The Romanian game store fiasco...

[karamazovnew]

I am truly appalled by the almost inexistent interest for SH5 in my country. To date (March 2d), none of the major game stores have any information whatsoever about SH5. There was no chance to preorder, no prices, nothing. Previews about the game on special sites were short, mostly links to trailers and a few old screenshots.

Just to put things into perspective here. Some years ago, the first ever gaming magazine had ample updates on any project which involved Romanians. I can't remember who the "bosses" were but I do remember Andrei Fantana was one of them. I personally met most of them as a young boy at the first PC game store in this country (back in 95-96 i think). Both the store and the magazine were called "Game Over" and some of us old guys fondly remember it. I was looking for a good starting flight sim and was about to buy FS95 from them. Andrei told me to get Flight Unlimited instead, and, since they didn't have it, gave me the address of a small store which had it (the only copy I ever saw in Romania). Andrei now works at Ubisoft btw...

One year ago, when Wrath of the Lich King was released, there was such a media frenzy that the stores opened at 00:00 am, major television networks were there, thousands came to buy the game and queued up for hours (including me).

Money is what turns this world and even though I understand that the Romanian public is either corrupted by piracy or uninterested in niche sims, I can't forgive the appalling reception that SH5 has received here. :down: I'm an avid fan and supporter of Silent Hunter and the Ubi team (no matter how much I complain about missing features :O:) so I really take offense to this.

[Schultz]

Well in Romania few people play sub simulators so they started selling outside because of that, but I can't understand 1 thing, why didn't they put it to preorder like the other games,from all the big online shops in Romania, also the big provider, just 1 little shop has the game but not the Collectors Edition.

[capthelm]

SH5 dev team not located in your country?

wtf is going on here?:down:

[karamazovnew]

SH5 dev team not located in your country?

wtf is going on here?:down:

They are, right here in my town actually. I guess most thought I'd be one of the first to receive a preview copy or get the first box off the shelf, just because I live here. I bet they box the games in Canada, which is why they got the game first. And I also understand that the game should be available from March 4'th, and that it takes a lot of time to distribute it (luckily the Atlantic War has ended so our SH5 loaded ships will not risk being sunk by subs :haha:). So I'm not complaining about not having the game NOW, I'm complaining about the lack of info and interest. If just ONE store had it on the list as "coming soon, collector's edition price 200 RON, made by our good guys yeeey", I'd be happy.

[urfisch]

same here in germany...big stores all have a delay in the shipping from ubi side. game should have been delivered by 26th of febr, and is now to be in stores round the 5th of march.

lol..

[elanaiba]

Well, if its any comfort, we haven't received our copies either. Yet!

[karamazovnew]

same here in germany...big stores all have a delay in the shipping from ubi side. game should have been delivered by 26th of febr, and is now to be in stores round the 5th of march.

lol..

I don't think I've made my point clear. No matter where you search on gaming store sites for "Silent Hunter 5", you get "No results". There is one single store that mentions it, but there is no price. I've even found figurines for Final Fantasy XIII (with prices) but no mention of SH5. This isn't about receiving the games late from Ubi because the trains ran late. :haha:

On the bright side, the monthly magazines again do their job. On the newest XTREMPC March issue, they make a Hands-On preview of SH5. The author of this article managed to do a good job for someone who can't tell the bow from the stern so this should by no means be regarded as a critique to her. Let me quote a few interesting lines:

Surprisingly, in this age of shooters and RPG-strategy games, the Silent Hunter series stubbornly tries to ride rides the waves of the gaming industry sea.

etc. you drive a U-boat, historical research, not that easy even for begginers, trigonometry needed for high realism (oh really?!), interesting dynamic campaign etc LOTS of info on what a sub actually does :haha:, apparently you can even suffer damage from escorts (that's new), praise for the sub cramp interior...

On full realism you need a good knowledge of math in order to calculate torpedo tracks, particularly because the real german subs had no automated computer to calculate ranges and distances and everything depended on the skill of the crew(:hmmm: you don't say).

etc. need to shoot "somewhat" ahead of the target, the need to hit specific parts of the target etc.

Left mostly alone in the field of naval sims, The Silent Hunter series has never been made for mainstream gaming. It is intended for the nostalgics of the golden age of PC gaming, when the sims ruled the gaming industry.

etc. also good for WW2 fans, historical missions, museum (lots of nations listed), nothing to complain about the sim-part of SH5, but problems with camera movement and lots of graphical issues etc.

No mention whatsoever about modding, about OSP, the availability of just one Type of U-boat and, wierd, a release date for 27 march :doh:. Actually that might explain a few things :haha:.

You know what? If I manage to get the game fast, I'll submit to them a professional review free of charge. Andrei, do you remember the 6-8 page review of Falcon 4? Or European Fighter? I bet I can beat that :03:


Well, if its any comfort, we haven't received our copies either. Yet!

It's not a comfort because I already knew that :D Btw, if you see Andrei today, give him my best regards. Those guys really knew how to appreciate a good sim :D

[MercurySeven]

They are, right here in my town actually.

Well, you COULD go there, knock on their door, offer them some cake and ask kindly whether they would sell you a copy. I assume they have got some at their office. :03:

Not sure whether this would actually work but I would love to read that story! :yeah:

[karamazovnew]

Well, you COULD go there, knock on their door, offer them some cake and ask kindly whether they would sell you a copy. I assume they have got some at their office. :03:

Not sure whether this would actually work but I would love to read that story! :yeah:

:DL C'mon, I don't have he nerve to bother them with such a thing. :shucks:

(:03: @ Dan)


Anyway, that wasn't the issue. Even if I had 10 copies since February 20th, I would've still wrote the OP.

[MercurySeven]

Could be fun though. Maybe you would all sit down, have some cake, think about the problem and then call some local game shops to get their bloody moves on, order some SHV copies and organise some events where the devs come and sign copies of SHV in the shops. Never heard of something like that, but if authors do it, why shouldn't game devs do it? ;)

Plus you would eat cake. Nothing bad can ever come from eating cake.

[karamazovnew]

Could be fun though. Maybe you would all sit down, have some cake, think about the problem and then call some local game shops to get their bloody moves on, order some SHV copies and organise some events where the devs come and sign copies of SHV in the shops. Never heard of something like that, but if authors do it, why shouldn't game devs do it? ;)

Plus you would eat cake. Nothing bad can ever come from eating cake.

Remember, the cake is a lie.
We could throw in a soup party with "U-boat Special cocktails". And hang salamis and bananas from the air conditioning pipes :woot:.

[aandreei2002]

I don't agree with this. I think that in Romania there is lack of interest in original game since piracy it's so high, not to the subs genre expecially. And related to stores, well, they bring in the few titles that may sell well here...so usually that's reserved for multimillion selling games.


OFF-TOPIC
Well, if its any comfort, we haven't received our copies either. Yet!

Kapitan, please double check that information;). Your enigma machine is broken i think.

[alexradu89]

both romania and ubi, fail ! -.- nuff said

[elanaiba]

Kapitan, please double check that information;). Your enigma machine is broken i think.

Oh bugger, one day away from the office and we got them?

[Schultz]

Karamazov if I hadn't told you about xpc because I have a subscription , I preffer my reward a soup:haha:

[dcb]

I can confirm this. Nowhere to buy SH5 in Bucharest. Even the online stores seem to totally ignore the game. No possibility to preorder, nothing at all. It's like it never existed, in its home country.:nope:

To the Ubi marketing guys: Where can Romanians buy your products? Did you ever try to approach the (very few) game stores existing here to sell your game? Supermarkets have shelves of console games on display, there's plenty of the latest EA games, even Mass Effect 2 was on sale the week it launched abroad, only Ubi Romania seems give a s**t about customers at home. Inept marketing (I think it's the third time I'm complaining on this forum about this specific issue, but to no avail).:damn:

[alexradu89]

what about steam ? don't they service in romania ? :S

[dcb]

what about steam ? don't they service in romania ? :S

They may have, but some of us don't have cards in foreign currency. They are rather expensive, at the rates charged by banks here. And not everybody's willing to open a card in euros or dollars only to buy games, once or twice a year.

[elanaiba]

Actually, you don't need cards in foreign currency to buy stuff on steam or online. Your regular debit card should work, provided its a Visa or Mastercard.

[martes86]

Arg... why do we always get delays?? One store says it gets here in Spain the 11th. :nope:

Can any of you guys tell me if it comes with a Spanish version (texts, installer)? I'll be damned if the game comes the same in all places, but there's a useless delay in Spain that nobody can explain.

[dcb]

Actually, you don't need cards in foreign currency to buy stuff on steam or online. Your regular debit card should work, provided its a Visa or Mastercard.

Yes, I admit it's the most natural thing in the world. Being in Romania and ordering from the US a game made in Romania.

[Schultz]

I don't have a credit card :haha: my father has, but the problem is that I saved the money for the game cash.

[elanaiba]

Let me get back to work and I'll see what I can do for you guys.

[FIREWALL]

Arg... why do we always get delays?? One store says it gets here in Spain the 11th. :nope:

Can any of you guys tell me if it comes with a Spanish version (texts, installer)? I'll be damned if the game comes the same in all places, but there's a useless delay in Spain that nobody can explain.

While I installed in default english, in the Credits it showed US , German, French, Polish and..... SPANISH. :DL


ps. When installing it gave me language choices.

[temiri]

Let me get back to work and I'll see what I can do for you guys.


To start you could donate your copy:yeah: while adressing the matter to PR:salute:

[FIREWALL]

To start you could donate your copy:yeah: while adressing the matter to PR:salute:

First post and wants to be a comedian. :haha:

Welcome Aboard temiri :salute:

[Schultz]

We forgot to tell you that we want to buy the Collectors Edition

[karamazovnew]

Yeap, we want the metal box :haha:. No really, that's the only reason I'm not buying it from Steam. I can't play it these days anyway. Some of my pipes cracked, I flooded my neighbours, not funny... Lot of work to repair the damage (meaning loooots of waiting for the plumber). When I get it I want to fill up on Coca Cola, 20 packs of Dunhill Red and then wohooooo 70 hours without sleep :dead:. So yeah, I want the box.

Look, ok, were pirating here games like there's no tomorrow and we'd rather play WoW and CounterStrike instead of a good sim. But still, at the moment, this the only gaming dev team that bears our flag. Not even listing the game in stores is a poor show. Not sure if the stores were scared about unsold copies or Ubi decided to delay release here or scratched the Bentley of some politician...I don't really care. I just wanted to share this with the community as a sign of support to the devs. Not to complain that I didn't get to buy a copy BEFORE the official release date.

I see that many can't believe that the devs themselves haven't yet received a hard-copy. It's actually quite simple. The disks are not printed here! I think they're made in Canada. The global Ubi marketing decisions are also not made here. So, the devs finish the game, and send it for printing. The first batches come out, the Canadians and Americans get it first simply for being closest. Then the shipments start to cross the Atlantic and reach Amsterdam, then the UK, then the rest. 2 weeks later, the devs finally get the boxes and start using them for door-stops. Easy geography. :yeah:

Let me get back to work and I'll see what I can do for you guys.
Dan, really, you're a gem :salute:. I owe you a beer just for being here with us :haha:

[martes86]

While I installed in default english, in the Credits it showed US , German, French, Polish and..... SPANISH. :DL


ps. When installing it gave me language choices.

Thanks for the info. :DL
That says 2 things. The game comes out in Spanish without the need for us to translate the whole thing (which is good), but at the same time it also gives out that no matter where you get it, it will be multilingual, which means that the delay is basically useless, and they've fooled us again, which I don't like a bit. :nope:

Cheers

[capthelm]

:DL C'mon, I don't have he nerve to bother them with such a thing. :shucks:

(:03: @ Dan)


Anyway, that wasn't the issue. Even if I had 10 copies since February 20th, I would've still wrote the OP.


thats a good idea bake some cake take it over ..ya never know :sunny: get a DRM copy free version mmmm

[HundertzehnGustav]

Well, if its any comfort, we haven't received our copies either. Yet!

YO What the funk?
I mean, like, its YOUR creation, or something like that.
There is surely a hundred good reasons to let you have a copy as soon as possible?

[elanaiba]

Got them yesterday... we still get them from the same factory as the regular customers, after all :)

[elanaiba]

Ok, guys, check your PMs

[karamazovnew]

Sorry to Up this but wanted all to know that thanks to Dan I'm now the proud owner of a SH5 box. The game should actually be in stores soon (a week at the most) so case closed.

However my initial post still is in effect so I will require free games for life from all the stores that didn't list SH5 here :stare:

See you on the leader boards. I will be looking down on all of you :rock:

[dcb]

thanks to Dan I'm now the proud owner of a SH5 box

And I will get mine today. Once again, thanks Dan. You rock!:salute:

[Schultz]

I will be getting mine Saturday from Karamazov, thx a lot Dan.:yeah: