Steam Global Stats Project

[pheonix561 2080]

I found a really interesting image gallery on imgur I'd like to share, it's "The Steam Global Stats Project." Here's the gallery:









What do you guys think?

[PrimaGaga 1025]

i think Steam is just too convenient. With it's outstandingly low prices and its ease of access. I guess it's convenience comes to a fault. But im sure the developers dont care- they are still making money.  

[Fierce Muffin 490]

I feel like this is a little bit skewed by only using 80 of the more than 3,000 titles in their library. I still haven't played over half the games I've got on my account. So, yeah, I just don't think this covers enough of the games to really be any sort of accurate. I thought this was old or something, but then it was 2014. I dunno, mang.

 

Pretty much what Phanta said though. I never thought about it, but it really is easy and it's like "Oh, man, this game is on sale, I've gotta get it before the sale's over!" and then you get it and... it's just there... you can play it at any time... and you don't...

 

That's me, anyway. I've p. much stopped using Steam though, so those days are over for the most part.

[Chase 390]

The convenience of buying these cheap games may bite us in the ass later in life.

 

God forbid Steam servers shut down and you miss the chance to re-download all your games. Or games start being "always online," then we're screwed either way if the servers go down. Then I wasted hundreds of dollars on games I'm never going to play. Maybe I did that anyway.

 

Digital is supposed to make me feel like my games are more secure and accessible, not less. At this point in time, I still don't feel like digital is a better deal, just equal or maybe even less. Hard drive space is limited, downloads take a long time (especially PS4 games), and I can't return or sell my digital purchases. Bought a shitty game? Too bad. 

 

With that said, I do think most companies are at least attempting to give me access to my purchases, albeit in different ways.

 

Valve is probably my favorite model right now, but even they aren't perfect. For instance, even with Steam, I still don't technically "own" my game, I buy a license to use it for an indefinite amount of time. One could argue that a license bought at $7 is still a fantastic deal, and it is, but you can also purchase new games for $49.99 or more with the same stipulations, so it isn't perfect.

 

Sony is probably the next best to Valve, with Playstation Plus giving me access to free rentals of relatively new games for as long as my subscription lasts. They also allow cross-buy with PS4, PS3, and Vita, so you don't have to repurchase the same game twice or thrice. And, as far as I can tell, they are attempting to give PS4 users access to their PS1, PS2, and possibly PS3 digital libraries with emulators and Playstation Now. 

 

Nintendo has a stick up their ass, and they do some baffling things. Like tying digital purchases to a console. So that if the console breaks (it inevitably will), you have to send the console to Nintendo to get it fixed. 30 years from now (let's be honest, I'll still be replaying Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time in 30 years), will my Wii U still work? Will Nintendo still fix it if it doesn't? They seem to be fixing this problem with Club Nintendo, sort of. If you connect your Club Nintendo profile with your Wii U and 3DS, all the purchases now show up on both systems. That said, if you want to buy the same game for Wii U and the 3DS, like Megaman 2 for instance, you have to purchase it twice. This is aggravating and archaic, when Sony and Valve both allow cross-compatibility. Also, how many times do I have to repurchase the same game before I can call it good? I swear I've bought Mario 64 at least 3 times, and I've bought Ocarina of Time over 7. "Play it on the system you bought it," isn't a very logical argument, because obviously as new tech comes out I'm going to be upgrading and there is only so much room under my television. Game companies need to figure this stuff out now before we move further into digital products. Nintendo is very much still in the past and is (in my opinion) ripping customers off by making them purchase the same game multiple times if they want to play it on a new system.

 

Xbox isn't doing backwards compatibility at all. So. Uh. Not like they have many good games of the past anyway, but it would be REALLY NICE to play my digital 360 library, Microsoft. What the puppy are you doing? Kinect?

[Aethix 129]

^I'm not entirely sure, but I think the new Nintendo Network ties purchases to an account. Each account can only be tied to a single console at a time though.

[PrimaGaga 1025]

Each account can only be tied to a single console at a time though.

A single type of console. Like, I have the same account connected to both my Wii U and my 3DS. Just wanted to clarify that.

[Sahaqiel 1232]

As much as I hope Nintendo will succeed, I do joke a lot that Nintendo hates the concept of online connectivity with a passion.

[PrimaGaga 1025]

Yeah everything about Nintendo's games are superior in my mind, except their online features. Whether it be what Chase was talking about or online multiplayer, Nintendo is just lacking in that area. I feel like they are almost stubborn in that regards. 

 

But i also think, as far as multiplayer goes, Nintendo is thinking as a Japanese company first and a Global company second. I mean, Dragon Quest 9 (Nintendo DS) had AMAZING multiplayer- but it was all local, no online play. While this was a HUGE problem in the West, it just wasnt a problem in Japan. For example, the game, as you may know, has randomly generated dungeons. These dungeons are opened with custom maps, unique to each player and traded when players interacted locally. Now, Ive heard rumors that there was one map generated by a Japanese player, that contained super rare monsters that gave amazing exp. It was such a popular map, and Japan has such a dense population plus a huge gaming community that the map was passed around, player by player, that almost everyone who played the game at that time in Japan had it! I dunno how true this story is, but even if it's just a rumor, it tells you how great the interaction in gaming is in Japan.

 

Basically, my point is that Japan isnt as concerned with online mulitplayer as the West is, and it reflects in Nintendo's habits. At least Sony sees the big picture (quite literally).

[Fierce Muffin 490]

Yeah, Nintendo's use of local multiplayer really kills a lot of games since most of the US isn't Japan levels of population density. The most recent game I can think of is the Four Swords on the DSi/3DS. I'd love to play that game with everyone on here, especially with four Links at once, but Nintendo killed that dream, so...

 

Being a Nintendo fan is rough.

[Chase 390]

I would honestly never look at other consoles if

 

1) Nintendo got every 3rd party game that the PS4 and Xbox One are getting 

 

and

 

2) Nintendo got their online act together, fully embracing digital accounts and allowing cross-game buy, and releasing the rest of the VC games I want.

 

I mean, Nintendo has my favorite franchises. Off the top of my head, Zelda, Mario, Metroid, Fire Emblem, Pokemon. Final Fantasy is the only series missing, and number 1 would cover that and Kingdom Hearts. Really, the only games I would "miss" playing would be Uncharted and Halo, but I'd get over it pretty quickly.

^I'm not entirely sure, but I think the new Nintendo Network ties purchases to an account. Each account can only be tied to a single console at a time though.

It does, that's what I was referring to when I said Club Nintendo. That doesn't change the fact the games, and the NN account, are still tied to a console (or two, if you have a 3DS too). 

 

They're obviously taking steps to get there, so I don't see why they don't just puppying take the plunge. 

[Sahaqiel 1232]

Plus, in the west we're more individual-focused rather than community-focused, so our differences in ideologies and stuff just conflict with something that doesn't have online play. And the US is huge. Much bigger than Japan. It's practically impossible for something to spread from one corner to another when our gaming community is so spread out and unconcerned with meeting a ton of people. Our only hope is stuff like conventions.

 

Nintendo's problem may be one of ethnocentrism. Like, their models make sense for Japan, but not in many other places. They're starting to crack that shell a little more every day, but it might not be enough, which is what I'm worried about. They're also exclusively a video game company, whereas Microsoft and Sony are gigantic conglomerates that have branches all over the world for all sorts of stuff. Nintendo doesn't have the global pervasiveness that forces them to focus on the global community.

[Chase 390]

That is true, though Nintendo has trillions in the bank. They will be fine not selling a single console for the next 20 years. They just need to get their act together before it becomes a bigger problem.

They haven't fired a single employee from the low sales of the Wii U. The execs took a pay cut and they're still making tons of money off the 3DS. They'll be fine, they just need to listen to what we're asking for.

[PrimaGaga 1025]

yeah, a lot of people are comparing Nintendo to Saga's past. But Nintendo is in no way "in the red." It's not going away anytime soon. They can take the "risk."

[Chase 390]

Personally, I would pour millions into marketing the Wii U, after putting everything Virtual Console-wise on the system. Maybe even a price cut and a bundle with a new Zelda game.

The sad thing is, I think most people still don't realize the Wii U is a separate console from the Wii, even a year into it.

[Aethix 129]

Yeah everything about Nintendo's games are superior in my mind, except their online features. Whether it be what Chase was talking about or online multiplayer, Nintendo is just lacking in that area. I feel like they are almost stubborn in that regards. 

 

But i also think, as far as multiplayer goes, Nintendo is thinking as a Japanese company first and a Global company second. I mean, Dragon Quest 9 (Nintendo DS) had AMAZING multiplayer- but it was all local, no online play. While this was a HUGE problem in the West, it just wasnt a problem in Japan. For example, the game, as you may know, has randomly generated dungeons. These dungeons are opened with custom maps, unique to each player and traded when players interacted locally. Now, Ive heard rumors that there was one map generated by a Japanese player, that contained super rare monsters that gave amazing exp. It was such a popular map, and Japan has such a dense population plus a huge gaming community that the map was passed around, player by player, that almost everyone who played the game at that time in Japan had it! I dunno how true this story is, but even if it's just a rumor, it tells you how great the interaction in gaming is in Japan.

 

Basically, my point is that Japan isnt as concerned with online mulitplayer as the West is, and it reflects in Nintendo's habits. At least Sony sees the big picture (quite literally).

I can say with like 99.9% certainty that the rumors are true. There was a dungeon that contained a floor in which literally every enemy was a King Metal Slime. From what I've heard, it actually made its way to the US and got shared in conventions.

 

Anyways, I think they actually made this a little better with Streetpass. It still requires two people to be in proximity with their 3DSes turned on, but it doesn't require a particular game to be in Tag Mode.