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THQ hitches their wagon to Steam, which brings the wagon to a screeching halt
If you're a PC gamer and you don't have Steam and Games for Windows Live on your system, you might as well go ahead and install them. In yet another sign of the times, the Dawn of War II beta will be available via Steam later this month, and it will require Games for Windows Live for online play.
Which I normally wouldn't have a problem with, if I hadn't spent the better part of Thursday trying to install the PC version of Saints Row 2. With no explanation whatsoever, I kept getting kicked out of the authentication servers after waiting several minutes. I couln't even install Saints Row 2, much less play it.
What's more, I couldn't even play a LAN game of Left 4 Dead, because apparently no such thing exists. Although I have several computers set up with the game, until I can sign into my Steam friends list, I can't play on the LAN. Which means my friends and I will have to spend the evening playing something less hostile to local play. Like, say, a board game.
By the way, on my retail copy of Saints Row 2, there's no indication on the box that Steam is required. Instead, it's written in fine print on that clear plastic adhesive strip along the spine. You know, the one some people just slit with a knife or their car keys while the more OCD among us carefully pry it loose from the edges with our fingernails. Here's a picture:
It's not easy to read in real life either. It says:Notice: Product offered subject to your acceptance of the Steam Subscriber Agreement (SSA). You must activate this product via the Internet by registering for a Steam account and accepting the SSA.
Hey, great, whatever. How about actually fixing the servers so I can agree to your stupid SSA?
Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, right: Dawn of War II, also published by THQ and hall-monitored by Steam, will probably be plagued by similar inconveniences.
By mysterioso at 1:04 AM ON 01/09/09
I like this idea. Piracy and its (at least perceived) threat is threatening PC gaming.
Like it or not, we are going to have to deal with some form of DRM now and in the future. In my experience, Steam does a great job authenticating a new game.
I'm hoping that this partnership extends to the ability to download the game via Steam, even if it was purchased retail. I have a sack of non-Valve games which are now available through Steam, and I'd trade them all for the convenience of Steam versions.
By KFinn at 1:16 AM ON 01/09/09
No LAN play for Left4Dead? That totally sucks. It's the perfect LAN party game. If one person brought it to a party, everyone who tried it would go home and buy their copy.
By Annakha at 9:04 AM ON 01/09/09
I can't say anything about LAN play but I've had fewer problems with online play using Steam games than with any other service I've ever seen. On top of that I recently purchased Civ4 on Steam based mainly on your string of articles about FFH2.
By Switchbreak at 9:12 AM ON 01/09/09
Yeah, Steam's serves were up and down last night and it was really annoying, but to be fair to them that was the first time I've had an issue with the service since the Half-Life 2 launch.
By Rob Zacny at 11:55 AM ON 01/09/09
Steam? Good. Steam and GFW Live? Screw that.
I'm fine with Steam despite the sometimes spotty servers, but any game that takes the position that it is such a valuable property that it needs two or three programs running alongside is a little to stuck-up for my tastes. So Saints Row 2, GTA IV... sorry. You're somewhat less valuable to me than a few thousand kilobytes of memory and the bliss of not having login accounts in like five different places for my gaming.
By bgperkin at 7:01 PM ON 01/09/09
L4D is easily played over lan or net, regardless of steam, just do a connect IP on the command line, easy enough.
By RED Wine at 10:00 PM ON 01/09/09
No LAN play means no buy for me. Once a week my friends and I gather to try out new games, and later purchase the ones we like. Without an easy LAN option the game simply won't even make it into our batch to be played.
I guess in reality it doesn't matter all that much, as I too would never even consider purchasing a game that requires both Steam and GFW to play. Seriously, that's just ridiculous.
FWIW - this is my THIRD attempt at submitting this comment as every time I get the characters wrong. You might want to try a genuine CAPTCHA or something!
By mono at 12:18 AM ON 01/10/09
LAN play? Oh,you people with real life friends, who get together in the same physical location to play games. I mean, reaaallly.
By KriticKill at 8:59 PM ON 01/10/09
Actually DRM is more likely to make me play LESS games. Marketing execs rarely think about anything other than very, very short-term consequences, so this doesn't surprise me. However, I don't like having to go online and go through a bunch of crap to play a game I already bought. I may get DOW2, because the first one was great, and the sequel is shaping up to be pretty good, too, but other than that (and SC2 whenever it comes out), I have no plans to buy any new games in the near future. PC or otherwise. Oh and Stardock, you guys are my DRM heroes.
By FalconDHQ at 4:50 PM ON 01/12/09
You can actually do LAN with left 4 dead!
Start up a local game and then have your friends use open the developers console and type "openserverbrowser". This will open a server browser and you'll be able to select LAN servers. Also, L4D has the ability to do split-screen play much like an xbox360, making it a more accessible game at LAN party's! I would say, however, that I expect a bit better from Steam. They need to include the server browser and split-screen options in the menus.
By Maddogg at 5:20 PM ON 01/28/09
I'm tired of listening to people bitch about steam. Recently steam has been messing up for alot of people and even down for a few hours. All the people bitch and claim steam sucks for the next few days before they forget. Has anyone played a MMO? Played a game that the server crashes for hours if not the full day? So never bitch about steam crashing for a hour or so ONCE every blue moon. As much as i love that brand new game box. If i see the game on steam,some times 10-20% off if you preorder, you don't have to worry about three installs. About a lost cd key. Or a scratched disk. So look at what Steam can offer before you bitch.
By Psynikal at 1:36 PM ON 02/06/09
Finally someone who hates Steam also.
Seriously, if I wanted to play an on-line game I would get an on-line game. Portal has no reason to use bandwidth. In retrospect Securom isn't so bad since it only uses about 1mb of RAM where as Steam uses around 50mb. And Securom isn't constantly trying to sell me stuff like some kind of street corner dealer with a coat full of fake Rolexes.
By superelt at 8:10 PM ON 02/26/09
For me personally, the idea of having to connect to the internet to play a game I have already purchased is rediculous. I am currently deployed in the middle east and while my laptop is available the internet, at least connecting it to my laptop, is not. So I will have to wait months before I can even think about enjoying DOW2. Since I have been a fan of GW for 20 years, I am rather disappointed in their choices for this. Just my 1.5 cents worth.
superelt:
For me personally, the idea of having to connect to the internet to play a game I have already purchased is redicul...More »