One of the things I routinely see on-line when they hear about something new about Impulse is someone commenting “I wish they’d all just consolidate under Steam.” In fact, as Impulse has become increasingly successful, the cry has gotten louder.
So strong is Steam’s fan base at this point that one of the most common comments about Impulse on third-party forums is the desire by some that it didn’t exist and that everything was just on Steam.
I admire Valve on two levels. First, I admire their excellence in what they make. I like companies that strive for the highest quality possible in what they produce. Second, I admire Valve’s business practices. They are incredibly effective, competent, and adaptive. In short, Valve is a fantastic company.
I’m a professional zealot. My tendency to get behind the best technology has led me to be, at various times, an OS/2 zealot, an OpenDoc zealot, and yes, even a Valve zealot (Source engine).
But I’ve also been around long enough to know that you don’t want one player calling all the shots. The companies we love today may not be so loved later on.
People routinely give me a hard time because I like Electronic Arts a lot. How is that possible? Because to me, when I think of Electronic Arts I think of Archon, MULE, Seven Cities of Gold, Starflight, and Summer Games.
When I was an OS/2 zealot, the up and coming star was Microsoft. Its fans helped ensure that Windows, not OS/2, became the standard OS. For many people today, it’s hard to imagine Microsoft as the fanboy favorite – the company that could do no wrong – the company that would never do anything “evil”.
Now, we live in an industry absolutely dominated by Microsoft and Electronic Arts. Its fanboys got their way. Is there anything wrong with that? You tell me.
Today, the pattern repeats itself. Steam is doing phenomenally well. It has fans that actively wish that competition would just go away in the name of “standards” (whatever that means).
And yet, even though Impulse is just an up-and-comer, the competition has already helped consumers. Before the “Impulse Weekend Buys” it was relatively rare to see regular organized major sales on Steam. Now we get them every weekend.
I would like to think that we’ve had some impact on people’s awareness that you don’t need nasty DRM to be successful.
I think Impulse’s focus on trying to encourage one price, worldwide in local currency right out of the gate has made some impact too.
I think Impulse's very fast download speeds have helped encourage competing services to keep increasing their bandwidth capacity.
At the very least, Impulse’s growing success, I think, is something most people can agree has been very beneficial to consumers.
Steam’s most successful venture yet, Steamworks, has helped Steam get an increasingly firmer hold on the market. In my opinion, Steamworks is 90% copy protection, 10% game-related features. I know that publishers are looking at Steamworks as a replacement to SecuROM for protecting games.
The problem is that Steamworks requires the user to have a Steam account and Steam installed to use it – even if you buy it at retail or through a third party like Direct2Drive. I think that’s the basic strategy for Steamworks -- give developers a bunch of “free” features that they used to have to pay for (copy protection, DRM, GameSpy type stuff) with the only catch is that the user has to become a Steam user and have Steam installed. As a result, something like Dawn of War 2, for instance, won’t be on Impulse.
Even with the case of Steamworks, competition has helped here too though, since Stardock is producing Impulse Reactor to compete with Steamworks. Impulse Reactor doesn’t require Impulse (the client) to even be installed to work.
Steamworks, obviously, has a head start and publishers have been following THQ’s lead by setting up with Steamworks even when it means they’re distributing a third party store with their game. After all, right now, Steam has the numbers.
Based on the #s I hear from publishers, Impulse, which has only been out for 6 months, has already become #2 in terms of actual units sold on a given title. But Steam still has a massive lead. Obviously, if we can’t even carry certain big name titles because they've hooked in Steamworks, the competitive trend will reverse.
And while some people might very much like seeing there be only one option, especially if that option comes from such a cool company like Valve, they may not be considering the long term ramifications.
For example, last weekend, Steam and Impulse both had sales on Titan Quest. Steam had it for $7.99, Impulse had it for $3.99. Neither I assume knew the other was going to have a sale on it. But that sort of competition is good for consumers.
Competition is good for consumers. It’s also good for companies. I’m a Steam user. I enjoy watching it evolve and improve over time. But I am also thankful that there are still alternatives to it. Because as much as people love Valve today, I still remember how much everyone loved EA and Microsoft in their day too. Competition keeps companies dynamic and consumer friendly.
Update:
Reading through the comments I see some people turning it into an Impulse vs. Steam discussion (i.e. Impulse rulez! No, Steam rockz!).
This isn't mean as a Steam vs. Impulse discussion. What it is supposed to be is to make people aware of the long history in which fans have rooted for the up-and-comer (whether it be EA in its day or Microsoft later and Google today) and how perceptions change when said companies dominate.
There are plenty of people out there that with that everything would just "standardize" on iPods and iTunes. And even as an iPod and iTunes user, I am glad there's Amazon.com selling MP3s.
For the record, I use Steam every day. I like it a lot. The question isn't which is better (right now, if I had to choose one client, I'd use Steam because of its superior community features and game library -- how many CEOs would say that publicly about the "competition"?). The objective is to remind users that competition is always a good thing even when you love a particular vendor (whether it be Valve, Stardock, whoever).
It's never a good idea to explicitly wish for a single source. Some people in the comments area have said "Of course no one wants a monopoly". But I can assure them that yes, there are lots of people and companies who would like just that because a single source is seen to streamline things.
We expect Impulse to exceed 1 million users before Demigod even ships. So suffice to say, it is doing well. It's nowhere near Steam's user base but then again, Impulse has only been out 6 months.
The point is, Impulse's existence and success shouldn't be seen as an "inconvenience" to consumers but rather as a way to ensure that consumers continue to have choices.
Steam and Impulse at a glance:
www.steampowered.com
www.impulsedriven.com
Related articles:
Stardock mentioned by name by the Michigan governor in the state of the State address
Impulse Phase 3 preview
Stardock prepares to open up second game studio
Stardock's Sins of a Solar Empire top selling PC strategy game of 2008
If both Impulse and Steam have the same game in store I prefer Impulse. I've installed both on 2 of my systems and I like the fact that I can freely choose which Impulse game to play. If one of my children wants to play a steam game the account is only available on 1 system....
Impulse is much cheaper for us EU people
i only have steam for one game, which is x3tc. And in all honesty, i wished i have ordered a copy from Amazon U.S or get someone to order it for me and ship it to canada. I like impulse for the fact that i don't have to worry about whether after purchased, my game will work offline. For some reasons, at times, steam won't allow me to go offline mode and it will consistently try to connect to the internet. That amounts to i can't play my game. But with impulse, i just download and installed once. Then i get to play my game. Hassle free.
There is one other thing that impulse is ahead in the following sense. I am not sure in steam, you can go and chat with developers/publishers live. But with impulse, you can do that. And when you can do that, you get limited personal attention from the devs which is a good thing. Let's be honest, how many people who bought anything on steam can claim that they have talked to the guys at valve even if it means shooting the breeze about anything. Impulse users can attest to that they have done it many a times. Plus, we can always have kyro, Yarlen, Zubaz or Zoomba to torment for fun.
Summer Games by Electronics Arts? If I remeber well it was done by Epyx/U.S. Gold. At least on the Commodore 64. Or are we talking of a different game?
With humor... I meant it in a joking fashion, not to start lobbing rocks.
They actually had a lot of influence on the game, ranging from suggestions to testing etc... Stardock works WITH the developer as a partnership, as opposed to taking the game, shipping it and never doing anything with it again... Hence the patches etc...
The original version of Sins would have struggled to get game of the year awards - the support that Stardock has given Ironclad has resulted in a win-win situation where they have won these awards...
If you respond, you are.
You can't win.
Personally i much rather just have Steam than Steam AND Impulse. Both do the same thing in a great way. Stardock could make just as much money off of steam and support their games even better than trying to support their games and impulse.
To me, more annoying than the Steam fanboys are those that think you can't like both Steam and Impulse (not directed at you Mr. Wardell)
I buy games from both Steam and Impulse and don't even really think about it. My internet is very reliable, so having to have Steam running isn't an issue for me, and I've never been one to sell my games either, except on rare occasions. My personal belief is that if you do good research into your game and you think about it long and hard before you purchase, you will never want to sell the game because it's a game that appeals to you. I would have no problem with Impulse if it were more DRM heavy either. To me, the biggest issue with modern DRM is activation limits. As long as you don't have those, I'm fine. And native Impulse/Steam games do not have those activation limits.
I think that Mr. Wardell does bring up some great points. Monopolies are NEVER a good thing. I am very grateful that Impulse started these weekend sales. That REALLY made Valve step up their game, and in the end, the consumers win. We get great games for less. I think there are a lot of things Valve can learn from Stardock, and vice versa, there are a lot of things Stardock can learn from valve.
Frogboy said:
It has fanboys that actively wish that competition would just go away in the name of “standards” (whatever that means).
dj-LiTh said:
Quod erat demonstrandum?
I'm not sure where you are going with this post Frogboy. You argue the case for Impulse to say that you wish that Steam did not have such a monopoly, I don't think there is anyone with an adult mental age that could argue that they want any different. We all know monopolies are bad for the consumer.
However I'm kind of surprised at how the original comments of the users have sparked this reaction, I assumed you were more in tune with user feedback than that. People are suggesting they wish all things were consolidated under Steam from a usability point of view. It is frustrating from a user perspective that you have to boot up a Steam Client for games you have purchased on Steam or the Impulse Client for Impulse bought games. Before it is mentioned I know you don't have to boot up Impulse, but if you are like me you boot it up to check for updates anyway.
Tackling this usability issue should be your primary focus because obviously it is creating a big impact in your sales if what you are saying is correct. Even if that means you somehow create an interface in Impulse to use features in Steam as many PCs out there are already Steam users. Perhaps that isn't the correct approach, I'm no sales man. Basically all I'm trying to say is that trying to be the Firefox by using words such as monopoly and comparing a great company like Valve who uses the most unobtrusive DRM I have encountered (as someone who is always online) to companies with bad reputatons is always going to leave you second place, be better than Steam, please games companies and users more, that's what you have to do to compete.
From a feedback perspective I love Steam, Impulse is ok. Impulse is a sales platform and patching platform that works just as nice for me as Steam at the moment. Where Steam has the edge at the moment is the Friends system, being able to see what games my friends are playing and to jump in, even being able to do it while in a game, it's superb. I have no issues with the way Impulse looks, personally I think it looks better than Steam, although for me looks are of little importance over usability of which they both seem on a par in that respect. Also it's worth saying Steam has a superb and large selection of games for offer, checking last night, I was not impressed by Impulse's library of games on offer. You need to win over games companies right now, because apart from a few key titles there is no reason for many to have Impulse installed.
Good to see you play Left 4 Dead too, best game I have bought that my friends play also in a very long time
His point was that these companies with bad reputations didn't always have bad reputations. And impulses DRM is better than Steam, hands down.
Amen. I will not buy a game with activation limits. I bought one game from Trygames and then learned it had activation limits. I asked for and promptly received a refund. I will not support an activation limit scheme.
As a big fan of the COD series, I convinced myself to buy Counter Strike Source since I had heard this game was what started the whole FPS craze that lead to COD for many people. After installing Steam to be able to play CSS and the multiple games it came with and took nearly 2 days to update the games before I could even try them, I got frustrated at the idea of having to use the Steam program to play my games. I am not a big fan of the idea of having to open one program to be able to use another.
I recently purchased ObjectDesktop Ultimate (finally) and ObjectDock Plus thru Impulse and like having all my programs accessable from a single program but love even more that I can go straight to the programs themselves to be able to use them even if impulse was not installed.
If this is what Impulse is all about, not attaching software to it to the point that the software will not work without it, then I am all for Impulse. It's bad enough I did not find CSS as appealing as I would have hoped, now I can't even sell the game to someone else or even give it away because it's already registered to me.
And my point is that he needs to address the user feedback constructively, not just preach to the converted about how Impulse is good and Steam is (potentially) bad.
Edit: Also who is the DRM better for on Impulse? Users who can't get on the net all the time when they want to play their game. For everyone else Steam's DRM is good for both the games companies and the consumer if they are interested in games being maintained and the quality of future games. But anyway debating DRM is like debating religion on forums, there's too many fanatics (not calling you one Insanetitan by any means).
Steam's UI has a minimalist quality that is Googleesque. That, and the Steam Overlay are the reasons it's simply a better product.
First - nice work. Impulse has come a long way, baby. And in very little time, so it will be very cool to see what it looks like in a year.
Second - What has made Steam so successful in the longterm, imo, is not only the extensive library of games but the ability of Valve to create a society. It's the gamer's Myspace, and the ability to connect with friends and communities, to be social, will give it brand longevity where a DDL service with far superior backend and gadgets but limited social dynamics would fail.
If you want to position yourself as a comparative Facebook longterm you will need to incorporate the type of community networking that goes far beyond what is currently available. Player groups, blogs, supported ventrilo and teamspeak servers (and later native VoIP), clans, achievements, extremely customizable user profiles, player reviews, stats, and rankings. "You like this game? Maybe you'll like these others."
And to extend the metaphor - Yes, it's completely ridiculous for people to complain that Facebook doesn't just operate within the Myspace UI..
Third - as an uninformed outsider this is what I'd be concentrating on -
- get more games on Impulse faster. (the catalog is there and it's a pipeline issue?)
- visit the XBLA model as well as the Steam one - how many Indy, vintage, or casual games are on Impulse? That's a huge demographic that no one seems to be touching...Hook up with Armor or Popcap Games, for example, and you've brought in simple games that get millions and millions of plays.
- make the multiplayer tracking and play very, very smooth right out of the gate
- make and advertise other deals - weekend sales are great, but it would be cool to see "buy any 3 titles for over $15.00 ea and get $5 off" for example
- Don't get bitter. Right now Steam is 2006 Google and can do no wrong, as well as having, what, 90% of the market? A year ago that was probably more like 99%. The thing is, there is no one else in the market right now but you and them, so keep working hard, stay hungry, and polish the crap out of your program and you will be really nicely positioned when they stumble...
Do you think that Impulse will ever go client-free like Gamersgate? Put another way: people are reluctant to use another client, even one that's unobtrusive like Impulse, because they've already got Steam. That's the general vibe I get when I discuss Impulse on other forums (assuming they know it exists). So maybe Steam's already won the client war and the best way to compete is through a simple website that offers .exe downloads? Maybe even send an email when a game in your account is updated so you're not always opening a client to check for updates.Edit: Just read Ke5trel's post and I agree: find Steam's weaknesses and exploit them. Off the top of my head...Steam is slow to add new games, especially from devs of indie and casual games.Steam prices are 20-30% higher in Europe. Seems like a good region to focus on.Impulse already bests Steam's offline mode. I'm hoping that Valve will improve it one of these days.Community features. Amazon-like game reviews might be popular. People love making game lists. Integrated forums. Pretty much what Ke5trel said
Well, my short answer is "no." I am also of the opinion that Impulse is easier for the end-user than Steam, particularly in that you can launch Impulse games without having Impulse loaded into memory. Sometimes it's easier to launch the games from within Impulse, but I prefer having the option. I like both Steam and Impulse, and I've also used gog.com. At least for the purpose of running Stronghold on a low-medium spec laptop (Panasonic Toughbook CF-19), it's very straightforward. I also tend to believe that the competition fosters good things for consumers.
I do have to take issue with this statement, though:
Pretty much every game I've ever bought on Steam has been on one of its "Weekend Deal" promotions, and I've bought seven games this way over the course of the last two or three years.
I'm also not entirely convinced by this analogy. Exploring precisely why a large segment of the computing population loathes Microsoft and/or EA is probably best suited to another thread, but I think it basically comes down to this: bad business practices. Nobody argues that Microsoft or EA delivers bad products (well, EA has some misses, but any publisher of its magnitude is bound to); the argument is that, in the case of Microsoft, they have a tendency to engage in practices that discourage competition and (some would say) overcharge for their products; in the case of EA, it more or less comes down almost entirely to what many users view as draconian DRM. Clearly, you are not suggesting that Valve engages in analogous business practices nor do I see any other digital distribution company realistically being accused of such. This being the case, I'm not certain how the analogy holds. After all, some consumers wishing that, for example, some company would produce a competitive product to Microsoft Windows that is commercially viable and successful (and, no, the various iterations of Linux don't count here) is just that: wishful thinking.
Actually, I would argue that you personally and your company as a whole have probably had more of an impact on this than anyone in recent history. I don't think that has a lot to do with the popularity of Impulse, however. As far as the gaming community is concerned, I've read numerous posts on various sites by people who bought GalCivII expressly because of Stardock's stand on DRM (and some of whom never intended to actually play it).
This is an interesting point. I don't think any high-profile game in recent memory has attracted the kind of controversy as DoWII has because of the decision to go with Steam exclusively for digital distribution. Is it a gamble that will pay off? Obviously, it's too early to tell, but I still tend to believe that the market will ultimately dictate the success or failure of such strategems. If Impulse Reactor evolves into the kind of package that provides unique features that users really want to have as part of their gaming experience, this will force publishers to go with Impulse. This still seems like a win-win situation for all parties involved.
Archon, MULE, Seven Cities of Gold, Starflight, and Summer Games
Ahhhhhhhhh, the memories! I had everyone of these gems on my C64. Awesome games they were.
As for Impulse vs. Steam, Impulse (and Stardock for that matter) are tops.
Stardock as seen through the eyes of a Valve fan boy:
Steam is backed by a company that makes games - Half Life, Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress, Portal, Counter-Strike. These games are basically the best PC FPSs on the market, hands down. Valve has never made a bad game, and neither has Stardock, but in Valve's case, that's really saying something.If Valve makes a game, it's an instant best-seller. Stardock has ONE game title they made themselves, and ONE they bought the rights to as it was in publisher limbo, and likely had very little influence on the finished product.
I'm not saying Stardock's a bad company or a weak company, or that Impulse is a bad product, but in terms of stability... I would've paid more and bought that game off Steam, to be honest. I know that 10 years from now, Steam will most likely still be around. Impulse....? Let's face it, if Stardock makes one major mistake, it will be in seriously bad shape. When they've just announced that they're publishing a strategy game of seriously dubious merits (Demigod) and are making an original title of a type that they've never even attempted before and which the market is flooded with... Come on. Give me something to be positive about
Valve as seen through a Stardock fan boy (me):
Stardock has been around a lot longer than Valve and is a lot more diversified than Valve. Millions of PCs come with Stardock software on it like the Dell Dock.
Stardock has a long history of making successful, award winning games. Valve has made one game, Half life. Then a sequel. Then expansions to that sequel. Then they bought some mods for Half life like Portal, TF2 and Counterstrike.
Call of Duty 4 is the best first person shooter. It is the only first person shooter that consistently shows up at the top of the sales charts. Stardock games are usually strategy games but also consistently show up in the top of the sales charts.
Stardock just announced openin a second game studio and was mentioned in their state's state of the state address by their state's governor by name. If i Had to venture which company is on more solid financial footing, I'd have to give the nod to Stardock.
Stardock's next game, Demigod, is developed by Gas Powered Games, the guys who made Supreme Commander and Dungeon Siege. Unless you've been living in a cave, GPG is one of the most popular game studios in the world and Demigod is constantly ranked near the top of the most anticipated games. What does Valve have coming out this year? Nothing. Maybe mods for Left4Dead which is itself a mod made by another company?
You have to be seriously be living in a cave to not see how Stardock's success has been exploding these past few years.
I use Steam, Impulse and GamersGate. And as a person who does not like strings attached to anything I have to say that Impuse is the best of the three. I considered GG the worst due to it inconsistent file format and update issues. I should note that as of this weekend GG dropped its app mode and became far more like Impulse. A sign of things to come? Who knows....
The bottom line is if one does not really use/value the social service aspect of Steam it is simply not as good as Impulse from a user perspective. It is smack full of DRM bullshit and I don’t want to get started on the region based access and pricing assfuckery. Hell DRM is its primary design function and don’t believe otherwise. Whereas with Impulse giving gamers quick and easy access to the titles they purchased is the primary focus. Once Impulse matures some more it will become a very serious player in the market.
Regarding the sediment that SD may not be around in 10 years but that Valve will be, There are many unemployed banker types that thought the same about certain banks that are no longer with us that were blue chips less than a year ago and there are even a few game developers that recently had their studio shut down after releasing one of the best selling of all time several months before for some mysterious reason. The point I'm getting at is that nothing is certain and the bigger something gets the more likely it is to lose its way as it trips over its own feet and cant see where it came from anymore - food for thought...
I agree. I don't see any scenario where Impulse overtakes Steam any time soon. I don't think that's what this discussion was supposed to be about.
Anyone who has hung around on game forums long enough, even the Impulse ones, has seen plenty of people say that they wish all of the other download services other than Steam would just go away. That sort of Mac-fanatic like thinking is very pervasive. I remember Mac fanboys wishing that there was only iTunes.
Game. Set. Match.
Though I have no trouble with Microsoft, and feel that aside from it's delay and trouble launching Vista so late, they've done well (They should have stuck with XP for a much shorter period of time, less people get too attached). I understand your talk on this subject.
I hate most monopolies, with the exception of the OS, which should be standardized.
But I loathe Steam, the fact that I have to run it anytime I want to play a game (DoWII), that even runs the GFW system for pretty much everything you need gamewise. Steam also has to login, has constant, slow updates. It's just generally an annoyance.
This new Steamworks bullshit is pretty f'ed up. I wouldnt' care if it was for random crappy games, or even for Valve games, which I've already considered lost to me. But games from other companies, which shouldn't be lost to me, should not require that random service.
Steam isn't bad. Steam is good.
For the sake of argument, let's say Steam is 10X better than Impulse in every way. Would users be better served if only Steam existed?
I have a confession to make: I have never purchased a PC that had an AMD CPU in it. But you know what? I'm really glad AMD makes CPUs. I don't wish that it was only Intel.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:
Sign in or Create Account
