impulse - Kotaku

posts about #impulse more →
Stardock: Steam Has 70% Of PC Download Market
Divinity II: Ego Draconis Impressions: Morality Is For Lesser Mortals
Stardock Updating Impulse, Rolling Out Ready-to-Play
Stardock Sending Out Demigod Apology Coupons
What Went Wrong With Demigod
Demigod Network Issues Should Clear Up This Week
Stardock's Answer To DRM: Goo
The Millionth Stardock Impulse User Wins A Gaming PC

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BillyTheRatKing
11/20/09

In reply to Stardock: Steam Has 70% Of PC Download Market
Sometimes something is popular because it truly deserves to be so. Sadly this is often not the case... with Steam however, I believe they deserve it.
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thespyderboy promoted this comment BillyTheRatKing was starred BillyTheRatKing was unstarred

reckoner23
11/20/09

In reply to Stardock: Steam Has 70% Of PC Download Market
I consider steam a viable gaming platform much like an xbox360 or ps3. There are just no advantages to buying games using other platforms on the pc. Thats why I stay with steam, cause its easy and thats where I have most of my games.
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thespyderboy promoted this comment reckoner23 was starred reckoner23 was unstarred

Angrypasta
11/20/09

In reply to Stardock: Steam Has 70% Of PC Download Market
I don't know about other people, but while I use Steam because it's a great service, I also tend to avoid other services because I fear my DD gaming client situation will turn into what used to be my problem with Instant Messaging clients - I just end up having too damn many of them.

If only there was some sort of aggregation client for games...
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thespyderboy promoted this comment Edited by Angrypasta at 11/20/09 12:22 PM Angrypasta was starred Angrypasta was unstarred

ReconToaster misses garnett :(
11/20/09

@Angrypasta:

It's called steam my friend. It will soon stand alone.
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MechaTama31
11/20/09

In reply to Stardock: Steam Has 70% Of PC Download Market
To answer your questions:
Zune.
Too many.

It sickens me that "ipod" has become a generic term for any mp3 player, joing the ranks of words like "jello" and "bandaid".

As for the post, I've bought:
Steam: 11 games
(7 actual purchases, Orange box boosts it to 11 games)

Impulse: 4 games
(2 purchases, 2 freebies with Red Faction Guerrilla)

Direct2Drive: 10 games
(all of them were the $5 games during their recent deal, so it adds up to about one full purchase)
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Covert_Knight promoted this comment Edited by MechaTama31 at 11/20/09 11:00 AM MechaTama31 was starred MechaTama31 was unstarred

Cookiecat
11/20/09

@MechaTama31: And I might add that the Zune HD is quite a nice music player. For media, I actually think it beats the ipod with its amazing screen, great sound reproduction, and (I never thought I'd say this) HD Radio.

But these features can hardly compete with the extensibility brought on by the app store.
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thespyderboy promoted this comment Cookiecat was starred Cookiecat was unstarred

MechaTama31
11/20/09

@Cookiecat: Yeah, but it's not nice enough for me to replace my 120GB Zune. ;)
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MechaTama31 was starred MechaTama31 was unstarred

[DFX] Deimos
11/20/09

In reply to Stardock: Steam Has 70% Of PC Download Market
I can't wait till Steam / Valve has an IPO.
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omgwtflolbbqbye promoted this comment [DFX] Deimos was starred [DFX] Deimos was unstarred

Paul_Is_Drunk
11/20/09

In reply to Stardock: Steam Has 70% Of PC Download Market
GoGear, Zune, Droid...

I know plenty of people that have those. Sure, more iPods out there, but it's not 100% a monopoly like it was.
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Paul_Is_Drunk was starred Paul_Is_Drunk was unstarred

D Mitsuki, Gotta have guts kid!
11/20/09

In reply to Stardock: Steam Has 70% Of PC Download Market
The difference between Steam and a iPod though is Steam truly rises above and beyond the competition. It has the most features, deals, services etc among all the digital distribution, and you lose a lot of what you have if you download from something like D2D instead.

iPod is just a brand name.
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ArmoredCavalry
11/20/09

In reply to Stardock: Steam Has 70% Of PC Download Market
They didn't say they were number 2... They said they are at 10%, rest combined are 20%, thus Direct2Drive could be 17% (number2) followed by Impulse (number3) and the rest all at 3% combined.

It isn't hard to believe that impulse has 10% of the market.... as explained in the report, part of this is because they (like Valve) have exclusive games for their platform, something the other distributors lack.
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forgecat promoted this comment ArmoredCavalry was starred ArmoredCavalry was unstarred

Ping
11/20/09

@ArmoredCavalry: Unfortunately, the last time I visited Impulse, all the exclusive games were on par with crappy flash games.
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Ping was starred Ping was unstarred

ArmoredCavalry
11/20/09

@Ping: I am talking about the games published/developed by Stardock.

Demigod, Sins of a Solar Empire, and Elemental, etc.

If you think these games are on par with crappy flash games, I think you are off your rocker.... Seriously.... SOSE got nothing but praise, and quite a few GOTY awards from critics.

When was the last time you checked out impulse? It has really improved over time.

#speakup
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forgecat promoted this comment ArmoredCavalry was starred ArmoredCavalry was unstarred

Ping
11/20/09

@ArmoredCavalry: It's been a while, and I didn't know that Demigod was a Stardock product; I've heard it's pretty good.
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Ping was starred Ping was unstarred

Taggart6: I don't always drink beer, but when I do...
11/20/09

In reply to Stardock: Steam Has 70% Of PC Download Market
Steam owns so much of the market because of a quality service that continues to draw in new steam users will satisfying old ones.

They did this all not by price fixing, or manipulating government law, or questionable practices. They simplified offer an easy to use stream lined alternative to retail copies and even pirating.
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OW-Holmes:Bringer of Fear
11/20/09

In reply to Stardock: Steam Has 70% Of PC Download Market
As for the Apple market share, all of my friends and I have taken the next step---our brains have been connected to the our iphones. The sweet taste of information streaming over every fiber of your being is the ultimate bliss. Sure I've lost some of the more "human" emotions like love, but its little lost when you've been intimately connected to the digital divinity of over 100,000 apps.

Don't judge me, and most importantly don't be afraid. You'll make the switch too.
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sweenish
11/20/09

@OW-Holmes:Bringer of Fear: so you must fart a LOT
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OW-Holmes:Bringer of Fear promoted this comment sweenish was starred sweenish was unstarred

Neko_Tech
11/20/09

In reply to Stardock: Steam Has 70% Of PC Download Market
Don't worry Stardock, I'll buy Dragon Age from Impulse before the year is over. I wished that I'd bought Witcher EE from Impulse instead of Steam.

Hopefully Stardock will offer more selection of games next year. I just love the fact I don't have to run impulse to play my games, only for updating and validating my purchase.
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Neko_Tech was starred Neko_Tech was unstarred

Cagny
11/20/09

@Neko_Tech: I wanted to buy Dragon Age via Impulse last night b/c I wanted to show them love for Demigod but the EA Store is currently having a sale for the game for $40 and you also get the Shale char for free (I didn't find that out until after I d/l'ed the game).
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Neko_Tech promoted this comment Cagny was starred Cagny was unstarred

Neko_Tech
11/20/09

@Cagny: You know Shale is part of Warden’s Keep content which is FREE when you buy it new anywhere.

I could care less if EA store has it for $40, since most if not everything in EA store has limited activation and if you ever need to redownload your game it'll cost you. I don't know if this is true now but the last time I checked the policy has not changed.

I rather buy a game from D2D then EA store and I really don't like D2D (must be because of all those advertisements IGN).
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Edited by Neko_Tech at 11/20/09 9:54 AM Neko_Tech was starred Neko_Tech was unstarred

Cagny
11/20/09

@Neko_Tech: At least when you do d/l from D2D, you're supporting IGN, somewhat. Advertising makes the western world go 'round.
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Cagny was starred Cagny was unstarred

Neko_Tech
11/20/09

@Cagny: Yes you would support IGN but it still doesn't remove the ads from their website if you have a account there when you buy their games. :(
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Neko_Tech was starred Neko_Tech was unstarred

Blore07
11/20/09

In reply to Stardock: Steam Has 70% Of PC Download Market
Steams community is fantastic, but when you look at the fact its cheaper in the UK to go to a store and buy the game than download from steam, theres no point in purchasing from it.
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Blore07 was starred Blore07 was unstarred

Artheido
11/20/09

@Blore07: I agree but their offers are at times unbeatable (like TF2 for £2.50 the other day).

I'll be buying L4D2 off store shelves though since it's more or less the same price and I won't have to re-download the whole thing whenever I move computers.
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Blore07 promoted this comment Artheido was starred Artheido was unstarred

HowlinMadMurdoc
11/20/09

@Blore07: I used to think the same until I went to the GAME store on Oxford Street in London, walked up the the pathetic looking PC section (boohoo) and noticed all the new releases priced at £30 to £40. MW2 is now £40, L4D2 £35 and about 2-3 rows of Sims 3 priced at £30.

What happened to £25 New Releases!?

Steam is still the black hole of my wallet though, damn you weekend deals.
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Blore07 promoted this comment HowlinMadMurdoc was starred HowlinMadMurdoc was unstarred

Trolly
11/20/09

@Blore07: That's only true for very new games, all the stores around me sell games that are fairly old for more than Steam. And that's not to mention the copious amounts of sales Steam has all the time. For example, BioShock for £2 last year, it wouldn't be viable in any way for a retail store to do that.
Of course, Amazon is still a lot cheaper than both on the whole.
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Blore07 promoted this comment Trolly was starred Trolly was unstarred

kupocake
11/20/09

@Blore07: Trueish, but I've purchased enough weekend deal titles from them, and Valve's own games usually have some come kind of decent pre-order incentive and price to tempt me.
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Blore07 promoted this comment mcderek3000 approved this comment kupocake was starred kupocake was unstarred

Neural_Net
11/20/09

@Blore07: True, buying the game from a retailer then registering it on steam (if you can) reaps all of the benefits from the service while avoiding the price penalty. I wonder if they'll ever put a stop to that, with unique keys for the steam and retail versions.
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Blore07 promoted this comment Neural_Net was starred Neural_Net was unstarred

geforce_1991
11/20/09

In reply to Stardock: Steam Has 70% Of PC Download Market
I was thinking about my Creative. And I don't know anybody who owns an ipod, because I'm a mac hater. Here, I said it!
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OrigamiNinja promoted this comment geforce_1991 was starred geforce_1991 was unstarred

OrigamiNinja
11/20/09

@geforce_1991: I don't see why being a Mac hater makes it less likely for you to know someone who owns an iPod. Unless you cut them out of your life?
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OrigamiNinja was starred OrigamiNinja was unstarred

GunFlame
11/20/09

In reply to Stardock: Steam Has 70% Of PC Download Market
I have Steam, but I hardly ever use it. I am generally a console gamer.

The service seams pretty good, and they do have alot of games.

But what I want to know is; does anyone here use Steam, but they don't play or like any of Valves games?

Thats the case with me at least. I don't like Valves games but I will say that Steam is pretty good from what I see.

Like I said. I DO have Steam on my PC, so I know that they have more that just Valve titles. Much more.
But does anyone use it that doesn't play Valve games.
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GunFlame was starred GunFlame was unstarred

diagorus
11/20/09

@GunFlame: I personally hate it. Its just another program I have to install on my computer. I was disappointed when i purchased some games from D2D (which i can just download a copy of the game and install it without any other software) and they end up being steam installs.
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GunFlame promoted this comment diagorus was starred diagorus was unstarred

TheWeaver
11/20/09

@GunFlame: I've used it to buy my last 2 "big" game purchases - Witcher and DA:O as well as to pick up Plants vs. Zombies and Peggle (yes, I said Peggle).

I did also pick up the Orange Box bundle at one point when it was dirt cheap, but I haven't really played that much (for as good as it is I'm just not an FPS fan).

So I would say that I qualify as someone who uses Steam primarily for non-Valve games. If Steam stopped offering such games or offered them at much higher prices then I would stop using them.

#speakup
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GunFlame promoted this comment TheWeaver was starred TheWeaver was unstarred

Strangelove
11/20/09

In reply to Stardock: Steam Has 70% Of PC Download Market
My two favorite things about Steam:

1) The weekend/mid-week deals

2) No tax on the games
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Strangelove was starred Strangelove was unstarred

massivedmg
11/20/09

@Strangelove:
impulse has weekend deals as well. (weekend impulse buys). And where I live there is no tax on the games.
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Nulls approved this comment massivedmg was starred massivedmg was unstarred

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