The Steam engine rolls on

LincLinc OwnerDetroit Icrontian
edited September 2007 in Science & Tech
Valve quietly released an update that turned Steam into XBox Live for the PC.
Other entertainment companies are paying attention. Sony is soon to unleash their "PlayStation Home" software, which takes the concepts of Xbox Live and wraps them up in a 3D third person interface that is similar to "Second Life". Another company that took note of Xbox Live's concepts is Valve.
Digg this

Comments

  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited September 2007
    I noticed the update also included the ability to use Steam as an app-launcher for non-Steam games as well.

    I'm interested in checking out these features, but it seems that their servers were slammed yesterday and my Orange Box preorder hasn't been verified yet. :(
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited March 2012
    This is fascinating. This article is five years old, and it makes me realize that almost nothing has changed in Steam, at all. With all the news lately about GoG, and with new competitors like Origin, does Valve need to do anything with Steam? Or does it just work so well that nothing needs to change...?
  • pigflipperpigflipper The Forgotten Coast Icrontian
    @Primesuspect: agreed, I see (and use) a lot of parts of Steam that could use some overhauls; time for an Icrontic Steam Fix Wishlist?
  • Grimnir
    Everything else needs to catch up to Steam before it needs to improve in any reasonable manner. For the past 5 years it's simply been the best platform for buying and playing games.

    Origin is backed by EA and they're starting to pick up third-party publishers (instead of just buying them outright as EA is apt to do), but from what I hear it's still no where near as robust as Steam, and people don't want multiple social gaming platforms.

    It'll be some time before anyone really pushes into their territory, I'm pretty sure.
  • midgamidga "There's so much hot dog in Rome" ~digi (> ^.(> O_o)> Icrontian
    I'd actually have to disagree; they've made quite a few improvements, they're just not as major as the one for this article. Take the Workshop, for instance (which, admittedly, is kinda crap currently), or the Summer and Winter events they did last year? They've also added daily deals, changed the way they present their weekend deals (adding midweek deals to it), and have made all sorts of other little updates. Steam is not stagnant at all.

    I am still a bit put off that you can't change text size in Steam chat. I need to bug them about that again. Anyone feel like helping me push them on that a bit? I'm tired of having to break out the Windows Magnifying Glass...
  • PirateNinjaPirateNinja Icrontian
    Items and item trading .. massive API changes to implement item systems in to games, events, item workshop, screenshot/video capture api, facebook integration, blotter, wishlists --- so much has improved and changed.
Sign In or Register to comment.