Game Stores View Valve's Steam as the Devil

[skillmore]

I use Steam for the insane deals I can get twice a year during mid-summer and Christmas, plus all the good deals in between. I rarely if ever buy a full retail priced game from Steam, because I'd prefer a physical copy at that point.

Also, there pretty good on providing us the tools we want to keep track of friends, clans, groups, and servers without having to spam too many adds at us.

 

[DawnTreader]

Steam is Awesome. There is no hope for retail stores. Even Steam in its current mode is going to start having trouble. I think OnLive is ultimately the way to go, but for now Steam and OnLive rock. Steam has one big advantage over OnLive. lots of games. but if OnLive can capture enough market and get a lot more games then Steam is just as doomed as Retail stores.

 

[chriskrum]

I hate Steam! Those damn weekend and midweek sales mean my games library expands constantly -- so many games that I don't have time to play -- there should be a surgeon general's warning on the package.

Okay, got to quit writing this so I can check the specials.

 

[Guest]

It's almost criminally funny the kind of comments being made, the game plays identically with or without box art, sure limited edition collectors set might give you amusing in game items, but mostly it's just an existing item with a unique skin, and what would you do with the DVD media and box art? display it proudly on your mantle, stash it away somewhere to gather dust, ultimately your paying to play the game not for a box or a DVD. If we can happily abandon CDs for digitally downloaded music why is it so hard to do the same with games?

For those who complain about the price of the game, the cure to that is very similarly to the brick and mortar solution, you wait for when the game goes on sale, steam does some nice discounts once the game has been established for a while (far better then the used games section in your local GS) sure you have to wait, but heck you have to wait to get pre-used games too

the only real issue i can see is that you can't gift a game to your friend (yes i know he should be supporting the publisher so they can get more cash to make more quality games yadda yadda), the best solution i can come up with (if your listening valve) is for guest accounts, let someone log into your account as a guest, any games you place into the guest account you can no longer play (well you did say you wanted to give it to him gratis free)

 

[tidex]

LONG LIVE VALVE AND OVERLORD GABEN.
DEATH TO GAME STOP.

 

[tidex]

LONG LIVE VALVE AND OVERLORD GABEN.
DEATH TO GAME STOP.

 

[dalta centauri]

I assume everybody is different. That is why I'm so darn good at spotting problems even if I don't have them myself.
As for the download - the solution is simple - implement more control over the downloads.

If you don't want it downloading while playing a non-steam game, you simply sign off of Steam...it takes 2-5 minutes to log into Steam and start up a game.

 

[malphas]

I like Steam and have a lot of games on it, but I am troubled by certain things like being effectively locked in to one online distribution channel. e.g. in the physical world if store A is selling a game cheaper than store B one month, then the next month Store B is selling another game cheaper than Store A I can buy from the cheapest store each time and my games are still in the same format and same functionality regardless, however if Direct2Drive is selling a game cheaper than Steam, I'm highly unlikely to go and sign up with them then maintain having two platforms installed on my PC just to get that one game slightly cheaper than on Steam. I wish digital distributors would sign up to an agreement (maybe at the insistence of a regulatory body) that meant when you bought a game from one of them you could request a code to allow you to install it on competitors platforms, maybe with some sort of compensatory scheme to pay for each other's bandwidth consumption.

 

[neiroatopelcc]

[citation][nom]dalta centauri[/nom]If you don't want it downloading while playing a non-steam game, you simply sign off of Steam...it takes 2-5 minutes to log into Steam and start up a game.[/citation]

Don't confuse a workaround for a solution

 

[robochump]

Game retailers worried about PC games??? Every time I go to a 'video game retailer' I always see console games taking 90% of the store! I think the retail store chains are worried digital distribution may hit consoles too and trying to make a stink now before that happens.

 

[Guest]

This would be like blockbuster saying they won't carry any movies you can stream over netflix...

 

[phantomtrooper]

I still buy most of my games in store actually. I still prefer having a hard copy. Only time I buy games from steam is when they have really good sales.

 

[Guest]

Love Steam. No more lost or scratched discs and when I rebuild my pc, my games follow me.

 

[captjack5169]

I have had a steam account since Steam was introduced after this issue with HL2 code being stolen. I have never had a problem with their service, and I have found it to be one of the best options on the market. It solves so many problems at once its hard to know where to start. I don't particularly care what the companies that are not on board think about Steam. If you my money YOU WILL CATER TO ME. Not the other way around. Steam once said it best. "the best way to counteract piracy is to give the customer a reason to purchase the software rather than steal it" Take care of your customer and they will take care of you. Some of these software companies have for gotten about us(the players, the customers), and what we want out of their games. I havent been in the local game stop in well over 6 months, mostly because in my city they pretty much only carry console games, less than 1% of the store is PC. So I really don't have a reason to go there. That and the staff there, most of the time doesn't know jack about what there selling esspecially when it comes to PC games. Its a pity, because I remember when I was a kid going to the mall, I couldn't wait to get to the game store, now I could care less. So I say rock on Steam, and blizzard and other companies who have embraced the web as a store of the 21st century. Keep bringin me sweet deals like L4D for 7.99(bought four copies for my nephews so we can all play together), and you will have me forever.

Cheers

 

[dark_lord69]

I know why!
Cause they offer fair prices on old games!
Cause they offer game packs at super cheap special prices!
Cause you don't even have to leave your house to buy, install and play a game!

"Retailers feel that Steam integration will just drive customers to the Steam service, thereby killing the retail model."
This won't help... The "RETAIL MODEL" is flawed. Prices on even used games are excessive and if you don't have to go to a store to buy something they why would go at all?

AND

They can boycott all they want, it won't work. PEOPLE WILL BUY Half-Life 3 and any episodes when the games do come out. If gamers cant buy it in gaming stores they will go to places like Walmart.

This hole feud is very much like the Blockbuster VS Netflix situation. And what happened? Blockbuster went bankrupt. I'm not saying all game stores will go bankrupt but it is certainly leaning towards lower profits for them.

I didn't buy StarCraft II online but that was only because I had a store credit. Otherwise I would have just purchased and downloaded it online.

 

[bystander]

[citation][nom]malphas[/nom]I like Steam and have a lot of games on it, but I am troubled by certain things like being effectively locked in to one online distribution channel. e.g. in the physical world if store A is selling a game cheaper than store B one month, then the next month Store B is selling another game cheaper than Store A I can buy from the cheapest store each time and my games are still in the same format and same functionality regardless, however if Direct2Drive is selling a game cheaper than Steam, I'm highly unlikely to go and sign up with them then maintain having two platforms installed on my PC just to get that one game slightly cheaper than on Steam. I wish digital distributors would sign up to an agreement (maybe at the insistence of a regulatory body) that meant when you bought a game from one of them you could request a code to allow you to install it on competitors platforms, maybe with some sort of compensatory scheme to pay for each other's bandwidth consumption.[/citation]

One thing you might like about other systems, such as DirectDrive, is they don't all have nearly as much overhead and control over your system. DirectDrive lets you install stuff anywhere and you don't have to log in at all once you've downloaded your game and activate it. In that way, DirectDrive is better than Steam.

 

[back_by_demand]

The only reason games stores want to see the end of steam is because of the lucrative second hand games market. The games publishers don't get a single penny of that money and the games stores can sell the same actual games over a dozen times.

OK, the end user gets a "slightly" cheaper game, (not when compared to Steam pricing), but the store is raking in huge sums for very little effort.

Screw the games stores, when they front millions of dollars for creating a game in the first place they can happily take advantage of reselling games, until then I would rather see the developers get the money to reinvest in the games of the future and an overall reduction in the cost of games to start with.

 

[Maxor127]

I don't love Steam. Only thing I like about it is that it has good deals on games each week. I still prefer retail over digital, and I hate how I'm forced to use Steam for certain games no matter what. People complain about other DRM, but not that. And I hate its structure for installing games.

 

[Guest]

Someone should instead come up with a platform like Steam with a common backend but it allows people to create or license the front end and earn sales. This would then a) let the users win and buy digital, b) let the retailers get in on the online sales, c) game manufactures win because their games become available to all and the sale more! Sounds win win…

 

[Guest]

"threaten that they will not carry any product that carry any Steam integration."

Let'em. I have yet to have a positive experience at a retail games store. I'm sure the buggy whip makers refused to carry anything that was also sold by Ford.

 

[michaelahess]

I'm in bed with the devil and I love it!

 

[kronos_cornelius]

Its the unmentioned side of capitalism. Free market only if the juggernaut stores allow it. The truth is, this anticompetitive step will slow down the adoption of digital stores, which is wasteful of resources.

If I were Steam, I would slap them with an antitrust lawsuit.

However, I still recent Steam not spreading the Steamy love to Linux. I'll forever have to dual-boot now :-(

 

[Guest]

Hmm....I buy from Steam, Direct2Drive or Amazon. If it isn't one of those places in that order, I don't buy it.

 

[dalta centauri]

Jeez, I think your problem is either a shitty PC or a shitty network speed.
I can load up Steam and be playing faster than most people I know who need to find the disk, take it out the wallet, put it in the CD tray and wait for it to seek.
30 Seconds tops.

You started a multiplayer/singleplayer game right away? Some games like Battlefield Bad Company 2, Crysis, Mass Effect, Dirt 2 have a number of cutscenes/side menu's before you can actually get in the game, and occasionally ones you can't skip through.

 

[dalta centauri]

Don't confuse a workaround for a solution

A work around is a solution though...
It's like saying, "The path is blocked, but I have another route which is just as fast and easy without complaining."