steam – Page 3 – StuffWeLike

Rockstar has 50% off this weekend.

There are not many hours left so if you haven’t seen it yet this is almost a steal. The full Rockstar Games Collection is 50% off this weekend at just $29.99 U.S. You can get it via the Valve download service Steam which means while you don’t get a big box to put on your shelf there is the bonus of getting the games just as fast as your net connection. It’s quite a perk all this digital downloading from Steam as it even patches the games when required automatically so those who haven’t taken a look at the service should do so. The collection includes the GTA’s, Max Payne’s and Manhunt among others.

Be aware though this offer is doubtful to be available to those outside the US so bad luck for most of the world. It’s very unfair for those of US who are outside the US but on occasion we do get offers that our American counterparts don’t so there is some balance in the world.

Google to Buy Valve? WTF?

Holy shit, did anything even remotely think of this? The Inquirer reports a breaking that Google may be buying Valve any second. And why this seemingly random move? Google most probably wants to acquire Steam, Valve’s trusty and super-successful content distribution service. So is Google taking it’s first step in the video game industry by bridging the Internet and video games?

There is no doubt that Steam is the greatest, most effective and most awesome content distribution ever. It looks like Google is interested in distributing content around. Owning Steam would definitely be profitable for Google, but it would only enforce peoples’ opinions that Google is turning into a Microsoft-ish monopoly with their webby hands over everything related to the Internet.

I personally think that the acquisition will still give Valve some space, a bit like the Activision-Blizzard merger, I’m thinking. But Google will definitely want Steam for itself. I just hope they don’t change the default theme to their boring white-blue nonsense, that just sucks.

Valve: PC Gaming is where all the action is

We’ve had all sorts of articles going on lately about how PC gaming is “dying”. Valve doesn’t think so. At a press event in Bellevue, Washington, Valve held steadfastly to their love of the PC and declared it as a robust and relevant gaming system. Gabe Newell went so far as to say that “[the] PC is where all the action is, and there’s a perception problem”.

It seems that Valve is placing emphasis on Steam and other online software distribution methods, and with good reason. Citing figures, Newell said that DFC Intelligence data showing that PC online sales have been on an increase since 2001, while retail sales comparatively flat. Valve also expects online sales to overtake retail very soon.

An interesting statement he makes is,

“We don’t really have a champion of the PC platform. If you write a story about the Xbox 360, there’s just an army of people who are going to descend on you to make that picture look as polished and rosy as possible. Same things for the other consoles – but there’s no equivalent on the PC, and the people who are traditionally driving these messages, like Microsoft or Intel or Apple are, for various reasons, not very effective champions.”

As we say from Valve’s latest announcement of Steam Cloud, Valve has been pretty aggressive on establishing the PC as the best video game platform out there. It’s time they got some support!

Steam Cloud: save your savegames online forever!

Valve continues to impress with every one of its announcements! We heard of Steamworks a few months ago, which has made professional video game publishing within everyone’s free hands. Now Valve announces Steam Cloud, a revolutionary service that will allow you to store savegames and configuration files online; that is, forever.

Hit the jump to read more and become darn excited!

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Valve unveils game publication suite “Steamworks”

Valve, the gaming industry legend known for its Half-Life line of games and their revolutionizing “Steam” video game distribution platform has made a surprise announcement and release – Steamworks. Pretty cool name, but sounds too professional for a game, right?

Right. Steamworks is a video game publishing suite, that helps game developers save lots of time and money by giving them lots of instantaneous features, including piracy protection, auto-updating, voice chat and lots more. And all this for free. No money – no currency – no slavery.

Hit the jump to learn more of Valve’s newfound altruism.

Continue reading “Valve unveils game publication suite “Steamworks””

Rockstar Games now on Steam!

In a press release sent out late Friday Valve has announced that a ton of high profile games from Rockstar are now available on the Steam download system. As a promotion all the games are discounted 10% during launch week so this is the time to brush up on your GTA skills before GTA4 is released. There is no word however on what upcoming Rockstar titles will be added to the system but we can only hope that a PC version of GTA4 will be made and added. All we can say is we hope you are not on a download limit!

The list and comments below are from the press release.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Grand Theft Auto III
Grand Theft Auto II
Grand Theft Auto
Midnight Club II
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
Max Payne
Manhunt
Wild Metal Country

“We were immediately excited by the opportunity to offer our PC catalog via Steam because it allows us to reach out to gamers around the world in exciting new ways,” said Rowan Hajaj, Head of Finance and Corporate Development of Rockstar Games. “We are continually looking for ways to give back to our fans and this collaboration will give people a chance to easily revisit some of our greatest titles.”

“Rockstar Games brings some of most viscerally engaging games the industry has ever witnessed to Steam’s expansive library of titles,” says Jason Holtman, director of Steam business development. “We’re delighted to provide a place where gamers across the globe can discover all the fine work Rockstar Games has produced.”

For more information about Rockstar Games on Steam, please visit www.steamgames.com/v/index.php?publisher=rockstar