Rumor: GameStop to Sell Steam Vouchers

[Epona]

Now all that needs to happen is EA and Valve to make friends and everything would be right with the world. As much as some people dislike the idea one a single company having market dominance, I would only be worried if that company was a public/shareholder based company. Since Valves private, and based on well..how they have done everything so far, it would be absolutely amazing to have that sort of diversity and spread.

Gabe himself would probably tell you that monopolies are bad for the consumer. He's the guy who tells you to wait for the Daily Deals.

 

[Podunk]

All I want for Christmas is Steam gift cards. Even if they have to be bought from Gamestop.

 

[Steve the Pocket]

I hope these "vouchers" (or more accurately gift cards, from the looks of things) won't be limited to GameStop. They'd sell better almost anywhere else, since the two have almost the exact opposite target market.

Now all that needs to happen is EA and Valve to make friends and everything would be right with the world.

I don't like the sound of that. If it turns out like the last time a "good guy" tried to make nice with someone that evil, it'll end with EA owning Czechoslovakia.

*ba-dum PSH*

Can't we just let retail stores die already? Nothing but money-hungry middlemen, bent on scrapping as much money as humanly possible from you without actually performing a service.

They provide the service of being a place where you can go to buy the games. Unless you expect people without high-speed Internet to drive all the way to the publisher's HQ to pick up their games.

I sincerely hope this doesn't mean Gamestop is going to be abandoning Impulse. Impulse is awesome, the only problem it had when Stardock owned it was they lacked the clout to get new releases on time and to get good sales on old releases. Gamestop buying it out fixed that, which made it infinitely better than Steam. There's no DRM, Impulse itself is very lightweight, and you don't even need it running to play your games. It would be a real shame to see Gamestop cave in when their own service is so awesome.

Wait, there's no DRM? How did they manage to swing that? Even freaking Steam can't prevent publishers from putting third-party DRM on their games, and GOG only sells games so old that their publishers legit don't care about piracy anymore.

Suddenly I have another reason to hate Origin: It gobbled up so much attention that people forgot other, older, and better download services existed, attention they only got because they're such a big name in the industry. So basically exactly what Microsoft did with the Zune.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Wait, there's no DRM? How did they manage to swing that? Even freaking Steam can't prevent publishers from putting third-party DRM on their games, and GOG only sells games so old that their publishers legit don't care about piracy anymore.

Suddenly I have another reason to hate Origin: It gobbled up so much attention that people forgot other, older, and better download services existed, attention they only got because they're such a big name in the industry. So basically exactly what Microsoft did with the Zune.

Well, initially it was just Stardock's way of getting out their own software, and they're notoriously anti-DRM. Before Gamestop bought it from them, it was mostly indie to mid weight strategy games and really old games, none of which were particularly DRM heavy. Also, there technically is DRM on some games in the form of a CD key, but Impulse keys that come with disks are always optional outside of multiplayer and automatic updates, and games bought through impulse that would otherwise have a CD key just have it automatically authorized when you install it.

And I agree; Origin and Steam both get a lot more attention than they deserve. There's so many services that are better than either of them in various ways, but none of them gets much coverage.

 

[lumenadducere]

Sorry, but is there anyone who didn't see this coming? Well, maybe not selling Steam vouchers, but the whole Impulse buyout being a dud? Honestly I don't know what the suits at GameStop were thinking. You'd think they'd actually know something about the industry they're running a business in...but if they did then they would have realized buying Impulse was a bad idea and they would have started this a long time ago.

 

[subtlefuge]

Being a predominately PC and handheld gamer, it's been hard to get gifts for the former. I'm incredibly excited about this. Hopefully Target, Best Buy, and Walmart will get them as well.

 

[Strazdas]

Why don't people own debit cards? I've had one for years now, so unless we're talking super-young gamers here, what's the big deal?

Few people I know, students, don't have one because they live on a tight budget and using a debit card can make it hard to keep track of/keep a lid on their spending. Which creates a dilemma, they don't want a debit card so they can control their spending but any money they do get for games would go further on steam.

what the hell? debit card makes controlling your money EASIER if anything.

Yeah the EU is retarded, its run by a bunch of morons who are seemingly oblivious to the actual problems of the world while they pass stupid laws about the length of power cables for kettles and such.

except that, you know, EU is the only governmental body that hasn't fucked up yet.
Also, EU was never trying to create laws for such things. its like saying that a forester should go and catch speeding drivers. Its up to the country themselves, and most hav such thing. Mine doesnt (altrough my country doesnt have pretty much anything so thats really nothing new) and it doesnt have gamestop either. so yeah, still no team for me.

 

[Strazdas]

Funny thing about people is some of them are different. They argue that if you start the day with 20 quid in your pocket and end the day with less then you know exactly how much you spent. With a debit card it's much easier to overspend.

http://www.savingadvice.com/articles/2008/09/27/102751_cash-or-debit-card.html

You misquoted but ill assume you read the correct reply.
Debit cards are exactly that. you have x amount of money and not more. Credit cards on the other hand have limitless funds (within reason) that you can spend. So credit cards work for overspenders, not debit cards. Also debit cards can and often do have limits of money-per-day, credit cards dont. It is easier to check the debit card balance, you will never spent so much you will have to take a automatic loan. debit cards are superior in every way except that for some unexplainable reason internet services dont accept it. The reaosn probably is because they cant automatically charge from you even if your card is empty, you know, like those services that dont allow you to cancel contract and automatically makes a loan from your bank.
As for psychological aspect, yes, cash does have a psychological aspeect to spending. But if you are spending more just becasue you are using a card and not cash, then i pity you, there is no cure for stupidity.

P.S. capcha: politically correct. no im not.

 

[DarkSoldier84]

You can buy cards that are pre-loaded with money from every post-office and they can be used like a debit/credit card online or in any store in the country.

Basically... this is useless.

Not at all. Prepaid credit cards, the ones you can buy at convenience stores, have an activation fee and are only in your country's currency. If you don't live in the US, then your Steam purchase on that card is converted to USD and any remainder that converts to less than 5USD is useless for Steam.

If these Steam cards work differently, in that the sample $50 card is worth exactly 50USD to your Steam wallet, then my prayers are answered. I actually sent an e-mail to Valve customer support inquiring about prepaid Steam cards a while ago; no reply, but this is exactly what I was thinking of.

 

[Azmael Silverlance]

How exactly do they profit from this?

 

[Strazdas]

Really? My debit card is a Visa, I can use it anywhere I could use a credit card. I use it on Amazon, for XBLA and my PS+ account.

It definitely isn't easier to check your debit card balance than checking how much cash you have in your wallet. I prefer debit for the simple fact if I use cash and go to an ATM I always have to take out more than I want to spend. I personally find it easier to spend cash and lose track of it than debit and I check my account online every night to see how much I've spent and plan around that. Over spending isn't just spending more money than you have, it's spending more than you should. If you're living on 50 quid a week or less like some of the students in my course it's easier just to take out the 50 and spend as you need it. It has a more immediately noticeable effect if you can just open your wallet and see if you're fucked. Surely the fact that they're planning and budgeting shows they're not stupid or is it just that people who are more comfortable with different methods to you are automatically stupid?

Well then your card insnt a debit card. Its very likely a credit card with no credit, sort of a workaround for the system.
Once again you are comparing cash and debit card when i am comparing credit card and debit card. whats up with that?
i never claimed that overspending is spending mroe than you have, however i claimed that overspending is not the cause of credit card but the cause of human lack of intelligence (if you know you shuld spend 50 and you buy for 60 it does not matter if its cash, credit card or debit card, your overspending because of your persona reasonin, which is more often than not, stupidity.
In short, you totaly missed my point and went on to ramble about your point which is not wrong, but is not related to my post.

 

[Strazdas]

Really? My debit card is a Visa, I can use it anywhere I could use a credit card. I use it on Amazon, for XBLA and my PS+ account.

It definitely isn't easier to check your debit card balance than checking how much cash you have in your wallet. I prefer debit for the simple fact if I use cash and go to an ATM I always have to take out more than I want to spend. I personally find it easier to spend cash and lose track of it than debit and I check my account online every night to see how much I've spent and plan around that. Over spending isn't just spending more money than you have, it's spending more than you should. If you're living on 50 quid a week or less like some of the students in my course it's easier just to take out the 50 and spend as you need it. It has a more immediately noticeable effect if you can just open your wallet and see if you're fucked. Surely the fact that they're planning and budgeting shows they're not stupid or is it just that people who are more comfortable with different methods to you are automatically stupid?

Well then your card insnt a debit card. Its very likely a credit card with no credit, sort of a workaround for the system.
Once again you are comparing cash and debit card when i am comparing credit card and debit card. whats up with that?
i never claimed that overspending is spending mroe than you have, however i claimed that overspending is not the cause of credit card but the cause of human lack of intelligence (if you know you shuld spend 50 and you buy for 60 it does not matter if its cash, credit card or debit card, your overspending because of your persona reasonin, which is more often than not, stupidity.
In short, you totaly missed my point and went on to ramble about your point which is not wrong, but is not related to my post.

1. It has Debit Card written right on it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_Debit

2. I'm not talking about overspending on one impulse buy, I'm talking about keeping track of your spending throughout the day. Which is inarguably easier by just having 50 quid in your pocket and nothing else.

3. Dude, you quoted me first. Someone asked why people don't have debit cards, I said because some people find it easier to keep track of cash. You're the one who came out of nowhere with credit cards. I've been comparing cash and debit all along, you're the one who started adding things. Why would we argue about credit vs debit? This thread is about Steam vouchers, either credit or debit would work on steam, this is about why some people might still be using cash.

Infact you are the one who quoted me first in this post: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.374602-Rumor-GameStop-to-Sell-Steam-Vouchers?page=2#14526981
It looks like misquote, but i recieved a mail for "direct quote" and therefore replied. My post was about debit card vs credit card. You should have said you didnt want to quote me in the first reply and all this confusion could have been avoided.

 

[Strazdas]

Look at the post directly above that one. The one where you quote my response to TheBobmus.[/quote]
You are right, i di quote you (and didnt notice the name ). Well then i guess i misunderstood your statement, as you didnt imply whether you said debit card is worse than credit card or than cash.