Memento Mori

In this time of celebration we should take a moment to remember Electronic Arts' tragic first attempt to make Origin's catalog available online. In early 2006, GameTap announced that it had worked out an agreement with Electronic Arts to offer classic Origin games. They produced beautiful mailers announcing that classics such as Privateer and (oddly) Ultima I-XIII would soon be available through the service. And some were, briefly. For roughly nine months, GameTap made a number of Origin games available, including the first six Ultimas and Wing Commander I, II and IV. The games played beautifully in GameTap's special browser and we eagerly awaited each new release. Life was wonderful.

Until it wasn't. GameTap decided that new games would be a better use of their money and restructured their company. In the process they opted not to continue paying EA for the Origin rights. Coincidence or not, GameTap has been a disasterous, money-bleeding failure since that decision. GOG will be different--once you have a game through the service, it's yours forever... but we would all be wise to remember the lesson of GameTap, that good things can go bad fast, and buy those classic games as soon as they're available. View our GameTap memorial online here.