Games Industry Podcast Season 2 - Ep 23

[Ashlann]

In this Episode: Steam power ruling the market, Games as Art, Wii vs Move vs Natal

[Ashlann]

Recorded: June 3rd 2010

Episode 23: Get it on iTunes now!

In This Episode:

• We welcome Drac as a Podcast regular.
• Games as Art - are computer games the modern masterpiece?
• Is Steam ruling the gaming world?
• Natal vs Move vs Wii

Download here (44M mp3 - Right Click, Save As - PC)


Notes from the Casters

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Feel free to send in audio questions for us to play on future casts as well

Regards,

Ashlann & Father

[Atrayo]

Hi Guys,

I just finished listening to this episode #23.

Games as Art was sorta a softball question to mull over. Since art is a subjective experience, no matter the medium the eye of the beholder will always find something to captivate them.

The portion speaking of the Steam delivery system of direct download of games. It seems whomever wrote up the article the three of you were breaking down. That Steam will ruin it for others is just plain jealous of their success, in my opinion.

Yes, it is for Steam to lose this game (pun intended ) on the retail end of things. Where they've expanded from just delivering Valve products to a catalog of other game publishers work.

Direct2Drive, is another direct download retailer online here in the States. That is part of IGN, which runs sites like GameSpy and FilePlanet. That i would consider a distant 2nd from Steam in the same format of delivering games. One time i purchased a game from D2D (Direct2Drive) at a promotion. That when i ran the client for the first time it linked to the Steam service by default to get into the game world. (the game in question was "Saints Row 2").

Other direct download services are from the game publishers themselves such as EA. That have a slice of this format to retail gamers / customers for themselves.

[krank20]

Interesting discussion about steam. To call it a monopoly I feel is quite a stretch. As you guys discussed, there are competitors, just nothing quite as good. In my opinion, what steam is doing is creating its own platform, to compete with Microsoft and Sony. That can only be good for pc gaming as a whole.

I guess there could come a time where impulse and direct to drive go under due to the lack of sales, but realistically, there's nothing stopping another company competing with steam.

I honestly that partly to do with steam and the great service it offers, that pc gaming is on the rise. Especially when you compare it to the very controlling way that the console companies treat their markets, as well as way that core gamers aren't being given the same attention, based on what we've seen at E3 and the casual gaming direction of Microsoft and Sony.

[DougB]

I agree with you on that krank20. I think Steam is offering just another option for PC users. But I don't use Steam for two reasons:
1. I like to go into a shop and buy something...tangable. You can talk/interact with someone. And at the end of the day you have bought a physical disc, something you can hold in your hand. Call me old fashioned and I know it's weird, but I like to see what my money just bought me.
2. Most games these days are HUGE in size. I know I am not the only one in the same boat, but nearly all games will blow my usage quota (grrr, dam Telstra).
I think that until ISP's do away with small quota's, you probably wont see massive wide spread use from the public. Don't get me wrong, alot of people use Steam, I just think that alot more would use it if they didn't have that restriction hanging over their heads.
As you said though, to call it a monopoly is a stretch. It's competion, plain and simple and a bit of competion is good for us, the end users.

[Ashlann]

Originally Posted by DougB

I think that until ISP's do away with small quota's

Shop around! My plan with ExeTel is superb: ADSL 1 8192/384, 30G on peak (midday-midnight) unlimited off peak (midnight-midday) = $79/month. I think that's pretty sweet! Their DSL2 plans are very attractive, i just don't have it available on my exchange.

[Father]

I'd have to agree with the current consensus around Steam, I think as long as Gabe is in control of Valve it's operating structure is unlikely to change.

But what would happen if Steam would be sold?

There have been plenty of examples where a company that has a competing and inferior product, came late to market but has a large cash reserve. There solution is then on off buying up the competition and destroying/replacing the product.

Hell I worked for a telco and saw it first hand, they bought quite a few better products, stuck to them for a year, then discontinued them.

Horror scenario: Imagine if MS buys steam, then starts the transformation of steam into games for windows live.

[DougB]

To Ashlann: I did shop around its just that I have ADSL2, currently the fastest internet in the area. The only company that has it here is unfortunatly Telstra. I seen Exetel's plans and at the time, ADSL2 was actually cheaper than there DSL. So I contacted them to see if they had any plans to bring it to where I live. The reply to that was a resound no. Which means for the time being I have to go with Telstra. Having said that though, their customer service (well for me anyway) has been great, so I really shouldn't complain.
I just wish there was more competion for service providers in Australia. Not just in the cities, but Australia wide. Maybe then well start to see increases in speed, quality and usage quota's.
To Father: I didn't think of that. Your right, that kind of thing happens all the time. Remember what happened to Agea, and their physics processor. Nvidia brought them out and 12 months later...gone. Now if you want PhysX in your games, you have to have an Nvidia card. Even when you used to be able to run an ATI card AND an Nvidia card, with Windows7 (at the same time), Nvidia jumped up and down and said "No PhysX for you" and changed their drivers. See, there's just no competion. When companies start dictating to the consumer, that's a monopoly.
Doug
P.S. Sorry for the rambling response, it's too early for my brain to function properly.