Sony PlayStation

[etb10dmk]

Steam 100% normalized digital media on PC. Physical media wouldn't have died out if this system of game distribution was not normalized on PC. Drives disappeared because publishers started abandoning physical media thanks to steam.

Normalizing digital media for cutting costs and convenience in updates or patches is not the same acting as killing it. Publishers decided that for themselves, obviously...

I wasn't talking about key codes. I'm talking about how Steam's policy is to ensure games are sold at same price across all platforms [eg: epic]. Devs can't sell a game for 30$ on epic and then 50$ on steam even though Epic takes small cut from each sales.

Because in the end, the dev selling on Steam and not on Epic gets the better value/profit/development (I'll not repeat myself why).

It's not a customer's headache that steam has to stop supporting legacy operating systems and hardwares. The problem remains. You cannot play the game on your original hardware anymore without 3rd party interventions. Relying on 3rd party hacks just to play games you purchased on a hardware the game is supposed to run is straight up ridiculous. And this is why GOG remains superior.

Same applies backwards If I want to run a physical FIFA 98 on Win 10/11. It will never work without wrappers, 3rd party software, or PC emulation that will be needed...

Valve made proton not for customers but for their own benefit. And I wouldn't blame them for this. They run a business after all. The push for steam os started because Microsoft attempted on selling games on windows store and this would mean publishers might move away from steam. Fortunately for them, Microsoft sucks, so it has been a non-threat for them ever since.

Valve made proton for their ecosystem to work. They don't sell Proton for benefit. Regarding publishers, "might move" is not the same as "they will" move.

Of course Steam doesn't force DRM on games. Neither do they force "no DRM policy" like GOG does. This will always make GOG the best platform out there. And Steam launcher in itself is a layer of DRM in the first place.

The conclusion is, DRM was never forced by Valve, period. If publishers are opting for DRM then that's on them, even if Valve offers it as an option.

In short term, DRM issues mean nothing since games are accessible. In long term it will cause catastrophic damage to game preservation. And the fact that movements like stop killing games are being actively pushed aside by court shows how corrupted the gaming industry is.

I'm no DRM expert, but DRM was in gaming for a long time. Nobody wants it, but most publishers wants to protect their products in a way or another, for the good, the bad or the ugly.

 

[Sami 1999]

Same applies backwards If I want to run a physical FIFA 98 on Win 10/11. It will never work without wrappers, 3rd party software, or PC emulation that will be needed...

This is completely irrelevant to what I'm even talking about. Of course running old games on new hardware can have compatibility issues.

But not being able to play the game on the original hardware because of the stupid launcher is ridiculous. Older games before steam still runs just fine on the original hardware without any tinkering.

 

[etb10dmk]

Older games before steam still runs just fine on the original hardware without any tinkering.

That's not a given, especially regarding that period. Some will, some don't (especially 3dfx 98-XP era) even on original hardware/OS coz' every PC acts different.

 

[Sami 1999]

That's not a given, especially regarding that period. Some will, some don't (especially 3dfx 98-XP era) even on original hardware/OS coz' every PC acts different.

If a game works on a pc hardware, then if it becomes unplayable due to steam loosing support for the OS, then that makes steam garbage.

Older games not working on particular older hardware is irrelevant to this topic. That's same as saying x new game doesn't work on y current hardware. Not relevant. The point is that a game working fine on a hardware all of a sudden has become unplayable because the launcher is no longer supported.

 

[etb10dmk]

If a game works on a pc hardware, then if it becomes unplayable due to steam loosing support for the OS, then that makes steam garbage.

Older games not working on particular older hardware is irrelevant to this topic. That's same as saying x new game doesn't work on y current hardware. Not relevant. The point is that a game working fine on a hardware all of a sudden has become unplayable because the launcher is no longer supported.

So to understand, Steam is garbage because is not supported anymore on Win7/8? Then also this should be applied from your point of view back in 2004: "Well I can't play my Steam games because is not supported on Win98/ME/XP anymore (doesn't matter if Microsoft ended security updates and its support decades ago). Software, transactions and so on evolved miles ahead from back then, but its Valve fault because I can't run Steam on that Win98/XP OS to play there anymore."

 

[Sami 1999]

So to understand, Steam is garbage because is not supported anymore on Win7/8? Then also this should be applied from your point of view back in 2004: "Well I can't play my Steam games because is not supported on Win98/ME/XP anymore (doesn't matter if Microsoft ended security updates and its support decades ago). Software, transactions and so on evolved miles ahead from back then, but its Valve fault because I can't run Steam on that Win98/XP OS to play there anymore."

Yes, absolutely Valve's fault. it doesn't matter if MS stopped supporting those older OS. A functioning old hardware with old OS with and old game that's supposed to run perfectly on that old hardware can no longer run just because of Steam = Steam is the problem.

Yeah, to play those same old games you have to buy new hardware just because steam no longer works? That means steam should had never been there in the first place. With GOG games this is not an issue because you don't need any stupid launcher to install a game.