I really, really hope they don't sell but Google is in a position to make anyone an offer they can't refuse. I'm really starting to get sick of freaking Google.

Here here. Beware of corporations growing too big.

When I first heard of this, I was both excited and terrified. I'm sort of a Google fanboy, but I'm also a Valve fanboy. To me, Valve is the Google of videogames. I'd be curious to see what Google does to the Steam platform, etc., but at the same time I want Valve to just be Valve. Steam works, Valve works. There's no reason for me as a user to want anyone to change that, even if I like Google.

what would happen if google can push steam to non-pc gamers? They could possibly incorporate a gaming section on google, and even advertise or push pc-gaming in general, hypothetically speaking. I love Valve more than google... CS:S ftw.

I really don't see Valve selling up at all. I bet they're almost printing their own money these days. The creation of steam and how well it works was equivalent to building your own mint.

Why would they want to buy a big fat bald guy with a spigot sticking out of his head anyway?

google should do what we liked them for...make stuff that no one has, or better than then the previous. Buying successful companies is what Microsoft and EA does, google should follow that path.

You know, I've always wondered what Valve's pirating figures were versus other companies that don't use the interface directly. I mean...if you have to submit your CD key to Valve..pirating just got a lot more difficult.
Unless I'm missing some method to cheat it that's beyond me.

Steam solves piracy??

Then I've must imagined all those hours playing Ep1, Ep2 and Portal I spent.

I think I need my meds.

PS: Don't get me wrong, I buy my games, I just don't like when the "big brothers" force me to activate, don't let me use a backup ,etc. (And the orange box is so cheap only a bastard would dload it)

Valve is the way a video game studio should be run. They never release a game before it's ready and in fact have a reputation of delaying games to polish them a little more. That costs a lot of extra cash (especially if you add up all the games and time\money that costs combined) but as anyone can see they are not just a profit driven company. They run their studio like a real gaming fan would run it. Example, Portal was and is a hugely popular title that they could squeeze a lot of money out of if they so desired. At the height of it's popularity their CEO goes on the record to say that a Portal sequel will not be rushed to the stores just because they have an opportunity to make a killing. That they will not release another Portal title without reinventing it or adding some unique features, even though exploiting it to maximize profits is the way most companies would do it. Imagine if EA was run like Valve!

The bottom line is that Valve has no incentive to sell what they have built and what continues to grow (Steam) and allows them to do what they do best, make awesome games.

I belive a guy once said that Google is becoming the new yahoo. It started off as something cool and then just began to transform into another media mogul... I'm glad that Valve isn't selling there is no reason to. There HL series must be worth enough to gold plate the tajmahal so i hope they dont hand it over any time soon.

VALVe has been offered buyouts by EA and numerous other companies. Each time they have said no. EA wants them because their download system compared to Steam is crap.

Steam does prevent piracy for the games that are run directly through it for the most part. I have seen people stating ways to get all the games for free but normally they end up getting caught and the account gets closed and I think the email used to register gets blocked.

Google is huge now. They started off as a small search engine but had the best method of doing searches and thats why they exploded.

I don't think any one comapny could catch up to VALVes Steam though. EA even added Crysis to Steam recently along with the new expansion pack Warhead. Far Cry 2 is coming out on Steam and GTA IV is slated for a Steam release as well.

The other unique feature that Steam offers is you can register a non Steam game and it will launch through Steam allowing you to use the Steam friends in game.

VALVe is the best PC gaming company on the face of the earth. For over 10 years they have prduced the best games ever. And it all started with Half Life. Now they continue to deliver games with immense stories, great gameplay and graphics that still keep up with modern standards. I doubt any one company could ever buy VALVe.

Steam does solve the piracy issue.

The issue is deterring pirates with DRM also tends to deter PAYING customers.

Steam has the right formula for getting around this.

You have to go online, at least once in a while, which is a hassle for some. However, this is countered by free, controlled, P2P distributed(I believe) patches which can be set to update manually or automatically in the background.

The only enemy of this system, that I can see, is publishers.

But they can pound sand, I owe only to the people who make the game, no one else.

I wouldn't exactly say the Steam "solves" the piracy issue. But I'd be absolutely shocked if their piracy rate isn't light years lower than non-steam/DRM games. And steam's solution is vastly better and less intrusive than DRMs.

I am beginning to tire of Steam's necessity to run my Steam games.

Stardock's Impulse doesn't require Impulse to be running when you play an Impulse game.

I'm not even talking about offline mode, I don't want the app running at all. So if Google did buy Steam that would be reason enough for me to no longer support it...unless they dropped the always running requirement.

Well sure, if he got the news off his Blackberry that McCain invented, surely it came from the internet, which was invented by Al Gore.

One cool thing about steam/valve ... I actually somewhat trust them. I know that valve will reliably come out with updates and continue to support my product well into the future. This as a consumer grants me a great deal of confidence in giving up some of my rights for the good service Valve has consistently rendered.

That being said I still strongly dislike DRM. Period. Even the steam kind. Its just Valve makes me feel alot better with the whole DRM thing by the service they provide. UNLIKE EA.

PS.
I used to love EA. Back in the C64 days, my buddies and I always looked forward to EA and SSI released games.

I loved Steam & valve until I got the screwed over 3 times by them.

1st: buying the Hardcopy of HL2 8+months before it was released promised tons of sweat stuff and ended up getting only 2 things out of 10+.. T Shirt & the DVD...

2nd: My Original CS/HL Activation to my account is magically removed from my account and placed on someone else while i stop playing games for a 6+months period to focus on College.

3rd: my 2nd time i had to spend 6+months to focus on school and stay away from PC games my CS Anthology (which i ended up buying to fix my 2nd issue) Activation once again gets removed from my account and placed one someone else.

PS: their only answer to fix the problem is to pay them the exact amount you payed for the game to move the CD-key/Activation to your account & the physical copy of your game mailed to them as proof. Valve is twisted. Also met at least 4 other people in college who came across the same issue with Valve. Something about not using your Steam account for a long period of time they like to give your games you payed hard money for away.

>> Charlie Demerjian, quoting “well placed sources,” reported today that Google is “going to buy Valve any second now.

The rumour was started by Charlie Djemeran. Say no more. Nobody takes anything he writes seriously. He has frequently shown himself to be the worst kind of talentless hack there is and often apparently just makes up sources.