should steam rule the gaming world?

[Gamblerjoe]

meh, steam has its ups and downs. i like being able to buy games online on a whim, but i dont like having to run an extra program in the background while i play. Its not a huge problem, so i continue to use steam. Eventually i will have a gaming PC and wont care anymore.

I stopped thinking about things in terms of "should" a long time ago. it was making me cry myself to sleep.

 

[MrhalfAwake]

well I admit steam can do things better. Digital distribution for example shouldn't cost the same thing as a physical game, really no cost of production means they should be charging less. Drop the average price an extra 20 why don't you already

and their customer service is for lack of a better term, lacking.

But anything that can get in the craw of gamestops used game sales is a bonus for me.

 

[gl1koz3]

Got to love steam after I discovered you can actually interact with friends in a meaningful way there for once. Usually I had to seek out the servers... now I just look up who's playing.

 

[Beryl77]

YES all hail the Gaben.

Seriously, I don't think a monopol could ever be something good. But if there had to be a monopoly then Valve would be the company I'm worried the least that they would abuse it.

 

[GWarface]

Well I'm not sure if the OP is trolling when he says it should install itself when you install your OS. If he is serious then holy fuckballs. Steam is good but it isn't that good, it takes up too much memory to be a program running in the background of every game. Plus if it were the ONLY game distributor there would be no sales because there would be no rivalry. Steam is good, but it doesn't deserve so many fanboys.

Then you check the game requirements before you buy a game and dont buy it if you dont meet those requirements... Easy as that... Thats almost as saying that the game developers should give you a new graphics card because the one you have is outdated...

Unless the game wants you to hook it up with Steam and cant be played wihout that... And if so, Theres propably a big, fat sign on the back that says that... If then, read section above...

I think... you missed the... point of what he... was... trying to say...

He is saying that... if you buy retail... games then... if they are... on Steam you... have... to install them via... Steam...

This means that someone... with a computer with no... internet connection cannot play... the game they purchased... when I bought my copy of Dawn of War 2 off... Amazon it didn't say anywhere... I needed to have a connection... to play it...

Everyone complained about how... Assassin's Creed 2 had... annoying DRM, it works in the same way with... Steam...

(please just use full stops when you type, otherwise it looks ridiculous)

Stop being a smartass, i type the way i want...

And im sorry i didnt know that, as you can propably figure out i dont buy games retail...
My bad i guess...

 

[JoshGod]

well i just got a kotor update that let me play it, which as i got the game when it was on sale 1 or 2 days ago i'm very pleased. So in short YES!

 

[Treblaine]

i think most of the gamers today have a steam account. me too, and i really love steam. but there's one thing that i hate: i have 2 or 3 games which are not on steam. and i thought, why are there games which aren't on steam? it would be awesome if you can see really every game from your friends in their steam lists. in my opinion, steam should be standard, it installs itself when you install your OS or whatever. what do you think about that?

Like internet Explorer?

No, Steam is as good as it is because it HAS TO BE! It has to be APPEALING to draw users in (also appealing to publishers to use the service) and if it becomes a default install then Valve can rest on it's laurels like Microsoft does with Internet Explorer.

Although I really like Steam, and they deserve all the success they have... the competition REALLY need to step up their game. Right now Steam has no competitors because it seems for the longest time no one believed that what they were doing would even work, now everyone has waited so long it is too late to catch up.

Microsoft had the means but clearly not the will.

I don't want a monopoly as I know how self destructive they can be.

 

[Lukeydoodly]

Sluggish POS in my opinion.

This is coming from someone who barely plays games on a computer. I guess when I get a better one I won't have much choice but to use it, Impulse has less games.

 

[MrhalfAwake]

Sluggish POS in my opinion.

But this is coming from someone who barely plays games on my computer. I guess when I get a better one I won't have much choice but to use it.

sounds like you just have a shite system to me

 

[BlumiereBleck]

No, thats just silly. A lot of people have wii's, but it doesnt mean that nintendo should rule the gaming world.

 

[krugerrand123]

I dont really like steam, most things I downloaded on their do not work.

 

[Lukeydoodly]

Sluggish POS in my opinion.

But this is coming from someone who barely plays games on my computer. I guess when I get a better one I won't have much choice but to use it.

sounds like you just have a shite system to me

Oh yes, I really do.

But why should Steam slow down my computer more than a game?

 

[Atmos Duality]

Steam rule the gaming world? That's a fucking terrible idea.
The sales would disappear (no need to compete, so why bother?) and the startup lag would be catastrophic (since literally everyone would be using it).

 

[Harlemura]

If the random-ass connection problems I get with TF2 would come with it into other games, then no.
I barely ever get games off Steam anyway due to both my mum being picky about her credit card and my absolutely terrible graphics card.

 

[dududf]

They have a crappy 2mb/s connection

Dude I'd kill for that connection, more then double my current connection download speed, and it's effected by weather as it's a wifi tower on top of my house. A bird fly in the way? Lost packet. Snowing? Hah! and you wanted to access google today... so cute.


:|

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

I hate Steam. Not only do I have to have an internet connection to play many of my games, but every time I want to play a PC game I have to wait a half hour to an hour for it to update, sort achievements then lock itself in the bathroom for a while to pluck it's eyebrows.

 

[Jester00]

Is that a rhetorical question? Or maybe a troll thread?

No, no it shouldn't. It would create a monopoly and because there's no competitors, the price of video games would be ridiculous.

the price wouldn't be ridiculous. steam is just the thing between the dev and the gamer, they don't make the prices. and no, no troll thread.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

No, I love steam, but competition is always needed.

 

[fundayz]

i think most of the gamers today have a steam account. me too, and i really love steam. but there's one thing that i hate: i have 2 or 3 games which are not on steam. and i thought, why are there games which aren't on steam? it would be awesome if you can see really every game from your friends in their steam lists. in my opinion, steam should be standard, it installs itself when you install your OS or whatever. what do you think about that?

Everything you mentioned could be created without having to make Steam a monopoly, which is obviously a bad thing even if it ran by one of the best companies out there.

What we could have instead is:
1. A small, independent group of developers should form solely for the purpose of creating a universal social network for all PC games (consoles would be near impossible because of competition/rivalry). This third party program could perform the same roles that steam does, except sales of games, but allowing all games to be integrated with it.

2. Developers could pay a small fee in order to allow their games to run in with this software, paying for development and maintenance costs while making ensuring a social network for their games (something that is becoming more and more important).

3. ???

4. Profit.

 

[Del-Toro]

NO. If any company ever got a monopoly on anything it would wipe the market clean by being able to price whatever they wanted at whatever they wanted.

The idea of monopolising the video games market is bad and you should feel bad too.

Exactly what I was going to say; the market hates a monopoly.