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[PaulLFC]

You know what GAME, it's probably not a good idea to make potential customers dislike you more than they already do. They're struggling according to a news story on MCV a year or so ago, don't know how they're doing now but if moves like this are part of their "strategy" then I hope they're in a similar position now.

They're becoming increasingly desperate if their preorder sign up routine is anything to go by - years ago they never asked, then it was "would you like to preorder anything today?". I went in to see what their prices were like the other day, and the conversation went something like this:

"Anything I can help you with there?"
"No thanks, just looking for now."
"OK... would you like to preorder any games today?"
"No thanks, not right now."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah thanks"
"Are there no games coming out that you might be interested in? It's free to preorder and we give you a free text the day of release" etc etc etc.

So annoying.

 

[dak1dsk1]

I don't even know what Steamwork is. Some kinda DRM? If so, glad the russkies kept it out.

 

[Jezbollah]

I honestly cannot remember the last time I walked into a retail store and bought a game I could get online - either digitally by Steam or other downloadable providers or by Amazon. Steam usually provides amazing value with their discounted offers, and Amazon usually have day one RRP prices much cheaper than high street shops even after p&p costs.

The days of shopping on the streets for Games will soon follow in the same way as other Home Entertainment media in the UK - with only a few major dedicated retailers having stores. I can only think of HMV who are the last of those big retailers, and even they are publishing profit warnings.

I can see the likes of Tescos (and other shopping megastores) being the only places to buy games day one if you're not going to order them online..

 

[sixteen-bit]

That's shitty. I love Steam.

 

[Void Insanity]

Brick Retailers are starting to get rather desperate, I am surprised they don't abandon PC entirely. What I want to know is, what is their policy on a Valve game?

 

[Rubezh]

They are basically saying: "Make games that don't need me connected to the Internet to install and play them, and I'll buy them."

It makes no sense to force gamers who have bought a boxed game at retail to connect and register at an on-line retailer.

The store you bought it at has every right to be annoyed, as they are practically providing free advertising for a competitor (Steam). At the same time, gamers are hassled by being locked into yet another corporate relationship they did not want, and having to yet again provide personal information to yet another third-party.

Valve are either stupid for not considering the above, or need to have their ethical compasses recalibrated.

If that were to be the case then retailers would have to remove every single Uplay, GFWL, and Securom enabled game. Coupled with the removal of Steamworks games, that'd decrease the shelf space of PC games from a corner to a single rack. Whether you like it or not, online activations, registration, and online DRM are here to stay. You can choose to either stop PC gaming completely, choose the least intrusive and consumer friendly solution, or pointlessly complain and call for the removal of DRM which is never going to happen. If you believe that Steam is locking consumers into a "corporate relationship" when you clearly haven't used the service before or have any understanding of it.

 

[I NEED SCISSORS]

Maybe read reviews for PC games before? Or wait at least a week till their out? Ideally, if you're so bothered by certain things then you could just as easily check some general reviews or GAF opinions.

Both PC configurations and opinions are very variable things. There's no guarantee that anything we buy will be enjoyable or even run for that matter - it can be wildly different from one person to the next. There needs to be a safe-guard (ie. selling the game on) in place to prevent this potential dissatisfaction.

 

[Foliorum Viridum]

The only PC games I see sold in GAME down here are £3 classics from 15 years ago, World of Warcraft, Football Manager and whatever big movie tie-ins are out.

PC gaming at retail is dead and has been for years.

 

[SmokyDave]

You know what GAME, it's probably not a good idea to make potential customers dislike you more than they already do.

Funny thing is, I can't stand GAME but I occasionally wandered in to see if they had any Steamworks titles cheap. I'd usually end up picking something up once I'd walked through those doors. Now the incentive to look for Steamworks bargains has gone, I'll happily just walk on by. They're an increasing irrelevance.

 

[Hop]

I don't even know what Steamwork is. Some kinda DRM? If so, glad the russkies kept it out.

It's the achievements/matchmaking/anti-cheat/in-game store toolkit for Steam games. Ties the game to Steam while providing a ton of features on the player side and company side (tons of sale report type things).

 

[crimsonheadGCN]

I'm pretty sure GAME is going to still carry Steamworks titles, since they are still taking pre-orders for Steamworks titles. They just want to force developers and publishers to remove the games from the UK version of Steam.

 

[The Broken Ska Record]

Both PC configurations and opinions are very variable things. There's no guarantee that anything we buy will be enjoyable or even run for that matter - it can be wildly different from one person to the next. There needs to be a safe-guard (ie. selling the game on) in place to prevent this potential dissatisfaction.

Opinions ARE very different things, but there can be a consensus among people. Brink, for instance, had generally very negative reviews within a few days of it's release. As for games not working, again, if you wait a few days I'm sure there are plenty of places, GAF included, that will have people talking about issues with certain hardware. So it's hard to feel bad if you got "gimped" and jumped in right away. Hell, I did the same for TW2 and I found out a few days after I bought the game that the reason I was getting a HORRIBLE framerate was my video card.

Now, if you're upset that you can't resell a PC because you're done with it, then that I can understand.

 

[Gram Negative Cocci]

What if EA decided to really abandon Steam, even for half a year (you could say a test abandon) and then Activision, Ubisoft follows suit?

That wouldn't be good. Valve games alone won't cut it methinks.

Or maybe they just won't participate in any Summer/ Xmas clearances to annoy Great Gaben.

 

[Burekma]

They are basically saying: "Make games that don't need me connected to the Internet to install and play them, and I'll buy them."

It makes no sense to force gamers who have bought a boxed game at retail to connect and register at an on-line retailer.

The store you bought it at has every right to be annoyed, as they are practically providing free advertising for a competitor (Steam). At the same time, gamers are hassled by being locked into yet another corporate relationship they did not want, and having to yet again provide personal information to yet another third-party.

Valve are either stupid for not considering the above, or need to have their ethical compasses recalibrated.

LOL umad?

It's only a problem because Valve provides a much better service than they do. When you install Steam, you don't have to buy anything from it. People seem to forget this simple fact. Trojan horsing a service, by itself, means nothing, if the service is poor.

As for your hassle comment, I hope you realize Steam has some insane 200%+ sales growth year over year or something like that, for the past couple years. Again, these people may be forced to use Steam, but they aren't forced to spend money on it. The fact that they do, and in such large numbers, means that they can't possibly be hassled by a service, since they like it so much, they're willing to spend money on it. Don't let your personal experience cloud your view of how the mass market works. Until Steams growth ratios start significantly dropping, you won't convince me gamers in general are hassled by it.

 

[PaulLFC]

I'm pretty sure GAME is going to still carry Steamworks titles, since they are still taking pre-orders for Steamworks titles. They just want to force developers and publishers to remove the games from the UK version of Steam.

Surely that's anti competitive? "Sell the games through us, or Steam, but not both." They still get some profit off every Steamworks game sold, this is just them trying to increase their profit at the expense of Steam by the looks of it.

 

[Jintor]

So... are they going to ban GFWL and Origin-enabled games too...?

 

[Joseph Merrick]

So... are they going to ban GFWL and Origin-enabled games too...?

hope so. if you have to lock a serial key to an account to play a game or save a game like on idiotic gfwl it should be banned.

 

[The Broken Ska Record]

What if EA decided to really abandon Steam, even for half a year (you could say a test abandon) and then Activision, Ubisoft follows suit?

That wouldn't be good. Valve games alone won't cut it methinks.

Or maybe they just won't participate in any Summer/ Xmas clearances to annoy Great Gaben.

I can see Activision and Ubisoft eyeing Origin to see if it works, but I don't think they'd just pull out of Steam just because EA decides to do so.

 

[Evlar]

hope so. if you have to lock a serial key to an account to play a game or save a game like on idiotic gfwl it should be banned.

Like all MMOs?

 

[CharmingCharlie]

No one should feel any sympathy for these "retailers" they abused their position and marginalised the PC platform for years because it wasn't profitable for them. Now they see Steam and other DD services making a killing in the PC market place and they scream "foul".

This smacks of a "well if I can't make any money from PC gaming neither can anyone else". Just look at what Darryl Still of 1C had to say :-

But then on the one hand they moan about the sales they lose to digital, and on the other, when Lace produce a stunning special edition boxed set - including T-shirts and other special items - that is designed specifically to give them something that cannot be replicated digitally, the UK's biggest chain decline to stock it... preferring apparently to use that shelf space for fluffy Princess Peach plushes!

http://www.computerandvideogames.co...ook-up-the-pc-market-1c-on-steams-true-value/

So even when you give Retail a PC product specifically DESIGNED for them with content digital services cannot match they still turned their nose up at it and shoved the shelves full of dolls.

I am all for competition in the market place, if a retail organisation successfully manages to get a game withdrawn from Steam then so be it, I will buy from another DD site. However it will be a cold day in hell before I ever set foot in a brick and mortar store and give them my money.

 

[GotEmRunnin]

They are basically saying: "Make games that don't need me connected to the Internet to install and play them, and I'll buy them."

It makes no sense to force gamers who have bought a boxed game at retail to connect and register at an on-line retailer.

The store you bought it at has every right to be annoyed, as they are practically providing free advertising for a competitor (Steam). At the same time, gamers are hassled by being locked into yet another corporate relationship they did not want, and having to yet again provide personal information to yet another third-party.

Valve are either stupid for not considering the above, or need to have their ethical compasses recalibrated.

Who is your employer good sir? The angry mob behind me demands to know.

Based Gabe be praised..

 

[Lard]

How could Valve do this to us! Their elegant feature-laden DRM solution has really put us over the barrel as consumers. Why can't anybody else see that the retailers who provide no service at all are the good guys here.

DRM is DRM. Bad is bad.

 

[Danneee]

Do PC gamers really buy their games in-store anymore? Except for games that can be activated online and downloaded through some kind of dd service?

 

[hamchan]

I can see Activision and Ubisoft eyeing Origin to see if it works, but I don't think they'd just pull out of Steam just because EA decides to do so.

If Origin works definitely expect Activision to pull out of Steam and start a big store on Battle.net.

 

[mxgt]

PC games are pretty much dead at my local GAME.

Not many there and way overpriced.

 

[Detox]

I'm pretty sure GAME is going to still carry Steamworks titles, since they are still taking pre-orders for Steamworks titles. They just want to force developers and publishers to remove the games from the UK version of Steam.

Yeah, the guy being interviewed may have got it wrong unless this is something we will see with future titles. GAME is still selling games that use Steamworks the deal they have with some publishers seems to be that Steam can't sell Steamworks enabled titles. Brink, Homefront and probably some other games were available to pre-order on Steam, they were removed after release.

 

[Joseph Merrick]

Like all MMOs?

doesn't it say it's a subscription on mmo boxes? no idea. you should be able to untie a serial key regardless

 

[The Broken Ska Record]

If Origin works definitely expect Activision to pull out of Steam and start a big store on Battle.net.

Oh, absolutely. It's just a big IF right now.

 

[Label]

If a PC game is sold at retail without Steamworks I do not buy it retail fullstop. I want ALL my PC games to be available on Steam, as I use 6 different computers. Plus the fact I do not have a optical drive in my main PC.

So all in all if a retail game does not have Steamworks I will just buy that game on Steam instead, even if it costs more. (Even then I will buy the game online and not instore.)

 

[syoaran]

It's ok retailers, Amazon Prime and Steam are a much better source of gaming than any bricks an mortar for anything except a console release these days.

I've yet to walk into a HMV/GAME where PC games are not £35 at release, vs the £23-£25 on amazon

 

[Morokh]

It's not in any publisher interest to pull all their games from other DL services completely to start putting them exclusively on their own.

However, we could see everything outside the game like pre order bonus, DLC, or extremely attractive deals become exclusive to the publisher's store.

And for Activision, it IS on the Battle.net plans to open some sort of Store.

 

[Joseph Merrick]

How is that any different than Steam? Correct me if I am wrong but once you use a CD key on Steam you cannot use that same key on another account.

uh yes, that is the same as steam

 

[water_wendi]

A nice start i guess. Hopefully this gets others to follow.

 

[Goro Majima]

I need a map and a compass to find the PC game section in any store these days anyway.

I'm pretty sure the only company in the US that would have any clout to pull off this kind of demand would be someone like Walmart. Surely we've arrived at the point where Steam sales are larger than Best Buy, Target, and Gamestop combined?

 

[Label]

uh yes, that is the same as steam

Haha, I have just read your post properly. I see what you are saying now and I agree.

This shall teach me to skim posts whilst at work

 

[subversus]

I have a very strong sense of deja vu reading this thread.

 

[ClovingWestbrook]

A nice start i guess. Hopefully this gets others to follow.

Lol the pro consumer rears his head again.
*I am pro consumer*
*I am for limiting the choice of consumers*
*Seriously, I am pro consumer*

Heh.

 

[FGMPR]

The only PC games I see sold in GAME down here are £3 classics from 15 years ago, World of Warcraft, Football Manager and whatever big movie tie-ins are out.

PC gaming at retail is dead and has been for years.

It still has a pretty decent presence in Australia. I don't know where you're from, but I wouldn't assume things are the same all over the world as they are from your location.

 

[coopolon]

I was under the impression retail was still a pretty big deal in the UK for PC games as well. I thought during discussions about Steam prices vs. retail prices, UKers always made the point that in the UK retail prices plummet rapidly and so it's always much cheaper than Steam except during sales.

 

[Jex]

You know what GAME, it's probably not a good idea to make potential customers dislike you more than they already do. They're struggling according to a news story on MCV a year or so ago, don't know how they're doing now but if moves like this are part of their "strategy" then I hope they're in a similar position now.

I was reading an article earlier in a Retailers magazine which stated that profits are still down for game, with their biggest growth being in their online space.

 

[water_wendi]

Lol the pro consumer rears his head again.
*I am pro consumer*
*I am for limiting the choice of consumers*
*Seriously, I am pro consumer*

Heh.

i would support physical retailers doing this with Origin required games. i see this as an entirely different battle.

 

[szaromir]

It just means that PC gamers will have to buy on Steam or other DD stores (if available). No biggie. Only those retail stores lose in this situation as this means the consumers have even less reason to visit them.

 

[ClovingWestbrook]

i would support physical retailers doing this with Origin required games. i see this as an entirely different battle.

So again, you want to limit the customers choice. But you are pro consumer. Yep, makes sense.

 

[SmokyDave]

i would support physical retailers doing this with Origin required games. i see this as an entirely different battle.

Yeah, and it's a crap battle. Now I can't buy the games I want from the service I enjoy. If GAME think this will get me through their doors, they couldn't be more mistaken. Fuck 'em.

 

[water_wendi]

So again, you want to limit the customers choice. But you are pro consumer. Yep, makes sense.

My opposition to this particular issue isnt at all related to consumer choice.

 

[Veitsev]

i would support physical retailers doing this with Origin required games. i see this as an entirely different battle.

Yeah dude we know. You have made it clear in every fucking steam thread.

 

[water_wendi]

Yeah dude we know. You have made it clear in every fucking steam thread.

i bet i can find many Steam threads where i didnt even bother to post. Anyway, this is a DD issue and not a Steam issue as far as im concerned.

 

[Veitsev]

i bet i can find many Steam threads where i didnt even bother to post. Anyway, this is a DD issue and not a Steam issue as far as im concerned.

I am sure those thread were the better for it.

 

[ClovingWestbrook]

My opposition to this particular issue isnt at all related to consumer choice.

Yet I thought you proud yourself on being such a pro consumer? You are arguing AGAINST choice. You do realize that, right?

 

[Abooie]

retailers just trying to keep themselves afloat really, the digital shadow is getting quite big.

the way they are doing it is pretty shitty, but i don't see another option.

maybe im bias, i kinda like retail a lot due to the physical items and prices

Got to agree.

Not sure how the big retailers could ever get behind a product that forces the user to intall something that then encourages them to never come back to the store again.