As I person who is still is wary of the rise of digital distribution, I was not very sure of STEAM. I prefer holding a physical copy of the game, not for materialistic purposes, but for the fact that it is, currently, a lot more secure than downloading a game, with the PSN store, once you delete a game off of your hard drive, you only have a further four downloads left of that game, of course that does no happen with a physical copy of a game, well not yet. Add to the mix the fact that if your hard drive decides to ’crap out’, you lose all of your downloaded games, at least with a physical copy of a game, losing it does not mean that you have to worry how many times it can be re-installed. Sadly, with the recent controversy with DRM in Spore, that security can now be seen to be dissolving. I DO use the PSN store a lot, but can’t help feel a little apprehensive when I do, anyways, onto what I thought of the store.


Indeed, we have all heard the praises of STEAM, and the way in which many, many PC gamers use it because it is actually a download service that does not screw you over with draconian DRM, well in most cases, I was pleasantly surprised when I first entered the online store.

Everything was presented very well, and the games, demos, videos on offer was extremely easy to access. What I liked the most was the ease in finding a particular genre of game. Rather than the store exposing you to a mass of different screens in order to get to the ‘Adventure’ section of games, a list of genres is conveniently situated on the left side of the screen. As a long time user of the EU PSN Store, I found this amazing! Sadly, the EU PSN Store requires you to traverse a number of screens before selecting the type of game you are after, and in all honesty, it becomes grating after an extended period of use. Yes the PSN store is decently presented, but the STEAM store is very, very well executed.




That’s enough criticizing of my beloved PS3’s online store, onto the games that Steam offers. In all honesty, I was not expecting the store to have many games. Knowing that Steam works hand in hand with Valve, I thought I would see a whole lot of special deals to do with all the ‘official’ mods, games and multiplayer mods that Valve created. Indeed, the number of special game deals, and bundles of games developed by Valve is substantial, but the number of games for sale made by other developers/publishers is staggering. Epic, Ubisoft, THQ, Bioware, 2K games, Infinity Ward, Eidios Interactive, and of course, the mighty Rockstar, it was a shock to see many big names in the gaming industry represented in one online store. I was overjoyed to see so many great games, the Unreal series, both Max Paynes, X-COM, etc. STEAM did a great thing by attempting to partner successfully with so many different developers. The number of games available easily goes into the hundreds. The best thing was, many of the games I saw I remembered from years past, a particular highlight being the incredible GTA 2 I last played when I was 12, so many, many great memories…..



After a good half hour of searching the store, I decided to download the demo of the oft-praised Audiosurf. What struck me the most, during the download process of all things, is the sheer speed of STEAM. I was at my best friends house with my laptop, and his internet connection speed is, quite frankly awful. Even with STEAM having to work with that awful, exceptionally slow speed, my download rate was hitting 150kbps easily, no other site I went on where you download media was that fast. Gamershell and Fileshack servers simply cut out when I tried to download demos off them, and with the few instances where they I did successfully connect with the servers, the download rate was painfully slow. Indeed, STEAM at least did get the download speeds to a satisfactory level, regardless of your internet connection speed. I can only imagine what the speeds will be like when I attempt to buy a game at my house.




Seeing as the demo has a limited amount of tries, I decided to do free mode once before attempting a ’proper’ level. I fell immediately in love with the game, the only way to describe the experience was 'euphoric', it was quite incredible ’playing’ your favourite music tracks on that game, (TIP: try ’My Foot’ by The Pillows for a jaw dropping 3 minutes of game play), before I knew it the amout of times I was allowed to play the demo was up! I decided to fully purchase the game, and been loving it EVER since. Audiosurf is a joyous experience, one that should enjoyed by every gamer out there. Next up I’m going to buy the awesome Max payne 2.


STEAM helped me break my fear of purchasing games online. I just hope breaking your STEAM cherry was (or is) as enjoyable as it was for me. Yes the fear of my hard drive 'crapping out' on my laptop IS still there, meaning I probably have to re-buy/install games purchased off of STEAM, but for once I don't really mind, at all.

SO what are you waiting for?? Go visit the store if you already haven't.


Ciao, for now..