Valve puts saves and player identity online with Steamcloud
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ May 30th 2008 at 10:24AM }
Valve strongly believes that PC at retail is not doomed and explains that when the company holds free weekends for games on Steam, it results in stronger sales at retail; Newell jokes that retail must have some kind of magic. The company says that future innovations for Steam (beyond Steamcloud) include driver auto-updating and the continued expansion of the game catalog.
[Via Big Download]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Fernando Rocker @ May 30th 2008 10:30AM
Valve is really a great gaming company. They do the right things...
=p
Fernando Rocker @ May 30th 2008 10:30AM
By the way, great picture!
The Artist formally known as Jesus @ May 30th 2008 10:35AM
Oh you're just saying that because you know they hate Sony.
They still kick ass though.
Blazur @ May 30th 2008 11:12AM
Indeed, VALVe and Blizzard represent the cream of the crop in the gaming industry. Every one of their games is worth checking out at one point or another.
chez @ May 30th 2008 11:32AM
They pretty much own PC gaming now. Steam vs Wii vs 360 vs ps3.
But yea Valve are great. Best games and best service! Can't fault that!
Tiptup300 @ May 30th 2008 12:00PM
I wish xbox live had this... I pay for XBL too, come on microsoft, find the ball and get on it.
mundox @ May 30th 2008 6:14PM
Yeah valve is one of the best devs out there, and the best publisher ^^
Poisoned Al @ May 30th 2008 10:38AM
As an old PC hand, I really hope this works. Not only would it make the PC a viable platform again, the service is really handy anyway.
Bix @ May 30th 2008 10:45AM
Auto updating games and drivers as well as a requirements check would take most of the hassle out of PC gaming finally. I'm skilled enough to handle it but it will help me win over some of my console gamer friends if they add these features to Steam.
BigD145 @ May 30th 2008 3:33PM
That would be true except that some companies make some damn stupid updates. Making a game that works right out of the box WITHOUT UPDATES would be even better than relying on an internet connection that can handle a 1gb patch.
arrakisman @ May 30th 2008 10:44AM
This is great for those of us who have more than one PC they play on. I have a lappy that I play on most of the time, but I have my killer pc on my big screeen TV. I hate that I had to split up my gave on the two computers because of the saves and setting.
SoulBlade @ May 30th 2008 10:45AM
The keyboard configuration access alone sold me. Hopefully it also keeps other prefs like your auto buys and such
Ghen @ May 30th 2008 10:46AM
Yes his sword is big, and yes he uses it to its fullest potential.
GenBanks @ May 30th 2008 10:51AM
This is reallly exciting, I've always wished that Steam saved your save games as well as the games themselves. This will be super handy for windows re-installs or when you're on a friend's computer... Having all your saved data available anywhere. Valve is great.
I just wonder if this kind of service will be optional with a subscription fee though, or if it will be for all steam users.
wootman @ May 30th 2008 4:30PM
i doubt its subscription, their already running unlimited demo and HD video downloads (1 movie, zombie movie is 30+ minutes) at 600kbps for free.
Dustin @ May 30th 2008 11:02AM
This is excellent! The convenience of being able to switch back and forth between my lappy and desktop without really noticing a different. That is priceless.
Deck @ May 30th 2008 11:08AM
Valve continues to do the right things when it comes to the PC market. I am glad they are still strongly supporting it and in strong belief that it is not dieing.
JonFitt @ May 30th 2008 11:09AM
He had me at hello.
Marty @ May 30th 2008 11:16AM
Auto driver updating? Count me in!
DangerMouse @ May 30th 2008 11:18AM
I hope it auto-rollback's just incase, too.
t_m @ May 30th 2008 11:37AM
I'm worried about that one.
Steam constantly keeps telling me that I need to update my drivers... failing to realise that, because Nvidia are lazy bastards who don't support their mobile graphics cards, the only way for me to do that is through hacked drivers. :-(
Ally @ May 30th 2008 11:18AM
i really wish Microsoft would do this for Xbox Live
Ally @ May 30th 2008 11:18AM
i really wish Microsoft would do this for Xbox Live
chez @ May 30th 2008 11:30AM
Now say it 1 more time and click your heels. Ooops I posted too soon :(
chez @ May 30th 2008 11:28AM
This is exactly what Steam needs. Fuck they're so on the ball.
dabamf @ May 30th 2008 12:27PM
BTW, Beyond Good and Evil plays great on Steam, even with Windows Vista 64. It's a good way to get familiar with the story before part 2 comes out, and it's only 10 bones.
chez @ May 30th 2008 1:36PM
Not out in the UK Steam. Fookin whoever made Beyond Good and Evil.
B-sides I've still got so many games to play through on Steam. Skipping UT3 of course. Epic fail.
GenBanks @ May 30th 2008 7:42PM
Yeah, so many good games only available on steam from the US. Next time I'm in the US on holiday I'm bringing a laptop and buying all the steam games I've missed out on :P (like Far Cry, Beyond Good and Evil, Assassin's Creed, ArmA etc)
Bouille @ May 31st 2008 11:46PM
Joystiq had me fooled there for a second... I thought this would be something about Final Fantasy VII to Steam, I would have gotten it :P
But seriously Valve and Blizzard are IMO the ONLY gaming companies that have a library of self-developped games that are ALL worth while. Blizzard is self-suffisiant (self-develop, self--publish) our days and Valve is just making PC gaming the most accessible thing in history. Both companies are bringing the REAL platform to the level it deserves.
Luthyr @ May 30th 2008 11:52AM
For a split second, I thought Final Fantasy VII was coming to Steam. :(
dabamf @ May 30th 2008 12:04PM
Dude, I know! Blew my mind for a second and then I realized that it was a pun.
chez @ May 30th 2008 12:08PM
LOL I came back to post that too. Frizzin snizzin Joystiq getting my hopes up, frazzle razzle.
Nate @ May 30th 2008 12:55PM
Lol, me too guys. :)
Alex @ May 30th 2008 2:57PM
I was hoping that too for a second, but actually this Steamcloud seems pretty awesome!
Joe H @ May 30th 2008 12:17PM
Finally, people have only been requesting this (at least the save part) since the beginning of Steam.
I just wish EA would get on board already since their download program sucks. That'd be pretty much all the major publishers, since they already have Ubi, Eidos, id, Epic, 2k, Activision, etc.
Puntachu @ May 30th 2008 12:31PM
Nice pic... The headline alone wouldn't have grabbed my attention, but i saw the pic and had to stop and read (All things FFVII seem to do that to me).
I'm not a PC gamer, so this doesn't do much for me. I can, however, recognize that this is a big thing for PC gamers. Valve has my respect, regardless of their view on my console (I own a PS3).
TrojanGuy @ May 30th 2008 2:40PM
That sounds really cool.
Superstar90 @ May 30th 2008 3:58PM
You guys should have used those happy face clouds from Mario instead of FF7 Cloud. I was confused for a second, thinking FF7 was released on Steam or something.
wootman @ May 30th 2008 4:55PM
woo. Personally id rather have more publishers on board, but this is pretty awesome.
im more exited about how dedicated they are to the PC.
Jhongerkong @ May 30th 2008 5:22PM
Valve was also planning to have a Steamaeris service, but they killed off support of it halfway into development.
capt_carl @ May 30th 2008 9:15PM
Too soon.
chez @ Jun 1st 2008 6:20AM
Seriously that's the best comment on this site ever. I mean it from the bottom of my heart.