Just for argument's sake:

OnLive: click a game, and start playing instantly. Even if your skimpy HD was already 99% full, or on a device with no real HD at all. No game installation needed whatsoever. So OnLive clearly wins this contest.

Plus, you don't have to care about graphics drivers, whether your HW is powerful enough etc. 100% compatibility with all the OnLive games is quaranteed, which you can't say for any other PC gaming service (unless they are also streaming services).

But as you apparently indicated yourself, maximum ease of use is not always the only factor.

That is the future. It won't happen tomorrow, but 10-20 years from now, it will.

Maybe. Steam => Stream

But frankly, I still feel it will "kill" (=transform) home console gaming much earlier than PC gaming, for various reasons, like that home consoles are not normally moved around like (laptop or tablet) PCs are, so you can pretty much always expect a home console sitting in a living room or bedroom to have broadband internet available. I think the first streaming home gaming consoles are already out, and they are dirt cheap. In the future they will be included by the cable companies/ISPs into the movie/sports TV channel packages you order from them, e.g. "unlimited streaming gaming for just $5/month extra!".

On PC, many or most AAA titles could possibly move there (ie. there wouldn't be any separate "PC versions" of AAA titles made anymore, but everyone would play exactly the same versions of the same games, no matter on what device), but PC indie games... maybe not.

True plus they couldn't say no copy protection since some games here still have their copy protection like Ultima 6, the worlds of ultima 1+2 and 7 still have their manual based copy protection in them so if they said "our games have no copy protection" then people will complain that it's not the case like they do when there cd keys.

But I agree that the no DRM thing is a good marketing ploy as it helps GOG stand out from other Digital retailers since others while having games that have no DRM in them will also carry ones that do.

Anyway back on topic here, I don't care for the whole "oh steam is evil because it's DRM and so people shouldn't like it" argument, yeah you can not care for Steam and how it works but I don't care for people saying people are wrong for wanting to use it I also will say the same for people who say "oh I don't care about DRM so you shouldn't say anything about it if you don't like it". Honestly people should be free to make there own decisions and honestly not everyone is going to agree with it but that is there right doesn't make someone more right or more wrong.


For example I stopped playing Diablo 3 because of it's always online DRM was just to much of a needless hassle for me to deal with since I mainly play single player and don't really care for multiplayer save for a few instances, and so when asked about the game I simiply say "no I don't play it anymore" and give the DRM as the reason why yet I get assulted by people telling me "Oh well I have no issue and yadda, yadda so I think your just being rediculas about it" which if I am totally honest is what is really rediculas.

As for Steam, for me I do use Steam, do I love it hell no but I don't love(love in this case being devoted to the point of almost blind loyalty) any digital store GOG included, if I can avoid using it I will mainly because I don't care to have to load up a client each time I want to play and while I do love the auto update feature and the community feature is nice I can live with out it(the community feature) if it meant that I wasn't tied to the client like I was and had a more sensible offline mode but I will get a game there if they have the better deal, save for older games of course mainly because quality assurance and compatibility of those titles are left to the developer/rights holder on Steam and honestly there not going to bend over backwards to make sure a old game runs right on a newer machine.

Now that is just me and my opinon on the subject and I don't think or feel anyone else needs to share that same line of thought, but I will never tell anyone that them just buying things from Steam is wrong or wanting said title on Steam is wrong either so long as they aren't going "I just want it on steam and to hell with anywhere else",do I agree with it no because I'm all for competition and feel that a variety of options makes for a better market for us as consumers.

Now Steamworks is one thing I can't stand forcing someone to use Steam or any other "service" like Origin and GFWL irregardless of where you buy it is silly I think things like that should be optional if you buy a game on said service then yeah,do I like it no and I feel if that is going to happen then it I think it should only happen if you buy it from their store i.e. if you buy from Steam then the Steam version is will use Steamworks, Windows Live Marketplace GFWL, Origin then well Origin that gives people a chance to buy where they want and not be tied to something they really don't want will that happen, no but still I feel that should be the case though. Again that is just my opinion.

I see your point although you didn't mention that you have to wait with Steam too before the game is installed. I see it as not much more hassle. Basically already easy enough. The choosing of the install path is even a plus and optional. But a launch installer after download option in the downloader would be nice. A right click menu on the game in the game library also. All in all it's not really a big difference in my opinion but GOG can still improve a bit.

What I'm saying is that only half of the people the OP mentioned want a monopoly. Not the people who shun things like GFWL, but the people who insist on Steam.

I agree that part of the problem is just that developers and publishers have generally failed to deliver compelling multiplayer games that had the ability to provide meaningful competition for TF2 (for all of its faults though, Brink seemed like it could have been on of the exceptions), but I remember that before, the competitive landscape was a lot more diverse for multiplayer shooters. You really can't fault devs too much for using SteamWorks anymore than you could fault them for using GfWL, as it's a convenient, relatively easy to use package for implementing multiplayer functionality. Ideally of course, I'd love to see an open-source, platform agnostic framework used for such purposes, but fat chance that that would ever happen.

I need someone to make some conspiracy theories to amuse me, because i don't have as much creativity, unfortunately.
Proof? I have a hacked copy of L4D2 in my HD myself, and i own L4D2 on Steam and have been playing it for 2 years and a half. Never received any scary mail from Valve like "We have detected that you have a pirated copy of one of our beloved games. We will now ban you from Steam forever, burn down your house, rape your kids and kill you, MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA."

What's the problem with that? You need to be logged into their client to play games, of course they know what you play. I don't see what the big deal is.
So?
And?
Welcome to the internet. Every fucking site in the world knows where you are connected from. This means every fucking site violates our privacy.

Now i'm scared, i hope they don't send their squad of genetically enhanced assassins to murder me, since they know so much about me.

Once again i have to welcome you to the internet. Everything you do on the internet is being tracked somehow. There is no absolute privacy on the internet.

Stay away from Google's search too, because they use information based on what you search to send ads to you. If you search mainly for games, for example, they'll send you game related ads. And never ever use gmail, since they use key words on the mails you receive to determine what you're interested into and send ads based on this information. This is the internet.

OnLive is the best example of the worst scenario in future gaming.. Noone wants middle men, and noone wants to be hobos..

Every normal man would like to just own cd/dv/ and unlimited download of game with no piracy whatsoever..
Some likes to take some time in .cfg or editing characters with editors or just use some cheats in very hard missions/scenarios etc just to finish the game story..

Noone likes cheat protection observes as it unintentionally makes people uneasy.
I hope gog will be always somewhere here :)

I do. https://duckduckgo.com/
Also, all my gmail mail/chat is encrypted.
This is the internet, you know.

EDIT: I forgot this: VPN. Check it out if you have some interest in privacy... Oh Wait...

Same here, I used the old "try a cracked version before buying" a few times since I installed Steam. No issue what so ever. And Steamworks game are a joy to pirate. I played MW 3 within hours of release (and finished it, not that long ... ). Valve doesn't give two shits about piracy, for them, any effort into this area is wasted time and effort.
I'm using IPredator whenever I need to get out of Germany. From my understanding they will only give out the data if I commit a crime worthy of two years prison. And the military intelligence of Sweden has free access to that data. But if that would be a concern for me, I would have other problems ...

I've to disagree.

OnLive is a great example of the best scenario in future gaming. People will be able to play the games on whatever devices they want, using whatever input ways they want (keyboard, touch, voice, mind, mouse, motion, whatever).

No more compiling installers. No more messing up with dependencies and prerequisites. No more installing and checking drivers and other compatibility crap. No more figuring out what OS to use for a particular game.

Just click Play, and you're in.

That's a good choice. We have the TOR network too...

Why do you need two copy of the same game ?