These days, if you are a PC gamer, you only have a few choices when it comes to digital store-fronts and game management: Steam, Uplay and Origin.  These services vary in quality and design, but one thing is constant: all of them require you to log in to their client in order to purchase, activate and- in many cases- play your games. Enter GOG.com and their new Galaxy client. Billed as the client of “freedom of choice”, Galaxy is a new digital alternative from the internet’s largest curator of classic games.

GOG promises that Galaxy will have all the things you expect, such as friends lists, multiplayer and automatic updates to games. Where the platform differs is in it’s gamer friendly approach. CD Projekt Red’s lovable little classic games site is going to make their client completely optional and DRM-free. If you don’t want to use it to access your GOG library, you don’t have to. You don’t have to be online to launch your games either. Its a unique take on the client based approach, and it appears the GOG is hoping to capitalize on some of the criticisms levelled at the other three clients.

Galaxy is slated to launch at “some point in 2014”, and its safe to say that all of us here at Sanitarium.fm will be monitoring it closely. In fact, we’ve taken the liberty of locking each staff member in a small windowless room and beating them with a wet noodle until they offered up a coherent opinion on GOG’s new client. Check them out below, then continue on down to see the official Galaxy client trailer. Thats right, a game service trailer.

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Digmbot (Station Manager, Indie Game Show Co-Host, Rotini Lover)

Personally, I’m really excited about this. GOG has a great library of classic and new games. And to tell me that I don’t have to always be online to launch my games? Thank you Tom Cruise! Seriously though, this puts GOG squarely into competition with Valve and Ubisoft (Origin can suck it, that client sucks worse than the Cubs in the playoffs). They’ve already made a great start on differentiating themselves, and with Steam turning into a giant mess as Valve takes their hands off the wheel as far as Greenlight goes, I look forward to something that just lets me get on with playing my games.

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PredictedCyborg (Blogger, DJ, Indie Game Show Co-Host, Cyborg)

Hmm, it all sounds pretty good doesn’t it? Optional, doesn’t have to be online to work and cross-play functionability? Sounds appealing for sure. GOG could be onto a winner here, but as always I want to watch and see how they handle the new service. There’s no guarantee of success, but it does sound like they know exactly what gamers want from an online-gaming service and how to handle the process of giving it to us. I think they’ll pull it off.

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Lonesamurai (Big Kahuna and DJ)

So, Retro gaming from the dinosaur age that Digmbot and I come from that gets games we grew up with play on modern systems?   I was sold when I found out they had Both Dungeon Keepers and the Baldurs Gate series on there and not only up to date and working on modern systems, but some also with new content aswell?   Sold!

I would totally be installing Galaxy, but strangely NOT on my gaming pc…  Dungeon Keeper and other retro games are for my work laptop, you know the one, that one I take with me to gaming events with the team and also take to all those stoopidly boring business meetings/events I have to goto as the owner of the station (yeah, I slack off in those, they suc arse!)

So yeah, I’m well up for Galaxy, even more so if I have a friends list on there and they help with multiplayer games to connect?   Dream come true on train journeys!  

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Crimsonshade ( Chief Tech Officer, Server Monkey, PHP Developer)

I have a love-hate relationship when it comes to Steam. I don’t let Steam open on Startup because it steals resources from other processes and slows down actually logging in to Windows. When I open it manually to start a game, I often find there’s been a Steam Client update and I have to wait a minute or two for it to complete before I can actually get to playing anything – and that’s even if you click a game shortcut directly, letting Steam know you want to go straight to that game rather than to your Game Library. More annoying is after these updates, Steam sometimes fails to restart itself – so you end up clicking the icon again to remind Steam of your original intention and your time is wasted.

I’ve always wondered, why can’t you have a Steam-like interface that gives you the option of loading up the full client and accessing your full game library when you want it; but when you want to play a single game and already know which, when you click the shortcut for that game, it’ll skip loading the full client and just get straight into the game with the minimal of delays. That’s why I like GoG’s “client completely optional” approach. You’ve got your Game Library if you want it, but when you want to play a game without waiting, just open it up directly and you’re straight in, no need to wait for the client at all. Of course, time will tell if the reality meets the expectations… but I’m excited by the prospect. And hey – I don’t care if all we ever get to play is classics like Dungeon Keeper. I’ve always been a retro-head at heart –  The 80s and 90s were the time when limitations in technology meant developers being creative was the only way to make a game truly great; and as such you had a greater emphasis on making games fun. Kudos to GoG for remembering that games are nothing if not fun.

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GOG Galaxy Trailer: