Is Steam becoming the main way for pc game distribution?

[lupi]

no

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: frostedflakes

Originally posted by: AlgaeEater
Who knows, but Steam definitely is picking up... steam.


I personally don't love steam myself, it still has a lot of logistical issues to figure out (getting patches out in a timely fashion for non-valve games is a huge problem at the moment for example), but it's actually very competitive in terms of pricing and does away with a lot of the overly elaborate DRM schemes that have been coming out as of late. I can't vouch however if EA games for Steam also still have their built in protections, but long story short... Steam and its relatives aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

This is what I kind of like about it. Having to be connected to the net to play games can be a pain, but I think it's a lot better than SecuROM and some of the other DRM schemes out there.

One thing I'd like, though, is the ability to sell games and transfer licenses.

I agree with most of what you said, however, Steam only requires you to be online once for activation of a Steam game. After that, you can play in off line mode by having Steam save your credentials.

The ability to transfer licenses would be a nice feature for a few people, but I never sell any of my games, no matter how bad or buggy.

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: videogames101

Originally posted by: ShawnD1
Steam will not be mainstream until it's worth buying a game on Steam. New games are listed as roughly $65CDN on Steam, but are $50 in the store. In Europe the prices are more like $100 on Steam and $40 in the shop. It's crazy. Nobody is going to pay twice the price and get less of a game (no physical copy).

Move to the US.

Move to the US so we can pay higher prices for games through Steam than we can locally, just so Steam appears cheaper than retail?
No thanks.
You don't even want to see the prices the UK gets for games on Steam vs US prices. 20~25% less almost across the board for UK Steam vs US Steam, and UK online (amazon etc) is even less.

 

[Nik]

SOE has their own steam-style content manager / buddy list / blah blah too.

I like Steam and SOE's little dealybob. It's a great way to avoid going to the store to buy a game and then trying to figure out WTF I did with the install discs years later.

That reminds me, I still can't find my Freelancer disc and I got a hankerin to play

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: Nik
SOE has their own steam-style content manager / buddy list / blah blah too.

I like Steam and SOE's little dealybob. It's a great way to avoid going to the store to buy a game and then trying to figure out WTF I did with the install discs years later.

That reminds me, I still can't find my Freelancer disc and I got a hankerin to play

Umm . . . thats an easy one to solve.

 

[Mide]

Steam is a great way to pick up older games, but if you care about resale, stay away because there is none.

 

[Rebel44]

Originally posted by: ShawnD1
Steam will not be mainstream until it's worth buying a game on Steam. New games are listed as roughly $65CDN on Steam, but are $50 in the store. In Europe the prices are more like $100 on Steam and $40 in the shop. It's crazy. Nobody is going to pay twice the price and get less of a game (no physical copy).

Incorrect - in EU we paid 50 $ + 19% VAT (~60 $ incl. VAT) now we are paying 50? incl. VAT (~70$) - so its 15% more expensive than before but your 100$ price is BS.

Download caps - in my country we dont have any download caps and slowest (exceps of WiFi) internet connection is 8Mb/s ADSL for 25$ per month

 

[AmberClad]

Originally posted by: Modelworks
It will not be the main way till broadband is everywhere and cheap.

Even with broadband, it still takes a while to download many relatively recent games. I don't have the greatest cable connection -- in practice, my max DL speed is generally only ~100kBps. And when I'm DLing something at that speed, it makes playing online FPSs practically impossible and it also causes gchat to flake out / disconnect frequently.

Looking back at things I've bought from Steam, it's pretty much been these scenarios:

1) Wanted it to play over a weekend or a break
2) It's only available on Steam
3) There's a sale on Steam
or
4) Steam offers a compilation pack that's heavily discounted

 

[skyofavalon]

Bit-torrent will remain the main way for pc game distribution for many years to come,Steam isnt close.

 

[BenSkywalker]

Last five games I picked up I checked Steam first- all were more expensive on Steam then in a B&M without any media, no thanks. Steam is a nice racket Newell has to line his pockets, but digital distribution should be markedly cheaper then retail for so many different reasons, too bad Newell's greed is holding it back for less forgiving consumers.

 

[Dumac]

Steam has become much more popular, but it is far from the main venue of PC video game distribution.

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker
Last five games I picked up I checked Steam first- all were more expensive on Steam then in a B&M without any media, no thanks. Steam is a nice racket Newell has to line his pockets, but digital distribution should be markedly cheaper then retail for so many different reasons, too bad Newell's greed is holding it back for less forgiving consumers.

Umm every Steam game I've bought has always been cheaper than retail except for one game but I agree that it should be cheaper since we're essentially getting less product.

 

[n7]

Haven't bought a single game thru Steam.

I get the actual boxed version.

 

[Davegod]

for me in UK steam is pretty competitive with retail... sometimes. I think the publishers set the prices and some are worse than others.

Some set the price at the initial retail RRP, a price that e-tailers (play.com) typically undercuts by 15% immediately and often cuts further quite quickly.

However other's are more responsive and the price is competitive.

One thing it is good for and should be increasingly good for is range of older titles that etailers/retailers no longer stock. Looking at the steam hardware survey IMHO valve could do pretty well by targeting all these old/low end gaming systems with old/low end games, but they seem to push new titles more.

 

[EvilComputer92]

Never have bought a game through steam and never will. Orange Box I got at Best Buy for $15.

 

[aigomorla]

Steam > EA Download Manager + Commanche Any day.

 

[Gothgar]

I like Steam, hate DRM bs built into most other games, CD hassle etc

My biggest problem with Steam is, the games are full price usually, they should be base 10% off since they dont have to print a manual, make DVD's etc etc and don't give me the bullshit line about bandwidth costs

 

[Jaskalas]

Originally posted by: homercles337
Im using it a lot more since the HL2 disaster. I still miss having the manual and box for storage though.

Manual? http://www.google.com

Box, what would you store in it?

 

[pcslookout]

Originally posted by: Gothgar
I like Steam, hate DRM bs built into most other games, CD hassle etc

My biggest problem with Steam is, the games are full price usually, they should be base 10% off since they dont have to print a manual, make DVD's etc etc and don't give me the bullshit line about bandwidth costs

If you want a dvd label and cover you can find high quality scans of the game online easily. 300 dpi very high quality.

 

[Frodolives]

Digital distribution is pretty much an inevitable step in the evolution of the marketplace as the infrastructure becomes more suited to it. That means not only STEAM, but unless they screw up royally they're likely to be big players for years or even decades to come, just as Sears was once a giant of catalog merchandising, and has continued to try and adapt and hold onto a bit of market share among myriad competitors.

I expect that we will see not only STEAM thrive, but other successful competitors, both in the mainstream and representing niche markets.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

I sure hope not. I've only had bad experiences with steam so far.

 

[Joemonkey]

Originally posted by: n7
Haven't bought a single game thru Steam.

I get the actual boxed version.

I used to think this way, but i went ahead and bit the bullet on the $100 "every game valve has ever made" pack a while back (down to $75 now assholes...) and haven't looked back. Not having to mess w/ CDs or DVDs plus the community thing makes me wish i'd have done this long ago

 

[Duddy]

Downloading games will be the future. That's why I chose not to open a Play N Trade.

 

[Sylvanas]

I used to think buying the box was the best way but this has changed. This weekend I went around to 3 of my local games stores and none of them had the game I was looking for despite it being voted on the the best games of the year (World of Goo, go get it!). Anyways, disappointed I went home, I hadn't tried Steam since HL2 and back then it was a chore and horribly clunky, but I thought I'd give it a shot as I know World of Goo was on Steam. Literally 5 minutes later from installing steam I had paid for, downloaded and started playing and boy am I impressed. Steam is something I now WANT to use, instead of something I am forced to use. Keeps everything up to date, huge database of games, good prices- I'm sold, digital distribution all the way.

 

[shrumpage]

I've had steam installed since before half-life 2 came out, but i didn't care for it at all. Fast forward to a few months ago, and Left 4 Dead is coming out. I pre-order and then join a group just for playing L4D. Made finding quality players much easier.

Fallout 3 comes out. I live in a place where new release, may or may not show up in a timely matter. Plus shipping can be slow and/or expensive. So I buy it through steam. Installed on a couple of computers, use the windows live features, works great...no cd/dvd required.

Now the Christmas sale. Picked up some older games that i've wanted to work my way through plus the ID Super pack, all fairly cheap. I'm sold.

One other benefit i like is bypassing stupid CD checks as DRM. I know you can usually find a hack to get around it but tis nice not having to worry about it at all.

Is steam perfect? nope but for me it works out well.

The one issue i do have and it may be an ID issue and not steam, is Quake I & II and the mission packs do not have the original sound tracks.