Well, looks like Microsoft broke down and finally put one of their games on Steam. Hopefully it'll open up the doors for more MGS/Ensemble/Bungie/etc games on other distribution platforms. As far as I'm aware, there's no way to officially download the other AoE games or Halo (that's basically the ones I care about; I don't know what else Microsoft has that's worth getting).

http://store.steampowered.com/app/105450/

A shame they chose AoE 3, damn that game was terrible.

@tekmojo said:

A shame they chose AoE 3, damn that game terrible.

No it isn't.

And I already own all AOE3 and it's expansions on disk, but do I really want to deal with discs... and they need AOE2 on steam, then i'll be happy.

Now, if only they added Age of Empires 2 on Steam we'd actually be getting somewhere. Anyway, in grand scheme of things this is probably good progress.

Already picked it up when they revamped the GFW marketplace for $0.01.

@tekmojo said:

A shame they chose AoE 3, damn that game terrible.

No it isn't.

And I already own all AOE3 and it's expansions on disk, but do I really want to deal with discs... and they need AOE2 on steam, then i'll be happy.

@Butano said:

Already picked it up when they revamped the GFW marketplace for $0.01.

Same here. I kind of laughed at the idea of paying 19.99, on sale, for a six year old game.

Mini-update: for a split second there, Steam's front page featured Fable The Lost Chapters, which has been apparently out since Dec. 19 2011. I didn't notice it at the time - to reiterate, maybe this is Microsoft finally admitting their PC platform is crap, and giving in to Steam? If so, they should ramp up availability - they're not even listed in the Publisher Catalog at the bottom of the page, as if they don't want anyone to know...

The price point is absolutely absurd considering most people interested (I would think) got it for $0.10 from GFWL some time ago.

I am another wishing they would update (for compatibility) the other Age of Empire games.

@Mikemcn said:

@tekmojo said:

A shame they chose AoE 3, damn that game terrible.

No it isn't.

And I already own all AOE3 and it's expansions on disk, but do I really want to deal with discs... and they need AOE2 on steam, then i'll be happy.

Coming from AoE 2, AoE 3 can't even compete. Fucked with the formula too much and then we never saw a new game until they released some MMORTS.  Age of Mythology please!

Yeah but asking for 20$ on sale is ridiculous. 20$ should be the standard asking price, that game must be insanely cheap anywhere else.

Meh, I got it for $1 when it went on that one sale from Microsoft.

@tekmojo said:

@Mikemcn said:

@tekmojo said:

A shame they chose AoE 3, damn that game terrible.

No it isn't.

And I already own all AOE3 and it's expansions on disk, but do I really want to deal with discs... and they need AOE2 on steam, then i'll be happy.

Coming from AoE 2, AoE 3 can't even compete. Fucked with the formula too much and then we never saw a new game until they released some MMORTS.  Age of Mythology please!

Please, AoE 3 was a great game, sure it wasn't as good as AoE 2 for its time, but still, terrible? And AoE 2 was one of the first games i got and it remains one of my favorite strategy games.

I have AOE3 on disk. :]

Also, AOE3 is every bit as good as 2. But that's kind of the problem. It's as good, not better. It doesn't really surpass its predecessor in any meaningful ways like second one did.

AoE II is a classic. AoE III didn't grab me the same way, but I never considered it a bad game in the slightest. AoE II has to be one of my favorite games ever.

Now we just need AoE 2 and Rise of Nations. Then we'd be talking.

@ArbitraryWater said:

Now we just need AoE 2 and Rise of Nations. Then we'd be talking.

Oh man, I fucking love Rise of Nations.

purchased

It is the top selling game on Steam right now, even at that stupid crazy price. If this isn't proof Mircosoft NEEDS to put their games on Steam I don't know what is.

Freelancer next, please!

AoE3 is so bad, and not in the Power Glove sense.

You know what? I never thought of that. Sure, Age of Empires 3 isn't amazingly good, but if it means MS past games on Steam, especially at good prices, I'm all for it. Although, I bought AOE 3 for I believe $1 from Games for Windows Live awhile back.

Edit: t'was the same deal everyone else is talking about.

WHO CARES! AoE 2 is what matters.

Dear god, how has this been the top selling thing on Steam for the past 2 days? Will people just buy anything that is a weekend deal?

Completely putting aside the quality of the game (which I know nothing about), they're trying to charge $40 US as the regular price for this. $40, for a game that's 6 years old. I don't care if it has all the expansion packs or whatever. $40 is fucking ridiculous. Look at any other "complete collection" of a similarly old game on Steam, and they're all either $30 or $20, even for a popular game like Civ 4.

I know the reality is that people are willing to part with $20 to play some AoE 3, but more people should be rejecting that on principle. $20 shouldn't be the discount price, it should be the regular price.

They need to put Rise of Nations up there. That's what I'm interested in.

Pfft, Age of Empire 2's where it's at!