The Epic Saga of The Game Paradise + Radirgy Swag Preorders: YEAR 5!

[Sengoku Strider]

Good article on the state of limited print publishers.

https://seafoamgaming.com/2022/04/14/th ... port-card/

TLDR; they all basically suck.

Wow, that is...discouraging. How can none of these people meet the basic, normal standards of running a professional business? It just seems like they're all playing shell games with money, then snapping at customers or dodging them outright when they inevitably come around asking what's up.

[Johnpv]

I, too, am waiting on Crimson Clover. Good to know I'll be sitting on another preorder until 2030.

Those Cotton Fantasy and Death Smiles I & II preorders are starting to get a bit long in the tooth as well.

Death Smiles I and II is getting a general release which will release long before SLG's version.

[Creamy Goodness]

Good article on the state of limited print publishers.

https://seafoamgaming.com/2022/04/14/th ... port-card/

TLDR; they all basically suck.

Wow, that is...discouraging. How can none of these people meet the basic, normal standards of running a professional business? It just seems like they're all playing shell games with money, then snapping at customers or dodging them outright when they inevitably come around asking what's up.

I think they're just riding the wave of the video game bubble. It is such a seller's market that there is no need for things like basic customer service and accountability. When $10 digital games can sell for triple digit numbers physically there is definitely something screwy going on in the market. Plus they probably realize physical is probably on the way out so get what they can before they no longer have a viable business model.

[m.sniffles.esq]

Good article on the state of limited print publishers.

https://seafoamgaming.com/2022/04/14/th ... port-card/

TLDR; they all basically suck.

And, people wonder why I bang the drum for Nippon Ichi...
That said, I believe he's being a little tick-tack with LRG. At this point, everybody knows they're overextended and they take forever. It's like saying the sun is hot.

[Rastan78]

Sort of a tough love perspective here. I'm not trying to absolve these companies of guilt, so take this with a grain of salt. Part of the problem is also with the customers here.

If a company clearly states in their FAQs that your card will be charged immediately, yet they can delay a game and release it whenever, why do business with them? Imagine if a freelancer or contractor operated this way. And where would their motivation and satisfaction for a job well done be if they already got paid in full up front?

By those terms the companies aren't breaking any rules or going back on an agreement by taking as long as they want. When you agree to those terms by placing your preorder, it's kind of on you if you're pissed about it later.

Clearly enough people are just preordering everything to keep such a shitty business model going, where they get an influx of cash just for putting up a preorder page. Blinded by the FOMO. It would take pushback from customers to stop supporting this model for anything to change at this point.

I believe George W. Bush said it best:
https://youtu.be/rQ6N-sb7SVQ

[Sima Tuna]

I definitely think FOMO-addled collectors and flippers are propping up this market.

[Creamy Goodness]

Sort of a tough love perspective here. I'm not trying to absolve these companies of guilt, so take this with a grain of salt. Part of the problem is also with the customers here.

If a company clearly states in their FAQs that your card will be charged immediately, yet they can delay a game and release it whenever, why do business with them? Imagine if a freelancer or contractor operated this way. And where would their motivation and satisfaction for a job well done be if they already got paid in full up front?

By those terms the companies aren't breaking any rules or going back on an agreement by taking as long as they want. When you agree to those terms by placing your preorder, it's kind of on you if you're pissed about it later.

Clearly enough people are just preordering everything to keep such a shitty business model going, where they get an influx of cash just for putting up a preorder page. Blinded by the FOMO. It would take pushback from customers to stop supporting this model for anything to change at this point.

I believe George W. Bush said it best:
https://youtu.be/rQ6N-sb7SVQ

Generally I find this to be the case. Like the crazy prices from scalpers I put a lot of responsibility for that on the buyers. In that case it is very obvious what is happening. But in the case of the limited print companies there was an expectation of good faith that as supposedly legitimate companies they wouldn't be total scams. It takes a lot of people to get burned before something happens and people find out they indeed actually suck. I think we are just hitting that point. Now that the cat's really out the bag on how garbage these companies are I think we will really start to see how viable they actually are and how much people actually stick around. But long story short when there is such a level of deception I can't quite put so much responsibility on the buyers.

On another note from lurking on the Limited Print subreddit I get the impression there are a lot of shills for these companies. Like some people get way to emotional or are really quick to insult people if they criticize these companies. Or they'll badmouth places like Play Asia which seems to run a pretty tight ship.

[Sima Tuna]

Could be shilling. Or it could be the Concord Fallacy in action. If they admit to themselves that the games they spent so much money on are scams, where the games either aren't worth the price or never existed at all (except on the sales page, lmao) then they would lose face. By staunchly defending m'lady Limited Run from those disgusting trolls (*tips respectfully*), they can shore up their own confidence that their copy of Cruisinmix or Paprium w. Arcade stick will definitely arrive! If only they just wait long enough...

The intellivision amico thing is another big fucking scam. I think a lot of the people who shill for these kinds of players don't understand that basically none of these products exist right now. And they may never exist at all. That's completely leaving aside the issue of whether or not the product is shit.

[FRO]

Good article on the state of limited print publishers.

https://seafoamgaming.com/2022/04/14/th ... port-card/

TLDR; they all basically suck.

And, people wonder why I bang the drum for Nippon Ichi...
That said, I believe he's being a little tick-tack with LRG. At this point, everybody knows they're overextended and they take forever. It's like saying the sun is hot.

The difference with places like LRG or SLG is that, despite long wait times to get the product in hand, both companies have proven themselves multiple times to deliver their products. Dispatch has delivered exactly once with Psyvariar Delta, and that was a standard release. It took way longer to get that than most anticipated, given the digital release and standard release type. Heck, I would have waited a bit longer, and been okay with that, if they would have included the CyBattler DLC actually ON the disc, versus just throwing a crappy printed card in each box with the download code. But I was okay with that because they eventually delivered, which is why I stuck my neck out for both The Game Paradise and Radirgy Swamp. I did end up getting eShop codes for both games, so I have them on my Switch, but I'm starting to wonder if they'll ever actually deliver this stuff physically, and it's no wonder that we haven't had any new announcements of releases from them, because I'm sure no one wants to invest any further money at this point. The sad part is, the products they put out in the past were actually good. I have Psyvariar Delta for both Switch and PS4, and they're solid releases in terms of packaging and presentation. Same with Soldam. If we ever see those 2 Switch LE's release, I'll count my lucky stars and know that at least my investment wasn't completely wasted, but I'll never buy from them again.

[Jonpachi]

Was that Cybattler DLC something exclusive to them? I was able to get it on the Switch, but the PS4 version's has either been delisted or was never up for the basic retail release. I bought both versions at US retail.

[BulletMagnet]

versus just throwing a crappy printed card in each box with the download code.

In my own case, not even that.

[Sengoku Strider]

Updated the OP again.

TBH I had written this off after the update promised in the last update was vaporware. But Dispatch is promising it's all still coming, it's just that all the people emailing his support address asking when the game is coming out are delaying the game coming out.


At least Cotton Fantasy & Deathsmiles did show up in the interim.

[pulsemod]

this is just incredible! wow!

[drunkninja24]

Holy shit, not only did they close off replies on that super passive-aggressive tweet, they literally went and deleted all of their prior tweets. If that ain't suspicious as hell...

[Ms. Tea]

Not the first time. I think this is the third time they've deleted all their non-reply tweets? Think they wiped Facebook at some point too.

[Sima Tuna]

I just love it when a company that took a bunch of money to produce a product starts vagueposting like 12 year old teenagers.

[FRO]

Updated the OP again.

TBH I had written this off after the update promised in the last update was vaporware. But Dispatch is promising it's all still coming, it's just that all the people emailing his support address asking when the game is coming out are delaying the game coming out.


At least Cotton Fantasy & Deathsmiles did show up in the interim.

Thank you for documenting this whole process. It's important to keep them honest. For those of us foolish enough to give them money after the delays with Psyvariar Delta, I can only hope that they eventually deliver what they promised, or some reasonable facsimile thereof.

[Johnpv]

It's been 9 months since they showed us a picture of the cartridge. Nine months.........

[Jonpachi]

It's been 9 months since they showed us a picture of the cartridge. Nine months.........

Homemade label is probably starting to peel off about now

[Sengoku Strider]

Updated the OP with nothing.

[Udderdude]

Replying with nothing.

[NeoStrayCat]

Well, it looks like probably Dispatch Games has since been dispatched into the ether.

https://seafoamgaming.com/2022/09/03/di ... our-money/

[Sima Tuna]

Brian Schorr scammed you all.

Says it all, really. Rest in Peace, CruisinMix preorders.

[m.sniffles.esq]

Well, it looks like probably Dispatch Games has since been dispatched into the ether.

No, it's still around. Look at this:

Dispatch Games
@DispatchGames
·
Jun 7
Yes, we are alive.
Yes, Paradise is shipping.
Yes, Radirgy is shipping.
Yes, Rail Sim is shipping.

We will be posting updates on everything shortly once we have cleared the support queue.

You all just need to be patient.

I also have a bridge downtown you may be interested in purchasing

[Rastan78]

So what are the odds people will get refunds?

https://youtu.be/nFTRwD85AQ4

[Untitled1]

So what are the odds people will get refunds?

https://youtu.be/nFTRwD85AQ4

Firmly 0% no way in hell territory

I really dodged a bullet here. I had the game per-ordered but thankfully through PlayAsia and was able to cancel it (awhile ago now).

The only limited print company i will ever order from is LRG and that's solely because they're too big to fail at this point. I don't like the practices of ANY Limited Print company, but as a shmup fan we don't have much choice. There's only one way to get some of these super niche titles physical moving forward.

As for Game Paradise, atleast a japanese PS4 physical copy still exists.

[m.sniffles.esq]

So what are the odds people will get refunds?

That's exactly what small claims court is for.
I know most people will go "Eh, it sucks. But it's only $60-$100, so not worth the hassle" which is exactly what dude is counting on.

Put it this way, I don't know what size press he was planning, but $60-$100 x 500 is $30,000-$50,000 (x 1,000 is $60,000-$100,000)

Is that worth the hassle?

[Sengoku Strider]

Well, it looks like probably Dispatch Games has since been dispatched into the ether.

https://seafoamgaming.com/2022/09/03/di ... our-money/

Thanks for the update, I've added it to the OP.

So what are the odds people will get refunds?

That's exactly what small claims court is for.
I know most people will go "Eh, it sucks. But it's only $60-$100, so not worth the hassle" which is exactly what dude is counting on.

Put it this way, I don't know what size press he was planning, but $60-$100 x 500 is $30,000-$50,000 (x 1,000 is $60,000-$100,000)

Is that worth the hassle?

It's what class action suits are for. I don't know what the particulars involved in the state of Tennessee are, but there have to be at least a couple of hundred plaintiffs here. It makes far more sense for an organized action to take place if Dispatch aren't going to do anything at this point. Their business license being inactivated for non-payment is full reason to believe they have no intention of honouring their agreements with customers either. After years of patience and multiple broken promises I don't think any judge would expect customers to sit tight and continue waiting on a business listed by two different states as 'suspended' and 'revoked,' respectively.

[NeoStrayCat]

No, it's still around.

Yeah, no, they aren't after reading this, and if their business of operations have ceased, a nearly 3 month old tweet doesn't change things, despite them actually showing product a while back. (Now I even wonder what happens to the unsold product that they showed. Though it woudn't be out of the ordinary for unreleased/prototype games [for specific regions even] to be out in the wild.)

[m.sniffles.esq]

It's what class action suits are for. I don't know what the particulars involved in the state of Tennessee are, but there have to be at least a couple of hundred plaintiffs here.

Unfortunately, class action requires a lawyer, meaning one's $60 instantly turns into like $5. Besides, they also require a HUGE amount of plaintiffs to even file (like thousands)
Small claims is DIY, and free (well, your taxes pay for it. But, y'know...)

Also, I believe you have to make the claim in CA. Since that's where he was when he collected the loot

Yeah, no, they aren't after reading this, and if their business of operations have ceased, a nearly 3 month old tweet doesn't change things, despite them actually showing product a while back

Someone didn't read the whole post...