The reason "why" Valve decided to make Steam application that distributes digital games is to grant people a better gaming experience by providing a way for PC gamers to easily collect, organize, and play their games without hassles that people had to go through when they were using hard copies.
Back when there was only hard copies available, people had to go out and and possibly drive for 20 minutes or so to buy a single copy of game, and had to keep a physical disk safely in order to play. If somehow a disk was damaged or lost, then people had to purchase it again, which was both inconvenient and annoying from the customers' views. Having to keep every single physical copy you have and pile them up somewhere in your house isn't idle either.
Digitization of games, and distributing them by using an application such as Steam eliminate all those problems that people had with hard copies, and make the gaming experience much more consumer-friendly. Looking at things in a consumer's point of view and successfully nailing all the issues by designing Steam is why this application became so successive in the gaming industry.
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ReplyDeleteHi Chris,
ReplyDeleteCollectible, organized gaming for steam is definitely part of the "why," but it's more of the "how." I definitely get where you were going, though. They put all the games in one place, but what separates them from Origin for example? What does Valve believe about how gaming should be that drives what they've decided to make? I would argue, for example, that they believe something along the lines of "gaming should be as hassle-free and optionally social as possible, and we believe the game delivery medium like us is secondary." Origin, by contrast, is in-your-face and annoying about reminding you that you're using Origin, and that's why (in my opinion) Steam is better. I get that you were going for that point, just make it explicit. A "why" should sound like a mission statement. Your argument would also be strengthened by references to Chapter 2 or the TED talk. Good thinking.