Codemasters STEAM Pricing

personally I would rather order a physical copy than dload thru steam. I hate the software with a passion, had my account hijacked/stolen twice in last 7yrs or so since it was released, had numerous bouts of downtime for games/steam itself (granted its a lot better these days) and lucky none of my games werent used for cheats etc although the cd keys may well have been copied, that to me is quite worrying. Yes my email is now verified but I wasnt aware of that feature until too late!!! (nice opf them to inform people with older accounts eh)

of course thats just my personal stance, there are plenty out there that love it and its convenience, overpriced or not as stated earlier.... horses for courses. we have a choice where to purchase so at the end of the day its the customer who wins overall (to a point lol)
 
G1BB0 said:
had my account hijacked/stolen twice in last 7yrs or so since it was released
Click to expand...

the only time accounts have been directly hacked from steam where cafe accounts.

So no you're accounts have not been hacked you've probbaly just been stupid enough to fall for phishing or have a keyloger.
 
Only problem with downloading is the speeds, even at 5MB I'm still impatient THEN I have to install it... I'd just rather walk down the street or order online for a disc. Once we see ultra-net speeds I'll jump ship. Still early stages I think.

I'm impatient! :mad: Damned technology its super fast but not super fast enough -_-
 
was proved otherwise but nm, personally I hate steam as they killed my cs clan when it was introduced lol, a lot of guys in the racing league I am in have mini dump issues/steam crashes and so forth... maybe the game we play and not steam but it still has put the majority off of steam unless they have no options elsewhere

as I stated, horses for courses
 
LeJosh said:
Only problem with downloading is the speeds, even at 5MB I'm still impatient THEN I have to install it... I'd just rather walk down the street or order online for a disc. Once we see ultra-net speeds I'll jump ship. Still early stages I think.

I'm impatient! :mad: Damned technology its super fast but not super fast enough -_-
Click to expand...

all though ordering online means it;s going to take at least 1 night to get to you so you could have dl'd it while you sleep.

And as for going to the shop, if you pre order on steam you can usually pre download too a few days before then unlock it on release day, so while you're walking to the shops we could be playing it :D
 
Aloreth said:
You are complaining that you can get it cheaper elsewhere - they are telling you that you are more than welcome to buy it elsewhere!

The reason you want to buy it through steam is that steam is awesome - I admit their pricing policies are a bit steep but it isnt up to you to control their company. Using phrases like 'STEAM pricing structure as it is currently a very old fashioned way of doing buisness with a modern distribution system' doesnt really make any sense. They have a unique product and are chosing to milk it. When a competitor arrives the prices will drop.

If people are buying it why drop the price?
Click to expand...

Why is Steam awesome? I don't understand why it's better than the likes of Impulse.
 
Tefal said:
all though ordering online means it;s going to take at least 1 night to get to you so you could have dl'd it while you sleep.

And as for going to the shop, if you pre order on steam you can usually pre download too a few days before then unlock it on release day, so while you're walking to the shops we could be playing it :D
Click to expand...

Good things comes to those who wait! :D But come to think of it... I've never pre-ordered a game in my life. Strange.
 
Aloreth said:
I am trying to get my paws on Valve's financial statements....anyone know where I can peruse a copy? Whats the intangibles balance on their Statement of Financial Position (Balance sheet)?

I would love to know how the company is doing.
Click to expand...

I missed this post at the time, but Valve's wikipedia page gives headline figures from 2007 (c.$70m revenue). In addition a study by develop magazine from May 2009 had Valve at 21 of the top 100 most bankable game studios. The study itself says that it looked at Games Studios 'based' on their sales data, as well as other criteria.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valve_Corporation
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8043654.stm
http://www.develop100.com/ - the top 100 is list form
http://issuu.com/develop/docs/develop100_2009 - the link to a .PDF version of the study

I suspect that amongst the reasons here for expensive online pricing, some publishers simply don't want a repeat of the Apple situation and create another iTunes with massive market dominance where they have limited say over pricing to the consumer.
 
Last edited:
I was talking with my experience with direct2drive but as far as I'm aware you have to install after downloading in steam aswell it just does it automatically and still takes its time.
 
Briton said:
Why is Steam awesome? I don't understand why it's better than the likes of Impulse.
Click to expand...

Because Impulse has very little choice, hardly any contracts with large developers, lesser deals in regards to promotions and Steam's friends system / server selection system is excellently executed.
 
LeJosh said:
as far as I'm aware you have to install after downloading in steam aswell it just does it automatically and still takes its time.
Click to expand...

As far as I know, STEAM does not "install", the files are simply downloaded (uncompressed) and placed directly into the folder.

One of the reasons why I like STEAM.

STEAM with a fast internet connection = WIN.
 
Last edited:
http://www.destructoid.com/rumortoid-aussie-s-largest-retailer-shunning-pspgo-149595.phtml

Maybe the theory about retailers crying like spoilt brats if digital prices are comparable to retail maybe true after all and the only reason digital prices are soo high is because publishers are scared of retailers taking their ball and going home (Not selling their products).

Got to love the way they blame the digital platforms though about pricing instead of just manning up.

Fair play to Sony for making the PSPGo download only, makes sense to me.
 
DampCat said:
Because Impulse has very little choice, hardly any contracts with large developers, lesser deals in regards to promotions and Steam's friends system / server selection system is excellently executed.
Click to expand...

Can't comment on the friends thing but the choice/developers/deals difference (although I don't know that Steam deals are better) is surely because Steam has been up and running longer?
 
Last edited:
Aloreth said:
I'm not sure I believe that really - I dont mean that in an antagonistic way I just dont believe that the publisher sets the price
Click to expand...

It has been stated many times by the mods on the steam forums that Valve do not directly set the prices for 3rd party games on Steam. Also has been mentioned a couple of times by Valve employees in the past, a quick google brought up this quote from a steam programmer on the issue of publishers and pricing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_(content_delivery)#Regional_restrictions_and_pricing
 
Gimpymoo said:
Good post.

Factoring in a 50% Valve profit margin (unrealistic) on each sale, that still equals the same money some online stores will sell the item for yet STILL EVERYONE is making a profit when a game costs £15 despite all of the overheads.
Click to expand...

You keep saying Valve don't set their prices on steam, yet you have entirely no evidence to back that up.

Likewise you're ignoring a few vital things, when you buy a game from HMV, how much support do they offer you exactly? Do they let you get a copy of the game whenever you want, do they let you get disc's with updates from them, do they answer e-mail support for the specific game and help you get it working if its not working? no. Steam does all the above, they aren't a dev(for games they didn't make obviously) but they do support games, they are involved with support of all games working through their client, and they have to make updates compatible with their steam versions of games aswell as making games steam compatible in the first place.

Yes, they don't have the cost of media, but your average store you buy a game from, doesn't offer any support, downloading, updates and the rest of it.

Its very very very very clear you've made up your mind about how it all works(incorrectly it would seem) and won't accept anyones replies that don't agree with you and your(incorrect) assumptions.

As Satine said, and as others in this thread have said, go buy the game cheaper, add the game to steam, get the support, downloads, updates for free, and then where is the issue?
 
Aloreth said:
You are complaining that you can get it cheaper elsewhere - they are telling you that you are more than welcome to buy it elsewhere!

The reason you want to buy it through steam is that steam is awesome - I admit their pricing policies are a bit steep but it isnt up to you to control their company. Using phrases like 'STEAM pricing structure as it is currently a very old fashioned way of doing buisness with a modern distribution system' doesnt really make any sense. They have a unique product and are chosing to milk it. When a competitor arrives the prices will drop.

If people are buying it why drop the price?
Click to expand...
 
Valve puts games up at the RRP and leaves them at that price forever, so yes, it is valve who sets the prices on steam?

Of course stores buy the games from the publishers at a certain price, but then they are free to sell them for whatever price they want. Valve choose to charge the RRP. Wait untill Modern Warfare is 55 pounds on steam :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom