Again, that’s what I said about Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. Developing and selling consoles/handhelds changes the game for any of these companies. It’s not just software anymore. They have to drive sales of the console, and it’s an unfortunate tactic for us as consumers that they restrict access to games already paid for and weaponize nostalgia to get you to buy it again. I hope you’re right about Steam in the long term, but once Gabe Newell is gone and the inheritance goes to someone who maybe thinks it’s a good idea to do an IPO, it’s almost an inevitable circumstance. The only thing keeping Steam a good company is its private holdings and good moral. Hope they never loose it.
Those who are willing to pirate obviously don’t have any problem.
@GameSpot Diddnt affect me! Havn’t played Xbox since they took away the games I paid for on the Xbox 360 marketplace, just to resell them to me on their newer Xbox, which I won’t buy.
Steam has done well so far, but we’ll see…I think most of the online storefront removals from other companies are to drive sales of that same game on a newer system. So the move that would upset me is making Half-Life unavailable for download, selling a new handheld console/computer and then release a shitty Unreal Engine version of the game for it. I would stop using Steam immediately, like I did with Nintendo and Xbox. Tho I don’t see Steam doing that… I didn’t see Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo doing it either, but they did…
Right? Steam has handled their operation quite well, but there is something to be said about the pricing… if I don’t actually own it, I’m renting it, borrowing the game from big brother, yet we’re charged the same price and sometimes more for a digital copy over a physical copy. Yet no laws exist to ensure that digital copy is still available when the company decided to ‘remake’ it on their new console.
I give a fuck that Nintendo obliterated the Wii U shop in 2023 and the games I purchased are no longer available, I give a fuck that Sony is doing the same exact thing with their PlayStation 3 and vita parts of their PlayStation store, I give a fuck that Microsoft has done the same thing with the Xbox 360 marketplace in 2024. I say that as someone who has also been gaming since 1987.