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To be honest there are tons of Steam haters (including me). Gamers love the concept of digital distribution but not the way Steam does it. Right now there is no

To be honest there are tons of Steam haters (including me). Gamers love the concept of digital distribution but not the way Steam does it. Right now there is no decent competition, there are several companies but most of them are quite weak in many levels. Possibly future is Steam alike platforms with rent ability (such as gametap / metaboli). Simply put Netflix for games is the next thing, although looks like going to take another 3-5 years to get something decent in that field.

culturestate 15y ago
> Simply put Netflix for games is the next thing, although looks like going to take another 3-5 years to get something decent in that field. GameFly fulfills this very nicely right now, though it does lack an equivalent to Watch Instantly.
- fmavituna 15y ago
  Right now they have 2 problems. Lack of PC rentals (due to obvious reasons) and lack of "instant play", but hey PC gaming is dying anyway and rentals for consoles is possibly just around the corner.
  - daeken 15y ago
    Every 10 years, people say that PC gaming is going to be dead in 5 years. Every 5 years, it's bigger than it was before. PC gaming will never die, it'll just keep changing form. Right now we're seeing it shift to the web, to tablets, etc.
    - fmavituna 15y ago
      Sure PC gaming is bigger than '96 but what's the growth compared to expected growth? Consoles obviously took massive amount of the market. PC hardware is still expensive if you want to play the new games, some games don't even bother release PC versions any more. But there's a hardcore gaming community and there are certain types of games that still suck in consoles. Even this is clear indication that PC gaming is dying, or will be a niche rather than a main stream thing.
      - Goronmon 15y ago
        Even this is clear indication that PC gaming is dying, or will be a niche rather than a main stream thing. You're arguments are all but copy and pasted from every other person who has brought this up in the last ten years or so. The reasons you stated haven't brought about the end of PC gaming yet.
  - Lewisham 15y ago
    FWIW, Gamefly is going to offer PC rentals: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/08/gamefly-goes-digital-with-pc-game-rental-service.ars http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/08/gamefly-goes-digi...
    - culturestate 15y ago
      I hadn't seen this news, but I'm very excited to see how this pans out. This sounds like exactly what I wanted Steam to be.
jfoutz 15y ago
Oh, I'm sure there's plenty of room for Steam competition. The point is, I've never met, or even heard of, a GameStop fan. Maybe they can do it, maybe they can be the go to solution for online distribution. I just doubt it. They try a lot harder to get their hand in your wallet than they try to give you a fun gaming experience. It's hard not to hear about valve promotions from non-valve people(sorry to harp on steam). I've never had that experience with GS, and i think it's because they make people uncomfortable. my comment's peer's discussion of gamefly is exactly what i mean. high regard for GS just seems ... really really rare.
CaptainZapp 15y ago
Gamers love the concept of digital distribution but not the way Steam does it. Where do you think Steam fails in this respect? Is it simply the lack of a rental option? When I encounter limits that directly affect me, it's usually due to restrictions insisted upon by some brain dead publisher, but not by Valve. So I (as a steam "fan" [not fanboy]) are really interested in where you think the service lets you down.
- iwwr 15y ago
  It's the lack of a trading option. You can't give your games to someone else once you're bored with them. There are also geographic restrictions, the games you bought in the US you may not be able to play in the EU or vice-versa. Technically as well, if your account gets hacked and the hacker gets VAC-banned, there is no recourse, bans are near-impossible to overturn.
  - CaptainZapp 15y ago
    Thank you. All true, but with the exception of the fact that Valve gouges their European clientele, none of that really disturbed me much. The fact that I don't have to fumble with media to me is so valuable that it balances the disadvantages out. But all your points are valid and while I probably wouldn't personally make use of a rental option it would sure be nice to have (for example: to evaluate a more expensive game before buying it. Thinking about it; This is probably the very reason why they don't have it, but I digress). Trading or gifting games would probably be a no-brainer to implement, then again it would be bad for business. Overall I just haven't found a comparable service that works so well, which probably makes me that relative fan. That doesn't mean that there's no place for improvements or a better product / service in the future.
    - ordinary 15y ago
      I don't see how being able to give away games would be bad for business. I do see how trading could hurt business, but that's a narrow view of things. It might be that the ability to trade attracts more sales than the trading itself costs. I don't know if that is actually the case, but I wouldn't be too hasty to dismiss it, either. The same goes for renting. Granting people the ability to try out a game before buying it could increase sales. Many of the games I play I don't even come close to finishing. If there were a cheaper (and easier) option to try out a game for an hour than buying the full game in a physical store and then hoping I can trade it off later on, I might very well be interested. I never quite understood why shareware games went out of favour.

culturestate 15y ago

> Simply put Netflix for games is the next thing, although looks like going to take another 3-5 years to get something decent in that field. GameFly fulfills this very nicely right now, though it does lack an equivalent to Watch Instantly.

fmavituna 15y ago
Right now they have 2 problems. Lack of PC rentals (due to obvious reasons) and lack of "instant play", but hey PC gaming is dying anyway and rentals for consoles is possibly just around the corner.
- daeken 15y ago
  Every 10 years, people say that PC gaming is going to be dead in 5 years. Every 5 years, it's bigger than it was before. PC gaming will never die, it'll just keep changing form. Right now we're seeing it shift to the web, to tablets, etc.
  - fmavituna 15y ago
    Sure PC gaming is bigger than '96 but what's the growth compared to expected growth? Consoles obviously took massive amount of the market. PC hardware is still expensive if you want to play the new games, some games don't even bother release PC versions any more. But there's a hardcore gaming community and there are certain types of games that still suck in consoles. Even this is clear indication that PC gaming is dying, or will be a niche rather than a main stream thing.
    - Goronmon 15y ago
      Even this is clear indication that PC gaming is dying, or will be a niche rather than a main stream thing. You're arguments are all but copy and pasted from every other person who has brought this up in the last ten years or so. The reasons you stated haven't brought about the end of PC gaming yet.
- Lewisham 15y ago
  FWIW, Gamefly is going to offer PC rentals: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/08/gamefly-goes-digital-with-pc-game-rental-service.ars http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/08/gamefly-goes-digi...
  - culturestate 15y ago
    I hadn't seen this news, but I'm very excited to see how this pans out. This sounds like exactly what I wanted Steam to be.

jfoutz 15y ago

Oh, I'm sure there's plenty of room for Steam competition. The point is, I've never met, or even heard of, a GameStop fan. Maybe they can do it, maybe they can be the go to solution for online distribution. I just doubt it. They try a lot harder to get their hand in your wallet than they try to give you a fun gaming experience. It's hard not to hear about valve promotions from non-valve people(sorry to harp on steam). I've never had that experience with GS, and i think it's because they make people uncomfortable. my comment's peer's discussion of gamefly is exactly what i mean. high regard for GS just seems ... really really rare.

CaptainZapp 15y ago

Gamers love the concept of digital distribution but not the way Steam does it. Where do you think Steam fails in this respect? Is it simply the lack of a rental option? When I encounter limits that directly affect me, it's usually due to restrictions insisted upon by some brain dead publisher, but not by Valve. So I (as a steam "fan" [not fanboy]) are really interested in where you think the service lets you down.

iwwr 15y ago
It's the lack of a trading option. You can't give your games to someone else once you're bored with them. There are also geographic restrictions, the games you bought in the US you may not be able to play in the EU or vice-versa. Technically as well, if your account gets hacked and the hacker gets VAC-banned, there is no recourse, bans are near-impossible to overturn.
- CaptainZapp 15y ago
  Thank you. All true, but with the exception of the fact that Valve gouges their European clientele, none of that really disturbed me much. The fact that I don't have to fumble with media to me is so valuable that it balances the disadvantages out. But all your points are valid and while I probably wouldn't personally make use of a rental option it would sure be nice to have (for example: to evaluate a more expensive game before buying it. Thinking about it; This is probably the very reason why they don't have it, but I digress). Trading or gifting games would probably be a no-brainer to implement, then again it would be bad for business. Overall I just haven't found a comparable service that works so well, which probably makes me that relative fan. That doesn't mean that there's no place for improvements or a better product / service in the future.
  - ordinary 15y ago
    I don't see how being able to give away games would be bad for business. I do see how trading could hurt business, but that's a narrow view of things. It might be that the ability to trade attracts more sales than the trading itself costs. I don't know if that is actually the case, but I wouldn't be too hasty to dismiss it, either. The same goes for renting. Granting people the ability to try out a game before buying it could increase sales. Many of the games I play I don't even come close to finishing. If there were a cheaper (and easier) option to try out a game for an hour than buying the full game in a physical store and then hoping I can trade it off later on, I might very well be interested. I never quite understood why shareware games went out of favour.