But Stardock's Impulse second biggest, claims erm Stardock boss While it's pretty much impossible to give exact sales figures for digital distribution (no-one's willing to fess up to their own figures), publisher and Impulse owner Stardock has estimated Valve's Steam controls a whopping 70 per cent of the market.... read more
Steam fails at existence. i can't stand it, it takes forever and a day to download patches and updates, everything is overpriced and some games force it on you. I bought Empire: Total War on release and it was three hours before Steam decided that I could use it. i don't like the other work of Valve either. _________________ "Our world cannot be viewed through the glasses of common sense" - Masato Arai.
Currently Playing: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor, Oblivion, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy X, Aion Beta.
PSN: lordirongut
I would also like HL 2 Ep 3, I'm fed with waiting for it now, no news, no screenshots since that crappy one of GF back in Oct 2007, it's driving me mad, maybe if we set up some sort of boycot like some people did for L4D 2 we can make them give some kind of update... I'm joking about a boycot by the way, I'd crack as soon the game came out!!!
Oh and I use steam, I tried D2D once but wasn't all that impressed, although it is good valve have some competition.
I have been with Steam since HL2 was released all those years ago. I've watch as it's gradually improved over the years to what it has become. It is easily the best digital distribution platform on the PC. I just wish they would change that horrible default colour scheme!
I think Steam is fantastic. I like that all updates are taken care of without having to search the internet (or rely PCZone cover disk), and the seamless integration with chat.
The only problem have is the slowdown on game release dates. If only they'd get some European servers. (In the UK, with me managing?)
I can believe the Steam dominance, but Stardock in second place? Let me be the first to say: b******s. Not a chance. Direct2Drive I could believe, even Metaboli, but I've barely even heard of Impulse, and I wouldn't trust Stardock with my money. Have anyone else here heard of Impulse, much less bought from them? _________________ "I don't have time for your insanity, I've got to steal a 'Get Well' card from a kidney patient!"
I Am Blogger, You Are Glue http://www.gamezine.co.uk
I use both Steam and Impulse and found both of them satisfactory, although I do like the fact that Impulse is less intrusive (it doesn't load up every time you start a game you bought on it).
I think Impulse is less known here in Europe, although 10% overall market share sounds plausible.
In general though I tend to opt for boxed copies of games as they're usually cheaper, so with digital distribution you're in fact paying more for less!
Ive got over 80 games on steam now. Decided this year to purchase most of my games through it. Its just so handy with patches and friendslist. I will say that most of those where bought during the sales.
I also dont buy a game from steam unless its CHEAPER than the boxed version.Laughed at DOW2's half price sale which was still �8 more expensive than play. Waiting on sales for (among others)Resident Evil 5 call of jurez and Red Faction now.
EDIT:Oh just checked price of red faction. �34.99 on steam and �12.99 (with expansion pack) from play. Hmmmm screw it buying the boxed version instead. Thats madness but all to common with steams pricing
Steam is great when its all working nicely but can be a complete nightmare if things go wrong.
Ive been using steam since HL2 was first released and it has come on leaps and bounds since then with plenty of community features and a very large catalogue of games that will just keep growing and growing.
Thing is the only games i have bought through steam are valves own games. The reason? Price.
Most, if not all non-valve games are, as been said above, overpriced and i can buy them cheaper elsewhere. Which i do.
Im not blaming Valve for this as it could well be the other publishers that are setting the price i just dont know.
People may argue the fact that you are paying a premium for the ease of purchasing and downloading them. The convenience of having them ready to 'unlock' and play as soon as they are released and also the fact that the games DL and update itself etc.
Strong arguments and I admit these are great features but i wouldn't pay MORE for the same product i could easily purchase just as conveniently from an online retailer and still receive the game on the release date or earlier (most times 1, 2 days even a week in a few cases).
As for the 'auto-update' well, that is a lot easier and convenient through steam but it still doesn't constitute a price premium for me as a lot of games now have an auto-update link built into the game or at least send you to the official site to DL the update/patch.
This is my thoughts on steam as ive hardly, if ever used other platforms to DL games, not that i haven't looking into it with the games i want to purchase mind you.
At the end of the day its down to your personal preference whether you purchase through steam/impulse/D2D, a publishers own site (i bought DA:O direct from EA as it was the best deal for the deluxe edition i could find at the time) or like i do with 90% of my purchases from a retailer.
I do worry though that if all games end up digital download only in the future there wont be enough competition with just 3 main digital distributors there are currently... _________________ 360 GT: ME pRiM8
Xfire: meprim8
SteamID: meprim8
the single biggest problem with Steam is NOT BEING ABLE TO SELL GAMES ON, 2nd biggest problem is the ripoff prices, bar weekend deals everytings much more expensive than retail since they now quote euro and Stg _________________ I HATE fanboys, fanboy - "Fanboys are noted for a very emotional attachment to their chosen subject, often taking negative remarks about it as a personal attack."
I started with steam in 2002-3 I think, when it was required to participate in the CS 1.6 beta. That was a right laugh. It would freak out all the time. It was purely a patching system at the time. It has been very flakey in the past, but I couldn't be without it now. I only ever buy when things are on special, but I still have some 40 games in my list. I never trade in old pc games, so resale is no issue for me.
As for other systems. I've had metaboli and gametap, but I always went back to steam.
I guess I am one of those weird people who have absolutely no problem with steam. Never had an issue, download speeds are acceptable, and frankly, their selection is incredible. And they crank out some very nice deals.
I do like Impulse, and use it too, but really they just don't match Steam in most categories.
I wonder what will happen when Onlive services start i think they will change the way of PC games, and steam will face the new monester , nothing will stay in top always.
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, nothing will stay in top always.
