NaturallyZarathustra[H];1036418095 said:Unless - of course - it happens to be a valve game
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NaturallyZarathustra[H];1036418095 said:Unless - of course - it happens to be a valve game
Have a mixture of box and Steam games.Only bitch is slow download speeds
Basically they can QQ all they want. Give it 5-10 years and digital distribution will likely be the only way or at least have over 50% of all titles will be handled. Digital distribution is the future and I've been saying that, among many others for some time now.
Digital distribution is now.Saying "Digital distribution is the future" does nothing to help the present situation. It's just cheer leading.
I was a HUGE steam hater at first, just did not like the idea of giving away control by not having a physical copy, etc.
But in the end, it was just too hard not to like steam. It's a great product, works well, brings me games I wouldn't otherwise buy at good prices and brings me the games I'd by anyway without having to leave my house. I haven't even installed DVD drives in my main computer for 5+ years now.
Dear Retailers:Your days are numbered. You have been rendered obsolete.
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.
If brick-and-mortar retailers just closed all their stores and liquidated their assets, they'd get a quick cash injection. Then they could use all that extra money to design, build, and advertise a rival system.
Seriously, they're wasting their money on loading up thousands of employees in stores, paying rent to malls, etc. Their overhead is way too high and they could make it all go away. They're just too scared of taking a risk to compete with Valve.
Retail's real problem with Steam is the fact of the digital distribution model over the physical copy model of doing business. Retail has to tie up their cash into inventory which means that only a limited number can be purchased for resell vs digital which isn't constrained by the same problem. Digital: larger catalog, less overhead. Retail: inventory which requires warehousing, physical shipping, showroom space and additional personnel for assisting customer at POS. Digital wins hands down.
Steam has one of the most effective systems for digital distribution which means more dollars in both Steam and the publisher's pockets. As a consumer, I prefer Steam as it's less hassle and I don't have to worry about keeping up with CD keys and other stuff physically for my games.
Retail has only themselves to blame as they historically didn't give PC games a chance to truly prove itself as a viable product in their stores. I speak from experience as I used to buy PC software for a retail chain of 110 stores and my best year they only gave me a budget for the year of 5 million total; 2/3 of which was expected to be reserved for buying for the 3 month period leading into Christmas leaving only 1/3 of my budget for the other 9 months spread across 110 stores. Can't buy too many copies of AA titles with that, much less the smaller Indie titles.
You never truly own the retail games you purchase....
Similarly, the term "ownership" doesn't apply to either. So what exactly is the difference?
Zarathustra[H];1036418109 said:If you were under the impression that this was ever any different with non-steam games, then you really don't understand how software sales work...
Zarathustra[H];1036418074 said:The fact that in a non-steam title you can resell it when you are done with it if you please. You can also lend it to a friend or a family member without having them logged on to your steam account.
some of us aint there yet & will die before ever going there - STEAM is like shopping at WalMart: either ya do or ya don't
anyway, STEAM is not the cause of the death of PC gaming - it is but a symptom
the cuases are GREED & SLOTH
whatever floats your boat
some of us aint there yet & will die before ever going there - STEAM is like shopping at WalMart: either ya do or ya don't
anyway, STEAM is not the cause of the death of PC gaming - it is but a symptom
the cuases are GREED & SLOTH
whatever floats your boat
No, you had the right to do what the software license did not specifically forbid and what copyright allowed for. That hasn't changed. That is precisely how software distributed via Steam works as well: there's a EULA; you must abide by it; you must also abide by copyright. Fundamentally, there is no difference.There were games that didn't even have keys...then games that had keys that didn't need activation. Which meant that yes, you DID own it. In the most literal sense of the word. It was a physical product, and we had the right to do as we pleased with it.
I suggest you follow your own advice.Look at the bigger picture for fuck's sake.
No, you had the right to do what the software license did not specifically forbid and what copyright allowed for. That hasn't changed. That is precisely how software distributed via Steam works as well: there's a EULA; you must abide by it; you must also abide by copyright. Fundamentally, there is no difference.
And when your precious interwebz go down? Then what genius?
Only those of us who actually have a physical copy (that doesn't require online activation) will be playing!