Poll: Did Steam "save" PC gaming?

[Alade]

Yes, steam did unfortunately save PC gaming, I was hoping it would just die with dignity but nooo... it got revived and now we have the PC gamer master race again.

There is no need to harbour such bitterness. Not everyone can be superior, it is nothing to be ashamed of.

Then again not everyone can afford buying a gaming powerhouse and then upgrading it every 2 or so years. Well, I can afford that, but I'd rather spend the money on booze.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

I'm not sure if Steam is the savior of PC gaming or not. On the one hand, I hate Steam because I really hate digital downloads. I'd rather have a physical copy of a game, movie, or album in my hands. But on the other hand, Steam has proven to be pretty good about putting games that I'm interested in, but unwilling to pay full price for, on sale pretty frequently. So I'm really not too certain of how I view Steam.

Admittedly, I think the #1 thing holding me back from actually liking Steam is that I don't know what's going to happen when the day comes that Steam falls. Will all the games that I have physical copies of but still require Steam during installation (like the recent Call of Duty titles and Fallout: New Vegas), as well as all the games that I've actually bought on Steam, become completely unplayable? I really don't know.

 

[fates_puppet13]

yes
and we should never ask that question again

only kidding
she sould always question it
otherwise it will get complacent and stupid

 

[Coop83]

While I'm not sure at all that Steam saved the PC Gaming industry - some people will only play games on the PC, as opposed to consoles - I would say that Steam has made gaming more accessible and that now people only need to have access to the internet, not even places like Amazon or Play, to get their hands on the new releases.

Storage issues are now a thing of the past, not having to clog up your shelves with DVD cases for the games and, perish the thought, those massive boxes, which were the bane of the 1990s.

 

[Brown Cap]

Steam didn't save anything. In all honesty, PC gaming did not need saving. Steam simply Improved a broad section significantly.

 

[mrhateful]

PC Gaming in need of a rescue absurd! Steam has done good things for PC gaming or should I say gaming in general, as I don't count children toys as proper platforms for true gaming.

One of the best things steam has done, has been to provide just as fast a delivery as pirating which gives pirates less of an excuse, though I don't think it truly makes a difference.

But lets be honest to ourself people, Steam or rather valve are not some incredible geniuses that came up with concept of downloadable games on their own. With faster connections and more people connected than ever before, moving towards online brought games were inevitable.

 

[mavkiel]

I have a love/hate relationship with steam. I love it when they occasionally have good sales. I hate it when their drm is forced on me.

Examples of why I hate steam:

Fallout new vegas. Seriously f steam. No ability to roll back to a patch that doesn't screw up my game? At least with fallout 3's gfwl I could do that.

Most of their midweek sales.. If you check on amazon you could usually find a retail new version of that game cheaper then their sale. Hell I'd actually extend this to even cover most of the games they offer now. For example Silent hunter 5. (Lousy game btw) On steam its 30 dollars, on amazon its 8 dollars.

If your living outside the U.S. the price issues gets much worse..