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

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

yes, steam is great if PC gaming interests you. regardless, console or PC, i do agree that the future is digital distribution.

[QUOTE="blackdreamhunk"]Iam more worried micro soft or EA would love to buy steam out to be honest.BumFluff122

It's a piece of **** I bought spore off it, and I was shocked to find out

A.) The game didn't release at midnight. I plan on staying up until 3 A.M Central Time to play Left 4 Dead when it unlocks, but I had to wait until Noon the day of release to play. This happens on Steam too if the developer chooses too; but let's forget about that.

B.) I can only download it how many times!? Good thing Spore was a piece of crap I'll never want to download again, but if it actually was fun, I would of been screwed if I needed to reinstall down the line. And that leads me to my next point...

C.) Restrictive DRM. Don't need to explain that.

[QUOTE="BumFluff122"][QUOTE="blackdreamhunk"]Iam more worried micro soft or EA would love to buy steam out to be honest.Jodan77

It's a piece of **** I bought spore off it, and I was shocked to find out

A.) The game didn't release at midnight. I plan on staying up until 3 A.M Central Time to play Left 4 Dead when it unlocks, but I had to wait until Noon the day of release to play. This happens on Steam too if the developer chooses too; but let's forget about that.

B.) I can only download it how many times!? Good thing Spore was a piece of crap I'll never want to download again, but if it actually was fun, I would of been screwed if I needed to reinstall down the line. And that leads me to my next point...

C.) Restrictive DRM. Don't need to explain that.

I think it does allow you to download the game as many times as you want for 6 months, unless you pay an extra $5 for an extended service, which only lasts for 2 years.

hard drives crash ? re-install the game

accounts can be stolen ? only if ur an idiot

jaisimar_chelse

I'll take disc thanks. glenn2709

I bought the retail version of Red Orchestra, Half Life 2 (and included CSS), DoD:S, and Orange Box.

I bought the retail version of each of them and I still have to play them through Steam.

[QUOTE="glenn2709"]I'll take disc thanks. BobHipJames

I bought the retail version of Red Orchestra, Half Life 2 (and included CSS), DoD:S, and Orange Box.

I bought the retail version of each of them and I still have to play them through Steam.

[QUOTE="BobHipJames"]

[QUOTE="glenn2709"]I'll take disc thanks. Makari

I bought the retail version of Red Orchestra, Half Life 2 (and included CSS), DoD:S, and Orange Box.

I bought the retail version of each of them and I still have to play them through Steam.

[QUOTE="Makari"][QUOTE="BobHipJames"]

[QUOTE="glenn2709"]I'll take disc thanks. HuusAsking

I bought the retail version of Red Orchestra, Half Life 2 (and included CSS), DoD:S, and Orange Box.

I bought the retail version of each of them and I still have to play them through Steam.

[QUOTE="HuusAsking"]That's the one thing I think that's keeping DD from moving any faster. There are still people out there with no Internet connections. Indeed, there may always be a need for brick-and-mortar physical sales.out0v0rder

[QUOTE="lowe0"]

...

shoeonhead82

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.

2. In the case of a one-time purchase of a product license (e.g., purchase of a single game) from Valve, Valve may choose to terminate or cancel your Subscription in its entirety or may terminate or cancel only a portion of the Subscription (e.g., access to the software via Steam) and Valve may, but is not obligated to, provide access (for a limited period of time) to the download of a stand-alone version of the software and content associated with such one-time purchase.Steam Subscriber Agreement

That said, Steam is nice, and I make good use of it, but the risk is still there (just as it now is with internet-activation-only games like Spore or Crysis Warhead).

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

Ummm....with steam you have far more security than if you buy a disk. I have no idea why you think owning a disk is somehow more secure. If you lose, scratch, etc your disk you are screwed. If you buy through steam and your harddrive fails, you buy a new pc, etc, then just download it again.

This is what I think of Steam

Yes, I love Steam... maybe too much?

Alan

[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. mudman91878

Ummm....with steam you have far more security than if you buy a disk. I have no idea why you think owning a disk is somehow more secure. If you lose, scratch, etc your disk you are screwed. If you buy through steam and your harddrive fails, you buy a new pc, etc, then just download it again.

piracy is guarenteed 100% avoidable if a developer decides to put his game on Steam. Marvelous don't you think?

Zythyl

I agree completely, steam is fantastic.

It is really helping out PC gaming and PC gamers.

As a hermit, i love steam :D

I laughed. My friend pirates Steam games like no other, having easy access to all of those files since they're all in one location. Still, their steps towards it are appreciated.

I don't think Steam is really the future of gaming per se, but perhaps the future of downloadable titles. I still dislike having to be connected to the internet to play my games, and if your account is hacked there goes your stuff. Plus, the Steam client is ugly and eats up RAM.Saturos3091

Well, my account got hacked a couple of months ago (I suspect someone lucky guessed my password), and I contacted Valve. Got my account back just shy of two hours. So this really isn't a problem if you ask me. I'm looking at my task manager now, and Steam uses up 10 MB of ram. Is that really a problem to you? Or are there known issues where the ram usage is considerably higher than that? And what band need 8 members for god's sake? :S

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

Personaly my current Internet Provider limits my monthly usage to 20gigs, the next bracket which costs twice as much is 40gigs, and the highest personal internet bracket is 60gigs.

In order for me and the millions like me to download a Steam game, I require the usage of half my monthly bandwith limit. Nobody in their right mind would wanna exhaust half a month worth of bandwith for a game that they have to pay for. That's why I have stopped using Steam for games.

The only way this can work is if bandwith becomes free globally, and the only way that can happen is if media other than games use similar distribution methods as Steam. But honest I don't see how movies and music can use the Steam method of distribution as hard copies would become too readily available.

Full digital distribution of games is a not something I see ever happening. Simply due to fact that opening up unlimited bandwith to allow for such market adoption would put a dent on other media distribution areas of which most internet providers own a share of.

But gaming as a service rather than a product will continue to take off. It still won't replace non service based games.

[QUOTE="mudman91878"]

[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

Ummm....with steam you have far more security than if you buy a disk. I have no idea why you think owning a disk is somehow more secure. If you lose, scratch, etc your disk you are screwed. If you buy through steam and your harddrive fails, you buy a new pc, etc, then just download it again.

I like to have my games stored in the real world, in case my computer disagrees with me.(which happens alot.)

Usually, with discs, you just use them once for installing and then lock them up. They can't scratch if they don't move.HuusAsking

tell that to all the people here who apparently reformat monthly.

[QUOTE="out0v0rder"][QUOTE="HuusAsking"]That's the one thing I think that's keeping DD from moving any faster. There are still people out there with no Internet connections. Indeed, there may always be a need for brick-and-mortar physical sales.HuusAsking

How does Valve manage to be successful, keep their fans happy and not have other companies attempt to follow their business model?Hexagon_777

[QUOTE="HuusAsking"][QUOTE="out0v0rder"][QUOTE="HuusAsking"]That's the one thing I think that's keeping DD from moving any faster. There are still people out there with no Internet connections. Indeed, there may always be a need for brick-and-mortar physical sales.out0v0rder

[QUOTE="HuusAsking"][QUOTE="mudman91878"]

[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. pimperjones

Ummm....with steam you have far more security than if you buy a disk. I have no idea why you think owning a disk is somehow more secure. If you lose, scratch, etc your disk you are screwed. If you buy through steam and your harddrive fails, you buy a new pc, etc, then just download it again.

Valve has already said publicly that if they go under, they will release a patch that will allow you to play all your games without being connected to Steam. Already you can back up all your games onto a hard drive or disc. With the patch, it would be just like having the original disc.

[QUOTE="Hexagon_777"]How does Valve manage to be successful, keep their fans happy and not have other companies attempt to follow their business model?Makari

Yup, I have about 180 games on Steam. Why would I want to use another service? No thanks. Just bought Far Cry 2, Fallout 3, and Empire: Total War. Combine that with L4D and both Crysis and Crysis Warhead, why use anyother service?

Valve has already said publicly that if they go under, they will release a patch that will allow you to play all your games without being connected to Steam. Already you can back up all your games onto a hard drive or disc. With the patch, it would be just like having the original disc.

scoobiesnackarf

Perhaps not. However, I will trust Valve on this one. Perhaps that is being gullible or ignorant, they have yet to wrong me once.

Alan

Losing the ability to receive a tangible item isn't a good thing. I don't understand why hermits would want steam to be the only way to get games.

Losing the ability to receive a tangible item isn't a good thing. I don't understand why hermits would want steam to be the only way to get games.

Jamex1987

[QUOTE="Jamex1987"]

Losing the ability to receive a tangible item isn't a good thing. I don't understand why hermits would want steam to be the only way to get games.

mo0ksi

[QUOTE="Jamex1987"]

Losing the ability to receive a tangible item isn't a good thing. I don't understand why hermits would want steam to be the only way to get games.

mo0ksi

What if I no longer want the game? I can't give it to a friend, uncle cousin or anyone because it's locked to an account. Games cost too much to have these limitations as the only option. A lot of us prefer to receive a tangible product.

[QUOTE="mo0ksi"][QUOTE="Jamex1987"]

Losing the ability to receive a tangible item isn't a good thing. I don't understand why hermits would want steam to be the only way to get games.

Jamex1987

[QUOTE="Jamex1987"]

Losing the ability to receive a tangible item isn't a good thing. I don't understand why hermits would want steam to be the only way to get games.

mo0ksi

WHat if I don't want the game anymore? I can't give it to a friend, uncle cousin or anyone because it's locked to an account. Games cost too much to have these limitations as the only option.

[QUOTE="Makari"][QUOTE="Hexagon_777"]

How does Valve manage to be successful, keep their fans happy and not have other companies attempt to follow their business model?scoobiesnackarf

i think a lot of that's acceptance and momentum.. people are used to Steam and taking it as it is. and more importantly, there's enough good titles on there where having it all in one place becomes a tangible benefit. having tf2, CoH, fallout 3, empire: total war all being run from the same program, and being able to see/join your friends xbl-style? pretty nice.

Yup, I have about 180 games on Steam. Why would I want to use another service? No thanks. Just bought Far Cry 2, Fallout 3, and Empire: Total War. Combine that with L4D and both Crysis and Crysis Warhead, why use anyother service?

I was just pointing out how no one seems to even attempt to copy Valve. Then again, maybe Microsoft's failure to steal significant market share from Valve has something to do with it.

As much as I love Steam, I am still a bit hesitant about digital distribution. I really like having a hard copy of something over a copy that I have to download.AIH_PSP

You can make the hard copy yourself. Steam allows this.

[QUOTE="blackdreamhunk"]Iam more worried micro soft or EA would love to buy steam out to be honest.BumFluff122

it's terrible, it crashes all the time, it's slow, it's terrible in everyway

[QUOTE="BumFluff122"][QUOTE="blackdreamhunk"]

Iam more worried micro soft or EA would love to buy steam out to be honest.markop2003

it's terrible, it crashes all the time, it's slow, it's terrible in everyway

lol, bit of an outburst you had there, hm? :P

[QUOTE="out0v0rder"][QUOTE="HuusAsking"][QUOTE="out0v0rder"][QUOTE="HuusAsking"]That's the one thing I think that's keeping DD from moving any faster. There are still people out there with no Internet connections. Indeed, there may always be a need for brick-and-mortar physical sales.HuusAsking