DiRT Rally and DiRT 4 Quietly Removed From All Online Storefronts

Just looked at my Steam list, DIRT RALLY! I either had forgotten/didn't know I had it........

VirtuaIceMan said:

DiRT Rally is still available on disk. I don't think DiRT 4 had a physical release on PC though.

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Indeed there was a DIRT 4 PC release on DVD. I have it.

MaxStokes1 said:

But if the games are cheap (which all old Codies games are/were) then I'd argue it's perfectly OK for the sake of making sure people can experience these games and that they don't get lost to time

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I second that.
And moreover I just can't - in fine bearable words - formulate how much I dislike the pale head attitude "oh, it's old - lets remove it".

Geoff Crammonds Grand Prix 2 is old, too, but feels as a fantastic relief waking it back to life with modern sim hardware, as I did during spring time after watching juat a single YT walkthrough of how to bring my old GP2 original and payable mods CD's from mid-late 90ies back on track again.

I might be a super-storer, saving everything on my NAS drives, collecting back from floppy disk ages.

My most worrying thoughts are, that EA is afraid of not being able of coming up with something competitive to earlier produced well thought through sims, and hence their main reason for totally hiding the past.

Leaving it for micro-trqnsactions multiplatform multi-malfunctional arcadery trying to reach iPadders. And completely neglecting the healthy real sim society.

That's what worries me the most.

I'm a collector and grab out for most, especilly older sims when on Sales (if any remaining left).
But the legacy of the old sims doesn't prevent my curiosity for new sims. EA should respect such thoughts of which I clearly have the impression that I'm not alone about. Far from.

But EA are surely p*ssing their pants of missed opportunities for moneygrabbing on a garbage micro-transactions arcade game.

Slapped said:

It’s a shame as I really enjoyed the easy controller handling of both DR games, but I could never get on with them with a wheel - the WRC series is much better in that respect, at least IMO.

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I may have to grab a WRC game then. I've always been interested in the latest WRC titles.

As for Dirt Rally, I am glad I have it now. It's a shame that it has been removed from digital storefronts. But that is EA for you. Electronic *55 Holes, as a friend accurately describes them.

FinFan said:

Still play the Dirt Rally online challenges every day. Hope they won't be affected. Just bought the whole Dirt Rally 2 through some keyshop couple of weeks ago.

I don't like delisting of games. It may make sense from the point of view of the developer who wants to sell their new games. But as someone who can't afford a high end gaming PC I like being able to get games that get good fps on my machine.

And if people prefer older games over the new releases maybe the devs should ask themselve why that is the case.

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Yup my first computer couldn’t run ac or rf2 so I was really glad of GTR2, rf1 and P&G.
Even now when I have a pc that runs all the new games quite well, I still play gtr2 and p&g a lot, because of the playability and great content. I’m not a graphics snob, doesn’t have to perfect to be immersive.

Jugulador said:

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Eat Alot of dollars.

FinFan said:

I don't like delisting of games. It may make sense from the point of view of the developer who wants to sell their new games. But as someone who can't afford a high end gaming PC I like being able to get games that get good fps on my machine.

And if people prefer older games over the new releases maybe the devs should ask themselve why that is the case.

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they don't care if you prefer old games, they care only if it's still profitable with license renewal. If it isn't, well, goodbye and good riddance.
Maybe you dind't have the right hardware at the time or you simple missed that game, you should have the chance to buy it later (better discounted).
And even if you are a whale that could afford whatever hardware you want, you should have the freedom to test your old games for curiosity, nostalgia of whatever reason you want.

At this point, i guess if the license is expired, we could consider those games abbandonware. A lot of old cd games are available on Internet Archives (not in all languages). From the other side, not all old games have an active community offers easy solution/install tips to made an old game playable on modern system.
Others like FM7 and FH3 are lost forever even on high seas, cause they'll not work on actual systems.
I wish GoG could return on its old root and bring back the "good old games" as it did in its early days (even if sometimes games were removed by expired licenses or not reaching a contract with the actual license owner) as well new games.

From this prospective, japanase senator Ken Akamatsu is right about proposing a law to preserve and have working retrogames on modern system for all players.

Wilko Jones said:

I may have to grab a WRC game then. I've always been interested in the latest WRC titles.

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I quite like WRC Generations handling model. Especially on tarmac that is much better than Dirt Rally. The newest game also changed the grip levels so that it is quite easier to spin out now without the tires feeling like its glued to the road. Content wise is amazing too with loads of cars to choose from.

The issue for me is the visuals that are really dated now. The polish is pretty crap too.

DiRT Rally and DiRT 4 Quietly Removed From All Online Storefronts​

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So that officially makes them "abandonware".
Good, time to "download" a copy for myself, then!

Yesterday saw the announcement of Project CARS, developed by Slightly Mad Studios being cancelled and the team reshuffled into other teams.

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Finally!

pihops said:

there is money to be made updating a single good title... look at iracing...

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And Euro Truck Simulator 2 / American Truck Simulator.
Good titles don't need sequels to boost sale.

Rot Teufel said:

they don't care if you prefer old games, they care only if it's still profitable with license renewal. If it isn't, well, goodbye and good riddance.
Maybe you dind't have the right hardware at the time or you simple missed that game, you should have the change to buy it later (better discounted).
And even if you are a whale that could afford whatever hardware you want, you should have the freedom to test your old games for curiosity, nostalgia of whatever reason you want.

At this point, i guess if the license is expired, we could consider those games abbandonware. A lot of old cd games are available on Internet Archives (not in all languages). From the other side, not all old games, if they don't have an active community offers easy solution/install tips to made an old game playable on modern system.
Others like FM7 and FH3 are lost forever even on high seas, cause they'll not work on actual systems.
I wish GoG could return on its old root and bring back the "good old games" as it did in its early days (even if sometimes games were removed by expired licenses or not reaching a contract with the actual license owner) as well new games.

From this prospective, japanase senator Ken Akamatsu is right about proposing a law to preserve and have working retrogames on modern system for all players.

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Indeed, removing games from stores is most probably licenses expiration. There's always someone wh9 need to buy older gales, whatever the reason is.

I agree that, in an ideal world, older games should be maintain to work on modern systems but that's a lot of work and not realistic if the games are free. Gog did some good job by releasing old games but some are struggling to work on modern systems. I would say that if a game is sold, it should work. But developpers will argue that, when you buy a game, youvhave the information about the system it was made for.

It is like stating that a movie you bought on VHS should be available for free for you bluray player. No, you will have to buy the bluray, and if the movie doesn't have any potential, enough to cover the numerisation and the remastering, well you'll stick with the VHS 1nd hope someone will put it on archive.org.

I jndzrstand the conservation process but this is a state issue. And, thinking about the big picture of the world, should the states really put money to save old videogames? There must be much useful and critical ways to spend money. And do not speak about the ecological cost of stocking these data. Is it worth the operation? Imo no, maybe a few games should deserve the effort. It is done in some countries for movies and documentaries, and now, thanks to streaming, it get financed by subscription fees. Are they more important than videogames? I would say yes, except a few videogames, and no, considering the bunch of uninspired movies we get, and which keep on coming with the growth of streaming services competition.
The question is : in a global crisis, badly handed by a bunch of irresponsible leaders, do we need to help people to eat or to play old video games and see old movies? The power of entertainment, yes...

roadyroad said:

The question is : in a global crisis, badly handed by a bunch of irresponsible leaders, do we need to help people to eat or tobplay old video games and see old movies? The power of entertainment, yes...

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From an archivist point of view, preserving culture in whatever form it is (even "silly games" and all techincal knowledge behind their creation), is always usefull, expecially if a coming catastrophe is nearby. Cultural heritage is indeed a valid resource for a better reborn.
And the digital conversion has open almost infinite possibility to preserve physical (and digital) documents (as other legal problems wich i'll omit)

And VHS/Betamax doesn't suit as example, cause was an analogic format. For free blueray even less, cause if there's a blue ray version it means that licence has been not expired. Have the possibility to still have a VHS/Betamax reader/converter should be more close to "run a old game on modern system"

roadyroad said:

I agree that, in an ideal world, older games should be maintain to work on modern systems but that's a lot of work and not realistic if the games are free. Gog did some good job by releasing old games but some are struggling to work on modern systems. I would say that if a game is sold, it should work. But developpers will argue that, when you buy a game, youvhave the information about the system it was made for.

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I think you're missing a point.
The official game publishers are not responsible of keeping their out-of-date-license releases up-to-date with nursery workarounds to keep them working on newer OS software from license discontinuation to eternity.
I know the tendency of today is a sometimes very demanding audience who just wants one-click-installs. But not just before the cloud stores also now, there are communities, forums, sites, YT walkthroughts of how to get older games/sims running on newer systems (my GP2 DVD's running at modern sim hardware on a Win10 machine by just following an YT howto as a good example).

The publishers could just leave out-of-data-licensed content on cloud stores 'as is' for free with simple and easy-read disclaimers about getting them work for present day and future systems is not the sim developers response and a kind info that the headache is on the shoulders of the consumer. Ofcourse that would prevent the large one-click-install market, but the legacy is preserved in a settled manner.

That's my silent wish. But I think EA have other vacuum cleaner plans. And thats a real pity.

roadyroad said:

I jndzrstand the conservation process but this is a state issue. And, thinking about the big picture of the world, should the states really put money to save old videogames? There must be much useful and critical ways to spend money. And do not speak about the ecological cost of stocking these data. Is it worth the operation? Imo no, maybe a few games should deserve the effort. It is done in some countries for movies and documentaries, and now, thanks to streaming, it get financed by subscription fees. Are they more important than videogames? I would say yes, except a few videogames, and no, considering the bunch of uninspired movies we get, and which keep on coming with the growth of streaming services competition.
The question is : in a global crisis, badly handed by a bunch of irresponsible leaders, do we need to help people to eat or tobplay old video games and see old movies? The power of entertainment, yes...

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I fully understand your POV, but as I stated above there's the other option; just leaving license-outdated publications as abandonware with disclaimer of no further official support from the publisher/main developer. In general I don't like the Fahrenheit 451 processes as are happening now. It's a shamefull disrespect to sim history.

stenovitz said:

I second that.
And moreover I just can't - in fine bearable words - formulate how much I dislike the pale head attitude "oh, it's old - lets remove it".

Geoff Crammonds Grand Prix 2 is old, too, but feels as a fantastic relief waking it back to life with modern sim hardware, as I did during spring time after watching juat a single YT walkthrough of how to bring my old GP2 original and payable mods CD's from mid-late 90ies back on track again.

I might be a super-storer, saving everything on my NAS drives, collecting back from floppy disk ages.

My most worrying thoughts are, that EA is afraid of not being able of coming up with something competitive to earlier produced well thought through sims, and hence their main reason for totally hiding the past.

Leaving it for micro-trqnsactions multiplatform multi-malfunctional arcadery trying to reach iPadders. And completely neglecting the healthy real sim society.

That's what worries me the most.

I'm a collector and grab out for most, especilly older sims when on Sales (if any remaining left).
But the legacy of the old sims doesn't prevent my curiosity for new sims. EA should respect such thoughts of which I clearly have the impression that I'm not alone about. Far from.

But EA are surely p*ssing their pants of missed opportunities for moneygrabbing on a garbage micro-transactions arcade game.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately, big publishers will continue these kind of practices as long as users keep on falling into the same traps over and over again, filling the formers's bank accounts.

This is not even a arcade/simcade/simulator physics debate, it's a far more basic, yet deeper issue with a broader reach. It hurts gamers of all kinds.

Electronic Arts honchos are not stupid; they are just evil, and have a finger on the pulse at all times. They have backtracked on cheese market moves in the past if the backlash from the community was big enough. If people cannot rally (non pun intended) behind the concept of "no microtransactions, no lootboxes, no delisting of old games, no crap dev work on new games", and give EA a big middle finger, this will continue to happen.

It's our call. Not theirs.

Rot Teufel said:

From an archivist point of view, preserving culture in whatever form it is (even "silly games" and all techincal knowledge behind their creation), is always usefull, expecially if a coming catastrophe is nearby. Cultural heritage is indeed a valid resource for a better reborn.
And the digital conversion has open almost infinite possibility to preserve physical (and digital) documents (as other legal problems wich i'll omit)

And VHS/Betamax doesn't suit as example, cause was an analogc format. For free blueray even less, cause if there's a blue ray version it means that licence has been not expired. Have the possibility to still have a VHS/Betamax reader/converter should be more close to "run a old game on modern system"

Click to expand...

In fact digital costs a lot more than any other archive, server refreshing...
My example of a movie relased in VHS is exactly the point : you can't ask the original producer to release the bluray of the same movie if there is no market for the movie. I was just trying to state that there is no sense to submit a law, that's a waste of time, of energy and money for something which should be approach on a state service logic, the preservation of pieces of history and culture. The point, as always, is to answer whether video games are culture.

stenovitz said:

I think you're missing a point.
The official game publishers are not responsible of keeping their out-of-date-license releases up-to-date with nursery workarounds to keep them working on newer OS software from license discontinuation to eternity.
I know the tendency of today is a sometimes very demanding audience who just wants one-click-installs. But not just before the cloud stores also now, there are communities, forums, sites, YT walkthroughts of how to get older games/sims running on newer systems (my GP2 DVD's running at modern sim hardware on a Win10 machine by just following an YT howto as a good example).

Click to expand...

I'm not missing any point as it exactly mine

stenovitz said:

I fully understand your POV, but as I stated above there's the other option; just leaving license-outdated publications as abandonware with disclaimer of no further official support from the publisher/main developer. In general I don't like the Fahrenheit 451 processes as are happening now. It's a shamefull disrespect to sim history.

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It's a different subject. I was explaining, maybe not clearly, that archiving should be a public service.

Updating a game.to make it work on modern systems should be made by professional, if they think money can me earned (gog and steam), or, if there's no business potential, I agree with you that publishers should give these games to the community who will do the job.

roadyroad said:

In fact digital costs a lot more than any other archive, server refreshing...
My example of a movie relased in VHS is exactly the point : you can't ask the original producer to release the bluray of the same movie if there is no market for the movie. I was just trying to state that there is no sense to submit a law, that's a waste of time, of energy and money for something which should be approach on a state service logic, the preservation of pieces of history and culture. The point, as always, is to answer whether video games are culture.

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If your intent is sealioning about not preversing legacy of a racing games on a racing game forum wich it's one of the biggest active files repository for modding and preserving the legacy of racing games, why you are here complaining about and have bias against them ('cause the golden rule of an archive is "never get rid of anything (expecially originals) unless it's unavoidable")?

Slapped said:

It’s a shame as I really enjoyed the easy controller handling of both DR games, but I could never get on with them with a wheel - the WRC series is much better in that respect, at least IMO.

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Same here. DR and DR2.0 are unplayable for me with steering wheel. And I thought it is something wrong with me or smth

Goozys said:

Same here. DR and DR2.0 are unplayable for me with steering wheel. And I thought it is something wrong with me or smth

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I've got a good profile for my SC2 Pro that works pretty well.
While it's true DR 2.0 doesn't feel as buttoned down as RBR, it's not bad.