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| Perhaps the greatest marketing ploy known to man |
Displays of ingenuity, risk taking and being so GOD DAMN AWESOME to its customers.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Genius, pure unadulterated genius!
Displays of ingenuity, risk taking and being so GOD DAMN AWESOME to its customers.
Valve: "Your move, playerbase"
With the impending release of Portal 2, it has come to my attention that Valve is generously providing a duplicate PC copy of the aforementioned digital manifestation of entertainment (Portal 2) for every NEW purchase of the Playstation 3 version of the game. Generosity of such magnitude is not unheard of or even remotely out of character for a developer/publisher like Valve. In the previous year they had Portal free to download in the wake of the Steam for Mac's release into the wild, aswell as a full high quality Isometric xenogenocide simulation by the name of Alien Swarm
Now this move may come off as an apologetic marketing attempt to woo the PS3 playerbase into their favor after the slew of mishaps that plauged Valve releases onto the PS3; notably the poor port of the Orange Box to the platform, the lack of releases regarding the Left 4 Dead Series and the constant debasement about the flaws of the console from a pioneer in the industry/obese man who probably has a swimming pool full of money.
And with that comment I just delayed Half-Life 2 Episode 3 by another year or so.
Despite the issues, Valve is a company founded on customer loyalty, their entire business model revolves around returning customers and word of mouth on product quality. Now I think there's more to this than a simple apology, they already did this with Half-Life 2 when it was released, back then the game required you to be signed up and logged into the neonate of an online storefront that we've come to know as Steam. Aside from the extra steps to be able to play your game, Steam did one very important thing: It created a centralized venue for a player base that isn't dependent on a singular game much like Xbox Live and the Playstation Network. This is what Valve is trying to do with Portal 2 for the PS3, they're building upon the already massive userbase of PC players by showing what Steam as a service can provide to its users. Come to think of it Portal being free is another ploy at attracting a Mac userbase and getting them accustomed to using the service.
While I approve of this attempt at marketing their distribution platform which will increase Steam users and purchasers by some degree there are still some issues that prevent it from reaching its maximum potential. One would be that many console owners don't have the time or patience to research on getting a decent computer and would spend their money on a simpler alternative. Another would Steam's grasp on the PS3 is minimal; it can hardly be considered a supplement for PSN as it only has Steam Cloud for save file storage through cloud computing and cross system chat. While it maybe a long shot for steam to ever replace PSN for its native platform, the mere presence of Steam Cloud is a wedge in the crevasse of cross platform interaction, Valve may or may not want to hammer it open and Sony may or may not choose to seal the crack.
Short Version: Buy PS3 Version of Portal 2, Get PC version + an online store that has dirt cheap sales almost everyday for free. EEZ GOOD. Oh and the 360 gets the short end of the stick.
Now this move may come off as an apologetic marketing attempt to woo the PS3 playerbase into their favor after the slew of mishaps that plauged Valve releases onto the PS3; notably the poor port of the Orange Box to the platform, the lack of releases regarding the Left 4 Dead Series and the constant debasement about the flaws of the console from a pioneer in the industry/obese man who probably has a swimming pool full of money.
And with that comment I just delayed Half-Life 2 Episode 3 by another year or so.
Despite the issues, Valve is a company founded on customer loyalty, their entire business model revolves around returning customers and word of mouth on product quality. Now I think there's more to this than a simple apology, they already did this with Half-Life 2 when it was released, back then the game required you to be signed up and logged into the neonate of an online storefront that we've come to know as Steam. Aside from the extra steps to be able to play your game, Steam did one very important thing: It created a centralized venue for a player base that isn't dependent on a singular game much like Xbox Live and the Playstation Network. This is what Valve is trying to do with Portal 2 for the PS3, they're building upon the already massive userbase of PC players by showing what Steam as a service can provide to its users. Come to think of it Portal being free is another ploy at attracting a Mac userbase and getting them accustomed to using the service.
While I approve of this attempt at marketing their distribution platform which will increase Steam users and purchasers by some degree there are still some issues that prevent it from reaching its maximum potential. One would be that many console owners don't have the time or patience to research on getting a decent computer and would spend their money on a simpler alternative. Another would Steam's grasp on the PS3 is minimal; it can hardly be considered a supplement for PSN as it only has Steam Cloud for save file storage through cloud computing and cross system chat. While it maybe a long shot for steam to ever replace PSN for its native platform, the mere presence of Steam Cloud is a wedge in the crevasse of cross platform interaction, Valve may or may not want to hammer it open and Sony may or may not choose to seal the crack.
Short Version: Buy PS3 Version of Portal 2, Get PC version + an online store that has dirt cheap sales almost everyday for free. EEZ GOOD. Oh and the 360 gets the short end of the stick.
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