Gaming on Steam

It was pointed out to me today that this article covers a woefully small amount in the way of gaming. I attribute this to the fact that I wouldn't really consider myself a gamer and as such don't really feel qualified to cover the majority of games out there. One of the guys that I work with is a big fan of the digital distribution network Steam so in order to plug the absence of gaming related material in this article, I decided to download it and give it a spin myself.

Steam is a multiplayer, games distribution and communications platform developed by Valve Corporation (famous for games such as Half Life and Day of Defeat) which has been designed to distribute a wide range of games and related media entirely over the Internet. At present there are 667 games available on Steam and over 20 million user accounts.

Steam users can instantly try out and if suitably impress buy the games digitally thus doing away with having to purchase the games on disc with the accompanying packaging, manual and CD key. The game is immediately associated to the users' free Steam account meaning that it can be played on any computer currently connected to the internet that has Steam installed. So not only can you play any purchased games from any applicable computer, but as the software is downloaded whenever needed, players will always be using the most up to date version.

Downloads are dealt with by hundreds of dedicated servers at various placed around the world and a fast connection is almost assured due to the software connecting multiple servers at once. Based upon your hardware the most compatible game version will be automatically be downloaded so issues can be kept to a minimal, no matter what computer you are playing on.

Steam is also an effective multiplayer platform as well as single player gaming, allowing you to search, filter and bookmark Internet and LAN servers in order to find fellow players. The friends list allows easy location of others you have played with previously as well as finding more friends based on their interests etc. An inbuilt anti-cheat system ensures that participants in a game are playing fairly and a chat system allows you to talk to others while enjoying your games.

With regards to the actual games on offer, Steam encompasses both independent labels and the major publishers with prices varying depending very much on the game in question. Some smaller games are available for just over a fiver however those by the major publishers will often be the same price, if not a little more, than you would find them for in the shops. With hundreds of games available it's not possible to cover the entire scope of the games on offer however for a full list check out www.steampowered.com to see a full list of games which can be filtered based on the game category, number sold or the rating given by the community. Current top rated games include Half Life 2, Bioshock, Grand Theft Auto Vice City, Unreal Tournament and Team Fortress 2 - all titles that any gamer will recognise.


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Chris Holgate writes a weekly article of all things tech related. He is a director and copyrighter of the online computer consumables business Refresh Cartridges who sell cheap ink cartridges, toner cartridges, computer hardware and other computer consumables online. An archive of his work can be found at www.computerarticles.co.uk.