I suspect developers may have overestimated why Dear Esther and Gone Home succeeded. I didn't hate the games, but going into them with only light information and a handful of screenshots, I came out feeling pretty frustrated at the snail pace and lack of anything to do. It's my own fault for sure, but I really thought both may have had some light horror elements. Throughout both experiences I kept thinking if ANYTHING would happen, and nothing ever did, and then they ended. Being open from the start about nothing happening, I can see why it would have trouble. Being told that it's exactly like those games that burned me the first time isn't exactly a sell. I understand some people really liked these, but they also succeeded by misleading a larger audience, either intentionally or not.
Steam is PC gaming to me now. It's too much of a hassle to buy and keep track of games on different platforms. As far as I'm concerned, Steam is a main gaming platform just like PS3 and 360. It has my achievements, friends list etc. I was just about to buy Alice, and was definitely planning on Battlefield 3, but that's no longer happening. I'll probably just get them for consoles now. PC gaming has certainly been on the up due to Steam, but PC gaming sales are still not as strong as console gaming sales. I believe this move will only serve to decrease overall sales on PC. It sucks.
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