Limited Run's New "PC Micro Edition" Hasn't Gone Down Well With Some Fans

Wow, yeah anyone who still buys from this company is making a pretty grave error. Odds on that a quick Etsy search for engraved usb drive finds just where these came from.

I don't think there's necessarily a problem with supplying a PC game on a USB stick (arguing that USB-A is becoming obsolete is a strange position for buying a retro game also available on obsolete cartridge formats and in favour of it being on CD instead), but putting it on the cheapest possible type (I can back up what one of the quoted twitter posts says, that style of USB stick was frequently used for freebies, because they're cheap AF) and charging £35 for it as a collector's item is taking the mick.

Like, I can see a world where USB sticks became a post-optical drive distribution format for retail, or certainly indie, PC games if Steam hadn't made digital ubiquitous. But we're not living in it and it's bizarre for premium nostalgia-predators like LRG to act like we are.

What's odd about this is that PC games weren't really ever distributed like this, so that kind of removes the nostalgia factor that plays so heavily in retro physical releases. "I remember buying games on cartridges" is a thing; "I remember buying games on a thumb drive in a box" is not a thing.

They could have used better looking USB keys, but most people don't have a CD drive in their PC anymore, unfortunately, so it makes sense.

If the game is intended to be portable media like a cartridge, USB or MicroSD is your best solution so you can write directly to the storage medium for save games. But some research into the best usb stick for long-term storage would be appreciated. Specs for read/write cycles, read/write speed, etc. This does look cheap.

They never bother to ask themselves, "Does this look low-effort?"

@RootsGenoa I would agree with you. Perhaps they also could have used SD cards? But it seems like the "universal standard" I have seen across companies these days for PC physical releases is USB, so maybe they know something I don't, I dunno.

I think another problem too is the fact that clearly they had to buy these in bulk, and I would think that the next step up in quality/price past these lowly ones is notably more expensive. Inevitably then if they used higher quality USB drives that cost more, we would likely see them raise the price of the PC release. And then we all know how our favourite "PC Master Race" sometimes gets, they would likely start screaming about why the PC release is more expensive than the other versions...

Why does anyone buy from LRG? They have shown time and time again that they don't care about quality or much of anything besides taking advantage of people.
While I appreciate what they may have set out to do, it has since become a garbage company with sleazy practices.

this certainly beats a digital copy shackled with DRM, but that's less praise for LRG than it is a condemnation of steam. with optical drives now being a thing of the past, just how to release a physical PC game is an interesting question. i vote we go back to cassette releases

Wow these guys have gone right through the bottom of the barrel and are still digging!

How quickly they have moved from generally sad to hilariously pathetic! They should offer a greatest hits line where when you purchase a title they just draw a picture of a character from the game on a sticky note and slap it in a shiny box for $30.

They've made bigger mistakes.

Maybe unpopular opnion but in a way it shows that collectors are paying for the illusion of a physical product when it’s just another data carrying
Device.

Still. At least they’re upfront about it. But they’re image is basically limited-effort-games

@TransmitHim nostalgia predator. Great name

I know LRG's reputation was already questionable, but their recent missteps have been really close together which indicates to me that the decisions were made a while ago and most of the work to get these things out had also largely been done which is why they didn't reverse course. They probably couldn't. And one of the biggest issues with the 3DO thing was lack of communication. It does reflect on their leadership. In this case, I think some of the criticism presented here is silly. USB-A is going to be relevant for a long time and is probably the best choice for wide compatibility. Hardware manufacturers have dragged their feet on USB-C. Some have opted to reduce the number of overall ports to almost none rather than offer a bunch of useful ports. Because USB-A is less expensive, many manufacturers that still like ports will still include some. It's a silly thing to complain about. It's especially silly to complain about USB-A being obsolete while also saying a pressed optical disc would be grand. And this is also not the first time I've seen a company put out USB drives in a box. Essentially, in this specific case, they're in the business of making packaging and novelty items because some people value that more than anything.

If the USB drives are poor quality, then that's a valid criticism. But if people are serious about archival purposes, then they would know better than to rely on a USB drive and would back the data up to hard drives and other backup strategies.

From what I can tell, at least people know up front what they're buying in this case, whereas there was no disclaimer that people would be receiving a CD-R. The USB-A being phased out claim is plainly nonsense. Just don't buy it if you don't like it.

I will shout out Mighty No. 9 here (don't hear that much!) and state that my Kickstarter pledge included a DRM-free PC version that came on a USB stick, but the body of the stick looked like an NES cart with the character's face on it. Very premium feeling. If Limited run did something like that, people would be happy.

@romanista Fully agree with this.

There's the USB and all, but we've all read articles in the past 10 or so years about disc rot, right? Like even factory sealed disc based games are being found to degrade in their case.

I also find it hilarious that one of the posts says that USB-A is being phased out when you can STILL buy motherboards that have PS/2 ports on them.

Social media is cancer and the gaming community is almost as bad.

The culture of judgment we live in is just gross.

Goes back to enjoying a video game

Cheap USB sticks from China, that will probably stop working after a week.
For all the money they make, from these stupid overpriced editions, you would think that they would actually use stuff of much higher quality.

I feel like my issue here isn't the USB stick or even the quality of the USB stick. It's that this particular item underscores the absurdity of "archival physical copies" for certain kinds of media. You archive a digital file by saving it and backing it up, not by putting it on its own little physical flash drive and stuffing it into a box.

You really want a Switch cart because it makes your collection pretty? Have at it. But if you're playing this on PC, there is literally no reason to buy a "physical" version of the game. It's wasteful and the DRM-free file on that drive could have been just as easily downloaded to provide literally the same experience. You can copy that file and back it up to your heart's content — it's not going anywhere.

People have gone too far with the physical media obsession. And LRG is becoming a really sad company.

@BHPM Given the choice between ewaste and nothing, always choose nothing.

@Blast16 On an original CD/cartridge preferably!

I have a large collection but often use everdrives 😊