Actually, I’m positively thrilled at the leap Valve is making, but like a “few” forgotten ones out there, a cold reality sits heavier here than it does where the folks who cook up these products live and work. For the record, I do have a Steam account but barely use it (no high speed internet), so obviously, I’m not at all intrigued about bringing an expanded (and YES, helpful) service I can’t currently use to my living room. Maybe if Valve designed that potential Steam Box so that folks like me could transfer some or all of our PC games (no matter the age) into memory and play those games on a bigger screen somehow? That would get me more into this news. Granted, the millions of Steam users who fall over backwards praising the service will be pleased, but for me, it’s yet another digital divide in an industry grabbing money where they can without heed to every consequence. Yes, EVERY. If you don’t even bother to think about what could happen (no matter how far-fetched), then you’re only caught pants-down when it DOES happen, I say.

Not one of these digital delivery services nor any of the big or small device makers has fully (if ever) addressed any gamer who can’t use their products and services, and I see this coming to a head as we’re pushed more and more into a digital-only society.  It’s still one of the least secure ways to get content, given the near-constant reports of data mining by companies, data theft from people who want your info, files posted for all to see  from those claiming to be doing that for the “good” of better security (uh, right? How about respecting privacy and maybe finding a way to do this that’s not going to cause a mass panic among some?) and so forth and so on. So, I’m still not sold on the internet as the “best” way to game at the end of the day. But, whatever, right? As long as we have our new devices and can flick and click away and not care a whit because we’re all getting high scores and three stars and patting ourselves on the heads, there’s nothing to worry about. Whee!

Yeah, right. I wish I could be that idealistic all the time. We’re a few keyboard strokes or a server crash away from digital doom if you think about it too much, super services coming to our living rooms aside. Feh – off to dig out my 3DO and play something no one will know about unless I decide to write a post about it.