Monday, October 26, 2009
Introducing ...Tagged Politics
Want to get your Political opinion fix...then head on down to the newest member of the Tagged family Tagged Politics. Over time Tagged Politics will become full of political opinion and wisdom for you to ponder over whenever you like. Hope you enjoy!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
No Youtube Live in 2009...but maybe 2010
This week I emailed Youtube to ask if there was going to be a Youtube Live in 2009...their answer was no. This is probably appropriate considering it is already October and they would have made they announcement at least 2 months ago. However, they haven't ruled out a Youtube Live 2010, saying "We haven't taken that possibility off the table". Youtube Live in 2008 was a very expensive endeavour and with the Global Financial Crisis this year, and Google's declining stock price, Youtube Live was probably not a priority. If there is to be a Youtube Live in 2010, we will hear about it next year.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Steam - Is it really a conflict of interest?
There has been a lot of talk lately in the gaming realm about whether Vale's Steam distribution service is a blatant conflict of interest. The argument for this is that they make games and they have a platform to sell them and can therefore rip off 3rd party developers (including EA and Activision) and exploit them, while still maintaining a positive revenue stream.
This is preposterous as games sold on Steam, including those made by Valve, are clearly cheaper than if bought at a bricks and mortar store. If Valve were trying to rip off 3rd parties then they would charge less for their games. Also if these other developers were being ripped off and exploited then they would have pulled out of Steam, leaving it to die.
The only way that these developers could be exploited is through binding contracts with Valve, to distribute on Steam, giving Valve a larger than normal slice of the profit made on the game.
Steam is one of the most successful online distribution systems and it isn't going anywhere anytime soon. If these developers and publishers think they are being ripped off then they should just pull out of Steam. Take Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford, his game Borderlands, which Tagged previewed a month ago, is being sold on Steam and yet he is making comments against Steam...SHUT UP AND ACCEPT STEAM FOR WHAT IT IS. If he doesn't like it then maybe he should not distribute his game using it.
This is preposterous as games sold on Steam, including those made by Valve, are clearly cheaper than if bought at a bricks and mortar store. If Valve were trying to rip off 3rd parties then they would charge less for their games. Also if these other developers were being ripped off and exploited then they would have pulled out of Steam, leaving it to die.
The only way that these developers could be exploited is through binding contracts with Valve, to distribute on Steam, giving Valve a larger than normal slice of the profit made on the game.
Steam is one of the most successful online distribution systems and it isn't going anywhere anytime soon. If these developers and publishers think they are being ripped off then they should just pull out of Steam. Take Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford, his game Borderlands, which Tagged previewed a month ago, is being sold on Steam and yet he is making comments against Steam...SHUT UP AND ACCEPT STEAM FOR WHAT IT IS. If he doesn't like it then maybe he should not distribute his game using it.
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