Retail vs. Steam

[nekrosoft13]

Originally Posted by NarcissistZero

You don't know any of that though... who could have predicted at the height of their era that Sierra would die within 10 years? I'm not saying it is likely, but acting like Valve cannot fail in the next 20 years or more is just silly.

haha, will you actually care about games in 20 years? by that time you will have family, kids, PC architecture will probably change so much that these old games will probably have to be run in emulators just like old DOS games in dosbox.

in 20 years current games will be downloaded just like currently roms are being downloaded.

Heh - wasn't all that long ago Steam was hated far and wide like GFWL is now.

I'm glad Steam has gotten where it is, but GFWL I wish would just die and rot.

Originally Posted by grey_1

Heh - wasn't all that long ago Steam was hated far and wide like GFWL is now.

I'm glad Steam has gotten where it is, but GFWL I wish would just die and rot.

QFT. I remember signing up for Steam for the first time in '06 and I HATED it. It was terrible. I am very happy for them though as they have come a long way.

GFWL isn't bad persay. I just hate installing 7 or 8 applications with games. IE: GTA4.

[nekrosoft13]

Originally Posted by grey_1

Heh - wasn't all that long ago Steam was hated far and wide like GFWL is now.

I'm glad Steam has gotten where it is, but GFWL I wish would just die and rot.

true, i will make a thread later one, with my recent "fun" experience with GFWL

Originally Posted by nekrosoft13

true, i will make a thread later one, with my recent "fun" experience with GFWL

Hmm, interesting. I'll definitely be looking forward to reading it. While i don't like it, persay, I've never had any issues with it.

[NarcissistZero]

Originally Posted by nekrosoft13

haha, will you actually care about games in 20 years? by that time you will have family, kids, PC architecture will probably change so much that these old games will probably have to be run in emulators just like old DOS games in dosbox.

in 20 years current games will be downloaded just like currently roms are being downloaded.

I care about 20 year old games right now, why would I not care about today's games in 20 years? I mean, that could be true, but current evidence says otherwise, so why would I assume the opposite?

And yes, games will surely be download-only in 20 years, and movies too, which is a shame because we are heading to a future where no one owns any of their media. AND YOU PEOPLE ARE MAKING IT HAPPEN. Yay!

[onmikesline]

ok ill clear this up.

Copy steamapps

play steam OFFLINE

there!!
no one can take anything

and im almost sure someone will make there own program to run steamapps if anything crashes

[NarcissistZero]

Originally Posted by onmikesline

ok ill clear this up.

Copy steamapps

play steam OFFLINE

there!!
no one can take anything

and im almost sure someone will make there own program to run steamapps if anything crashes

Games require internet activation the first time you use them, so that backup method is useless.

[Buio]

Originally Posted by NarcissistZero

It's very possible it will shut down someday... actually, it's almost a guarantee it will at some point, it is not going to last forever.

Yeah, but you forgot about the points I made. And if it shuts down slowly (i.e. disposed), they will make offline play available forever.

It's like being worried about CD/DVD rot for your originals bought in store.

[nekrosoft13]

Originally Posted by NarcissistZero

I care about 20 year old games right now, why would I not care about today's games in 20 years? I mean, that could be true, but current evidence says otherwise, so why would I assume the opposite?

And yes, games will surely be download-only in 20 years, and movies too, which is a shame because we are heading to a future where no one owns any of their media. AND YOU PEOPLE ARE MAKING IT HAPPEN. Yay!

My comment about the download was about future bandwidth, in 20 years or so, 5-10gb of current games will probably be downloaded in 5-10 minutes tops.

And 20 year old games will be downloaded/pirated like today’s ROMs. Basically abandonware that little to no one cares about.

Buio, brings up a good point, optical media is not forever, who can guarantee that in 20 years we still will have cd/dvd roms.

[NarcissistZero]

A professionally printed DVD or CD can last a lifetime if kept secure in a dry and dark place. Recordable media not so much, but every 10 years I can just reburn everything.

Look, there are many factors at play in my turn away from Steam. One is Valve controlling my games, two is DRM free versus Steam DRM... another is I simply like boxes, and owning a piece of PC gaming history. I like looking through my King's Quest VI box from time to time and remembering what it was like to buy that sucker new from a small PC shop in Clearwater, FL.

Steam just isn't for everyone.

[crainger]

I heard they will write a book about Valve's betrayal and Velvet turning his back on Steam.