SCREWED? Did Limited Run Games Screw Over 3DO Customers?
47Over the years, people have been rightfully or wrongfully harsh about Limited Run Games. Limited Run Games started out as a company that takes previously unreleased games, games which were only released digitally, or games that went out of print and made them available for the masses. Initially, this was something that the industry and gamers all rejoiced upon. As time has gone on, however, they have definitely not done right by the community and have surrounded themselves in controversy more than once. In recent years they got caught terminating their Community manager simply because of who she followed on social media channels. They have been accused of artificially driving up costs by keeping print runs super low. The latest controversy surrounds their releases of games for the 3DO, a platform they have just started to support. But they're doing so by using burn discs, CD-Rs to be specific. In doing so, did Did Limited Run Games Screw Over 3DO Customers?
The issue surrounds the game D: The Collector’s Edition. Per https://www.timeextension.com/news/2024/05/limited-run-games-apologises-for-shipping-3do-games-on-cd-rs:
"Manufacturing games for hardware that is 30+ years old presents a variety of challenges. We partner with one of the biggest disc replication providers in North America to press our physical discs and despite researching original 3DO hardware and software extensively, we found quality and reliability issues when attempting to press 3DO discs in the traditional manner. In an attempt to offer full compatibility with original hardware, our disc replication partner was able to successfully manufacture the discs using a CD-R format, which we believed would work across all commercially available 3DO systems. This process was professionally done and was used to ensure maximum compatibility rather than serve as a cost-cutting exercise."
"We tested the discs on the 3DO consoles in our office and all five discs from the game worked as expected. It was only upon shipping to our customers that we came to realise that some users were experiencing difficulty. We will not be selling or shipping further copies of this game, or any future 3DO titles until the situation has been resolved."
"We are currently working with new partners to find a solution for traditionally pressed discs and will offer replacement discs to all customers. "
I appreciate the apology, but why the hell was this not tested before they started shipping the product? Why were they not more transparent with the fact that they had to use CD-R technology versus utilizing traditional press discs? And with this have been something that they came forward with if they did not get called up by the community? I don't know the answer to any of these questions, nor does anyone outside of Limited Run.
In the past, I've talked to Doug from Limited Run and had pretty decent conversations with him. He helped me get a hold of a Limited Run product that I missed out on initially and he didn't have to. That being said, what are they doing? Who is minding the store? Are they getting too big for their own good at this point? I don't know what's going on but they need to be held accountable on this. This is not okay! Beyond the fact that in recent years they have missed ship dates, announced product 3 years ago that they've still yet to ship, I'm looking at you Retro Mania Wrestling, and generally been a bit of a pariah to the Retro Gaming Community. Many consumers have been boycotting Limited Run in recent years, and things like this don't help the situation.
I wonder how much of a bigger issue this would have been if it would have been on a more popular console. It's for the 3DO that like 15 people have. It's like people who have the Atari Jaguar. And I'm not saying that those Gamers don't matter, but if this would have been something on the PlayStation or the Switch, and admittedly the Switch doesn't use CD-Rs but you get my point, people would be going apoplectic. They need to fix the situation sooner than later and they need to be overly transparent if they hope to save what little reputation they have with some people in the gaming industry.
#LimitedRunGames #CDR #3DO #CDRControversey #LRG