I never said they held sales to be nice, I just said they can afford it: i.e. they're not going to go out of business any time soon. And it also is very profitable for them, yes.Naeras said:Correction: they're not holding sales to be nice [http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/07/16/steam-deals-dont-cannibalise-sales-says-valves-director-of-business-management/], they're holding sales because it earns them ridiculous amounts of money [http://www.shacknews.com/article/57308/valve-left-4-dead-half] =pKarmaTheAlligator said:Nope, I agree with you. The fact that they have so many sales means they're doing well, since they can afford to drop the prices so often.Twenty Ninjas said:So I'm the only one here who finds this completely ridiculous?Gorfias said:I'm mostly worried about Steam going out of business.
There is no possible way Valve can go out of business in the foreseeable future. They're an industry giant that is popular and has little competition in what it does.
And, no, they won't go bankrupt anytime soon.
Good to know this stuff! Thanks! I'll play with the back up utility some more too. Though I was over-writing stuff before. I'd want to be able to remove something from the PC, have it backed up, and add to that back up without over-writing as I get new games. Can I restore only to the machine I backed up?Vigormortis said:While they won't be able to provide the ability to download the titles indefinitely, should Steam close down, they can provide that ability for some period of time after. ...There is also Big Picture mode, should you prefer a more "console-like" UI. And, you can adjust which windows are prioritized by selecting your favorite "tab" in the options menu.
That may be a way easier fix if the above works fine. I think 3TB externals are out now.Zachary Amaranth said:I have all my games installed to an internal 2 TB HDD added after I created my computer. I'm not sure what the problem would be.
GTA, I got it for the PS3. I haven't heard about a PC version. My boy has a gaming class PC I built for him in his room, access to my game accounts, but insists on only playing PS3 and he (18) really wanted GTA5 so I got it for him. It is hard to write what PS3 game I've paid full price for since then. (PC: Bioshock Infinite... PS3? Before GTA5, might have been Black Ops 2).You can't imagine paying full price for a game. Unless you can. Which you have. Or will...Is GTA V even announced yet for PC?
How is your internet there? Do you get the same prices as the US on Downloads? Are you able to download there?RhombusHatesYou said:If you think games are being sold too cheaply move to New Zealand. That'll cure it right fast.
Nope. As I've written above, I buy games from a number of places but they show up in Steam. If Steam goes out of business, inspite of its own sales, that could be trouble. Many Gamestop and humblebundle downloads are from there. Steam goes, those downloads go too.OlasDAlmighty said:This thread a joke?
Oddly, www.humblebundle.com is at least in part, for charity! I do think Steam gets a taste, however small though. I doubt they set the pricing though. I've paid as little as 20 cents for some stuff. That's a big part of what has me worried about the viability of the game industry in general and Steam in particular. Is there too much content, getting cheaper all the time. Will it crowd out new content?Do you think they charge so little out of charity?
Several of the recent Sony sales were in line with the Steam prices.Gorfias said:PS3 sales can be nuts too, just not as crazy as Steam and Humble Bundle or occastional Gamestop download (which shows up on Steam). In buy 2 get 1 sales at Gamestop, I'm picking up some pretty good stuff, often 3 games for $10 total (Just picked up 2 Red Faction games. They're new to me, so, I don't care the games came out some time ago).
To bring this back around to the topic, stores are expecting the biggest console launches ever to hit this month. That's part of the thing. Even if you're going to go for the cheapy PS3 games, the PS4 is going to sell like hotcakes. So's the Xbone. and games. Even PC games.Yet, 2 days till PS4. As I wrote earlier, I am nuts. I'll likely get it soon and be paying $60 for at least a few titles to make use of it. Because PS3 games are going to keep getting cheaper for a while, I'll likely be doing a lot of buying in that area as well.
Steam charges them on par with the physical copies, which are overpriced as fuck. The main reason for this is that Steam doesn't have to be a competitive service.Do you get the same prices as the US on Downloads? Are you able to download there?
There's no legit reason to suspect Steam will go down. Also, Humbe Bundle mostly offers DRM-free versions. Some do require Steam (or Origin) but most do not.Nope. As I've written above, I buy games from a number of places but they show up in Steam. If Steam goes out of business, inspite of its own sales, that could be trouble. Many Gamestop and humblebundle downloads are from there. Steam goes, those downloads go too.
Yes, but Steam doesn't run Humble Bundle. Steam gets good PR out of it, which means they probably take very little, but it's still PR.Oddly, www.humblebundle.com is at least in part, for charity!
I don't know, was there five years ago? Ten years ago? I mean, there's been a ton of content for a long time. And if you want older games you can get them with pocket change. Why isn't the industry dead yet?Is there too much content, getting cheaper all the time. Will it crowd out new content?
Download and back up ASAP;
Those seem at odds with one another.Steam is doing well. Don't worry so much;
Which is part of their model. You buy up dozens fo games, many of which you may never play. Even my more moderate purchase habits leave me a couple of games behind my list most of the time, though honestly, I prefer to have a couple more games than I've played as it gives me something to move to.As many people are as crazy as me, while I keep buying up bargains, I do think there's always going to be a title or two I can't stop myself from buying new. Others in my shoes won't resist either.
"Trust but verify". Steam is likely fine, but I shouldn't be in idiot: ensure I have backups just in case.Zachary Amaranth said:Download and back up ASAP;Those seem at odds with one another.Steam is doing well. Don't worry so much;
Which is part of their model. You buy up dozens of games, many of which you may never play. Even my more moderate purchase habits leave me a couple of games behind my list most of the time, though honestly, I prefer to have a couple more games than I've played as it gives me something to move to.[/quote]As many people are as crazy as me, while I keep buying up bargains, I do think there's always going to be a title or two I can't stop myself from buying new. Others in my shoes won't resist either.
That actually is worth reading.Pink Gregory said:http://hitboxteam.com/dustforce-sales-figures
This here might be of interest to this thread.
You don't create a single backup of your Steam account. The backup utility built into Steam makes individual backups for each game. It essentially creates a disc image of the game files from which you can reinstall.[footnote]You may, however, have to create your own backups of settings and saved game files. But a simple copy/paste job of the requisite files is all you need.[/footnote]Gorfias said:Good to know this stuff! Thanks! I'll play with the back up utility some more too. Though I was over-writing stuff before. I'd want to be able to remove something from the PC, have it backed up, and add to that back up without over-writing as I get new games. Can I restore only to the machine I backed up?
I was actually already aware of much of that. However, I take issue with the first article you linked.Strelok said:Actually that is incorrect, Microsoft apparently loses billions due to the entertainment division made up for by Android patent royalties apparently.
http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-earns-2-billion-per-year-from-android-patent-royalties-2013-11
In fact one of the investors that wants to dump XBox and Microsoft games was just given a seat on the board.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/08/31/microsoft_valueact_ballmer/
The new CEO candidate Stephen Elop is rumored to not exactly be an XBox fan as well.
http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/8/5080192/microsoft-ceo-candidate-stephen-elop-bing-xbox-rumors
Awesome! I can probably burn a back up of each game to DVD (or blank bluray) if necessary, per game! Worth it!Vigormortis said:You don't create a single backup of your Steam account. The backup utility built into Steam makes individual backups for each game. It essentially creates a disc image of the game files from which you can reinstall.[footnote]You may, however, have to create your own backups of settings and saved game files. But a simple copy/paste job of the requisite files is all you need.[/footnote]Gorfias said:Good to know this stuff! Thanks! I'll play with the back up utility some more too. Though I was over-writing stuff before. I'd want to be able to remove something from the PC, have it backed up, and add to that back up without over-writing as I get new games. Can I restore only to the machine I backed up?
Once you have the backup, you can store it wherever you want. And, when you're ready to install it in the future, you can install it to any computer. Provided you can either login to your account online or the computer in question has your account credentials stored locally.
Just bare in mind, like I'd said before, that you will likely need to create your own backup of your saves, settings, custom content, etc. Essentially, anything that wouldn't normally be a part of the game install and possibly anything that wouldn't be stored "in the cloud[footnote]Steam does have the capability to store saves, settings, etc to their servers. Not all games use this feature but those that do will often automatically download and restore your saves/settings once you reinstall the game.[/footnote]".Gorfias said:Awesome! I can probably burn a back up of each game to DVD (or blank bluray) if necessary, per game! Worth it!
There's something you must remember, a game that cost $40 in 1994 would cost $63 dollars now. I bought Fallout 2 in 1998 for $50; it would cost $72 now, most often, the publisher is getting paid less now than they were before, but they are relying on a larger number of sales to recoup the cost. This means that the price of gaming has been going down, not up.Tuesday Night Fever said:I just don't see most modern games as being worth their $60 price tags. I remember a day when I never paid more than $40 for a brand new PC game, and typically got 20+ hours out of nearly all of them on the first playthrough. These days I find paying $60 for a 6-hour game to be insulting to me as a consumer.
I wouldn't worry about that, at least not right now, they are in a huge period of growth, they are like Microsoft in 1995, they practically have a monopoly on digital distribution. Yes, I know other companies have services, like GoG, but they don't do the many billions of dollars worth of business that Steam does. They have grown so big that they feel confidant enough to directly compete with Sony and Microsoft.Gorfias said:I'm mostly worried about Steam going out of business.
I'll have to look up this GoG. Thanks!Do4600 said:I wouldn't worry about that, at least not right now, they are in a huge period of growth, they are like Microsoft in 1995, they practically have a monopoly on digital distribution. Yes, I know other companies have services, like GoG, but they don't do the many billions of dollars worth of business that Steam does. They have grown so big that they feel confidant enough to directly compete with Sony and Microsoft.Gorfias said:I'm mostly worried about Steam going out of business.
Gorfias said:The internet in NZ is pretty bad (there is a single fibre optic cable running from the top of the North Island to Australia to connect to the rest of the world), you can download there but it is going to take a bit longer. The price for a new digital game (ie a $US60 game) in NZ is $NZ120, which at todays exchange rate is $US99.98.Vigormortis said:How is your internet there? Do you get the same prices as the US on Downloads? Are you able to download there?RhombusHatesYou said:If you think games are being sold too cheaply move to New Zealand. That'll cure it right fast.
Also you have to hang on to the floor/ground with your toes to keep from falling off the earth, you'll be living in the future and Christmas is a day to go to the beach because it's so hot and sunny.