Gabe Newell is personally responsible for every single thing related to Steam. He could push the big red button that says "Link every game to Steam" but he's too busy eating hoagies and prodding the TF2 team with sharp sticks.
"Hey. Hey! Add more hats."
Every game that would otherwise be available for buyings with monies is instead released in the form of head wear.
Grim Fandango is a beanie. Planescape: Torment is a fez.
Gabe Newell: Okay, promised the intern after loosing the bet that for 1 day, pay 5 dollars and register your physical game with steam (stupid Saints with their onside kick). Lets see how this goes.
8:00am $
GN: Not bad
8:30am $$
GN: Meh, not too bad. Whoops gotta go to yoga and listen to pitches and generally be the boss
3:30pm
GN: so lets see what my drunken bet has won me.
GN:Holy shit! The fat has flown from my body in shock!
Yeah, there is a great big box of games in my storage room that would get the steam treatment if it was offered. It would basically be the penultimate DLC for games that came out years ago.
For crying out loud guys, this isn't complicated to understand.
In order for your scenario to take place, Valve would have to go to every publisher and request that every game they ever released be allowed to be registered on Steam, which they'd almost certainly refuse.
It's called an email. It's not too hard to write one up.
Offer the framework for the terms, attach some marketing data to show the proven ability of Steam to drive sales of old games, and tell them its their job to furnish the specifics of the contract that meets the general terms Steam offered.
And guess what? I own a website for distributing independent music. It's not impossible to get people to sell their product on your site. You'd be amazed how many positive replies I've received and all I had to do was....
...wait for it...
... ask!
That's a very funny joke, I actually laughed out loud.
Gabe Newell: Okay, promised the intern after loosing the bet that for 1 day, pay 5 dollars and register your physical game with steam (stupid Saints with their onside kick). Lets see how this goes.
8:00am $
GN: Not bad
8:30am $$
GN: Meh, not too bad. Whoops gotta go to yoga and listen to pitches and generally be the boss
3:30pm
GN: so lets see what my drunken bet has won me.
GN:Holy shit! The fat has flown from my body in shock!
Yeah, there is a great big box of games in my storage room that would get the steam treatment if it was offered. It would basically be the penultimate DLC for games that came out years ago.
For crying out loud guys, this isn't complicated to understand.
In order for your scenario to take place, Valve would have to go to every publisher and request that every game they ever released be allowed to be registered on Steam, which they'd almost certainly refuse.
It's called an email. It's not too hard to write one up.
Offer the framework for the terms, attach some marketing data to show the proven ability of Steam to drive sales of old games, and tell them its their job to furnish the specifics of the contract that meets the general terms Steam offered.
And guess what? I own a website for distributing independent music. It's not impossible to get people to sell their product on your site. You'd be amazed how many positive replies I've received and all I had to do was....
...wait for it...
... ask!
That's a very funny joke, I actually laughed out loud.
It was a joke, right?
EMI, BMG, et al are independent music distro companies like Activision and EA are independent gaming publishers
Gabe Newell: Okay, promised the intern after loosing the bet that for 1 day, pay 5 dollars and register your physical game with steam (stupid Saints with their onside kick). Lets see how this goes.
8:00am $
GN: Not bad
8:30am $$
GN: Meh, not too bad. Whoops gotta go to yoga and listen to pitches and generally be the boss
3:30pm
GN: so lets see what my drunken bet has won me.
GN:Holy shit! The fat has flown from my body in shock!
Yeah, there is a great big box of games in my storage room that would get the steam treatment if it was offered. It would basically be the penultimate DLC for games that came out years ago.
For crying out loud guys, this isn't complicated to understand.
In order for your scenario to take place, Valve would have to go to every publisher and request that every game they ever released be allowed to be registered on Steam, which they'd almost certainly refuse.
It's called an email. It's not too hard to write one up.
Offer the framework for the terms, attach some marketing data to show the proven ability of Steam to drive sales of old games, and tell them its their job to furnish the specifics of the contract that meets the general terms Steam offered.
And guess what? I own a website for distributing independent music. It's not impossible to get people to sell their product on your site. You'd be amazed how many positive replies I've received and all I had to do was....
...wait for it...
... ask!
That's a very funny joke, I actually laughed out loud.
It was a joke, right?
EMI, BMG, et al are independent music distro companies like Activision and EA are independent gaming publishers
YEah, I mean, because getting Activision and INTERPLAY and EA to sign that shit up is just as easy as getting The Buttmen rock band from the bar donw the street to join your indie music site. AMIRITE?
It's not like the rights for a huge quantity of games are a clusterfuck that endures for years.
Gabe Newell: Okay, promised the intern after loosing the bet that for 1 day, pay 5 dollars and register your physical game with steam (stupid Saints with their onside kick). Lets see how this goes.
8:00am $
GN: Not bad
8:30am $$
GN: Meh, not too bad. Whoops gotta go to yoga and listen to pitches and generally be the boss
3:30pm
GN: so lets see what my drunken bet has won me.
GN:Holy shit! The fat has flown from my body in shock!
Yeah, there is a great big box of games in my storage room that would get the steam treatment if it was offered. It would basically be the penultimate DLC for games that came out years ago.
For crying out loud guys, this isn't complicated to understand.
In order for your scenario to take place, Valve would have to go to every publisher and request that every game they ever released be allowed to be registered on Steam, which they'd almost certainly refuse.
It's called an email. It's not too hard to write one up.
Offer the framework for the terms, attach some marketing data to show the proven ability of Steam to drive sales of old games, and tell them its their job to furnish the specifics of the contract that meets the general terms Steam offered.
And guess what? I own a website for distributing independent music. It's not impossible to get people to sell their product on your site. You'd be amazed how many positive replies I've received and all I had to do was....
...wait for it...
... ask!
That's a very funny joke, I actually laughed out loud.
It was a joke, right?
EMI, BMG, et al are independent music distro companies like Activision and EA are independent gaming publishers
YEah, I mean, because getting Activision and INTERPLAY and EA to sign that shit up is just as easy as getting The Buttmen rock band from the bar donw the street to join your indie music site. AMIRITE?
It's not like the rights for a huge quantity of games are a clusterfuck that endures for years.
It's called an email. It's not too hard to write one up.
Offer the framework for the terms, attach some marketing data to show the proven ability of Steam to drive sales of old games, and tell them its their job to furnish the specifics of the contract that meets the general terms Steam offered.
And guess what? I own a website for distributing independent music. It's not impossible to get people to sell their product on your site. You'd be amazed how many positive replies I've received and all I had to do was....
...wait for it...
... ask!
That's a very funny joke, I actually laughed out loud.
It was a joke, right?
EMI, BMG, et al are independent music distro companies like Activision and EA are independent gaming publishers
YEah, I mean, because getting Activision and INTERPLAY and EA to sign that shit up is just as easy as getting The Buttmen rock band from the bar donw the street to join your indie music site. AMIRITE?
It's not like the rights for a huge quantity of games are a clusterfuck that endures for years.
Gabe Newell: Okay, promised the intern after loosing the bet that for 1 day, pay 5 dollars and register your physical game with steam (stupid Saints with their onside kick). Lets see how this goes.
8:00am $
GN: Not bad
8:30am $$
GN: Meh, not too bad. Whoops gotta go to yoga and listen to pitches and generally be the boss
3:30pm
GN: so lets see what my drunken bet has won me.
GN:Holy shit! The fat has flown from my body in shock!
Yeah, there is a great big box of games in my storage room that would get the steam treatment if it was offered. It would basically be the penultimate DLC for games that came out years ago.
For crying out loud guys, this isn't complicated to understand.
In order for your scenario to take place, Valve would have to go to every publisher and request that every game they ever released be allowed to be registered on Steam, which they'd almost certainly refuse.
It's called an email. It's not too hard to write one up.
Offer the framework for the terms, attach some marketing data to show the proven ability of Steam to drive sales of old games, and tell them its their job to furnish the specifics of the contract that meets the general terms Steam offered.
And guess what? I own a website for distributing independent music. It's not impossible to get people to sell their product on your site. You'd be amazed how many positive replies I've received and all I had to do was....
...wait for it...
... ask!
That's a very funny joke, I actually laughed out loud.
It was a joke, right?
EMI, BMG, et al are independent music distro companies like Activision and EA are independent gaming publishers
YEah, I mean, because getting Activision and INTERPLAY and EA to sign that shit up is just as easy as getting The Buttmen rock band from the bar donw the street to join your indie music site. AMIRITE?
It's not like the rights for a huge quantity of games are a clusterfuck that endures for years.
You're not getting it. My power as an independent music hub just getting off its feet compared to an independent band is a near perfect parallel with Valve/Steam notifying companies like Activision, Interplay, and EA to sign their older games up and make tons of money.
Is EA, Activision, and Interplay a whole lot more powerful than some independent band?
Yes.
BUT STEAM HAS A FUCK-LOAD MORE PULL THAN MY 2-MAN PONY SHOW, TOO.
You claim no one but you understands business. I claim you have no fucking idea how companies make money in the distribution business.
Listen you silly dumbass goose, if it was as easy as just "sending every game publisher on the planet and email", then Valve would have done so already.
Listen you silly dumbass goose, if it was as easy as just "sending every game publisher on the planet and email", then Valve would have done so already.
I don't think so. I think Valve has taken a very conservative approach to expanding their contacts with publishers - shoring up long term relationships with existing publishers and ensuring future new releases are on their client before moving on to a new publisher.
That's one way of doing it, and a big part of it is likely the legal finagling. That's the entire reason I suggested that they push the legal responsibility to the publishers, and simply require them to meet the terms Steam requires, but they get to spend the hundreds of hours pounding out the exact wording (I work with corporate lawyers, I know).
I've taken that approach before, like when dealing with Loyola Universities. They didn't want to just sign an EULA/TOS. They wanted a contract. We said "Fine, you write it - it needs to meet these requirements". Everyone was happy.
Listen you silly dumbass goose, if it was as easy as just "sending every game publisher on the planet and email", then Valve would have done so already.
I don't think so. I think Valve has taken a very conservative approach to expanding their contacts with publishers - shoring up long term relationships with existing publishers and ensuring future new releases are on their client before moving on to a new publisher.
That's one way of doing it, and a big part of it is likely the legal finagling. That's the entire reason I suggested that they push the legal responsibility to the publishers, and simply require them to meet the terms Steam requires, but they get to spend the hundreds of hours pounding out the exact wording (I work with corporate lawyers, I know).
I've taken that approach before, like when dealing with Loyola Universities. They didn't want to just sign an EULA/TOS. They wanted a contract. We said "Fine, you write it - it needs to meet these requirements". Everyone was happy.
Oh whoops, didn't know you were privy to Valve's business manifesto. Maybe you can argue a little better when you say something more concrete than "I think...", prove it with some articles and quotes.
Listen you silly dumbass goose, if it was as easy as just "sending every game publisher on the planet and email", then Valve would have done so already.
I don't think so. I think Valve has taken a very conservative approach to expanding their contacts with publishers - shoring up long term relationships with existing publishers and ensuring future new releases are on their client before moving on to a new publisher.
That's one way of doing it, and a big part of it is likely the legal finagling. That's the entire reason I suggested that they push the legal responsibility to the publishers, and simply require them to meet the terms Steam requires, but they get to spend the hundreds of hours pounding out the exact wording (I work with corporate lawyers, I know).
I've taken that approach before, like when dealing with Loyola Universities. They didn't want to just sign an EULA/TOS. They wanted a contract. We said "Fine, you write it - it needs to meet these requirements". Everyone was happy.
You speak of Steam pushing the legal issues onto the publisher as if they're the ones in power in that situation. They really aren't. I think you really are overestimating just how much pull Steam actually has.
Brick and Mortar retail still brings in the bulk of sales in the PC sphere at the moment (and not wanting to tick off Gamestop is a big stumbling block in a lot of what's happening with DD). But after that, PC gaming in itself is a minute fraction of the kinds of sales being garnered in the console sphere. And Steam, whilst the main DD service, is still one amongst many. They don't have the kind of leverage over publishers that you're ascribing to them. The moment Valve starts trying to dictate terms to publishers is the moment that they go ahead and make some other provider richer instead.
Porting back-catalogue stuff to Steam in those circumstances is chump change at best, even if you can presume it would be profitable. Convincing publishers to take that road isn't going to be easy in itself. I mean it's changing, recently Lucasarts put some of their old adventure games on Steam after years of finagling, but this isn't something that Valve has the power to dictate.
Oh whoops, didn't know you were privy to Valve's business manifesto. Maybe you can argue a little better when you say something better than "I think...", prove it with some articles and quotes.
You're just being difficult for no real reason. Direct observation over the past year is more than enough to make a reasonable estimate at their strategy. Personally I think it's a good one, as I said, but I don't think they should be so conservative in courting new publishers while shoring up their partnerships with existing publishers.
Many publishers have games that have long since stopped producing sales. Steam is the top of the pile (in market share) when it comes to proven low-cost distribution of older games. As a customer, I wish Steam would more aggressively pursue those opportunities. A lot of other Steam customers agree.
If you want to get your panties in a knot and claim that Steam is playing some 12th dimensional game of chess that us mere MBAs and small business owners can't grasp - then screw you.
Porting back-catalogue stuff to Steam in those circumstances is chump change at best, even if you can presume it would be profitable. Convincing publishers to take that road isn't going to be easy in itself. I mean it's changing, recently Lucasarts put some of their old adventure games on Steam after years of finagling, but this isn't something that Valve has the power to dictate.
I agree in large part with everything you wrote, but I wouldn't call it chump change. Publisher/developer teams have a very difficult time getting a AAA game to clear a profit - we've all seen the figures. $50, $60, $70 million budgets for big titles? They can only work on 1-2 of those titles at a time. Being able to go back in your past portfolio of games and take a nul-profit item and turn it into some easy money can go a long way to subsidizing big budget games that aren't a "guaranteed slam dunk". Lower risk for them means more diverse games for us.
I was going to argue that Lucas Arts are notorious dicks when it comes to their adamantium grasp on any IP they own that has a shred of chance to still produce money - but then I realized EA isn't exactly the high school sweet heart of publishers either. There's no doubt Steam has to caress a lot of overblown egos and anal retentive legal councils. No doubt at all.
I just called Gabe Newell and he says you're right.
Your MBA convinced him.
You told him I thought they were doing a great job, but that I, as a customer, would like to see more older games from a myriad of publishers and not get over-focused on the publishers they already have.
That's fantastic.
Seriously, it's generally considered poor form to be a sarcastic silly goose when you don't even bother reading what's being wrote. No one here is trying to pretend to tell Valve what to do, and the only ridiculous statements I've seen have come from people like you and the guy(s) who think Valve is the God-Emperor of all Business and conducts their business meetings in a 5th dimensional think-tank, and thus should be immune to wish-suggestions from their customers.
Posts
Grim Fandango is a beanie. Planescape: Torment is a fez.
All right, people. It is not a gerbil. It is not a hamster. It is not a guinea pig. It is a death rabbit. Death. Rabbit. Say it with me, now.
Seriously, someone was a VERY BIG silly goose.
But someone needs to look into this.
You can't?
I'm thinking of just moving my Steam installation over to it, but I'm not sure how well games would perform being loaded from a USB 2.0 connection.
That said, they're currently being loaded from a 5400RPM IDE hard drive, so...
Anyone have any thoughts/experience doing so?
IT'S NOT YOU SILLY GEESE! THINK ABOUT FOR 2 SECONDS!
We have had some silly titles, but this one was just mean. :x
I do love my five dollar Steam sales though. Trine works for me this week.
Obviously! But why would the thread title lie... I had to click and find out how the hell they were going to do it.
That's because you love crimson man-tears.
It's your thread title!
3DS Friend Code: 2165-6448-8348 www.Twitch.TV/cooljammer00
Battle.Net: JohnDarc#1203 Origin/UPlay: CoolJammer00
That's a very funny joke, I actually laughed out loud.
It was a joke, right?
That's why I love it.
EMI, BMG, et al are independent music distro companies like Activision and EA are independent gaming publishers
YEah, I mean, because getting Activision and INTERPLAY and EA to sign that shit up is just as easy as getting The Buttmen rock band from the bar donw the street to join your indie music site. AMIRITE?
It's not like the rights for a huge quantity of games are a clusterfuck that endures for years.
I find it hilarious, for what that's worth.
The Buttmen or The Original Buttmen?
The Real Buttmen. the others are just posers.
Dingleberry Armoury before they got signed, at least.
All right, people. It is not a gerbil. It is not a hamster. It is not a guinea pig. It is a death rabbit. Death. Rabbit. Say it with me, now.
Never mind the Dingleberry Armory, here's The Real Buttmen.
Because they are so underground.
So when do we get Worms, anyway?
All right, people. It is not a gerbil. It is not a hamster. It is not a guinea pig. It is a death rabbit. Death. Rabbit. Say it with me, now.
We should stick to cruel and deceptive thread titles from now on. People's pain amuses me.
I've had steam loaded on my external drive for about 2 years now and have never noticed any problems with it.
You're not getting it. My power as an independent music hub just getting off its feet compared to an independent band is a near perfect parallel with Valve/Steam notifying companies like Activision, Interplay, and EA to sign their older games up and make tons of money.
Is EA, Activision, and Interplay a whole lot more powerful than some independent band?
Yes.
BUT STEAM HAS A FUCK-LOAD MORE PULL THAN MY 2-MAN PONY SHOW, TOO.
You claim no one but you understands business. I claim you have no fucking idea how companies make money in the distribution business.
Listen you silly dumbass goose, if it was as easy as just "sending every game publisher on the planet and email", then Valve would have done so already.
i wish this was serious, but i know it's not :P
Registered just for the Mass Effect threads | Steam: click ^^^ | Origin: curlyhairedboy
I don't think so. I think Valve has taken a very conservative approach to expanding their contacts with publishers - shoring up long term relationships with existing publishers and ensuring future new releases are on their client before moving on to a new publisher.
That's one way of doing it, and a big part of it is likely the legal finagling. That's the entire reason I suggested that they push the legal responsibility to the publishers, and simply require them to meet the terms Steam requires, but they get to spend the hundreds of hours pounding out the exact wording (I work with corporate lawyers, I know).
I've taken that approach before, like when dealing with Loyola Universities. They didn't want to just sign an EULA/TOS. They wanted a contract. We said "Fine, you write it - it needs to meet these requirements". Everyone was happy.
Oh whoops, didn't know you were privy to Valve's business manifesto. Maybe you can argue a little better when you say something more concrete than "I think...", prove it with some articles and quotes.
You speak of Steam pushing the legal issues onto the publisher as if they're the ones in power in that situation. They really aren't. I think you really are overestimating just how much pull Steam actually has.
Brick and Mortar retail still brings in the bulk of sales in the PC sphere at the moment (and not wanting to tick off Gamestop is a big stumbling block in a lot of what's happening with DD). But after that, PC gaming in itself is a minute fraction of the kinds of sales being garnered in the console sphere. And Steam, whilst the main DD service, is still one amongst many. They don't have the kind of leverage over publishers that you're ascribing to them. The moment Valve starts trying to dictate terms to publishers is the moment that they go ahead and make some other provider richer instead.
Porting back-catalogue stuff to Steam in those circumstances is chump change at best, even if you can presume it would be profitable. Convincing publishers to take that road isn't going to be easy in itself. I mean it's changing, recently Lucasarts put some of their old adventure games on Steam after years of finagling, but this isn't something that Valve has the power to dictate.
You're just being difficult for no real reason. Direct observation over the past year is more than enough to make a reasonable estimate at their strategy. Personally I think it's a good one, as I said, but I don't think they should be so conservative in courting new publishers while shoring up their partnerships with existing publishers.
Many publishers have games that have long since stopped producing sales. Steam is the top of the pile (in market share) when it comes to proven low-cost distribution of older games. As a customer, I wish Steam would more aggressively pursue those opportunities. A lot of other Steam customers agree.
If you want to get your panties in a knot and claim that Steam is playing some 12th dimensional game of chess that us mere MBAs and small business owners can't grasp - then screw you.
Your MBA convinced him.
He tells me that all of the business analysts that Valve retains are all wrong, and that you are correct.
So, congratulations I guess.
New thread title right here.
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
I agree in large part with everything you wrote, but I wouldn't call it chump change. Publisher/developer teams have a very difficult time getting a AAA game to clear a profit - we've all seen the figures. $50, $60, $70 million budgets for big titles? They can only work on 1-2 of those titles at a time. Being able to go back in your past portfolio of games and take a nul-profit item and turn it into some easy money can go a long way to subsidizing big budget games that aren't a "guaranteed slam dunk". Lower risk for them means more diverse games for us.
I was going to argue that Lucas Arts are notorious dicks when it comes to their adamantium grasp on any IP they own that has a shred of chance to still produce money - but then I realized EA isn't exactly the high school sweet heart of publishers either. There's no doubt Steam has to caress a lot of overblown egos and anal retentive legal councils. No doubt at all.
You told him I thought they were doing a great job, but that I, as a customer, would like to see more older games from a myriad of publishers and not get over-focused on the publishers they already have.
That's fantastic.
Seriously, it's generally considered poor form to be a sarcastic silly goose when you don't even bother reading what's being wrote. No one here is trying to pretend to tell Valve what to do, and the only ridiculous statements I've seen have come from people like you and the guy(s) who think Valve is the God-Emperor of all Business and conducts their business meetings in a 5th dimensional think-tank, and thus should be immune to wish-suggestions from their customers.
Ffind a better hobby. You suck at sarcasm.
You're breaking my heart
Your heart? I wonder if we could break your account?
Keep jumping into civil conversations and acting like a silly goose for the sole purpose of stirring up shit, maybe we'll find out.