Comments on: It is time to publish PC games as Steam exclusives

By: George

George — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:54:23 +0000

Your forgetting not everyone has high speed internet to be able to download games quickly. I prefer disc until (if ever) broadband gets here.

By: Richard

Richard — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 09:54:03 +0000

I’m going to have to disagree with you here: I would NEVER consider buying a game from Steam or the like; simply because I like to have something tangible sitting on my shelf. I feel more content knowing it’s there, ready to be installed with no internet, no other party being relied on. We don’t all live in broadband paradise, either, which is part of the reason. I do not like having to rely on someone else (digital distribution server in this case) to play my game, or install it, or play it offline for the first time, or whatever.

And yeah, I hate to tell you, but Steam games are cracked a plenty as well, though probably not as much their boxed counterparts.

By: Buzz

Buzz — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 05:12:00 +0000

Uhhh… what planet do you live on? Steam games have been cracked for ages. They will CONTINUE to be cracked with ease. Bruce, why do you defend DRM like it is the future of this industry? You are one of very few people who has courage to openly proclaim your belief in DRM. When will you admit that customers hate it and that not all customers are dishonest individuals?

I am done with DRM. I refuse to purchase products with DRM unless I know there is an escape route.

By: BC

BC — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 21:48:46 +0000

Seems that way. Develop/MCV have been posting a lot of rubbish recently. Their ‘new DS’ report was bad reporting too.

By: Brett

Brett — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:11:36 +0000

I remember a time when people were downing Steam as a very bad idea and now look at it!

And Google is NOT buying Steam.

By: BC

BC — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 10:34:21 +0000

Seems like we’re not the only people who see this as the way of the future …

http://www.developmag.com/news/30515/Google-to-buy-Valve

By: kilerscn

kilerscn — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 10:08:32 +0000

Erm, prices will definately NOT come down if you cut out the retailers.

For the simple reason that the publishers will decide THEY can get more money.

Plus without retail places like Steam will charge a premium for their services.

If anything the cost is more likely to go up.

You know how much retailers wages are?!

Now go see how much you pay for site/service techs etc that would be needed for the upkeep of servers etc…

By: BC

BC — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 07:42:48 +0000

We didn’t say games couldn’t be cracked on Steam. All DRMs can in next to no time.

The argument is that it does a good job of providing a convenient service that people will happily pay for, stopping release date leaks, and hopefully start to move cost down because of no physical media and a retailer taking a massive cut.

Add checks for multiplayer everytime you log in (as most games do anyway) and start providing a service to the customer with updates, new content and a community and it should help a lot.

By: SwiftRanger

SwiftRanger — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 07:14:16 +0000

Steam isn’t bad but a monopoly is never good, consider alternatives which are just as fine as well. Boxed model is something Valve never got right, nobody likes throwaway boxes like the ones of HL² and The Orange Box. If you want retail to be successful then don’t cut on extras, I’ll happily pick up my copy of The Witcher: EE for example, just for those goodies alone.

Cracks are always going to be available too, whether the game is on Steam or not.

By: timothy

timothy — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 01:50:32 +0000

Sorry but you’re quite wrong, it’s much easier to rebuild Steam games as stand alone installers. Take Stalker Clear Skies as an example. It’s been fairly difficult to crack the legal download/retail copy versions. It’s just been released on Steam and you can bet this particular version will be cracked in no time at all, thats if it hasn’t already.