I posted on this topic a few months ago, and seeing that nothing has changed, I'm here to voice again.

64bit support was an issue when Vista was in public beta. Any company, and I stress ANY company, serious about prolonged software development on existing and emerging computer hardware MUST be familiar with the fundamental "laws" of hardware advancement. That is to say, chips get smaller, speeds get faster and capacity only increases. No, I couldn't think of why on earth I'd want 8 GB of RAM or a single TB of disk space five years ago, but now my graphics card has integrated physics processing and new video games are shipping on multiple DVDs. This wasn't surprising, it was inevitable; and ANYONE with an ounce of technological foresight should have been acutely aware of this.

Now, Gametap's old excuse was that only "professionals" in high industry would ever require 64bit operating systems and that consumers simply don't need that functionality. Nevermind that just about every desktop processor shipped in the past four years has been 64bit compatible. But the magic concept which seems to have completely escaped Gametap was that as programs become more multimedia heavy they will take up more memory and eventually when you have two dozen background programs running, an instant messenger, web browser playing flash animations and lord knows what else going on at once, even the 'average consumer' is going to bubble over what's comfortable and speedy at 3.5GB (the virtual limit of 32bit OS).

I think at this point all but software that is no longer in development runs fine on my 64bit system. Sure, I run into issues running games made pre-1997; but that was pre-XP. That's borderline 16bit, let alone 32. Every device driver for every piece of hardware I own has been coded for 64bit. Every utility that uses system level privileges has been optimized for 64bit. My anti-virus is 64bit. I even have media codecs which are 64bit, just because it seems to run smoother when processing 1080p video. And even though not all of my games are 64bit, Peggle I'm sure is 32bit native and I don't see why GTA Vice City wouldn't be, they all run just fine on my system. Smooth even. Microsoft has been doing its part to make tidy updates to the DirectX APIs, ATI and nVidia have been busy updating their drivers, and top-notch developers have been adding PhysX support to PC games that didn't look or act that good on consoles.

So I am bewildered how Gametap can collect money from people on a monthly basis, yet they haven't implemented one of those important and really BASIC features that has been begged and demanded of them for over two years now. I mean, Windows 7 is entering release candidate. It's probably going to be released by the end of the year. And despite what Gametap's original estimates of 'only professional users' requiring a 64bit OS, I'd be willing to wager a fair amount of money that no computer maker in 2010 is going to be selling a Windows PC with anything less than Windows 7 64bit; unless it's a 'netbook'.

So add my voice to the pile. I spent my coke points for a 6 month subscription to Gametap, only to be forced to install XP in order to work around the utter garbage copy protection scheme. And after about a month of playing the GT exclusives, I uninstalled both Gametap and XP. I'm a big fan of the Sam and Max episodes, and the Grimm series; but I certainly cannot be bothered to pay for an absence of support, or dual boot for one out of date piece of software. There's no ETA for 64bit support, that I've seen. That that means, from a consumer point of view, that no one is working on it. Maybe people are -talking- about working on it, but clearly people haven't gotten their act together well enough to have an idea of when this might be resolved.

I let my subscription lapse because GT doesn't support my computer of choice, the very mainstream and otherwise compatible with darn near everything else, Vista 64bit. And if Gametap doesn't have a 95% compatible Windows 7 64bit solution by the end of '09, I'm not looking back.

Prove to me that Gametap is a progressive company. Prove to me that someone, somewhere, is actually writing code to make your program work on my OS. Give me proof of progress and heck, I'll test your new software for you. Until then, you can keep your service.

> {quote:title=ClockworkZen wrote:}{quote}
> I posted on this topic a few months ago, and seeing that nothing has changed, I'm here to voice again.
> Prove to me that Gametap is a progressive company. Prove to me that someone, somewhere, is actually writing code to make your program work on my OS. Give me proof of progress and heck, I'll test your new software for you. Until then, you can keep your service.

Wow. That long post along with 99 cents will get you one month of Gametap!! ;) toodles

I'm sure you can call and get refunded if you do it right away. They've got really good customer service (or at least they have).

I kind of doubt it's getting fixed any time soon, given how many years it's been...although I guess this past year is the first time where most people buying a system probably have to get it with 64-bit.

I subscribed to Gametap for running games on my Netbook. It runs 32 bit XP at 1024x600 resolution. I can obviously only play a subset of the games in the library on this system and am fine with that... however, every other box I have runs 64 bit Vista... including my main desktop which is capable of running the higher system requirement games... minus Gametap's 64 bit limitation.

I cannot play [b]any[/b] Windows games on the 64 bit Vista whether or not it says "32 bit Windows required" as the virtual disk device (or whatever) that Gametap uses only works on 32 bit. That sucks because a LOT of the games I want to play I need to use my more powerful desktop to actually play them.

So, without the Netbook having a 32 bit OS... [b]I would have skipped Gametap entirely.[/b] Please get on the ball here guys... what's the hold up... and this is a big enough issue that forcing all the discussion into a single massive thread is a really poor way to handle it...

Gametap NEEDS to put more information on the site and stop hiding the fact... and really the issue needs addressing... the amount of time that has passed and the lack of information is disconcerting.

Windows Vista was released [b]over two years ago[/b]. GameTap should have supported it fully (including 64-bit) as soon as it was released - that's why developers are allowed access to betas of new operating systems.

I really don't care that it's a "third party issue". It is [b]not a third party issue to GT's customers[/b]. GameTap is responsible for the product they are selling and need to do whatever it takes to get it working fully.

As it stands, the reason I wanted GameTap was to play older PC games, which won't work at all on my 64-bit Vista computer (which is itself over a year old). GameTap has lost three customers here because of this. It's simply unacceptable, especially when GT has been aware of the issue for literally years.

> {quote:title=PhoeniX96X wrote:}{quote}
> Windows Vista was released [b]over two years ago[/b]. GameTap should have supported it fully (including 64-bit) as soon as it was released - that's why developers are allowed access to betas of new operating systems.

GameTap does fully support Windows Vista (32-bit) just as it fully supports Windows XP (32-bit).

The 64-bit issue is not specific to Vista.

That may be, but 64-bit Windows XP was never as widely available, and was in fact sold only on computers marketed as "Workstations". Windows Vista 64-bit, however, has been marketed as a home OS all along and has been sold on media-centric computers throughout its lifetime.

So, I've seen that which is the threadnaught known as Vista 64-bit Incompatibility.

My question is, is there a way to force game installation, or does the very nature of Gametap not allow it due to some retarded ass Encryption programming?

Damn I'm glad I use steam for the majority of my games. >_<

> {quote:title=Haine wrote:}{quote}
> So, I've seen that which is the threadnaught known as Vista 64-bit Incompatibility.
>
> My question is, is there a way to force game installation, or does the very nature of Gametap not allow it due to some retarded ass Encryption programming?
>
> Damn I'm glad I use steam for the majority of my games. >_<

There would be no point to forcing installation, if you cannot decrypt the games. The incompatibility lies in the encryption driver.

>
> There would be no point to forcing installation, if you cannot decrypt the games. The incompatibility lies in the encryption driver.

This has been brought up before but no one has answered it to my knowledge. Has anyone at gametap tried running it virtualized without the video card check? That was the only thing I ran into because the VMware virtualized video card was reported as unsupported. It's not perfect and some games wouldn't work but has it been tried? I would have by now but I don't know how to bypass that. I spent hours upon hours trying to force gametap to work on my laptop.

Being cautious just saved me some money and unfortunately lost some for GameTap.
When I discovered what games I could play on GameTap I couldn't wait to get home
and sign up! It was difficult to wait and I nearly bought the service without even
loading it up.

Instead, I waited until I got home... loaded the software... and started to click on some of
the games to understand how the process worked... All of my computers are Vista 64
and now gog.com is getting my money.

Please keep this as a priority.

I too cancelled my subscription. I mostly played the Windows games and it sucks not to be able to now. I really hope you get this fixed soon!

Ive been a player since close to release. I mostly use Vista 64 now but do dual boot to XP exclusively to play Gametap games, which means I wouldn't be using XP at all and use the second HD as an extended partition for Vista 64. Not sure how long I will stay with Gametap. If something happens to the older drive I won't be installing XP anymore. Plus there are enough alternatives right now. There may not be as much variety but they are available for Vista 64 and some of them are DRM free.

So i just built a new computer (turned out amazing) and i sat there, staring at two dvds. One contained 64 bit windows 7. The other contained 32 bit xp.
I chose to keep my extra ram in reserve and use a 32 bit OS, Just for gametap. Yes I know i can dual boot, but i have a nice 1t harddrive and i dont feel like getting a secondary. (Issues when dual booting 7 with xp on same hard drive) This has deffinatly been one of my favorite gaming services and know you guys are doing what you can to help us out on the 64 bit front, but You also keep on improving what you have available.

Thank you gametap!


Oh and /signed.
I still do WANT support, haha.

> {quote:title=Dekar wrote:}{quote}
> So i just built a new computer (turned out amazing) and i sat there, staring at two dvds. One contained 64 bit windows 7. The other contained 32 bit xp.
> I chose to keep my extra ram in reserve and use a 32 bit OS, Just for gametap. Yes I know i can dual boot, but i have a nice 1t harddrive and i dont feel like getting a secondary. (Issues when dual booting 7 with xp on same hard drive) This has deffinatly been one of my favorite gaming services and know you guys are doing what you can to help us out on the 64 bit front, but You also keep on improving what you have available.
>
> Thank you gametap!
>
>
> Oh and /signed.
> I still do WANT support, haha.

:) Awesome post.

+Q: Is there a timeline on when GameTap will be fully supporting 64-bit?
A: Not at this time. This post will be updated when there's more information to give you on that.+

So, that's from the original post on Sep 30, 2008. Six months later and there's still nothing to report? I'll admit I didn't read every post in the thread, but this would indicate to me that 64-bit users must not be a priority. I just got the email on the new pricing system and the invitation to sign up under the old system while it lasts. I'd like to, but there's not much point. One of the reasons I got me a fancy new laptop was so that I would be able to play more games. That's been great, but when I couldn't play Psychonauts, I haven't used Gametap more than a handful of times.

Here's hoping this is resolved very soon.

I assume most of you guys have seen the new pricing structure that's coming?

Basically they're seperating out the emulated games and charging slightly less (But charging more for Gold).

You can lock in their current pricing for life (or until you cancel) if you subscribe before the 16th. I hope this doesn't mean it'll never work with 64-bit!

I'm seriously thinking I'll go ahead and sign up again to lock in the cheaper price, though of course I can't actually USE most of the stuff I want. I so want to play those Grimm episodes!

I am 100% certain that GameTap will fully support 64-bit.. eventually. I've had discussions with staff about this recently and the issue is a good bit more complex than most people realize. It's going to take some time.. but hopefully not too long. It [b]is[/b] one of their highest priorities though.

Thanks! That's great to know :)

Well my old computer 32 bit computer worked with gametap new 64 bit doesn't, count me out for another years subscription gametap. Fix your product and I'll be back, although I am quite annoyed at you atm. You should make it clear to potential users that your games don't work on 64-bit computers.

> {quote:title=stuffy87 wrote:}{quote}
> Well my old computer 32 bit computer worked with gametap new 64 bit doesn't, count me out for another years subscription gametap. Fix your product and I'll be back, although I am quite annoyed at you atm. You should make it clear to potential users that your games don't work on 64-bit computers.

It clearly says on the signup page:
"Attention 64-bit users: All of our console, arcade and DOS games are 64-bit compatible.
Currently Windows games are not 64-bit ready."

It always seemed funny to me that Windows has been in its current 64-bit form (AMD's 64bit) for almost six years now, but there are still so many companies unable to produce a 64-bit version of their software.

I used GameTap many moons ago when it was pretty new. Well, I thought I used it when it was new (back in 2005), although my forum account says it was created in only 2007. I didn't get to play it much before moving to 64-bit and losing access to it.

I just got a nice laptop and wanted to play some games on it. The system is 32-bit, so I figured I'd load GameTap again.

Also, was the service called "GameTap" before, but is now "Gametap"?

Although I'm sure this new browser-only interface will work fine (when it's finished), part of the "Wow" of GameTap was loading up their big 3D client and browsing games to play.

Xenomorph wrote: It always seemed funny to me that Windows has been in its current 64-bit form (AMD's 64bit) for almost six years now, but there are still so many companies unable to produce a 64-bit version of their software. I used GameTap many moons ago when it was pretty new. Well, I thought I used it when it was new (back in 2005), although my forum account says it was created in only 2007. I didn't get to play it much before moving to 64-bit and losing access to it. I just got a nice laptop and wanted to play some games on it. The system is 32-bit, so I figured I'd load GameTap again. Also, was the service called "GameTap" before, but is now "Gametap"? Although I'm sure this new browser-only interface will work fine (when it's finished), part of the "Wow" of GameTap was loading up their big 3D client and browsing games to play.

Again, it was that old-school "This is my gaming room" type feeling the original client held.