I'll be honest, I've been a tad bored as of late. Moreso, I'm in a bit of an "artists' block". I can't seem to come up with something good at the moment, so I'll post some news I found.
Digital distribution outlet Steam has introduced free-to-play games to the service. The PC games platform, which is operated by Portal and Half-Life maker Valve, has kicked off proceedings with five “F2P” titles.
Those include Global Agenda, a massively multiplayer RPG about oppressive government bods on a frankly depressing 2155 Earth,Champions Online, a superhero-themed MMO from Cryptic, and Alliance of Valiant Arms, a shooty-bang-bang FPS set in war-torn Europe.
http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/06/free-steam-games/
So there's the article. I find this interesting, because well, I have a Steam account, and so does my brother. We both have always loved the publisher Valve for their Half Life series, and we continue loving the other series (Team Fortress 2, Portal, Left 4 Dead) too. Valve is one of the very few companies that I know of that acts as a developer and a publisher, which is kinda cool, I guess.
Their Steam service is essentially a digital distribution, digital rights management and multiplayer platform. Even though the site was created by Valve, there are big-name publishers who hold large catalogues, including 2k Games, Activision, Bethesda Softworks, Capcom, Eidos Interactive, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, ID Software, LucasArts, Namco Networks America Inc., Rockstar Games, SEGA, Sony Online, Square Enix, THQ, Ubisoft, and Warner Bros.
That's a pretty impressive lineup of publishers to choose from. I guess it was expected, but I was not expecting a Valve website to work hand-in-hand with other publishers. That's a thumbs-up in my book, because it gives the site a good outlook, while leaving the consumers happy with their insane Christmas deals. You can also download DLC (downloadable content) for your games and mods (stuff like outlandish weapons and levels).
There's also Steamworks, which according to my research, is a free development and publishing site. It pretty much allows developers to let their game work with the Unreal 2 engine, and experience the benefits of being a part of the Steam family of games. For example, let's say you developed a game. With Steamworks, you can allow for matchmaking, anti-cheat technology, mictrotransactions (in-game economy), and a spot on the website. According to the site, It's distribution on your terms. I can't argue, since obviously, I haven't made a game yet.
Back to the story. I have noticed in the past that there were free games before. But not games that you would tag as Free-To-Play (F2P). They would normally be games like Half-Life: Lost Coast, Alien Swarm, or Half-Life 2: Deathmatch. You catch my drift, they're normally spin-off titles of other games, which is fine, but with F2P games, well, they are initaly titles like Spiral Knights, which unless I am misinformed, was not a spin-off to anything. Wait, neither was Alien Swarm. AARGH.
Still, I dig F2Ps (A.V.A looks awesome), and this can only be good news coming from a platform that allows indie gaming, and now F2Ps.
Valve Introduces Free-To-Play Games To Steam
Digital distribution outlet Steam has introduced free-to-play games to the service. The PC games platform, which is operated by Portal and Half-Life maker Valve, has kicked off proceedings with five “F2P” titles.
Those include Global Agenda, a massively multiplayer RPG about oppressive government bods on a frankly depressing 2155 Earth,Champions Online, a superhero-themed MMO from Cryptic, and Alliance of Valiant Arms, a shooty-bang-bang FPS set in war-torn Europe.
There’s also Spiral Knights, a co-op blaster with real-time changes to the clockwork world around you, and Forsaken World, a fantasy MMO that couldn’t look more like World of Warcraft if it tried.
All of the games are completely free to download and play. If you want, however, you can spend pennies and dollars here and there for “microtransactions,” buying virtual doodads, bonus costumes, experience bonuses and other features. It utilizes the same payment system that Valve uses to sell you ludicrously overpriced hats in Team Fortress 2.
Starting Wednesday, Steam will host a “F2P game of the day” event throughout the week, where each game will get a dedicated day with exclusive in-game content for players who try out the new titles.Spiral Knights is the first game to get a special day.
Free-to-play or freemium games have proved enormously popular in some Asia markets, where crazy levels of piracy make full-price titles almost impossible to sell. In the past few years, they’ve made their way to the West in the form of Facebook titles like FarmVille.
http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/06/free-steam-games/
So there's the article. I find this interesting, because well, I have a Steam account, and so does my brother. We both have always loved the publisher Valve for their Half Life series, and we continue loving the other series (Team Fortress 2, Portal, Left 4 Dead) too. Valve is one of the very few companies that I know of that acts as a developer and a publisher, which is kinda cool, I guess.
Their Steam service is essentially a digital distribution, digital rights management and multiplayer platform. Even though the site was created by Valve, there are big-name publishers who hold large catalogues, including 2k Games, Activision, Bethesda Softworks, Capcom, Eidos Interactive, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, ID Software, LucasArts, Namco Networks America Inc., Rockstar Games, SEGA, Sony Online, Square Enix, THQ, Ubisoft, and Warner Bros.
That's a pretty impressive lineup of publishers to choose from. I guess it was expected, but I was not expecting a Valve website to work hand-in-hand with other publishers. That's a thumbs-up in my book, because it gives the site a good outlook, while leaving the consumers happy with their insane Christmas deals. You can also download DLC (downloadable content) for your games and mods (stuff like outlandish weapons and levels).
There's also Steamworks, which according to my research, is a free development and publishing site. It pretty much allows developers to let their game work with the Unreal 2 engine, and experience the benefits of being a part of the Steam family of games. For example, let's say you developed a game. With Steamworks, you can allow for matchmaking, anti-cheat technology, mictrotransactions (in-game economy), and a spot on the website. According to the site, It's distribution on your terms. I can't argue, since obviously, I haven't made a game yet.
Back to the story. I have noticed in the past that there were free games before. But not games that you would tag as Free-To-Play (F2P). They would normally be games like Half-Life: Lost Coast, Alien Swarm, or Half-Life 2: Deathmatch. You catch my drift, they're normally spin-off titles of other games, which is fine, but with F2P games, well, they are initaly titles like Spiral Knights, which unless I am misinformed, was not a spin-off to anything. Wait, neither was Alien Swarm. AARGH.
Still, I dig F2Ps (A.V.A looks awesome), and this can only be good news coming from a platform that allows indie gaming, and now F2Ps.
Posts
View Jean-Louis Jabouin's profile
0 comments:
Post a Comment