Posted 11/14/2008 at 08:33:31am

It's always good to have competition...but gamers should note that Microsoft will allow you to continue to download for five years for free where there is no time limit with Steam. It's understood that most gamers don't really re-download games that are five years old...but the thought that you CAN'T do it will probably be one of the mitigating facts that keep gamers on Steam.

All that said...the real thing to watch for will be how fast games on Steam show up on MS. If they do...it's probably because MS is using their platform (like they did w/360) as a loss-leader. Lose copious amounts of money now to command market share and get your cash back later. Of course...it's also entirely possible Steam/Valve has exclusivity deals in place to preclude such an occurance. For sure...it'll be interesting to watch.

To be open...I'm a huge fan of Steam and buy almost all my games there because that's where my friends are. If MS can crack the "friends" deal w/PC Gamers...they'll have a shot.