Steam is the best thing to happen to PC gaming, period. I like being able to go anywhere in the world, install Steam and play my games without having to lug around CD's, boxes, or remember CD keys.
It is funny how retailers are trying to blame their customers for the problems with their PC game sales. What happened to having a wall full of PC games rather than just a single small shelf hidden in the back? At least Best Buy and CompUSA have an entire rack full of PC games that they sell - and they do sell!
The problem with retailers and their PC game sales was never piracy. Sorry, piracy has nothing to do with the state of PC gaming. Most of the people I know who have pirated games have bought the retail copy afterwards because the retail copy offers features that pirated games can't (ie. DRM-based multiplayer).
The whole reason why PC gaming has seen such little support from retailers is that Sony and Microsoft waged a campaign against PC gaming with their consoles. They pushed their products to retailers, and overwhelmed the consumer with the right advertising. They branded their systems as "better" than PC's, as well as better for gamers. Development cycles on consoles are shorter too, thus appealing to a broader range of developers than on the PC. You only have to design a game based upon a single hardware specification, while with PC gaming you have to be able to scale a game based upon the hardware available, plus test for compatibility.
Still, the industry is slowly learning it's lesson with PC games again. Steam has created a monster (a good one, at that) that cannot be stopped now. What I don't understand is why people are blaming Steam for the retailers problems, specifically Steamworks. Valve does not require you to use Steamworks to use their digital platform. Instead, they offer it as a value addon to a product and is completely optional. I myself have seen the API's, tools, and software available for developers and I can tell you that I am amazed. I would gladly put Steamworks into my product.
On a side note: look at what happened to Infinity Ward after Modern Warfare 2. This is what happens when you alienate the market that made you the successful company you are, and your publisher/parent company takes notice. Not to mention their internal turmoil, lack of any good leadership (people without a sense of what was a good direction to go in), and utter ignorance of how the video game market is.
/endrant
