills more useful."

The games you mentioned here sold MILLIONS of copies, and Blizzard maintains an online player matchmaking service that exposes the players to their advertising, so it behooves them to support their games for longer. With the numbers of games sold, these guys have plenty of money to continue to support their games. Matrix sold a few thousand copies of WITP, with correspondingly less income from those sales. Yours really isn't a fair comparison. Needless to say, if Blizzard had sold only as many copies of Starcraft as Matrix sold of WITP, they would not have continued to support that game for very long.

"I used my copy of Half-Life for upwards of 4 years. So using that rationalization, Half-Life is a better value than War in the Pacific."

For you, yes, Half Life was a better value than WITP. For a person with a serious interest in the Pacific theatre of WW2, WITP is an excellent value.

BTW: it cost me $100 to buy WITP and I still consider it worth every penny.
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DuckofTindalos
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RE: Why so expensive?

Post by DuckofTindalos »

A HUNDRED???
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bradfordkay
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RE: Why so expensive?

Post by bradfordkay »

Yep, since I have only a very slow dialup connection and wanted WITP as soon as possible, I sent Xargun $100 to buy a copy on the first day of release (at Origins gaming convention) and mail it to me. I had to make sure that I sent enough to cover shipping, and all the rest could be considered to be a gratuity. Later I learned that this allows me to say that mine was part of the first purchase of WITP...
fair winds,
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DuckofTindalos
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RE: Why so expensive?

Post by DuckofTindalos »

Okay...[8D]
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Feinder
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RE: Why so expensive?

Post by Feinder »

Do they still print the buyer's name on the CD?  I thought it was interesting that it actually had my name on the thing.
 
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Brady
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RE: Why so expensive?

Post by Brady »

WiTP, is well worth 70 bucks for all the reasion mentioned above the cost is realy just pennys a day, and it looks like I will be playing it long enough to wittle that down to under a cent a day....
 
Now having said that I would cough up $100 bucks for WiTP II, Because I know it would be money well spent.
 
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RE: Why so expensive?

Post by rroberson »

ORIGINAL: bradfordkay

Yep, since I have only a very slow dialup connection and wanted WITP as soon as possible, I sent Xargun $100 to buy a copy on the first day of release (at Origins gaming convention) and mail it to me. I had to make sure that I sent enough to cover shipping, and all the rest could be considered to be a gratuity. Later I learned that this allows me to say that mine was part of the first purchase of WITP...

Hey I did that too! Xargun made some bank that day.
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Widell
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RE: Why so expensive?

Post by Widell »

ORIGINAL: Feinder
Do they still print the buyer's name on the CD? I thought it was interesting that it actually had my name on the thing.

[8|] What is the world coming to! I only had an Order ID on my CD. It was the first time since I got that I actually opened the case I think...[:)]
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RE: Why so expensive?

Post by Big B »

I came across this while surfing - and I immediately thought of this thread.....

For all of our bitching about this or that - I absolutely stand by my earlier statement "there is absolutely nothing like WitP.... Zero, Not'ta, Zip" And having been looking around recently for another game like this - I can tell you - there is no other game like this (UV/WPO excluded of course - part of the family).
War in the Pacific
Computer Gaming World, November, 2004 by Bruce Geryk


War in the Pacific is the long-awaited update to Gary Grigsby’s landmark Pacific War, released in 1992. Two years ago, war gamers were treated to a preview with Uncommon Valor, a smaller-scale game depicting the battle for the Solomon Islands that used essentially the same game system. Preview or not, there is nothing that really could have prepared you for this.
The premise of the game is nothing less than being able to refight the battles of the Pacific theater of WWII in single-day turns, using just about every ship, plane, and ground formation that fought there. The map stretches from India to the west coast of North America, and units of battalion strength are rated for number and size of individual guns. Each turn cycles through numerous subphases, and you can find detail down to the individual commander level, with inspiration and leadership ratings for squadron commanders and ship captains. It even keeps track of kills on an individual pilot basis. The whole thing screams one design philosophy: detail �ber alles.
The problem with the game as a game is that while the important decisions are generally metastrategy (which bases to build up, how to construct your logistics network, etc.), the game also plunges you into a lot of detail that is unavoidable unless you turn entire sectors over to the A.I. That’s not necessarily a problem if you see this more as a self-contained virtual world where you can completely immerse yourself in WWII’s Pacific theater. Even so, because strategy takes game-years to take shape, you can expect to get hundreds of turns into a game only to find you’re doing it all wrong. It’s an unforgiving game that demands dedication unlike anything seen before.
Grunt Work
War in the Pacific isn’t really so much a game as it is a project. The longest campaign scenario lasts almost 1,500 turns, and before you’re anywhere near ready to handle that, you’re well advised to spend time with several of the smaller scenarios. It will take you more time to read and absorb the material in the manual than it would to complete some other games. The familiar Grigsby interface is back—and comes up short time after time—but in a game of this scope that’s almost irrelevant. If you make the decision to learn the game, you’re going to have a lot more to overcome than just nonmodal windows and inconsistently placed Exit buttons.
This title is essentially an MMO game for dedicated, hardcore war gamers, not in the massively multiplayer online sense, but simply because it lends itself to complete immersion on a time-sink scale similar to EverQuest’s. To dismiss it as an impenetrable chore is to miss the point. The $70 price tag is a clear warning sign: Casual players need not apply. For war gamers, the game requires total commitment. If you invest enough, you’ll be amply rewarded.
Verdict * * * 1/2
War in the Pacific answers the prayers of hardcore Pacific war reenactors.
If you’re serious about getting into the game, don’t just read the 62-page tutorial (50 pages of which are devoted to describing just two turns). You can find additional help, including an intro from producer and codesigner Joel Billings, in the Unofficial WITP Strategy Guide at Unofficial WITP Strategy Guide at mathubert.free.fr/ witp_files/witp_tips.doc

PUBLISHER: Matrix Games DEVELOPER: 2by3 Games GENRE: Turn-based Strategic War Game ESRB RATING: None REQUIRED: Pentium II 600, 128MB RAM, 900MB install RECOMMENDED: Pentium III 800, 256MB RAM MULTIPLAYER: Hotseat, PBEM (2 players); War College
Copyright © 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Computer Gaming World.
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