Steam is Killing the PC Market?

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The biggest threat to video game retailers? Apparently it’s Steam. Wait, what?

‘We will refuse to sell Steam games’ blast High Street giants; Digital distributors losing customers to giant rival. The world's biggest digital distribution platform for games is under attack. MCV understands that key retailers will drop titles that integrate the popular Steam service as fears mount that the service has a ‘monopoly’ on the download market.
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If by "killing the pc market" they mean "revitalizing", then yes.

I agree with the statement in the article that the other download stores should spend more time on making their experience as complete and usable as steam's implementation, and less time crying about stuff like valve killing the pc.
 
If anything, Valve helps keep the PC gaming market afloat. Steam may have its flaws, but its good and it gets the job done. The competition... well it sucks worse than steam did when it first came out
 
steam has a good product and brings a better experience to users than any other game service than any other shop. It has not been my intention to always use steam...but over time I have realized steam is the best choice for me since I can virtually use the 'cloud' service to access my games from anywhere and not have to remember where I stored a key or who I bought it through.
 
Steam is better than all of it's competition; unless of course you have the need for the box. Show me another program that's in any way the equivalent to steam.
 
even if you have a boxed copy, you can add the game and use the game, destroy the dvd, you still can play the game.
it's all good!
 
Change that title to:

Steam is Killing the retail game PC Market?

I would be glad to see retail game sales go. Even with the recent botched PC launch of Black Ops.
 
Aren't they still making money off the games sold? Steam offers some support after the game is purchased, a good reason why people purchase from them.
These other sites need to develop their own community and maybe they won't have to worry about what Steam is doing.
 
Yeah, Steam is killing the PC Gaming market.

If you ignore the fact that they're the sole reason many Indy developers didn't have to close their doors due to 0 market penetration and nonexistant sales.

:rolleyes: Cliffs:
Bad competition is mad they can't compete with Steam. Thanks for playing, try again when you can manage to not be another unimaginary hack and actually bring something innovative to the market.
 
when i go to Gamestop it's hard to find the pc game rack, they move it all the time and its always getting smaller. they used to have 50 feet of wall for pc games and you used to be able to trade in games. on top of that gamestop is always slow on reducing prices on old games and most of the time its always cheaper on steam.
 
Let's not forget the games we've all purchased because of a steam sale. Games we probably never would have come near if we had to go to the store to buy it.
 
I really wish people would stop using QQ wrong.

it means quit, it's not meant as crying, or whiny eyes. It means quit the game.

Either way it's retarded internet speak at this point, but the ignorance of the people running around yelling QQ all the time is annoying as hell.
 
Bull shitoki.... example: there was a deal recently for the new COD game for $49. People bought it from direct2drive(not steam is it?) and was given a key on the day of release. The people could get the key, and in turn download the COD game via steam (using steams bandwidth for free basically, right?).
 
Not to mention the $2.50 DOD Source deal on steam.... who else would have that? Nobody, so steam really promotes more game sales if you look at it.
 
I used to prefer retail copies but now if I can get it on Steam I will everytime.... much better than having to keep up with your CD/DVD & key(s). Environmentally friendly too!
 
Steam is helping the market out but if you mean by hurting the market for overpriced rehashed games then yes it is in that aspect...
 
niconx said:
Change that title to:

Steam is Killing the retail game PC Market?

I would be glad to see retail game sales go. Even with the recent botched PC launch of Black Ops.
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Good luck with that. Many people would stop buying games alltogether and with good reason.

It's extreme POVs such as yours, that make things so bad. Choice IS always needed. There should NEVER be just one way to buy something.
 
Seriously i can't tell you the last time I bought a game from a B&M Store, ever since I signed up to steam in 2003 I've been getting my games through it...
 
Luxor said:
Bull shitoki.... example: there was a deal recently for the new COD game for $49. People bought it from direct2drive(not steam is it?) and was given a key on the day of release. The people could get the key, and in turn download the COD game via steam (using steams bandwidth for free basically, right?).
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I got in on that deal but I downloaded the game from D2D right after I purchased the game. Then waited for the key and entered it when I installed... don't know why people were waiting to get the key & then download from Steam. :confused:
 
AthlonXP said:
Steam is helping the market out but if you mean by hurting the market for overpriced rehashed games then yes it is in that aspect...
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Overpriced ? You're obviously not european, where Steam prices, without the actual disc, box and manuals is equal to or HIGHER than the retail version.

Stop thinking about your closed world only (where it seems only Steam deals are great) and think about the big picture.
 
tgabe213 said:
Let's not forget the games we've all purchased because of a steam sale. Games we probably never would have come near if we had to go to the store to buy it.
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Absolutely. That $40 game at retail can look like a bargain at $20 on Steam during the sales. Or even the older games, like SW:KOTOR which I got for $2.50. Never played it before, and I've enjoyed it. But if I didn't like it--heck I'm only out $2.50. That's less than a Big Mac costs.

About a year ago, another tech news site had an article similar to this, and 95+% of the comments were in support of Steam. While I too like having a physical disc, I have yet to find any digital download service that works as well as Steam. Valve seems to have listened to the customer (which, sadly, is a rare thing anymore) and has given us what we want. I think that's why I have only bought one physical copy of a game in the last year and a half. Well that and the killer sales. And that it just works.
 
Dear Retailers:Your days are numbered. You have been rendered obsolete.

umad.jpg
 
Silus said:
Overpriced ? You're obviously not european, where Steam prices, without the actual disc, box and manuals is equal to or HIGHER than the retail version.

Stop thinking about your closed world only (where it seems only Steam deals are great) and think about the big picture.
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So you are saying I should be glad to pay $60 for a game that basically brings nothing to the table then its predecessor??
 
Silus said:
Overpriced ? You're obviously not european, where Steam prices, without the actual disc, box and manuals is equal to or HIGHER than the retail version.

Stop thinking about your closed world only (where it seems only Steam deals are great) and think about the big picture.
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then it would seem steam isn't hurting anything over there so your post was pointless.
 
Steam is killing retail PC sales. Go to Best Buy or any other big box retailer. Where are the PC games? Sure there are a few, but the console titles are front and center. Steam offers what the retailers can't or won't. The other digital distributors pale in comparison.
 
rcat1 said:
Steam is killing retail PC sales. Go to Best Buy or any other big box retailer. Where are the PC games? Sure there are a few, but the console titles are front and center. Steam offers what the retailers can't or won't. The other digital distributors pale in comparison.
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/Thread
 
consoles wrecked pc gaming, it has nothing to do with steam

valve capitalized on a dying market and breathed new life into it.

the retailers kills pc gaming by pushing consoles, just like the developers did. They fucked themselves and now want to pile on a very successful media tool.
 
I don't buy games unless I can get them on Steam (Blizzard being the only exception). I could care less about buying a boxed copy. Then I have to keep track of my CDs and CD-keys, and if I get a bad disc (which has happened before, my brother's Disc #3 for WoW was unreadable out of the box) then it becomes a huge hassle. Steam is easier, even if the prices are the same.
 
Steam is the best thing to happen to PC gaming in a long time. Best buy can close up shop for all I care.
 
stealthy123 said:
I really wish people would stop using QQ wrong.

it means quit, it's not meant as crying, or whiny eyes. It means quit the game.

Either way it's retarded internet speak at this point, but the ignorance of the people running around yelling QQ all the time is annoying as hell.
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QQ...
 
I love Steam. The only time I buy a retail PC game anymore is if it's Blizzard or if I'm getting a collector's edition that comes bundled with extra stuff.
 
I like Impulse's experience better. Also I don't like when games are because Steam exclusives though.

But no one can deny the positives Steam has done for indy developers. And their occasional hot deals on older games are real nice too.
 
Parmenides said:
I like Impulse's experience better. Also I don't like when games are because Steam exclusives though.

But no one can deny the positives Steam has done for indy developers. And their occasional hot deals on older games are real nice too.
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edit....
"Also I don't like when games are made to be Steam exclusives though."
 
stealthy123 said:
consoles wrecked pc gaming, it has nothing to do with steam

valve capitalized on a dying market and breathed new life into it.

the retailers kills pc gaming by pushing consoles, just like the developers did. They fucked themselves and now want to pile on a very successful media tool.
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This. Although I do like buying physical copies of discs, I see no point in paying over-bloated retail prices when I can just go on Steam and get.
 
Totally agree with #12

The "brick and mortar" stores did this to themselves. They started cutting back PC game inventory LONG before steam really hit "critical mass" .They decided that getting you to pre-order it was more cost effective than having to pay for a bunch of inventory that may or may not get sold. As stated above the retail PC game sections (if they are present AT ALL) are woefully understocked. So unless your buying "Call of Duty 20" your pretty much screwed..unless you pre-order.

Places like Amazon are really the best bet for retail boxes. I used to avoid digital distibuted versions because I wanted the hard copy manual. Which is now really nothing more than keyboard mappings anyways and you can now just as easly print out the pdf from the digital version. Not to mention the whole "cant-find-the-manual-where-the-frak-is my cdkey! fun we have ALL experienced. And I can install the steam version on any PC in my house, as long as only one is being played at a time, its all good.
 
I would gladly purchase a retail title. In fact, I love getting the box, manual, and all that fun stuff off the shelf. But I couldn't tell you how long it's been since I've been so excited to go out and buy retail because a lot of it is the same stuff over and over again. The PC section in any store is getting smaller and smaller, with big titles getting pushed out by cookie cutter re-hashes. Big game companies have been focusing less on the consumer and more on their bottom dollar.
Maybe they should spend less time on marketing crap and more time on building a great game and a great fanbase.
 
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