PLYMOUTH, MI – June 17, 2008 – Today Stardock (www.stardock.com) released The Political Machine 2008, the highly anticipated follow-up to its 2004 smash hit. The Political Machine 2008 is a PC game that puts players in control of the 2008 presidential campaign. Play as the campaign manager for a host of candidates including Barack Obama, John McCain, Hillary Clinton, historical candidates or design one from scratch. The game is available at major U.S. retail outlets as well as directly from www.politicalmachine.com for $19.95. It requires Wndows XP or Windows Vista to play.
Players choose their campaign battlegrounds and are off on the campaign trail to face a host of challenges including fundraising, talk show appearances, hiring spin doctors and winning endorsements. The game is won on Election Day by the player who gets the necessary electoral votes to become President.
Real-world scenarios are mixed in with fantastical scenarios. Players can choose the U.S. 2008 election, U.S. 1860 election or play in fun and humorous fantasy campaigns including one that takes place on an alien world and one that takes place in "Europa". Players can also choose what TV shows to be a guest on and will face tough questions from the hosts of shows like Colvert Report and the O'Malley Factor.
"Political junkies will appreciate many of the political consultants and strategies employed in the game such as the use of smear merchants, spin doctors, intimidators, cheer leaders, movie stars, etc.," continued Wardell. "Strategy gamers will appreciate the balanced game mechanics that allow players to research new campaign tactics that even novice political observers can see from the current election."
The Political Machine is both a single- and multiplayer game - players can either compete against the computer or against others online on www.politicalmachine.com. The website also provides an ideologically neutral location for users to discuss the current election.
# # #
For more information about The Political Machine or to obtain high-res images, please contact Stephanie Tinsley Schopp at [email protected].
About Stardock
Stardock is one of the world’s leading developers and publishers of PC games and desktop software. Its PC games include Sins of a Solar Empire, the highest rated and best selling PC strategy game of 2008 as well as the critically acclaimed Galactic Civilizations series. Its desktop software includes Object Desktop, WindowBlinds, and a host of other programs for customizing the Windows experience.
Not to be outdone by the release of Impulse, Stardock also released The Political Machine 2008, a PC strategy game that lets players run for President!
With the Impulse launch this week along with The Political Machine 2008 release, it's been a busy week. But for our next magical trick, we're also releasing the first significant update to Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor. You can get a preview of some of the changes here.
You will need to use Impulse to get it. Go here to get Impulse.
PLYMOUTH, MI – June 17, 2008 – With the backing of industry powerhouse games and software developers and publishers, Stardock today announced the launch of its next-generation digital distribution platform, Impulse (www.impulsedriven.com). Impulse is a cohesive, integrated virtual platform for consumers and developers that is designed to simplify buying, supporting, and developing PC games and applications for Windows XP and Vista.
"Impulse is a platform first, a store second," said Brad Wardell, president and CEO of Stardock Corp. "Our primary objective with Impulse is to address the issues users have with their Windows experience today. That includes being able to boot up a new PC, install Impulse, and then be able to press a button and have it install all of your software and games with one click."
To this end, Stardock has been working with major PC game publishers and software developers to bring as many titles onto Impulse over the next several months. For developers and publishers, Impulse supports localized currencies, custom pricing models for affiliates, exclusive store items on a per-partner basis, publisher controlled availability, and more. For consumers, Impulse is expected to have the largest selection of digitally-available software on the market within its first year of operation. Currently Impulse features more than 100 games and software applications.
Stardock is currently working with premier game and software companies including Epic Games, THQ, AVG, iolo, Gas Powered Games, Hothead Games, Ironclad Games, Meridian4 and many others.
"Impulse is, by far, the most advanced digital distribution platform we've seen, and we're extremely excited to take advantage of the features of Impulse Reactor," said Chris Taylor, CEO of Gas Powered Games. "It's easy to use, has awesome capabilities for developers, and it doesn't tie consumers to a single digital distribution platform."
Continued Wardell, "Impulse is designed to help consumers get the full use of their PC. For example, a user who has purchased multiple programs over the years is left hunting for CDs and registration numbers when setting up a new machine, and their data may be scattered across multiple USB drives and other computers. If the user has games, it can be needlessly complex to find and set up multiplayer games and keep up to date on drivers."
Impulse addresses these issues; once a user purchases a program, it is automatically associated with their Impulse account. Users can update or re-download a given program when they set up a new machine or as needed. In addition, Impulse allows users to associate programs with their Impulse accounts even if those programs weren't purchased through Impulse. For example, a user who purchases a game from their local retailer or a different digital distribution service would be able to associate their purchase with Impulse if the program's publisher takes advantage of the free option. Additionally, Impulse supports refunds for users who have technical issues with a game or application.
"Digital distribution empowers independent developers like Hothead and is exactly what the game industry needs today," said Vlad Ceraldi, president of Hothead Games. "Impulse will offer more choices to gamers and developers alike--we are truly excited about the games we will bring to Impulse, starting with our first game series, On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness."
Impulse will also provide a virtual platform called Impulse Reactor, a set of server-side features for developers that will work even if the user doesn't have the Impulse client installed. Impulse Reactor will include support for virtual drives for saved game data, multiplayer matchmaking, game rankings, NAT negotiation for multiplayer games, friends lists, and support forums.
Also unique to Impulse is its distribution model. Companies and individuals will be able to distribute their own branded version of Impulse starting in mid-August, and every time a user creates an account with an affiliated distributor, that distributor will receive a percentage of the gross revenue of any future purchases.
Amongst the first distributors of Impulse will be AMD, which will be distributing Impulse as part of their Ruby ROM content disk that accompanies their graphics cards as well as from the AMD Game! website.
Darren McPhee, senior marketing manager for gaming at AMD said, "We are excited about the potential of Impulse to help enhance the user experience of our customers. With the continuing advances in PC technology, we see Impulse as a terrific way to help bring these advances to our user base."
Impulse can be used by developers, publishers, and even retailers. "Digital distribution shouldn’t be seen as a threat to our retail partners, rather as an opportunity," said Wardell.
By passing Microsoft's stringent testing procedures, Impulse has been Certified for Windows Vista. Applications that receive this recognition have been independently tested to assure the highest levels of compatibility, functionality and reliability and must meet both Microsoft's own security guidelines and the privacy standards set for by the Anti-Spyware coalition.
"Microsoft is pleased that Stardock has earned the Certified for Windows Vista software logo for their Impulse application," said Jeff Price, senior director in Windows Client Product Management at Microsoft Corp. "This highlights Stardock's commitment to providing its customers with higher quality applications that deliver a more secure, reliable and compatible experience with Windows Vista."
"We are excited to be working with Stardock on the launch of Impulse. We believe that through Impulse, the iolo brand, and System Mechanic in particular, will be introduced into a promising new market. Through Impulse, consumers will be able to benefit from having access to a variety of software applications, games and drivers through a single platform," said Tim Weinzirl, business development manager, iolo technology.
Stardock will be releasing Impulse in three phases. Today marks the initial launch of the Impulse client, with the immediate availability of titles from multiple PC game publishers and software developers. Phase two, scheduled for mid-August, will include Impulse Reactor and the beta of MyImpulse, a utility that will allow developers to automatically submit their games or software to Impulse under a streamlined, uniform royalty agreement for moderation. Phase three will be launched in early 2009 and will greatly automate the ability for developers to publish their games and software on Impulse as well as include virtual drive management tools.
To learn more about Impulse visit www.impulsedriven.com. Impulse is also included on the retail version of Stardock’s new PC strategy game, The Political Machine 2008.
About Stardock
Stardock is one of the world's leading developers and publishers of PC games and desktop software. Its PC games include Sins of a Solar Empire, the highest rated and best selling PC strategy game of 2008 as well as the critically acclaimed Galactic Civilizations series. Its desktop software includes Object Desktop, WindowBlinds, and a host of other programs for customizing the Windows experience.
PLYMOUTH, MI – June 17, 2008 – With the backing of industry powerhouse games and software developers and publishers, Stardock today announced the launch of its next-generation digital distribution platform, Impulse (www.impulsedriven.com). Impulse is a cohesive, integrated virtual platform for consumers and developers that is designed to simplify buying, supporting, and developing PC games and applications for Windows XP and Vista.
"Impulse is a platform first, a store second," said Brad Wardell, president and CEO of Stardock Corp. "Our primary objective with Impulse is to address the issues users have with their Windows experience today. That includes being able to boot up a new PC, install Impulse, and then be able to press a button and have it install all of your software and games with one click."
To this end, Stardock has been working with major PC game publishers and software developers to bring as many titles onto Impulse over the next several months. For developers and publishers, Impulse supports localized currencies, custom pricing models for affiliates, exclusive store items on a per-partner basis, publisher controlled availability, and more. For consumers, Impulse is expected to have the largest selection of digitally-available software on the market within its first year of operation. Currently Impulse features more than 100 games and software applications.
Stardock is currently working with premier game and software companies including Epic Games, THQ, AVG, iolo, Gas Powered Games, Hothead Games, Ironclad Games, Meridian4 and many others.
"Impulse is, by far, the most advanced digital distribution platform we've seen, and we're extremely excited to take advantage of the features of Impulse Reactor," said Chris Taylor, CEO of Gas Powered Games. "It's easy to use, has awesome capabilities for developers, and it doesn't tie consumers to a single digital distribution platform."
Continued Wardell, "Impulse is designed to help consumers get the full use of their PC. For example, a user who has purchased multiple programs over the years is left hunting for CDs and registration numbers when setting up a new machine, and their data may be scattered across multiple USB drives and other computers. If the user has games, it can be needlessly complex to find and set up multiplayer games and keep up to date on drivers."
Impulse addresses these issues; once a user purchases a program, it is automatically associated with their Impulse account. Users can update or re-download a given program when they set up a new machine or as needed. In addition, Impulse allows users to associate programs with their Impulse accounts even if those programs weren't purchased through Impulse. For example, a user who purchases a game from their local retailer or a different digital distribution service would be able to associate their purchase with Impulse if the program's publisher takes advantage of the free option. Additionally, Impulse supports refunds for users who have technical issues with a game or application.
"Digital distribution empowers independent developers like Hothead and is exactly what the game industry needs today," said Vlad Ceraldi, president of Hothead Games. "Impulse will offer more choices to gamers and developers alike--we are truly excited about the games we will bring to Impulse, starting with our first game series, On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness."
Impulse will also provide a virtual platform called Impulse Reactor, a set of server-side features for developers that will work even if the user doesn't have the Impulse client installed. Impulse Reactor will include support for virtual drives for saved game data, multiplayer matchmaking, game rankings, NAT negotiation for multiplayer games, friends lists, and support forums.
Also unique to Impulse is its distribution model. Companies and individuals will be able to distribute their own branded version of Impulse starting in mid-August, and every time a user creates an account with an affiliated distributor, that distributor will receive a percentage of the gross revenue of any future purchases.
Amongst the first distributors of Impulse will be AMD, which will be distributing Impulse as part of their Ruby ROM content disk that accompanies their graphics cards as well as from the AMD Game! website.
Darren McPhee, senior marketing manager for gaming at AMD said, "We are excited about the potential of Impulse to help enhance the user experience of our customers. With the continuing advances in PC technology, we see Impulse as a terrific way to help bring these advances to our user base."
Impulse can be used by developers, publishers, and even retailers. "Digital distribution shouldn’t be seen as a threat to our retail partners, rather as an opportunity," said Wardell.
By passing Microsoft's stringent testing procedures, Impulse has been Certified for Windows Vista. Applications that receive this recognition have been independently tested to assure the highest levels of compatibility, functionality and reliability and must meet both Microsoft's own security guidelines and the privacy standards set for by the Anti-Spyware coalition.
"Microsoft is pleased that Stardock has earned the Certified for Windows Vista software logo for their Impulse application," said Jeff Price, senior director in Windows Client Product Management at Microsoft Corp. "This highlights Stardock's commitment to providing its customers with higher quality applications that deliver a more secure, reliable and compatible experience with Windows Vista."
"We are excited to be working with Stardock on the launch of Impulse. We believe that through Impulse, the iolo brand, and System Mechanic in particular, will be introduced into a promising new market. Through Impulse, consumers will be able to benefit from having access to a variety of software applications, games and drivers through a single platform," said Tim Weinzirl, business development manager, iolo technology.
Stardock will be releasing Impulse in three phases. Today marks the initial launch of the Impulse client, with the immediate availability of titles from multiple PC game publishers and software developers. Phase two, scheduled for mid-August, will include Impulse Reactor and the beta of MyImpulse, a utility that will allow developers to automatically submit their games or software to Impulse under a streamlined, uniform royalty agreement for moderation. Phase three will be launched in early 2009 and will greatly automate the ability for developers to publish their games and software on Impulse as well as include virtual drive management tools.
To learn more about Impulse visit www.impulsedriven.com. Impulse is also included on the retail version of Stardock’s new PC strategy game, The Political Machine 2008.
About Stardock
Stardock is one of the world's leading developers and publishers of PC games and desktop software. Its PC games include Sins of a Solar Empire, the highest rated and best selling PC strategy game of 2008 as well as the critically acclaimed Galactic Civilizations series. Its desktop software includes Object Desktop, WindowBlinds, and a host of other programs for customizing the Windows experience.
Impulse is the greatest thing since sliced bread...yada yada yada.
But how good is it really? Ultimately, only you will be able to decide. What I'm going to do here is give my personal opinion on how Impulse stands on the eve of its launch.
Let's just get this out of the way, Impulse is not Steam or Direct2Drive or Xfire or whatever. It's has a very different design philosophy. So let me just say this: You would have to pry Steam out of my cold dead hands. You should judge Impulse as how well it addresses your problems.
So I double click on the Impulse icon. How fast does it load? On my ThinkPad T60 it's about 5 seconds but YMMV. In its phase 2 edition (August) I think we need to make it more multithreaded so that when you launch it, it comes up like a window. I.e. instantly. But it is pretty snappy (a lot faster for me than the betas were).
My next question would be, how much RAM is this thing using?
On load up, about 15 megabytes which is pretty good given that Internet Explorer uses 84 megabytes!
From a digital e-commerce point of view, the million dollar question is, how good is the selection in the Impulse store? With Steam or Direct2Drive, I can get a gazillion different games. So what about Impulse? The answer depends on what you're looking for.
The first week of the Impulse launch will be spent handling the logistics of getting hundreds of gigabytes of games, utilities, and applications up on the servers. So what is available at say 1pm on the day of the launch will be different from what is available at 5pm of the same day with each day adding more and more stuff.
But by Christmas, I suspect it won't be selection that makes one choose one digital store over another but rather the features and services that these things provide. Impulse, for instance, supports refunds for users having technical issues. That's a pretty big deal IMO. As far as I know, that will be unique to Impulse.
So that we're all on the same page, Impulse isn't just a download manager ala Stardock Central. It is a full blown digital distribution platform. The platform comes in the form of Impulse Reactor which is a server-side virtual API set for developers.
A developer could, for instance, using the free Impulse Reactor SDK (which will be launched in mid August) type into their game: CVP.SaveGame() and save their game to the player's virtual drive. Or CVP.LoadPreferences() to get a game's preferences.
The first game to make use of the Common Virtual Platform will be The Political Machine. Unfortunately, The Political Machine v1.1 wasn't ready by the Impulse launch so we had to hide the "Games" button from the community area for multiplayer match making. As soon as it's ready, the button will come back and players will be able to find games either there or within The Political Machine itself. Other games that will be using it include Sins of a Solar Empire, Galactic Civilizations II v2.0, and Demigod. We are also working with a number of third party developers to begin using this.
I am very biased in favor of non-website whenever possible. I just find website stuff slow.
The blogging and forum behavior on Impulse is pretty fast but I'd like to see it much faster. As in, instantaneous.
I think in the coming weeks you'll see a lot of improvements to performance across the whole thing as the initial launch was largely about just getting stuff in there.
The friends stuff is a pretty big deal for me as both a user and as a gamer. It's only in its beginning stages really. Eventually, you'll be able to easily get games going and filter by friends or friends of friends to help improve the multiplayer experience.
When I play on-line, my biggest gripe is the griefing and such I run into. I'm 36 years old, I just don't have time to waste in a multiplayer game with some 15 year old whose out to "max their ranking".
Features that didn't make to the launch that make me sad
There are 3 big features that had to be put into phase 2 (August) that make me sad. The Impulse side was done but we just didn't have enough time on the game side to make use of them yet.
Those are:
They'll get in there, we just have to update The Political Machine and other games to make use of them so that we can show off what's possible to game developers.
The same is true for NAT negotiation and such. One of the biggest pains in the butt on the PC is getting ports and firewalls set up right for a game. In Impulse phase 3, the Impulse back end will be set up to act as a kind of back-up for games that use our platform. So a user could connect to another user without knowing anything about routers and what not. We're hoping Demigod will be the first game to make use of this.
So right now, there's a tab called "Updates" that shows up if there are updates to ones programs. I'd like to see an option put in asap that simply has Impulse download these updates automatically.
My other request is that when downloading updates, I want to see my actual bandwidth speed. I realize this is cosmetic but somewhere, techies should be able to get some idea of how fast their connections are.
Impulse lets users add new categories to their applications and move things around via the dock (we'll talk about that more soon).
If there's an update, an exclamation point shows up next to it.
What's not in the launch version are forums for every application or a chat channel. Eventually everything will get its own forum and chat channel.
Users can associate various programs with their account. Right now, the only commercial programs that you can associate with your account are Stardock ones and programs you bought from Impulse. But the next step is to let you be able to associate any program with your account regardless of where you purchased it.
This way, when are setting up a new machine, you can just let Impulse download and install all your stuff (freeware, shareware, games, whatever).
Clicking on the orb in the top left opens up additional options. You can set up where things install on a per category basis:
Impulse is designed to customizeable. The initial launch doesn't have the skinning selection features in. That's coming "real soon now(TM)". But you can add and edit your own categories:
Extending Impulse
When you press the minimize to dock, Impulse launches the dock:
Impulse Dock
The dock displays the same content as the Impulse client. By default, it is set to auto-hide so it will hide to the taskbar edge with the user able to bring it up by moving their mouse to the bottom edge of the screen.
The dock is pretty powerful and yet light weight.
We plan to release later on an Impulse Tray applet that users can optionally use to stay in touch with friends, posts, updates, etc. It will not be part of Impulse itself as it will be designed to be as tiny as possible.
I think most people will find Impulse pretty compelling. Initially, its game content is not on par with Steam or Direct2Drive but that should change over time. Obviously on the non-game software side, it enjoys a tremendous advantage.
Impulse itself is pretty snappy but I found the forums and blog services be a bit on the slow side. This will be something Stardock will need to improve.
Download speeds of new programs, by contrast are fast. Faster than anything I've ever used anywhere.
The customization features, while decent, could be a lot better. I.e. I'd like to be able to select from a list of skins. Stardock's the leader in this area so it's something that it will be adding and supporting through its skinning site, WinCustomize.com.
It will be important that Impulse show off the features of Impulse Reactor as quickly as possible. Getting the Multiplayer matchmaking in should be up by the end of the month. Achievements, rankings, etc. are all going to be crucial as well.
I'd like to be able to filter out programs that are available but not installed. I'm an extreme case since I have a ton of things linked to my account but still.
I think people will be pleasantly surprised at how fast and memory efficient the overall program is. Given how pretty it is, on might expect it to be slow and a memory hog but even in its first release, it's really snappy.
Impulse is the greatest thing since sliced bread...yada yada yada.
But how good is it really? Ultimately, only you will be able to decide. What I'm going to do here is give my personal opinion on how Impulse stands on the eve of its launch.
Let's just get this out of the way, Impulse is not Steam or Direct2Drive or Xfire or whatever. It's has a very different design philosophy. So let me just say this: You would have to pry Steam out of my cold dead hands. You should judge Impulse as how well it addresses your problems.
So I double click on the Impulse icon. How fast does it load? On my ThinkPad T60 it's about 5 seconds but YMMV. In its phase 2 edition (August) I think we need to make it more multithreaded so that when you launch it, it comes up like a window. I.e. instantly. But it is pretty snappy (a lot faster for me than the betas were).
My next question would be, how much RAM is this thing using?
On load up, about 15 megabytes which is pretty good given that Internet Explorer uses 84 megabytes!
From a digital e-commerce point of view, the million dollar question is, how good is the selection in the Impulse store? With Steam or Direct2Drive, I can get a gazillion different games. So what about Impulse? The answer depends on what you're looking for.
Impulse will have a bunch of big name AAA software applications from third parties on it on the first day. On the games side it won't be quite as competitive on day 1 but within a year it should have equal third-party support as anything else. The first 30 or so days will see a lot of new games added and then the publishers taking a "wait and see" position will likely start putting their titles on there.
But by Christmas, I suspect it won't be selection that makes one choose one digital store over another but rather the features and services that these things provide. Impulse, for instance, supports refunds for users having technical issues. That's a pretty big deal IMO. As far as I know, that will be unique to Impulse.
So that we're all on the same page, Impulse isn't just a download manager ala Stardock Central. It is a full blown digital distribution platform. The platform comes in the form of Impulse Reactor which is a server-side virtual API set for developers.
A developer could, for instance, using the free Impulse Reactor SDK (which will be launched in mid August) type into their game: CVP.SaveGame() and save their game to the player's virtual drive. Or CVP.LoadPreferences() to get a game's preferences.
The first game to make use of the Common Virtual Platform will be The Political Machine. Unfortunately, The Political Machine v1.1 wasn't ready by the Impulse launch so we had to hide the "Games" button from the community area for multiplayer match making. As soon as it's ready, the button will come back and players will be able to find games either there or within The Political Machine itself. Other games that will be using it include Sins of a Solar Empire, Galactic Civilizations II v2.0, and Demigod. We are also working with a number of third party developers to begin using this.
I am very biased in favor of non-website whenever possible. I just find website stuff slow.
The blogging and forum behavior on Impulse is pretty fast but I'd like to see it much faster. As in, instantaneous.
I think in the coming weeks you'll see a lot of improvements to performance across the whole thing as the initial launch was largely about just getting stuff in there.
The friends stuff is a pretty big deal for me as both a user and as a gamer. It's only in its beginning stages really. Eventually, you'll be able to easily get games going and filter by friends or friends of friends to help improve the multiplayer experience.
When I play on-line, my biggest gripe is the griefing and such I run into. I'm 36 years old, I just don't have time to waste in a multiplayer game with some 15 year old whose out to "max their ranking".
Features that didn't make to the launch that make me sad
There are 3 big features that had to be put into phase 2 (August) that make me sad. The Impulse side was done but we just didn't have enough time on the game side to make use of them yet.
Those are:
They'll get in there, we just have to update The Political Machine and other games to make use of them so that we can show off what's possible to game developers.
The same is true for NAT negotiation and such. One of the biggest pains in the butt on the PC is getting ports and firewalls set up right for a game. In Impulse phase 3, the Impulse back end will be set up to act as a kind of back-up for games that use our platform. So a user could connect to another user without knowing anything about routers and what not. We're hoping Demigod will be the first game to make use of this.
So right now, there's a tab called "Updates" that shows up if there are updates to ones programs. I'd like to see an option put in asap that simply has Impulse download these updates automatically.
My other request is that when downloading updates, I want to see my actual bandwidth speed. I realize this is cosmetic but somewhere, techies should be able to get some idea of how fast their connections are.
Impulse lets users add new categories to their applications and move things around via the dock (we'll talk about that more soon).
If there's an update, an exclamation point shows up next to it.
What's not in the launch version are forums for every application or a chat channel. Eventually everything will get its own forum and chat channel.
Users can associate various programs with their account. Right now, the only commercial programs that you can associate with your account are Stardock ones and programs you bought from Impulse. But the next step is to let you be able to associate any program with your account regardless of where you purchased it.
This way, when are setting up a new machine, you can just let Impulse download and install all your stuff (freeware, shareware, games, whatever).
Clicking on the orb in the top left opens up additional options. You can set up where things install on a per category basis:
Impulse is designed to customizeable. The initial launch doesn't have the skinning selection features in. That's coming "real soon now(TM)". But you can add and edit your own categories:
Extending Impulse
When you press the minimize to dock, Impulse launches the dock:
Impulse Dock
The dock displays the same content as the Impulse client. By default, it is set to auto-hide so it will hide to the taskbar edge with the user able to bring it up by moving their mouse to the bottom edge of the screen.
The dock is pretty powerful and yet light weight.
We plan to release later on an Impulse Tray applet that users can optionally use to stay in touch with friends, posts, updates, etc. It will not be part of Impulse itself as it will be designed to be as tiny as possible.
I think most people will find Impulse pretty compelling. Initially, its game content is not on par with Steam or Direct2Drive but that should change over time. Obviously on the non-game software side, it enjoys a tremendous advantage.
Impulse itself is pretty snappy but I found the forums and blog services be a bit on the slow side. This will be something Stardock will need to improve.
Download speeds of new programs, by contrast are fast. Faster than anything I've ever used anywhere.
The customization features, while decent, could be a lot better. I.e. I'd like to be able to select from a list of skins. Stardock's the leader in this area so it's something that it will be adding and supporting through its skinning site, WinCustomize.com.
It will be important that Impulse show off the features of Impulse Reactor as quickly as possible. Getting the Multiplayer matchmaking in should be up by the end of the month. Achievements, rankings, etc. are all going to be crucial as well.
I'd like to be able to filter out programs that are available but not installed. I'm an extreme case since I have a ton of things linked to my account but still.
I think people will be pleasantly surprised at how fast and memory efficient the overall program is. Given how pretty it is, on might expect it to be slow and a memory hog but even in its first release, it's really snappy.
For two years now, Stardock has been developing a next generation digital distribution platform. Called Impulse, it is far more than a program that lets users purchase software and update. It is designed to open the door for developers and publishers to add new features to their programs and easily distribute them as well as providing an integrated community experience and let a player's various games all work together.
Check out the Impulse preview to get a better idea of what Impulse will be doing.
Later this week, Impulse will be released to the general public. Stay tuned!
View: Impulse Preview
For the past 2 years, Stardock has been working on a brand new digital distribution platform. The idea was to create something that was compelling on its own, allowed users to purchase, download, and update any type of software, and provide developers and users a way to add new functionality to their programs.
This week, the fruits of this effort will be released: Impulse.
View: Preview
Screenshots: Latest internal screenshots
