Movies on Steam. Why???

[VG_Elder]

Starting to see more and more movies showing up on Steam and many people, like me, are confused why Steam is getting into the movie business. Steam is a gaming service and they should not be posting movies here. They should start a whole new service and call it Steam Movies or something like that. I realize they are trying to reach out to indie movie developers in the same way the reach out to indie game developers but it just makes it confusing when you see movies start popping up on a gaming site. How seriously are people going to take these movies anyway? I love movies so I go to Netflix, Hulu, etc... I don't go looking for movies on Steam. It would be a great idea to open a new movie site and pair it with movies making software and development tools and I would gladly sign up for that but please pull this stuff off the gaming store. To me it just trashes up the place.

[Mongorii]

Publicado originalmente por VG_Elder:

Publicado originalmente por The Web Doctor:

Like every business Steam is expanding to gain more revenue. Clearly, there's money to be made in the movie business so they're expanding there, but that doesn't mean Steam isn't going to be about video games anymore. Also I think this feature is for the Steam Machines.

I kinda like the fact they want to get into the movie making side of things. If they approach it like their Greenlight program they could help alot of indie movie developers get their visions to market. I'm for anything that allows an artist to go directly to their target audience and cut out corporate big bussiness. I don't think the movies are getting the proper attention posting in their gaming service though. Even if they just seperated the Store service into games and media that would clear up alot of confusion.

I really like your take on this. I think they just make a seperate area in the store for movies and games, and keep it at that. But I do like the idea of using a Greenlight type system for indie movie producers. Steam could be looked at as akin to a global farmers market where you can support non-corporate "indie" companies/services. I really like it.

[liquidcroc]

It's not perfect even tho they have movies on here.

[Marble]

Publicado originalmente por VG_Elder:

I don't see how paying per download is an effective business model right now. The whole industry is moving to a paid steaming model (Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO, etc...) with memebership dues.

Owning rather than streaming/rental can be a viable business model if done right. In the same way Steam has features that adds value to games, so to can it do the same for movies with similar Steamworks features.

Right now, Steam's video service is not fit for purpose. It's limited to being played in the client, there have been many reports of performance issues and there's no offline playback.

[Start_Running]

Publicado originalmente por Canti:

Publicado originalmente por VG_Elder:

I don't see how paying per download is an effective business model right now. The whole industry is moving to a paid steaming model (Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO, etc...) with memebership dues.

Owning rather than streaming/rental can be a viable business model if done right. In the same way Steam has features that adds value to games, so to can it do the same for movies with similar Steamworks features.

Right now, Steam's video service is not fit for purpose. It's limited to being played in the client, there have been many reports of performance issues and there's no offline playback.

Offline playback requires downloading, which would as you know be used as a way around and to copy and give files to friends., etc.

[Marble]

Publicado originalmente por Start_Running:

Offline playback requires downloading, which would as you know be used as a way around and to copy and give files to friends., etc.

Except it doesn't work like that, many companies including Apple, Google and Amazon have their movies download and play offline without allowing the files to be copied easily by tying them to the device and/or stored login ID.

[Start_Running]

And how do you think those pirated movies get up on the torrent sites? People crack those locks very easily. Hence why Steam is trying something different.

[Marble]

Publicado originalmente por Start_Running:

And how do you think those pirated movies get up on the torrent sites? People crack those locks very easily. Hence why Steam is trying something different.

In most cases they come from physical media, as they are typically the highest quality commercial releases and aren't as heavily compressed as web videos.

Valve is not the sort of company to push DRM that works to the detriment of functionality.

[VG_Elder]

Publicado originalmente por Start_Running:

And how do you think those pirated movies get up on the torrent sites? People crack those locks very easily. Hence why Steam is trying something different.

That media comes from ripped DVD and Blu-ray disks. We are not talking about illegal operations here. You still have the problem of storage space. Everyone I know has either dropped their cable service for Steaming or given up maintaining media libaries in favor of the Steaming service. Hell I ended my cable account and sold off over 300 DVDs when I could start watching Netflix and Amazon right on my TV. Blu-rays have failed because they came out at the same time Streaming services were starting to take off. Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu keep gaining ground because people don't want to mess with downloads anymore. Why do you think the cable companies are killing off Net Neutrality Laws.

Without an unlimited Steaming Service (paid membership) and apps for more devices besides their consoles this movie service will never work. If its not going to work on a Smart TV or service like Roku their target audience will be very small. To be honest I doubt Steam's Console will make it very far anyway. Sony and X-Box take up too much of that market.

[B✪✪tsy]

Steam is simply moving away from the pc monitor (as an exclusive) to the TV screen. Hence the Steam OS/console thing.

[Tux]

Publicado originalmente por Lecap:

Why not?
I personally think its nice to watch movies on Steam.
Maybe you can boot up your SteamMachine and watch a movie on it, and start using it like a mediabox.
Well, there is not a huge amount of movies, and not like blockbusters.
But, It`s getting there.

Anyways, this was my opionion.
Dont mind if you have an other one. :)

I suspect that Steam Machines will have a Netflix and Hulu app so as a result Valve is exploring providing movies that are not shown on those two, which I think is wise

[Dawf-]

Well yes

[DEANOSON316]

it was kinda inevitable really , it started off a gaming platform but like anything is has grown and has had to add certain features here and there to keep ahead of its rivals ...with all the latest technology available it has had to up its game so to speak ...as long as it provides what people want they will use it ..

[Lord DumDum]

stahp it, Kung Fury is awesome, thats why they should put movies in Steam

[Mikemk]

Publicado originalmente por Canti:

Offline playback requires downloading, which would as you know be used as a way around and to copy and give files to friends., etc.

Have you ever tried copying Vudu's offline videos?

[Marble]

Publicado originalmente por Mikemk:

Publicado originalmente por Canti:

Offline playback requires downloading, which would as you know be used as a way around and to copy and give files to friends., etc.

Have you ever tried copying Vudu's offline videos?

Wrong name on the quote.