Steam
Valve Corporation’s digital distribution service, Steam has been the biggest influences on console gaming going from physical to digital. From cloud saving, in-game voice chatting, and small independent developers having the ability to showcase their talents on a major platform to the masses; Steam has been instrumental in Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo taking a further look into digital gaming. Microsoft allowed indie developers to publish their titles through the Xbox 360’s XNA service on Xbox Live, which at times was more fun than playing retail games.
Sony is also readying a campaign of digital games for its initial launch year, with some being touted as AAA-potential. Steam has been one of the most reliable applications in not on the gaming world, but all of entertainment. Even without the support of Electronic Arts, who has a first part client service for their PC games on Origin, Steam has managed to increase their user base every year even expanding to Mac and most recently last year on Linux. What really sets Steam apart is extremely cheaper prices for new games on weekly sales, being an incentive for gamers to keep spending. One of the best deals we’ve came across was Orange Box for less than $10, and Portal even being free of charge.
The cost of setting up a new PC is very expensive, which we’re never ones to recommend a Steam-machine at the moment; but the investment will be worth it in the long-run. Along with being able to use any amount of memory for your computer and monthly upgrades available, the convenience and super cheap prices for games will keep conveying over more users from the physical audience of home consoles.