Steam and the future of gaming

[BigJack]

It may be just me, but i think steam and the way valve have decided to release hl2 is quite groundbreaking. I believe this is the first time any company have offered a game available for download on its day of release (correct?).
Personally, when a game is released i hate having to go to the shops and buy it, come home, install it, etc etc.
Using steam, we already have the game on our systems, and when the time comes on the 16th, boom, ten seconds later you are playing the game.
The question is though, if all game companies offered their games like this, with a one time fee allowing you to download it whenever and wherever you want, would you do that instead of buying it on cd/dvd?

Also i thought of another advantage, all the money goes directly to the developer, so funding them to create more good games!

 

[eiric]

Well, I think it's a great idea. Now they only have to make sure people that don't have a cd-key (account) can't play it (good luck...). And the next time, maybe they can release the game only by steam (yea, right) or by retail themself, thus lowering the price when buying over steam. I mean, come on!

 

[Alientank]

I like the whole having to go online and register with a valid key to play. Internet is everywhere so it's no excuse to not have it to register. Then it can be just sent out as retail, and you go to a website, put your barcode in, your cd key in too, and it will register. Only keys registered to the database, which are the ones that are printed onto boxes and that, and have a match, will be allowed to register, therefore completely eliminating pirating.

 

[Varsity]

Hopefully when (yes, when) digital delivery becomes popular other devs will be happy to use Steam instead of making their own version of it. I can't imagine anything worse than a Steam-a-like for every dev out there.

 

[Solver]

ONLY if there are retail versions available, and only as long as I don't have to be running anything like Steam (that damn RAM hog) while playing.

 

[Xrenity]

No, I like steam very much, but I wouldn't like to have like 5 of these programs running...

 

[Interloper]

Also i thought of another advantage, all the money goes directly to the developer, so funding them to create more good games!

There's the real punch, what do publishers bring to the gaming industry? They're only there as there is a need to distribute little boxes.

 

[silverstealth89]

id still like them to keep the CD/DVD versions but for certain games it would be cool to dl them. but sometimes like HL2 im planning to get the DVD version eventhouh i have ti on STEAM already

 

[Lanthanide]

It may be just me, but i think steam and the way valve have decided to release hl2 is quite groundbreaking. I believe this is the first time any company have offered a game available for download on its day of release (correct?).

'Any' company. No. There are many companies that develop small games that they release on the internet. I'm talking really small though, like arcade games and similar (although Starscape was a bit bigger than most).

But larger companies than them - Shattered Galaxy is a fairly full-featured MMORTS that is downloadable from the makers. However I believe it's just a standard FTP/HTTP system rather than a special content delivery system.

So if you modify your statement to: "the first large, major game offered by a major company via a propriety content delivery system" then you're 99% likely to be correct.


As for the actual poll - I said if it was done differently than the way steam does it. My beef with steam is the price - same as for the CD version, which I think is lame since it doesn't come with a box or manual (even though there is no manual apparently) or the cds, so there is a lot of production over-head that is gone out the door there. I think it would be fair to give a $10 discount - they'd still make a larger profit on it.

However I suspect the pricing on HL2 is like it is because of the contract with VUG, and it's possible that future steam-delivered games will be cheaper than their retail counterparts (unless they get contracted in again by the publisher).

 

[destrukt]

nah, i like the smell and touch of my own box and manual*.

* death to valve.

 

[Lanthanide]

There's the real punch, what do publishers bring to the gaming industry? They're only there as there is a need to distribute little boxes.

Uh, no. The publisher -gives- the development team a whole heap of money. In return, the development team develops the game for them, and then by way of paying back the initial outlay (hopefully), a portion of the profit goes to the developer. Usually quite a bit chunk, given the initial outlay they gave to the developer (calculated risk - if you are a small company with a crap game no one wants to lend you money for you to develop and sell, you'll have to publish it yourself, if you can afford it).

It just so happens that in Valve's case, they are one of the very few, if not the only, major development company that apparently is fully self-funded, and for them having a publisher is more of a technicality (although I'm sure the publishers also do heaps of other things, like probably arrange localisation etc, but their main job is to lend money and then collect profits).

 

[Lanthanide]

Hopefully when (yes, when) digital delivery becomes popular other devs will be happy to use Steam instead of making their own version of it. I can't imagine anything worse than a Steam-a-like for every dev out there.

It wouldn't be that bad, assuming all the programs created worked well and didn't interfere etc. More competition amongst developers with their products = more diversity = more choice/better features for the consumer.

If another company comes along and makes a system with a much better UI and much less bug-prone as well as easy to code and develop delivery systems etc for, then Valve will have to upgrade Steam in order to keep up, which can only result in less problem-prone and better developed software for the end user.

If Valve just sat back and let Steam stagnate, then when other developers come along and choose which system to use as a delivery system, Steam is much less likely to be chosen.

 

[Lanthanide]

nah, i like the smell and touch of my own box and manual*

That can be taken in a way that I'm sure you didn't intend at all :E :naughty:

 

[Asuka]

Yes, if it was done the same way as steam

I would like if there was 1 master program (Steam) that had all games ever to come out on the pc. That would be sweet.

 

[Demolition man]

steam is nice but i still want the cd version

 

[<RJMC>]

I hope game developers dont start to release games trough steam cuz that will be a pain for people who hav slow internet conetion
and worst for the people that dont hav it

I dont want to offend but when the people say " I hate to go to the shops when a game is released" is just for lazy

 

[mutt]

id still like them to keep the CD/DVD versions but for certain games it would be cool to dl them. but sometimes like HL2 im planning to get the DVD version eventhouh i have ti on STEAM already

buying on steam and then dvd is just crazy, you gona uninstall steam then reinstall just to warn up the dvd drive?

 

[Asuka]

I hope game developers dont start to release games trough steam cuz that will be a pain for people who hav slow internet conetion
and worst for the people that dont hav it

I dont want to offend but when the people say " I hate to go to the shops when a game is released" is just for lazy

I still get my games at the stores (Like me cds) But not having a inet connection is just wow these days. Its 45$ for cable. 350 kb download 45kb upload. I mean in my opinion if you have a comp that can run hl2 and other new games. You shoul dhave a inet connection. Its not a lot of money. I mean its the year 2004 people!

 

[Lanthanide]

I still get my games at the stores (Like me cds) But not having a inet connection is just wow these days. Its 45$ for cable.

Depends which country you live in, now doesn't it?

 

[MajorPayne]

I for one love that VALVe has made steam. I have long thought that publishers invoke too much control in the game creation process (cencoring content, etc.), and a way to go without them can only bring improvement.

Yes steam still has issues, but I also love that it can get me the game without making me drive down to the store to purchase (and potentially find it is out of stock!).

Also, while a discount would be nice, at least the money goes to VALVe (whom I would like to support) and not the publisher (whom I do not care about). And also, the added content of some of the packages (VALVe's back cataloge for example -- and what better way to wait for a sequel than by getting all of the originals to play while you wait) is a big enough bonus for me to overcome this.

And not having to break copy protection to play without a CD is also a bonus. I have to do this for almost every game I BUY, and I do not like having to act like a pirate with legally purchased software.

So yes, I support steam, and will buy more games this way (from steam or otherwise) if the method is similar to steam, or at least usable (not spyware filled crap like gamespy, etc.) Hopefully, we are seeing the start of a trend here.

 

[InvaderScooge]

I was a big skeptic of steam and didn't like the idea at all. I finally downloaded and installed it a few weeks ago so I could pre-load HL2. I registered my Half-Life CD key and have to say that I was very impressed with how well done it was. I still think they need to do more with linking an account to a real person, like banks do, before it will go mainstream. All in all I really like steam but I am still going to buy through retail and then register my CD key until they build in better account protection for people. I don't have confidence that my cd keys I buy through Steam will be protected if my account gets comprimised. If I own the retail box I can prove it is my key. An e-mail address and a password is not enough to prove ownership.

 

[cadaveca]

There are a few thingd that would "seal the deal" with STEAM:

1. PDF Format for manual's included. Would allow those that like manuals to print out a very decent manual themselves.
2. CD Label/Box cover creation tools...or a way to make the prints. Solves the box issue. I still personbally like a hard copy, but having steam and no cd to insert every time i play is phenomenal.

these two points go hand in hand. if you can create your own physical copy, one that you can install without need of another piece of software would quell alot of fears about "non-physical" CD keys, whether they are on a manual, or actually registered when installed...


3. The STEAM process itself needs to utilize less memory while in-game. 5 or 10 MB of free memory, whether physical or paged, can make or break the "experience" for some gamers. Use it to start the game, and have it back off. Maybe lower priority for the thread would do it, i dunno....that's not for me to say.
4. All advertized features should be available. Where's the silly parlour games that are advertised on the STEAM site?

 

[Stiler]

I like having the cd/box and things in my hand.

Plus i'm stuck on 56k (can't get dsl or cable) so d/ling gb's of data isn't very nice to me.

As far as publisher vs devs.

Well the publisher doesn't just "put the boxes in stores"

As mentioned, the publisher is the backbone of a LOT of game developers, because all of the money that the dev's need they get from the publishers pockets.

Without a publisher some companies would never see the light of day unless they found someone else to fund them.

Valve however has grown and is able to publish themselves, a few other companies can aswell, like Bethseda for example(morrowind devs/publishers).

also publishers do the Advertising and marketing for the games they publish.


so when you look at it:

Publishers:
Fund the game development
Advertiste and market the game
Put the game into retail stores across the country

The dev's would have a LOT more work if they didn't have a publisher to do that, unless they have the $$$ to hire more people to do that side of the work.

 

[Expansion Pack]

Steam may be a veiw of the future when net connections of 10gig a second are common place but at this moment no....I mean people are buying through steam and backing it up onto CD/DVD......Which proves that at this moment in time people need a hard copy just in case they need to format their PC, and they will not want to wait till steam has DL HL2,Cs.s,DODs,HL,HL.s,OPf.......And gamers are always formatting their PC's so that they are running at their top specs.......
CD media is here for some time yet and until i can Buy,DL and install and be playing a game in the same time or less than it take to install from a Cd/DVD and without having to leave it running all night to DL a game then there is really no point to steam........
Steam might have a future in the future,but its not the future yet....

 

[fantasiser]

i have one major qualm with steam
the fact that it needs to be running in the background to run the game (in onnline OR offline mode)
i dont mind haveing to connect once to verify my cd key, or download off steam and verify, but once its verified i would like to tell steam to f#ck off and play my game without it

EDIT: In fact, the fact that your forced to use steam even if you buy retail is something im not a very big fan of either, to be perfectly honest

 

[MiccyNarc]

1000 times
YES

 

[fragShader]

3. The STEAM process itself needs to utilize less memory while in-game. 5 or 10 MB of free memory, whether physical or paged, can make or break the "experience" for some gamers. Use it to start the game, and have it back off. Maybe lower priority for the thread would do it, i dunno....that's not for me to say.

thread priority won't alter the memory consumption.

i'm at a loss as to what all that memory is used for - running at 55meg atm on my machine.

 

[f|uke]

Wake up people

Direct sales = More money to Devs = Higher production values for games!

Screw your crappy disc. Lets make games better!

 

[Baal]

I enjoy having the physical product.

Call me old fashioned if you will :|

 

[Nid Banikeri]

Steam, coz im a lazy sod who can't be bothered to go to the local game store

 

[Dr. Freeman]

hmm..interesting discussion.
for some games, i wouldn't mind a Steam type program to download off.. and possibly get the game cheaper in the process.

however, for a game such as HL2, i do want a retail copy just because the HL series is my all time fav as far as games go.
and of course theres always the arguement of online sales never replacing retail sales regardless of how good the broadband technology gets.

 

[Gray Fox]

I voted for second option because steam needs to have more ways for purchusing, not only creditcard.

 

[Sashswash]

I think steam's way is great! I was a little upset before about not getting disks and all, but now with this backup utility, it's all the more better! The only thing that i think Valve should do, is to release some official CD/DVD Labels and Covers for people that backup the game. THEN it would truely pwn :thumbs:

 

[Dr. Freeman]

I think steam's way is great! I was a little upset before about not getting disks and all, but now with this backup utility, it's all the more better! The only thing that i think Valve should do, is to release some official CD/DVD Labels and Covers for people that backup the game. THEN it would truely pwn :thumbs:

i know u said "official" but if a user-made one is aight with u, someone did post a pic of one he made.
im sure googling might get u other ones as well..

 

[Yogibbear]

hm... i like cd's and physical stuff...because i know i own the game... but when steam or some future version like it becomes safer, uses less comp. resources and similarily is supported by more game designers and companies i'll like it...

 

[Ryjalon5k]

It may be just me, but i think steam and the way valve have decided to release hl2 is quite groundbreaking. I believe this is the first time any company have offered a game available for download on its day of release (correct?).
Personally, when a game is released i hate having to go to the shops and buy it, come home, install it, etc etc.
Using steam, we already have the game on our systems, and when the time comes on the 16th, boom, ten seconds later you are playing the game.
The question is though, if all game companies offered their games like this, with a one time fee allowing you to download it whenever and wherever you want, would you do that instead of buying it on cd/dvd?

Also i thought of another advantage, all the money goes directly to the developer, so funding them to create more good games!

Steam can sucky on something real nice, i hate steam, even if it was refined, i still hate it.