+1 Karma for that one.

Now seriously, does Tropic 3 come with Impulse Reactor?

I don't know why you bothered to comment if you couldn't even bother to look that up because you are obviously not familiar with the game.

Here let me educate some people with the history of IMPULSE which is what we are talking about.

Impulse

The argument in question was whether or not Steam or Impulse did the 75% off deals first.  Brad stated Impulse started it and nobody who said otherwise had any facts to back up what they said, then someone came back with facts backing up that Steam did it first.  Why you started commenting is beyond me.

P.S.  Don't use humongous words like elucidate when you have no knowledge of how to properly utilize them in a sentence.  Don't be ashamed about being at a 7th grade writing level.  There is no need to pretend further education.   

Oooh, resorting to age questioning. That really strengthens your argument. If you're curious, I'm only 25 and have been working as a web developer on the .NET platform for 4 years, with a little bit of tech support and network administration on the side, so that is the angle I'm coming from. I love that my entire office uses one OS. I actually wish there was only one main browser I had to work around, but that's not the way it is. Maybe when you try getting CSS to work right on 3 different browsers, and then getting certain scripts to work for different configurations, you'll appreciate the idea of working on one platform, no matter how closed it is (Steamworks, AppStore). I love what Microsoft does for developers, and find them acceptable as a consumer. Dreamspark, MCAA, Bizspark are all AMAZING developer tools. Windows is far from ideal, but for all its dominance, it is a very open platform. Steamworks is more closed, but no more than something like the AppStore.

How does Microsoft not starting in the lead have to do with anything? Obviously, no one starts in the lead unless they're the first company to make something, and that barely lasts very long.

You keep going off on tangents and fail to address my main points. Can you dispute the fact that Steam is the leader in distributed sales, by a large margin? Can you dispute the fact that MAJOR, AAA titles such as MW2 and Civ 5 are Steam exclusives? What else does Steam have to do to convince you that they've already won. You can rally against Steam's evil empire, just as many rally against Microsoft's evil empire, but at the end of the day, everyone uses Windows, and everyone uses Steam. They work. If they stopped working, people would move somewhere else. I just mention consoles because while Windows has a vice grip on the OS market (with OS X with an actual significant chunk), Steam, even if it ate up ALL the rest of PC game sales, obviously wouldn't eat up any console sales. They have everything to lose if their platform doesn't please both developers and consumers.

Go ahead, attack willy nilly anyone that opposes your viewpoint. It makes you both real intelligent. I am actually one of the people in this thread who uses Steam and Impulse, and I have gripes about both of them. He wants one browser, one OS, one digi storefront. That viewpoint is very narrow-minded.

Console wars is not a valid viewpoint because this idea that suddenly PC gaming will die and jump to consoles only has been brought up year after year after year after year after year and still hasn't happened. Is Steam took a nose dive tomorrow, PC gaming isn't going to end as we know it. To a couple of over zealous steam users, I am sure it would feel that way.

You're need to result to insults, doesn't strengthen your viewpoints either. Do keep going though.

That's my entire point. Steam already has a choke hold on PC digital distribution and NOTHING BAD HAS HAPPENED. Even if, as some people think, Steam engulfs all PC digital sales (and we ignore retail PC game sales...), gamers will still have the console gaming market.

Developers love having only one platform to publish to. The only reason to publish to multiple platforms is because it makes them more money. Unfortunately, Impulse, D2D and others are such small platforms that a few are now choosing Steam as the only PC platform they develop for, because that's where the profit is.

Keep in mind, you're the only person to insult anyone in this thread first by questioning my age. I invite you to invite some moderators into this thread to see who started insulting who.

@DeCypher.  Steam clearly does not have a chokehold on the PC digital distribution market. If it did, everyone would have to put their titles on it to be commercially viable.

According to Valve, they have 25 million accounts.  That's about the number of *consumer* PCs that Dell ships each year. It's about the amount of unique visitors Gamespot.com gets per day. 

Steam has a huge lead in digital distribution and is likely to lead for the foreseable future, perhaps the indefinite future. But describing digital distribution is a done deal is as silly as saying that MySpace.com has a permanent dominance for social networking.

You will know the day that Steam has a choke hold on the market - when they start making requirements on software to be carried on Steam (i.e. must use Steamworks for instance). 

Yet again, the difference is that you can play your game to hearts delight right out of the box without ever touching Impulse. You can't do that with Steam.

EDIT: Yes, if you want extras such as updates you need to download Impulse. But for multiplayer, just create an account, you don't need Impulse. Unlocking games doesn't require registration, only CD key, which doesn't need Impulse.

Brad, you are entirely correct. Chokehold was a poorly chosen word. But it is still indeed the current number one digital distributor.

My very absolute, main point is this: Even if it were to dominate the digital market (which I think it already kind of is, and others are free to disagree, and do, haha), there are factors such as the brick and mortar stores selling PC games, and console games. If Valve were to abuse its power in any blatant way, consumers and developers could easily move to one of those other channels. Thus, Valve will still be forced to compete, though perhaps at the expense of other, smaller digital distributors.

The myspace comparison is actually an apt one, and a great counterpoint to my Windows comparison, though with one glaring omission: people have invested hundreds of dollars into a Steam account. I guess we will have to see where everything is in a few years.

I'm amazed that so many people have intermittent internet connections.  I have cable internet, and it's on 99% of the time - and when there are severe storms that cause the internet to go out.. guess what?  I'm not getting on my computer to play a game in offline mode, I'm turning off and unplugging what I need to to make sure nothing gets fried.

I've had Steam since HalfLife 2, and am amazed at the level of ignorance in this thread!  "Oh yeah, if only Steam has the game, gamers will get screwed because there will be no competition!"  - Yeah, that's why I can currently purchase Civilization 4 Complete for 75% off ($10USD), why I'm presented with numerous sales on a "specials" page, and why I'm given the opportunity to test current games via a "free weekend" deal.  Also, I can easily visit specific game forums and get an idea of what consumers think of a game before I purchase it, consistently.  

There are moments in a persons life where taking a stand against something is bold and admirable...people who take a stand against having to launch a program before they launch their game are missing the point, in my opinion. 

[quote who="KickACrip" reply="146" id="2613694"]

I've had Steam since HalfLife 2, and am amazed at the level of ignorance in this thread!  "Oh yeah, if only Steam has the game, gamers will get screwed because there will be no competition!"  - Yeah, that's why I can currently purchase Civilization 4 Complete for 75% off ($10USD), why I'm presented with numerous sales on a "specials" page, and why I'm given the opportunity to test current games via a "free weekend" deal.  Also, I can easily visit specific game forums and get an idea of what consumers think of a game before I purchase it, consistently.  


[/quote]

Your Civ IV argument is a pretty poor choice. Let me tell you why.  First, Civ IV complete has no DRM. You can buy the physical disc and not be bothered with the disc again. This means the Steam version is almost inferior in that it adds DRM. I say almost becaause depending on where you purchase it, you may or may not have the ability to download it again at will. Civ IV is old, it's been out awhile now. It's not like Steam takes a brand new game on release day and sells it for 10 dollars. Civ IV can be purchased on sale from D2D for 9.95. Civ IV has so many choices as to where you can purchase it and still enjoy the same benefit it is actually counter intuitive to your argument.

No one here is saying Steam is crap. No one says these little benefits you are talking about is bad.

Not having a choice, always bad, always bad for the consumer even if the consumer thinks otherwise for awhile. It's not a new tactic to move into an area, undersell your competitors, try to drive them out of business so you can what exactly... oh right, when they are gone, you get to control prices again, and they will go up.

Yep, the retail copy will also use Steam of course. The pirates won again?