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This is where I talk about Steam. Steam does everything that Games for Windows Live does, minus the Xbox Live integration (and really, do we want to play PC games with console weenies?). Steam offers the same voice chat and matchmaking that GfW Live does, but ups the ante with so much more! I'm going to break it down feature by feature:
This seems like a simple thing, but Microsoft hasn't been able to deliver it since GfWL launched in June of last year. The lightweight Steam app lies nestled snugly in my system tray, notifying me of friend's game invites, scheduled events, or questions from folks who are in-game. When I launch a game in Steam (even the ones not published by Valve), I simply press Shift+Tab and much of Steam's functionality is available in an overlay. This is how a friends list should work.
The worst part of playing PC games online is the constant patching. Updating a game like Call of Duty or Company of Heroes is a constant, never-ending affair, filled with confusion and heartbreak. Steam automatically patches games you purchase through the service, in much the same way that Xbox Live automatically patches Xbox games when you first load them. The other glorious thing about Steam is that games you purchase using the service don't include intrusive copy-protection software or CD-checks that frequently fail to work. You buy your game, you download it, and it simply works.
In your Steam client, you'll see a handy little tab. It's called Tools, but it's really the home for Dedicated servers. You can download and install the dedicated server client for many games straight from the Steam client. Additionally, Valve's made good tools to keep dedicated servers up to date with the latest patches. Since most home users Internet connection can't deliver as much bandwidth as a game server demands, there are also third-party dedicated hosts, who you (and your friends) can pay to host servers for you.
This seems relatively minor, but to people who are serious about competitve team-based games, its vital. Giving users the ability to form and manage clans (Valve calls them "Groups") kicks ass. Not only does Steam's Group feature offer roster management, it also gives you the ability to schedule events, denote the server your event will be on, join any of your clanmates in games, and even participate in clan-only chat. The conveniences Steam offers to competitive players are far superior to both Xbox Live and Games for Windows Live. The only thing that comes close is Xfire. (Feel free to join the Maximum PC Steam group if you're interested!)
This is the best part. Steam is available right now, and it's free to anyone. If you want to start using the friends list, all you need are some games you've purchased from Steam and some friends. When Games for Windows gets its ducks in a row, I'll play games with my Xbox brethren. Until then, I'll be playing some Team Fortress 2 on Steam.
Comments are closed on this article
Snoman
January 29, 2008 at 5:44pm
Valve has now released Steamworks. Newell and CO. are providing developers a free SDK that will easily integrate not only features such as anti-piracy and server browsing, but also the social community backbone that the Steam Community rides on. Utilizing Steamworks, developers can implement friends lists, matchmaking, stat tracking, and even achievements into their games. Sorry Games for Windows Live, but I see no reason for a developer to come knocking on your door.
Snoman
January 29, 2008 at 5:55pm
If Games for Windows Live ever gets it right, it will still mainly support games that, with the possible exception of Universe at War, cater to the console player. If the option screen on my PC game shows an Xbox360 controller and I don't even have one plugged in, I already do not want to play that game!
onebxr
January 25, 2008 at 8:32am
I tried playing Gears of War on my PC and due to the inadequacy of Windows live, it will not run on my computer. I have random boots back to desktop and total shutdown of Gears, hell I have never seen past the firs 2 minutes of the game. Very disappointed with Games for Windows. I will not purchase another game made by microsoft because of the bad taste left by Gears of War.
-Rich
Nycromes
January 25, 2008 at 7:06am
GfWL is obviously a long way off of what steam offers. I didn't get to use steam until I purchased the Orange Box. About 1.5 months after my purchase there was a steam update and guess what. The update would progress to 80% and throw an error. I uninstalled and re-installed from the web to find I was getting the same error. BTW, if you can't connect to steam, you can't play the games! It took me about 4 days to track down the fix to this particular issue. But from what I read about steam, it frequently goes down causes problems for it's users. When it works, its a great experience.
Also, lets not forget that this is Microsofts way of developing things, they release a kinda working product that really leaves alot to be desired. The competition isn't threatened at all, MS's next rollout is on par with the competition and then the next rollout tends to be great, not perfect but great. Sure it has it's problems, so does steam. I am a big fan of Steam, I like the interface and features. Right now, I wouldn't use GfWL, but 2-3 years down the road, it will most likely be a viable competitor to Steam.
Dewflop
January 25, 2008 at 6:42am
Wow, never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would see the day that Steam is used as the example for others to follow. I am use to it now, because I was forced to be, but I remember the uproar when it first came out, nobody wanted "them" to have that much control over "us". But now they do, and like lemmings we all conform without question. Sure it has some useful features, but for the most part I hate having that thing on my PC at all. Having the service that provides me the ability to play my game ROB my game of system resources while I am trying to play my game is ridiculous. Update news? What update news...every other day or so I get a big window pop up saying Update News!! Excited, I look to see what they have fixed on my favorite game.....and what do I see instead? Steam is pimping yet another crappy game that I don't want. I PAY for the Privelege of having the Spamware installed on my PC. Most websites ask you to become a paying member so the Spam will stop.....not Steam.
Darth Ninja
January 25, 2008 at 4:19am
Seems like Microsoft has to
fuck something up, err, fail at something, so someone else can do it right... then Microsoft makes a knockoff of the thing that worksI'm a Xfire junkey myself, and frankly I wouldnt consider switching / sharing my CPU cycles with another app that doesnt do as good a job in as simple a package.
If you havent heard, Xfire's adding video capture to it's arsenal, take that Microshaft!
ProtoJMB
January 24, 2008 at 7:17pm
Anyone remember the old MSN GameZone? I thought that worked out pretty well. It had an "always on" friend list, and I myself never had problems playing on their overall setup. It was perfect for Age of Empires II: Age of Kings! IMO, MS had a good thing going and should have just stuck with it. If they wanted change, just expand it, not dump CD ROM matchmaking support for some of the most popular games of all time! Also, as far as I know, the latest AoE incarnation isn't even ON GfWL. What's up with that?
I myself use Steam since I bought the Orange Box, and love it! I actually have Xfire as well, and it works almost as good actually. I use it to find servers for the original HL and TFC since Steam doesn't accept my keys.
Marcus_Soperus
January 24, 2008 at 7:14pm
Bravo, Will - you've concisely diagnosed the problem and pointed out a great solution that's already been proven. The biggest barrier is Microsoft's old "not invented here = not doing it" mentality. That was a lousy idea even when they ran everything - and it's absolutely disastrous now that their de facto monopoly is under attack from MacOS, Linux, OpenGL, and so on. If they want to stop the bleeding, cooperate!
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It's amazing how illogical a business built on binary logic can be.
dethdeks
January 24, 2008 at 6:15pm
just like MS to always be behind on everything like normaly. anywhere from there os to there games. doesnt any one see the pattern they are creating here? when windows came out they had usb support in what os's? non up till windows 98 SE, mac? had it from day one. now dont get me wrong i aint a mac user nor am i a windows user but i just kinda find it funny how windows is always the last one to get into the gam and when they do do it they always seem to do it sh!tty and have a billion and a half updates to fix it that usly cause nothing more then more headaches and wasted hours of tinkering. any one else think maybe for a company thats suppost to lead the world in os usage would step up and start doing things first rather then taking others ideas n murdering them to sh!t in the process of "trying" to make it there own.
