Nippon Ichi plans to release games on Steam

[jfrost]

Finally:

http://www.destructoid.com/nippon-ichi- ... 2313.phtml

Japan, take note.

[Erik_Twice]

Hell, yes, this is great news!

[Inazuma]

How is this good news? Wouldn't it be best if they released their PC games normally? Or at least, how it was done before companies like Steam popped up.

[jfrost]

No.

Glad we got that cleared up, thanks for asking.

[Erik_Twice]

How is this good news? Wouldn't it be best if they released their PC games normally? Or at least, how it was done before companies like Steam popped up.

Reatil chains are pretty well-known for ignoring PC titles and shoving them into a corner. Why pay to make physical copies and have bigger sunk costs just to sell poorly when you can sell them in the biggest market of PC gamers?

[Inazuma]

How is this good news? Wouldn't it be best if they released their PC games normally? Or at least, how it was done before companies like Steam popped up.

Reatil chains are pretty well-known for ignoring PC titles and shoving them into a corner. Why pay to make physical copies and have bigger sunk costs just to sell poorly when you can sell them in the biggest market of PC gamers?

Yeah, more money...

I was talking from the perspective of the gamer, not Nippon Ichi. Wouldn't it be best to buy a physical version or download a DRM free version, instead of using Steam? That's all I meant.

It bothers me to see gamers happy about getting fucked over by DRM and DLC and shit like that. Oh well. Nothing new there. Nevermind me.

[isiolia]

Also good in the sense that if the game(s) are ported over and sell well, then there's a proven market for other companies to try and get a share of. The more Japanese companies that take a chance on bringing a title or two over, the more likely it becomes that something is a big enough hit to take notice of.

Direct Download, particularly Steam, is a great avenue to try that with. New releases are highlighted, sale games get lots of attention, you can see your friends are playing a game, they can recommend it to you...plus chances are, if you're running the client, you're actually playing PC games.

Even for those who would really rather have a physical copy, a Steam release is probably a great route for that to eventually happen.

[fastbilly1]

How is this good news? Wouldn't it be best if they released their PC games normally? Or at least, how it was done before companies like Steam popped up.

Reatil chains are pretty well-known for ignoring PC titles and shoving them into a corner. Why pay to make physical copies and have bigger sunk costs just to sell poorly when you can sell them in the biggest market of PC gamers?

Yeah, more money...

I was talking from the perspective of the gamer, not Nippon Ichi. Wouldn't it be best to buy a physical version or download a DRM free version, instead of using Steam? That's all I meant.

It bothers me to see gamers happy about getting fucked over by DRM and DLC and shit like that. Oh well. Nothing new there. Nevermind me.

Steam is the least obtrusive DRM Ive used in a long time. I would much rather buy a DRM free copy, but if this lets me get a quality SRPG on the PC, well I am all for it.

[AmishSamurai]

Reatil chains are pretty well-known for ignoring PC titles and shoving them into a corner. Why pay to make physical copies and have bigger sunk costs just to sell poorly when you can sell them in the biggest market of PC gamers?

Yeah, more money...

I was talking from the perspective of the gamer, not Nippon Ichi. Wouldn't it be best to buy a physical version or download a DRM free version, instead of using Steam? That's all I meant.

It bothers me to see gamers happy about getting fucked over by DRM and DLC and shit like that. Oh well. Nothing new there. Nevermind me.

Steam is the least obtrusive DRM Ive used in a long time. I would much rather buy a DRM free copy, but if this lets me get a quality SRPG on the PC, well I am all for it.

I think we've concluded that in Inazuma's eyes, CD keys are too restrictive, and the only acceptable digital platform will be one that gives games away and downloads everything instantly forever without actually taking up hard drive space.

[AppleQueso]

Steam at least gives you some nice benefits and treats their cusotmers with some level of respect. It's a pretty fair tradeoff for the insanely minor and non-intrusive DRM they use I think.