Steam

I'm sure most of you are familiar with Steam.  My first encounter with Steam was for the launch of Half Life 2, a game I had been looking forward to for quite some time (and of course, I was not disappointed).  Many of you probably remember the painful birth of Steam - it took 2 days for Steam to finally agree that my copy of HL2 was not the result of piracy.  It reminded of me of the Ents trying to decide if the hobbits were orcs or not...

Of course, after that experience I was more than a little peeved.  I played HL2 to its mysterious end, then uninstalled it as well as Steam.  I didn't return for two years - what a difference!  It went from a terrible DRM scheme to one of the first places I go to buy a new game.  I could play my games on multiple machines, with no annoying cds to hunt down.  While it's not perfect, it is impressive how Valve has managed to turn so much ire into so much good will.  It's clear they've been listening and working hard on their product.

Today I heard that they've added a shopping cart (hear that, amazonmp3??) and to celebrate, they are offering Audiosurf for only $2.49.  Hmm...gallon of gas or ultra-cool PC game that uses your own music to build the levels...it's probably the most important decision you'll have to make today =P

Comments

[RR]

Hate to say it, but with the addition of the new Steam Cloud feature: Steam has GfW Live completely beat, hands down. That's what happens when you're asleep at the wheel, Microsoft.

If MS was smart, they'd just give up on Live and buy Steam. (But frankly, I'd rather they didn't.)

[Ryan Miller]

I agree - although Live is more about connecting with other gamers and playing with them, and getting achievements and gamerscore out of the deal. Now I’m not the biggest fan of the current version of live, but I am a fan of what it will someday become. MS definitely has a history of being late to the game, but they also have a history of sticking around.

[Christopher Morgan]

One thing both Steam and Live get wrong is identity management.

In Live, why can't I change the Windows Live ID that's associated with my account? (Yes I can change the email address but what if I want to keep my gamertag but maintain my Windows Live contacts and messenger integration?

In Steam, why can't I change my user account login name?

Now that Windows Live supports OpenId and Steam *only* runs on Windows, why can't Microsoft and Valve work together to support unified logon and presence? *that* would show genuine committment to PC gamers.

We're tired of having different accounts for everything (Skype, MSN, Steam, XFire, etc. etc.) and different presence in each application.

Right now, this is why I've got an Xbox 360 and barely looked back from PC gaming. But I'm still extremely grumpy about not being able to transfer my gamertag to another of my linked Windows Live IDs...

Where's the integration? :-(

[Ryan Miller]

You can do that, but only from an xbox at the moment:

Go to My Xbox and open your Xbox LIVE profile.
Select Manage Account.
Select Windows Live ID.
Select Change Windows Live ID.
Follow the steps to change your Windows Live ID.

(from http://support.xbox.com/support/en/us/xbox360/XboxLive/MyAccount/ManageMyAccount/SwitchWindowsLiveID.aspx)

[Christopher Morgan]

Woohoo! Well now I'm less grumpy :-)

(Now also spotted at: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/945419?sd=xbox)

It did say in the support pages that I was looking at yesterday the allocation of gamertag to windows live ID is permanent... guess someone needs to update the pages!

e.g: http://xbox.agent.asahost.com/?ent=uk

Which of the following do you mean?

1 How can I change the Windows Live account associated with my Xbox Live gamer profile?
2 Windows Live ID

If none of these topics are relevant, type ? to see how I can help you or topics for a complete list of help topics.

You:

How can I change the Windows Live account associated with my Xbox Live gamer profile?

Ask Xbox:

Changing the Windows Live ID Associated with an Xbox Live gamer profile

The Windows Live credentials that you used when you added Xbox Live to your gamer profile are permanently associated with your Xbox Live enabled profile. Even if you cancel your Xbox Live account, you cannot use the same Windows Live account together with a new Xbox Live enabled profile. Your Windows Live credentials are premanently linked to a specific Xbox Live enabled profile. You cannot break this link.

If your current account is parentally controlled and you become an adult, your account will continue to be parentally controlled. You must have the owner of the Windows Live ID who established parental controls on your account turn off those parental controls so that you can use the Xbox Live enabled profile without restrictions.

Would you like to see more about Windows Live ID?

OOPS!

[Ryan Miller]

Hmmm....good catch - I forwarded this on to the xbox folks.