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[Solarstrike]

 

[Wonko_C]

If Half-Life 3 released on a UHD for PC tomorrow, I bet it would sell 40 million copies before next summer.
(Along with dramatically enhancing sales of blu-ray PC drives.)

I don't think so. Alyx didn't sell many headsets.

(Also what's an UHD)

 

[Calverz]

In 2003 people were rocking phones like this with 56 kbps dial up internet in their houses, you can't blame them.

Having this phone in 2003 would have been embarrassing as fuck.

 

[DaciaJC]

remember these old memes

Haha, yes, they were great.

 

[SenkiDala]

I remember this, he's absolutely right, at that time it sounded like madness. Only the exclusivity of a game like Half Life 2 was big enough to make people install Steam. In 2024 no licence, no game, are big enough to generate this. Got it on day one. <3

It took time to really take off though, I think gaming on Steam really became popular around 2007/2008.

Since then incredible how the industry divided in 2 :

- PC gamers not caring anymore about owning their games them who always like the say they're not dumb, unlike console gamers, that you can't scam them, still they buy games they can't resell and with things like Denovo included. I'm not judging, I've over 600 games on Steam.

- Console gamers who can still buy most of their games physically, even though owning a game physically doesn't mean as much as before. Personally I won't play a vanilla version of any game, and that's that version that is on the discs. But still you can resell your games, that's something that make people can't switch from physical to digital. Personally the day it'll be possible the resell your digital games I'll go full digital without any regret. I don't give a fuck about plastic boxes, all I care about them is reselling.

 

[Sentenza]

remember these old memes

I do. They were bullshit even back then, incidentally.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

Some people just see the world different. I couldn't imagine gaming without physical discs. Just as I couldn't imagine movie/TV streaming either. Of course that's why there is a grand canyon between me and all the rich people of the world*.

*that doesn't include jocks like HeisenbergFX4 . That is an entirely different grand canyon

I still want my discs as well

 

[Holammer]

I pirated a lot of games in my life, from the Vic20 and forward. So I have little emotional attachment to the PLaSStic BawWkses games come in.
Gaben made me a paying customer by making the service so good, it was no longer worth the trouble of pirating. Today I own 4.8k games on Steam.

 

[adamsapple]

 

[StereoVsn]

I still don't want it, I prefer physical games.

Gabe was a visionary and maybe saved PC gaming to a degree. I still find it absurd that companies were willing to accept the 30% cut Valve, google and apple get. Gabe unleashed a beast. 30% on EVERYTHING including Microtransactions. I'm not even sure Sony or Nintendo got such margins on Cd/Carts back in the day. Alot of countries digital games are WAY more expensive than phsysical, the arguement was to protect brick and mortar stores, not sure that holds true now. Digitial should always be cheaper.

Now we have execs telling us we own nothing and we should be happy, thank Gabe (partially kidding).

Are you aware of how much retail cost companies? Packaging, shipping, paying for end shelves for visibility, potentially buying back return stock and more?

Ballpark think at least 50% go to other parties and it’s a lot more hassle. At the time 30% from Valve was a great deal and it kind of still is considering the humongous audience in Steam (of course now advertising and marketing is a must).

Personally I still like physical, especially so on consoles, but Valve’s ecosystem and especially decision to allow devs to generate keys outside of the storefront was very good for the industry.

 

[Spyxos]

"The decision not just to ship Half-Life 2 with Steam but to actually require Steam, even with the versions that were purchased at retail in a box, was the most interesting decision of all those," says Greg Coomer, who worked with Gabe Newell at Microsoft before becoming one of Valve's first employees. "Because it turned out to be an incredibly important decision for the future of the company, and a lot of us were nervous, and a lot of the people who'd been at Valve for a long time, since the very beginning, were the most nervous about that decision.

I can still remember how everyone hated this Steam requirement back then. I was no different. A classmate had the game lying around for several weeks until he dragged his whole pc to a buddy so that he could activate half life 2.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

I still don't want it, I prefer physical games.

Gabe was a visionary and maybe saved PC gaming to a degree. I still find it absurd that companies were willing to accept the 30% cut Valve, google and apple get. Gabe unleashed a beast. 30% on EVERYTHING including Microtransactions. I'm not even sure Sony or Nintendo got such margins on Cd/Carts back in the day. Alot of countries digital games are WAY more expensive than phsysical, the arguement was to protect brick and mortar stores, not sure that holds true now. Digitial should always be cheaper.

Now we have execs telling us we own nothing and we should be happy, thank Gabe (partially kidding).

You're forgetting the retailer cut in that.

People think digital should be cheaper but ignore where digital is superior to physical. I don't have to take up space in my house, there is value in that. I don't have to move my collection if I move homes, there is value in that. I don't have to swap discs at all to play games at will. There is value in that. If my home burns down I can't lose my digital library. There is value in that. My digital library can't get scratched up, there is value in that. My digital library is likely to work for the rest of time, there is value in that.

There are unique values to both physical and digital.

 

[ReyBrujo]

My digital library can't get scratched up

Actually...

My digital library is likely to work for the rest of time

I mean...

 

[Deerock71]

I do prefer physical, but I also love my Steam Deck. No lies.

 

[Warspite]

The heavily discounted games during the early days of steams sales really added to its success.

 

[Topher]

- Console gamers who can still buy most of their games physically, even though owning a game physically doesn't mean as much as before. Personally I won't play a vanilla version of any game, and that's that version that is on the discs. But still you can resell your games, that's something that make people can't switch from physical to digital. Personally the day it'll be possible the resell your digital games I'll go full digital without any regret. I don't give a fuck about plastic boxes, all I care about them is reselling.

Resell capability is the only reason I have for preferring physical. When I'm done with a game then I'm typically done for good. If Steam and others created a digital marketplace where gamers could resell their games then I'd be all in.

Of course, game collectors would still get the short end of that stick, but afraid that's going to be inevitable either way.

 

[RoboFu]

you guys never talking about the actual interesting aspects of digital goods. Like there should be a way to transfer to others when you die.

 

[Topher]

you guys never talking about the actual interesting aspects of digital goods. Like there should be a way to transfer to others when you die.

Platform - Steam confirms your account can't be transferred to another person after you die

A curious user decided to ask Steam directly if after his death he could transfer his account and games to someone else through a will. Valve's answer was clear: the account is unique to the user and cannot be transferred, even after death. User: Hello Steam support, this is a quick question...

www.neogaf.com

 

[PharaoTutAnchAmun]

In 2003 people were rocking phones like this with 56 kbps dial up internet in their houses, you can't blame them.

You cant buy almost not one game physical PC for years now, so ofcourse PC gamers have no choice to buy games on platforms like steam.....

 

[Rentahamster]

I love Steam, but I'd go back to physical disc on PC in a heartbeat

You have a Blu-ray drive?

 

[Topher]

You have a Blu-ray drive?

Yes. This one...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E7B08MS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

I use it to save PS2/PS3 games from disc to a file for emulation.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

People do hate it, then and now. I am still not comfortable with solely owning games digitally, and that’s after all of the goodwill Steam has garnered all these years. If the digital games I bought weren’t dirt cheap, I probably wouldn’t bother with them at all.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Haha, yes, they were great.

Lol shit I had forgotten the early Steam client UI color was that puke green

 

[T-Cake]

Having this phone in 2003 would have been embarrassing as fuck.

I was using a very similar one until I bought my first smartphone (iPhone 14).

 

[T-Cake]

GabeN has been an excellent custodian of PC gaming for 2 decades now. The only worry I have is what happens when he retires. Will some grubby megacorp get their hands on it and totally fuck everything up.

 

[Majukun]

well some people do.

what pushed steam was the amazing steam sales that basically carried it as the de facto platform for pc gaming

 

[StereoVsn]

Yes. This one...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E7B08MS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

I use it to save PS2/PS3 games from disc to a file for emulation.

Yep, there are only a few drives that will cleanly rip PS3 disks in particular. Got one as well.

 

[sainraja]

At the start, physical discs also came with the entire game, lol. Digital really has no competition since the disc simply acts like an authentication key. The delivery mechanism is all that is different.

So it has come down to:

• Do you like downloading your games or...
• Do you like installing (from a disc) and then downloading your games?

This is modern gaming.

People have no real alternative, so of course, he can now point back and say this.

 

[R6Rider]

No. Digital is simply a means of distribution, the bits are the same. Company is getting higher margins by cutting the middle man. Nobody is saying shoes you buy at Nike website or even retail store should be cheaper than what you buy at a shoe reseller.

LMAO what a terrible comparison.

You're talking about a physical or digital product and compared it to a physical product being sold at a store or an online shop.

Nonsensical.

 

[AJUMP23]

I want physical media but I am a dying breed.


Kids these days don’t care about ownership.

 

[Grildon Tundy]

I do want physical copies. For my consoles. Since they're not really an option on PC, I don't have a choice.

 

[intbal]

Kids these days don’t care about ownership.

They will.
They haven't yet reached an age where nostalgia becomes a significant part of their lives.
In twenty years, they're going to be miserable because all of their young life was digital and disposable and they have nothing of substance with which to reminisce.

 

[Puscifer]

I still don't want it, I prefer physical games.

Gabe was a visionary and maybe saved PC gaming to a degree. I still find it absurd that companies were willing to accept the 30% cut Valve, google and apple get. Gabe unleashed a beast. 30% on EVERYTHING including Microtransactions. I'm not even sure Sony or Nintendo got such margins on Cd/Carts back in the day. Alot of countries digital games are WAY more expensive than phsysical, the arguement was to protect brick and mortar stores, not sure that holds true now. Digitial should always be cheaper.

Now we have execs telling us we own nothing and we should be happy, thank Gabe (partially kidding).

Clown shit.

Said it before and I'll say it again, Steam is a CDN that's been refined so well that your 30% cut is a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of running your own. Everyone, including EA and Microsoft, came running back.

 

[Calverz]

I was using a very similar one until I bought my first smartphone (iPhone 14).

If I had that phone in my school, I would have got bullied.

 

[TGO]

In 2003 people were rocking phones like this with 56 kbps dial up internet in their houses, you can't blame them.

That's some cheap ass cellphone for 2003.
Looks like something from 1997 like the Motorola D520

2003 we had coloured screens, internal antenna and a shitty 1.3mp camera and 3G internet.

 

[SHA]

Some people just see the world different. I couldn't imagine gaming without physical discs. Just as I couldn't imagine movie/TV streaming either. Of course that's why there is a grand canyon between me and all the rich people of the world*.

*that doesn't include jocks like HeisenbergFX4 . That is an entirely different grand canyon

You could be rich by installing my mind into your system, I'm tired of mentoring, I wish there's shortcuts to put everything in my mind into people's minds I'm mentoring but the alternative is much worse.

 

[ap_puff]

Yeah people forget there was a lot of controversy around Steam even with PC gamers in the beginning. I avoided it for the first few years because of the controversy.

 

[Topher]

You could be rich by installing my mind into your system, I'm tired of mentoring, I wish there's shortcuts to put everything in my mind into people's minds I'm mentoring but the alternative is much worse.

 

[SHA]

Is that how you feel %100 at this moment?
I'm not a scammer.

 

[Topher]

I'm not a scammer.

 

[SHA]

That sounds like you're willing to be one, am I wrong here?

 

[Topher]

That sounds like you're willing to be one, am I wrong here?

 

[Sooner]

Some people are still hopeful that consoles will remain physical.

The smart ones are building thier digital libraries for the enviable discless-only consoles.

 

[RayHell]

In a way piracy helped Steam in that regard. People were used to not buy physical copy of their game and only get them digital illegally.

 

[Denton]

GabeN has been an excellent custodian of PC gaming for 2 decades now. The only worry I have is what happens when he retires. Will some grubby megacorp get their hands on it and totally fuck everything up.

I wonder if his son Gray has any desire to take over when the time comes.

 

[simpatico]

Are you aware of how much retail cost companies? Packaging, shipping, paying for end shelves for visibility, potentially buying back return stock and more?
s,
Ballpark think at least 50% go to other parties and it’s a lot more hassle. At the time 30% from Valve was a great deal and it kind of still is considering the humongous audience in Steam (of course now advertising and marketing is a must).

Personally I still like physical, especially so on consoles, but Valve’s ecosystem and especially decision to allow devs to generate keys outside of the storefront was very good for the industry.

Not to mention the infrastructure services that 30% buys you. Auto patching, storefront visibility, forums, news feeds, achievements, etc.

 

[AJUMP23]

They will.
They haven't yet reached an age where nostalgia becomes a significant part of their lives.
In twenty years, they're going to be miserable because all of their young life was digital and disposable and they have nothing of substance with which to reminisce.

I don’t know. They just don’t care about ownership. Maybe they will when they want property or homes. But they are use to services and not ownership.

 

[Sledge]

I recall Steam feeling like a step in the wrong direction back when it launched but, seeing as I've acquired more than a handful of games on Steam since then, I guess Gabe must've got me somehow.

One wrinke with CD distribution at the time was that on PC you installed the game, of course, but then often needed the CD in the drive for the game to run. To really take advantage of the convenience of installation you therefore needed to get hold of an exe crack to remove the CD check, which opened you up so all manner of vulnerabilities.

In this light the appeal of Steam over CD distribution becomes more obvious: The goal is to end up with an installed game that just works, and Steam delivers that without you having to trust some random exe off some backwater corner of the internet; You just needed to trust Valve, the people that made that Half Life series of games everyone loves.

I think this is how they probably got me.

 

[twilo99]

I jumped from consoles to Steam in part because I was sick of dealing with physical media.

It’s archaic and wasteful,, shouldn’t exist at this point

 

[jubei]

I still don't want it, I prefer physical games.

Gabe was a visionary and maybe saved PC gaming to a degree. I still find it absurd that companies were willing to accept the 30% cut Valve, google and apple get. Gabe unleashed a beast. 30% on EVERYTHING including Microtransactions. I'm not even sure Sony or Nintendo got such margins on Cd/Carts back in the day. Alot of countries digital games are WAY more expensive than phsysical, the arguement was to protect brick and mortar stores, not sure that holds true now. Digitial should always be cheaper.

Now we have execs telling us we own nothing and we should be happy, thank Gabe (partially kidding).

People don't realize how little money the developer has always gotten. Console publishers have always taken a cut of a game's profits, Steam didn't invent that. 30% is standard for any online console marketplace, Sony, Nintendo and Xbox do the same. Physical releases make it so much worse, with the cost of shipping, hardware, and the retailer discount.