Wow…I have just read two fantastic pieces on Rock, Paper, Shotgun, the first is a live-blogging of a mini-conference at Valve and the second is the more detailed roundup of the first piece. Boy is it clear that Valve love the PC as a platform and are willing to stand up and fight their corner.
Steamcloud, free weekends, game availability and much more are covered by John over on RPS so read on for the info!
So yesterday Trials 2 gets patched and now I find out that it has come to Steam for $9.99 or a limited time only $8.99 which accompanies a price reduction for the game when bought direct from the developers.
When I was talking to one of the developers when I first heard about Trials 2 I enquired about a Steam release, at the time he said he couldn’t reveal anything. Looks like this is why!
The list of changes between the normal and the new Steam version follow.
Everyone praises Steam and its ilk nowadays, digital distribution is the big hot topic amongst developers, publishers and anyone else associated with gaming. Almost everyone is praising digital distribution as if it were the second coming. The voices of discontent are minimal, but there are issues to be considered. Digital distribution, is it really all that great?
video by Jorwell
The Steam Group Rest of World which is fighting against unfair game prices and availability for different countries around the world has now reached 5000 members.
The group is now going to act on its promise and will be attempting to get in touch with and developer or publisher which they feel are excluding the Rest of the World from being able to purchase games, purchase games at a fair price and to purchase games as they are meant to have been releaed.
More information on this latest information can be found here and Jorwell’s original video can be seen here in higher quality.
So while I may fully applaud Valve and Steam at times I will be one of the first to admit that there are some serious issues with Steam. An article on cnet.au that has come to my attention (thanks Digi) has sparked me to write about the situation with Steam, various Publishers and games being charged different prices across the world, some not being available and other games not being localized properly.
First off lets take that cnet.au article and see what they say.
So while TrackMania Nations/United Forever have just been released they have now both been made available on Steam!
As to be expected Nations is free while United clocks in at $39.95 and both include the free ‘Forever’ expansion. If you already own a copy of TrackMania United on Steam then the game will automatically update for you with ‘United Forever’ for free!
TrackMania Nations Forever offers a new version of the Stadium environment, a complete solo mode, and 65 new tracks. TrackMania Nations Forever promises to unite an even larger number of players than its very successful predecessor thanks to engaging new multiplayer modes, online functions, and — for the first time - allowing players of the free versions to play online with players from the retail version of TrackMania United.
More information on Steam news.
It is official, Ubisoft as an entire company hates Europe!
The French mega-publisher/developer has just joined the Steam Collective bringing with it such games as Far Cry, IL-2 Sturmovik and the Tom Clancy games, Assassins Creed will follow soon.
However following in the footsteps of Atari these games are only available to people from the United States and Canada. So if you don’t like in North America then you are going to be losing out from a massive range of titles on Steam.
According to Rock, Paper, Shotgun this has nothing to do with Valve. Gabe Newell said this;
“It’s their call. We offer worldwide coverage, and we’re happy to offer the products to as many customers as the publisher/developer desires.”
My opinion of Ubisoft is very up and down, this just makes me even more disappointed with them. I am not angry, just disappointed.
The latest publisher to join Steam is Epic Games which is bringing along the Unreal games including Unreal Tournament 3. There is a starting offer with all of Epic’s games available on Steam receiving a 10% discount. You can also purchase the Unreal Deal Pack for $59.95. This Unreal Deal Pack includes all of the Unreal games available on Steam ranging from Unreal II to Unreal Tournament 3.
“Epic is a leading developer of game engine technology and has produced some of my favorite games of all time,” said Gabe Newell, president of Valve. “It’s an honor to be working with them and offering their current and classic titles to the millions of Steam gamers around the world.”
“Steam is a revolutionary technology that opens up an entirely new way to put our games into the hands of millions of PC gamers around the world,” said Jay Wilbur, vice president of Epic. “Valve has changed the face of digital distribution for game developers, publishers and consumers, and we are thrilled to be a part of the Steam community.”
Head over to Steamgames for all the latest on how to get these unreal games.
Legendary gaming developer and publisher Atari has been announced to be moving onto Steam. The company has linked up with Valve and the Steam platform to deliver a dazzling array of games, initially only to North Americans.
“Atari is excited to team up with Steam and deliver great games through a digital platform that our fans have asked for,” said Nizzi Renaud, Vice President of Online Entertainment, Atari, Inc. “We look forward to making an extensive collection of games, across many genres, available to Steam’s extensive, globally-connected community.”
“We’re proud to welcome to Steam a company that has become synonymous with video games,” said Jason Holtman, director of business development at Valve. “Atari cemented video games into the consciousness of modern culture and continues to produce a unique mix of games that appeal to a variety of audiences, as represented by the line-up heading to Steam.”
With games such as Rollercoaster Tycoon 3, Indigo Prophecy and Act of War being made available now, and games such as The Witcher arriving on Steam soon Atari is making a concerted effort to kick off this new partnership with a bang.
Time will tell whether Atari achieve any success on Steam, but anything to boost the performances of this company should be welcomed with open arms.
I love Steam, I really do. I think it is a great thing for Valve, for all the people using it to sell their games, for all 15 million users and it is a great thing for the PC. Back in December last year I wrote an article ‘Steampunked.’ What you will read now is a totally new revamped version of that article. This goes into more depth in some areas and hopefully is a better read. Hit the jump below to read about Steam and the PC.