Valve's STEAM: Future Of ALL Gaming? (Mwahaha?)

*HAI PAT*

*now seriousness*

Yes steam is the future of PC gaming, let alone PC gaming in general.

Its pretty clear that for PC games there has been a gradual shift to DD, in some regions more than others, hower what will really be interesting is when consoles begin to jump on the DD trend bandwagon.

Piracy is an issue on PC, DD does seem to act as an effective counter - however on consoles piracy might not be as rife, but pre owned games sales are proving to be quite an issue. Having consoles that fully supports DD, completely cuts out the middle man - the retailer, and too a degree the publisher (devs can go solo without worrying about retail distribution).

Problem is this is a growing threat to the retail markets, who thrive off console pre owned games sales, and to plenty of smaller publishers.

Oh so yeah its the future for all platforms.

The future is now on the PC. *woah*

ALSO

The DD trend is going to follow the 'CLOUD' trend, that is emerging - and will grow in the next 12 months to 24.

This is having your data stored online, rather on your local hard drive - and many companies, like Microsoft, and Google and really pushing into these regions - Valve seems to be in the gaming spectrum (with Steam cloud - having your saves and profiles saved online, and being able to acess your steam games from any computer by logging into your account).

in terms of combating piracy? YES

in terms of the being the only medium to purchase a game? NO

over 13k funking posts wtf alex?! WHY? HOW? but ok nice post didn't think anyone was smart enough to pick up on the console bandwagon theory.

Considering Valve have now begun putting up mods for free download on Steam, and more and more non-Valve games are starting out avalible on Steam (Fallout 3 for example) instead of coming to it later, I'd say Steam will probably be the main method for getting PC games in the near future, probably eventually knocking out physical discs comptetely.ithilgore2006

I agree with this.

even saints row 2 is on steam..its pretty clear whats going to happen in the future

Call me crazy but I don't like the idea of a single company having control over what games I can choose to buy. iTunes has a similar monopoly and it has horrible DRM because of that.chutup

good point, but games are not music, STEAM lets you retrive any game on any computer as long as you are logged in, its not like you will want to make Disks or copy and paste your games. its a good control and gives you better consumer protection than a hard copy because you always have rights to the game in cyber-space.

I hope some other companies give valve a run for their money, can't beat that competative pricing.

[QUOTE="chutup"]Call me crazy but I don't like the idea of a single company having control over what games I can choose to buy. iTunes has a similar monopoly and it has horrible DRM because of that.thegoldenpoo

good point, but games are not music, STEAM lets you retrive any game on any computer as long as you are logged in, its not like you will want to make Disks or copy and paste your games. its a good control and gives you better consumer protection than a hard copy because you always have rights to the game in cyber-space.

I hope some other companies give valve a run for their money, can't beat that competative pricing.

over 13k funking posts wtf alex?! WHY? HOW? but ok nice post didn't think anyone was smart enough to pick up on the console bandwagon theory.

Zythyl

Iam more worried micro soft or EA would love to buy steam out to be honest.blackdreamhunk

qft

Alright before I start lemme link some stuff:

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=160866
http://www.gamershell.com/articles/953.html
http://www.gamesradar.com/f/is-steam-power-the-future/a-20060419144823328059

Over 9000 hours in Google blah blah blah; basically I agree with them. I'm about to buy Fallout 3 through Steam and don't see why everyone can't/won't do it. It's shipping-cost-free and tax-free. Finance aside, if you lose your game discs then your funked with your little plastic box and instruction manual. Through Steam it'll cost you 5-8GB to get it back.

Read the articles and if you haven't don't bother flaming me otherwise I'll say "You silly goat why didn't you read the bloody articles." I really do however believe that Steam is a pioneer in the so called "online game library" service. I'm very appreciative of what they're doing to stop piracy and BY JONES THEY'RE RIGHT, SON! - piracy is guarenteed 100% avoidable if a developer decides to put his game on Steam. Marvelous don't you think?

All I'm saying is: "PC rulz y u pley consol? lol."
Zythyl

If I look at it realistically, it makes much more sense to download a game from steam. Personally though, I would always prefer to buy it first. There's just something about holding the actual game box that can't be beat.

I like digital distribution in general, and I think Steam is the best implementation of it, but they still need to address the issue of "what happens if the company goes under"? Valve says they'll release the unlock keys, but:

• Will they do that as they're going under, or will they be busy trying to find new jobs?
• Will whoever buys the assets of the company allow it?
• Will 3rd party publishers (EA, Bethesda, THQ) allow their games to be unlocked as well?

The only way to be certain is for an unlocked copy of every game sold on Steam to be held in escrow. That'd make me a bit more confident that I could go back and play my games 5-10 years from now, if I feel like it.

Physical meda doesn't completely solve this, either... for example, I have no idea where I'm going to buy my next HD DVD drive when my current one dies.

I think having disk and steam is the way to go. I have gtr from steam but i am not really signed up. However steams needs to look at pc gamers that don't have creadit cards.blackdreamhunk

I dont think it will catch on with the mainstream PC gamers, such as myself.

Disk space being a major issue (Im un-installing FF13, Desu ex, Crysis, andTiberium wars)

I dont think it will catch on with the mainstream PC gamers, such as myself.

Disk space being a major issue (Im un-installing FF13, Desu ex, Crysis, andTiberium wars)

ukillwegrill

Disk space is not a major issue, when a 1TB harddrive is under $200.

Steam is doing a great thing, but I just hate downloading games, its time consuming and not having the security of it existing in physical form. IshmaelSonata

Steam is doing a great thing, but I just hate downloading games, its time consuming and not having the security of it existing in physical form. IshmaelSonata

Game discs scratch. You can re-download steam games ;)

Iam more worried micro soft or EA would love to buy steam out to be honest.blackdreamhunk

Alright before I start lemme link some stuff:

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=160866
http://www.gamershell.com/articles/953.html
http://www.gamesradar.com/f/is-steam-power-the-future/a-20060419144823328059

Over 9000 hours in Google blah blah blah; basically I agree with them. I'm about to buy Fallout 3 through Steam and don't see why everyone can't/won't do it. It's shipping-cost-free and tax-free. Finance aside, if you lose your game discs then your funked with your little plastic box and instruction manual. Through Steam it'll cost you 5-8GB to get it back.

Read the articles and if you haven't don't bother flaming me otherwise I'll say "You silly goat why didn't you read the bloody articles." I really do however believe that Steam is a pioneer in the so called "online game library" service. I'm very appreciative of what they're doing to stop piracy and BY JONES THEY'RE RIGHT, SON! - piracy is guarenteed 100% avoidable if a developer decides to put his game on Steam. Marvelous don't you think?

All I'm saying is: "PC rulz y u pley consol? lol."
Zythyl

Here is why I didn't buy Fallout 3 (or far cry 2 either) from Steam: I am from Canada. This means that if fallout 3 is $49.99 US on Steam I pay $49.99 X whatever my dollar is worth in US dollars. In the case of when Fallout 3 and Far Cry 2 came out that meant my dollar was worth $0.78 US. This meant that a $50 game that cost me $50 in one of my canadian stores would be costing me $63 just to support Steam. That and the fact I wanted the collectors edition.

[QUOTE="IshmaelSonata"]Steam is doing a great thing, but I just hate downloading games, its time consuming and not having the security of it existing in physical form. clembo1990

Game discs scratch. You can re-download steam games ;)

[QUOTE="clembo1990"]

[QUOTE="IshmaelSonata"]Steam is doing a great thing, but I just hate downloading games, its time consuming and not having the security of it existing in physical form. HuusAsking

Game discs scratch. You can re-download steam games ;)

But you can download Steam Games on any computer. And accounts are stolen only if you are an idiot.

[QUOTE="clembo1990"]

[QUOTE="IshmaelSonata"]Steam is doing a great thing, but I just hate downloading games, its time consuming and not having the security of it existing in physical form. HuusAsking

Game discs scratch. You can re-download steam games ;)

hard drives crash ? re-install the game

accounts can be stolen ? only if ur an idiot

Steam does own. I also use D2D when games aren't available through Steam.

Why in the world do I need a hard copy that I can lose? When I could get my games available whenever and whereever. Heck, I could fly to Norway next week, and leave my computer at home... and load up Red Alert 3 on the hotel computer.

I think Stardock has better idea for DD than Valve to be honest, every boxed copy of their game you buy entitles you to full download through Impulse. I like DD, especialy for indie games, but when there's boxed copy avaible and it costs the same as dd one, I will always pick the boxed copyAdrianWerner

...

lowe0

To answer all these questions at once:

First off, if a company buy's Valve's assets. They are buying their contracts as well, and they must adhere to those contracts. Legally, if I have a company, and I have a contract with you... no one can buy me out, and then negate the contract. So yes, the new company must adhere to it. They can change the contract for games that come after the fact, however, they can't change it on existing transactions.

3rd party companies have a different setup. All third party games aren't like normal valve games on steam, where the key isn't required. With third party games, you still download an installer via steam, and you STILL have a cd key. So even if you buy COD4 or Enemy Territory or w/e... you don't actually need steam...

That's a lot of paranoia though over DD imo. There is nothing to worry about as far as I am concerned.

I'll only ever download games when it's the only option available.ONLYDOD

Same for me, physical copy is always superior in my opinion, but games like Siren I downloaded since it's not available on disk.

Unless the game is cheaper in downloadable format, like when I bought Burnout Paradise off of PSN, then I don't mind downloading as much.

Let's see: UT3, Doom 3, Quake 4, Crysis, Crysis Warhead, HL2, CSS, DOD:S, Company of Heroes, Civilization, Fallout 3, The Witcher...

What else is there that is mega-popular and not already melting faces on Steam?

I've said enough. Look at the game's list!

Let's see: UT3, Doom 3, Quake 4, Crysis, Crysis Warhead, HL2, CSS, DOD:S, Company of Heroes, Civilization, Fallout 3, The Witcher...

What else is there that is mega-popular and not already melting faces on Steam?

I've said enough. Look at the game's list!

BobHipJames

it doesn't have all games there are tone games not on steam.blackdreamhunk

Steam is doing a great thing, but I just hate downloading games, its time consuming and not having the security of it existing in physical form. IshmaelSonata

You can back up the data and burn a copy to cd, with every game that you own with Steam.

I really dislike Steam to be honest. Never been realle fond of it. And the community is a bit on the stale side for me. As for battling piracy, sure. But I think Battle.net does that better. And a service I prefer in every single way in terms of gaming.

Honestly I think people praise Steam as being something more than it really is.

[QUOTE="clembo1990"]

[QUOTE="IshmaelSonata"]Steam is doing a great thing, but I just hate downloading games, its time consuming and not having the security of it existing in physical form. HuusAsking

Game discs scratch. You can re-download steam games ;)

I've always enjoyed Steam and do buy alot of my games through Steam. I don't disagree either that it's the future of PC gaming in general. I'm expecting Games for Windows Live to start doing the same thing Steam is at some point.

Personally, i just like to be in possession of the CD Key myself though (as in have a copy of it in my possession on a piece of paper), which is why i still rely on the retail version to get my PC games. I've bought roughly 5 games through Steam though. Idk, call me paranoid, but i like to have the CD key in my possession. :P

I will keep buying certain games through Steam however. Just bought Deus Ex on Steam to go back and play it after so many years. My retail copy is in storage (which i have tons and tons of PC games in storage...yet i have hundreds still in my house) so i just picked it up on Steam for cheap. :)

I really love Steam for its convienence and I wouldn't care if DD is the only source of getting PC games because they're so easy to get with Steam. As well as Impulse and Good Old Games.

Sure it was one of the biggest pieces of software trash when it first came. Now it's so much better.