Unintended Ramifications With Steam?

Joystiq's Ross Miller asks what would happen if Steam broke down, Triton for Prey owners ... considering what "unintended ramifications" it might cause.

Unintended? How about completely expected? You'd be fscked, that's what would happen. There's no way Valve would spend the kind of money required to give everyone boxed versions of products like Triton is offering. Since the day Steam refused to log in my completely valid username and password (no error message or response ... Steam just quit), I've refused to utilize the service to pay for anything. I'm a big fan of digital distribution - I'm not a big fan of software which which locks everything I own away in a box.

I love how anti-DRM fanatics like Doctorow rage against iTunes when setups like Steam are around. If the iTunes server goes down - I still get to play all the music, TV and movies I've purchased. When Steam confused itself - I was completely locked out of Half-Life 2 for which I had paid. Night and day for my consumer experience.



tagged: steam, gaming