Posted: 15-05-05 In: Editorials By: Munro2 |


As we get further and further into this digital age, I have to wonder, how far will it go? With the increase in popularity of internet shopping and downloading music albums from places like 'iTunes' and 'Napster' it makes you think whether or not there'll be a requirement for normal shops one day or if we'll all turn digital. So far the above mentioned systems are proving really popular with internet users, I being one of them and from here I can only assume the natural progression will be towards digital content delivery. With most homes now having broadband internet it is becoming more and more feasible to download albums, movies and games without having to purchase a CD. One great example of this is Valve Software's Steam format, their system for delivering automatic updates, game purchases and server browsing. The system may very well have had a rocky road so far, however it is improving rapidly. But does this mean Steam could be the future of the gaming industry?

Steam is a content delivery platform, optimised for broadband users to enable users to receive automatic updates to their game files without having to patch with .exe files. It also enables users to download complete games, receive promotional media, pre-order and purchase games, chat to friends online, browse for servers and protect the titles from being pirated. The benefits of the platform are quite clear, it's a fully integrated system and means that users can conveniently and easily update their games and even purchase new titles as soon as they're released. I have always been fully behind the concept, despite the platform's very rocky past.

Although Steam has been far from warmly welcomed onto the computers of the community; partly due to the originally poor implementation of it and partly due to people with the attitude of "if it isn't broken, don't fix it", I personally feel it has made major leaps and bounds. It was very buggy when it was first rolled out and whereas most of these major bugs have been ironed out there are still some people out there having serious problems. After a beta stage that wasn't gaining the most positive feedback, and was causing errors for many users all over the place, despite these factors Valve eventually brought the platform out of beta stages and decided it was time to release version 1.0 to the public and slowly migrate Half-Life's software to run from Steam instead of the WON network. On this day nearly every body launched the installer, started migrating their games across and downloaded the automatic updates for their games and even some extra ones that may not have been accessible before. Steam wasn't ready. The content servers received such a hit that even more crashes were appearing than in the beta stages and the downloads were painfully slow. Eventually though the hit on the servers became less severe and everything went back to full speed and slowly the bugs were fixed and patched. Since then the platform has been getting more and more stable, even stable enough to allow Valve to release their latest title, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero on the platform which seemed to work with great success. I certainly had no problem with paying £20 and being able to play a brand new game as soon as I woke up on the day of release.

The future certainly has to start somewhere and in my opinion, this may be it. No longer do I have to download a myriad of .exe patches to get from version 1.x to 1.y to 1.z, instead if I ever do need to reinstall a Valve title it will automatically get the correct update for me. No longer do I have to use a third party application to find my servers, and a separate third party application to speak to my gaming friends. No longer do I need to even leave the house buy a new title or wait days for it to be delivered or to make the time to go to the shops. What could be easier? I can certainly see why Valve are doing this and I can see why other companies, not just games companies, would want to licence the platform in the future. Since March 2004's GDC there have been rumours of third party companies using Steam to release their games. If this is true then what is more likely to be the case is that these companies will be licensing the technology from Valve to make their own distribution system from it. This kind of system could also eventually bring down the price of games in the future. Just think, if all developers start cutting out the middle man and directly publish their own games through a system like Steam then the publishers would become redundant, which means one less party to pay. Perhaps the claim that systems like this will eventually make shops redundant is a slight bit over the top but I'm sure it will be a good contender. In conclusion, despite the platforms poor to mediocre introduction into the community its benefits are now starting to become clearer, and as the system starts becoming more advanced and more stable it may take us full Steam ahead into the future.