Programs like steam. All about the STEAM platform

It seems that just recently all gamers were running joyfully from the store with discs in their hands and inserting them into the drive. Then they waited anxiously for hours until the game was installed. But that time is a thing of the past and has already arrived new era- era of gaming platforms. One of these is Steam, which is owned by Valve with its permanent leader Gabe Newell.

What is Steam

Steam is a digital distribution service for licensed computer games and programs owned by Valve, a well-known developer computer games. Steam serves as an activation service, online download, automatic updates and news for games from both Valve itself and third-party developers under an agreement with Valve.

This platform can even be called a social network, because with the help of it you can communicate with friends, create groups and play games as a group, which all players in the group have in the library.

Navigation

The controls are quite simple, there is a search and different categories games. There are also additional features such as recommendation lists where you can leave a review for any game you purchase. There is also a “Marketplace” where you can sell and buy inside game items, of which the rare ones are especially valued. Then the proceeds can be withdrawn and bought for yourself something in real life.

All purchased games are located in one program in the "Library" section, and are not scattered across the hard drive. On Steam, all games are always automatically updated to the latest version, and this is good, because updates fix bugs and shortcomings in games, and also allow users to appreciate interesting innovations. For example, themed, holiday, or simply planned. Steam also has a built-in browser.

Payment methods

There are many ways to pay for games. Another nice detail is that you can give a game or in-game items to your friend or loved one by adding some text or a wish.

If the game does not work or the user does not like, it can always be returned (if it was played for less than two hours). The money is returned after some time.

All prices are translated into Russian. Many games can be bought cheaper than in the store. In addition, there are often sales that allow you to buy games at crazy discounts. Sometimes discounts on popular games There are up to 85%, less often you can see 90% and 95%. Well, no one canceled the “Demon” section paid games»!

Checking the integrity and defragmentation of game files

Steam supports verification of game files by comparing their checksum with information on Valve's servers. This procedure is launched forcibly if, when trying to launch a game, Steam does not find its main files, the user can also launch it manually. Upon completion of the procedure, Steam redownloads damaged or modified files from the Internet.

Achievements

The “Achievements” section is a kind of collection that is replenished when the user performs certain actions in a particular game, receiving achievements for this. In other words, these are optional game tasks, each of which saves information in the game. To collect the entire collection of achievements in the game, you need to read what exactly you need to do to get each of them.

Levels

The Steam level is a very interesting innovation. You can gain levels not only in games, but also in your account. The Steam level affects the number of slots for friends and other nice little things like setting the background, showcases, etc. You can raise your level by purchasing games and creating badges, which you can later display on your profile page. Badges are created from collectible cards that drop during the game.

Wish Lists

You can easily and simply put together your own list and distribute games according to the user’s level of desire. What is also convenient is that the price for each game is indicated, and if suddenly a discount appears on something, it will be difficult to miss it.

"Greenlight" site

Users can post their own games to the "Greenlight" site, where other users can look at the preview, read the description and vote for this game to be released for sale, or say that they would not buy it. This is very useful for new developers.

Special material from the Stymology project dedicated to Children's Day to her.

Hello, young steammaster!(However, even if you have not been bothered by homework or exams for a long time, this article may also be useful to you, reader). The state and society make great efforts to protect children from dangers by conducting various campaigns, creating social advertisements and various kinds of educational events. In life safety lessons, future citizens are taught how to behave in difficult life situations and provide first aid. Recently, they have even begun to teach how to behave correctly on the Internet. And this makes me happy.

However... No matter how well teachers teach the topic of the dangers of the Internet, many young users still do not take them seriously. Therefore, today, on Children’s Day, “Stymology” decided to make a small contribution to the common cause and tell young people about what is on gaming services like Steam It's not worth doing.

Many adult gamers believe that allowing children into gaming services is very harmful.games. And it’s hard to disagree with them. Inappropriate behavior of young players can turn any good game intoan extremely unpleasant pastime. This is especially evident in cooperative games like Payday 2 and Killing Floor, where one inadequate player can ruin the game. Moreover, if such a player is kicked, he will most likely be offended and upset. But it’s one thing if it’s a troll who deliberately provoked players, another thing if it’s an inexperienced gamer who picked up gaming devices yesterday.

The problem is that your negative and weaknesses such players are considered positive and strong, as if this is how it should be.

We have compiled a top 10 nonsense that could well harm unlucky gamers and really hope that it will allow young fans of Gabe and Co. to see themselves from the outside. Moreover, the word “harm” can be interpreted very broadly.

10. Hacking achievements.

Hacking achievements (achievements) - favorite pastimeyoung gamers. Why they do this is not entirely clear. But, if you believe them themselves, then supposedly this shows what kind of people they are cool players(100% of achievements in an hour is a game!) and it looks beautiful - after all, many achievements can be put in the profile showcase.

A local manifestation of the same desire to be the coolest is manifested in the game Team Fortress 2, and, more recently, in CS:GO, and is called “pumping the rods.” On special servers where you can kill other players who are worth afk, a man with a strand comes and starts killing everyone, raising the kill count of his weapon to huge numbers.

Yes, the weapon may look cool, but overall it does not affect the game in any way.

Many players believe that having a secondary strand weapon with a large number kills, with a small amount of time played is 100% sign of a complete noob.

But we won't be so categorical.We'll just say that hacking achievements, as well as downloading strands, is stupid. They are needed to open up as you play and demonstrate your true knowledge of this title. Hacking achievements is noticeable almost without difficulty and looks like a very ugly act. This doesn't make any sense.

What about the harm? And, although hacking achievements was banned in Steam It is almost impossible to obtain; such activity can be a blow to your reputation. And, in addition, access to resources for hardcore gamers like Playfire and Claimony You will most likely be blocked.

9. Attempts to make money on dubious resources

Despite the fact that on Steam there are many ways to save money for new game, many players prefer, instead of convenient and legal methods such as exchange and use on the trading platform, to try to earn them on various dubious sites.

And it would be fine if they just sat there and did everything themselves. But, no. Such sites require you to bring your friends to them, distribute referrals and do everything so that as many people as possible learn about them. Young gamers do not think about the fact that such sites are not safe and may well be a cover for account hackers. The fact that they can be cheated out of their money and not be given anything, too. But in vain. After all, this is basically what happens. In any case, most of the sites that allow Steam users to earn extra money are well known and verified, you just need to ask knowledgeable people. But even they are often unnecessary to save money for new skin or a game.

I’m generally silent about various bux sites that pay for likes/downloads and writing small articles. It's a waste of time.

Using dubious sites to make money is stupid.

8. Information helplessness

Despite the fact that in the 21st century information has become more accessible than ever and any search engine will give you the answer in a matter of seconds, many people still prefer to ask them directly to other people without first bothering to search. If we talk specifically about Steam, then the main center of communication there is the “Discussions” section. And it would seem that he should be interesting place, but, unfortunately, 95% of it is filled with topics with banal questions that have already been answered 100,000 times - just use the search. But, no.

Every day, like mushrooms after rain, questions arise like “What is VA C for?”, “When is the sale”, “The car was stolen, help, technical support has not responded for 2 hours, help111!!11.”

The inability to use information and find it leads to disastrous consequences.

Instead of asking someone about something, it is better to Google a little or use the discussion search. There is a 90% chance that the answer will be in the search results.

And asking trivial questions in the community is quite stupid.

However, there are no stupid questions. In any case, finding the necessary information is not difficult.

7.Cheating other users (and using other people's accounts)

There's not much to say here. Having deceived someone once, you risk being labeled a scammer forever.
Yes, support may not ban your trade, but the risk of ending up in the SteamRep database and other resources is very high.

But sometimes the label “scammer” and, as a result, the ban of the main account can land on a completely law-abiding user. For what? For using someone else's account. Where will he get it from? Everything is very simple here. There have always been various communities on the Internet that distribute data from mail and accounts of various gaming platforms. Usually, hacked akis are distributed there, which have long been abandoned by the owners. Anyone can take them to play games they don't have. But sometimes the owner of the account returns and decides to restore his old account. The result, I think, is clear.

Using other people's accounts and deceiving other users is unprofitable and stupid.

6. " Generous gifts" and trust in strangers

One of the most popular topics in discussions Steam - various types of fraud.

"I gave my best friend cool skins drive, but he didn’t give back!” or, for example: “I transferred three thousand rubles in advance, but that guy still didn’t give me the golden frying pan, what should I do, report his reach, I really ask.”

User Agreement Steam indicates that all exchanges are final and cannot be rolled back. Therefore, you should not give anything to anyone just like that. At least, because if they decide to cheat you, only you will be to blame. The same concerns unequal exchanges - when one of the users finds out about the real price of the items later.

As for buying items for real money, it is worth knowing that there are many proven and reliable sellers who do not inflate prices and do not scam people just because they understand little about exchanges.

Another problem that plagues support mail is programs that steal inventory and passwords. To avoid picking up such “gifts” from scammers, it is enough not to follow dubious links and not to download any plugins from TeamSpeak using links from friends. And, although the new protection from Valve seems to have provided for all this, you shouldn’t click on just anything.

In any case, you should know that trusting anyone on the Internet is stupid. Perhaps these are not friends at all.

5. Subscription to dubious resources

Let's step away a little from Steam and look at the well-known social network VK. There are a lot of groups and communities on different topics. Including on the topic of computer games.

I will not waste time discussing this point and will only say that most popular gaming publics treat games with little more than nothing. All they give people are dubious competitions and funny pictures. At the same time, the stupidest stereotypes are imposed on them.

No new features or interesting content. None for real useful information. Just clogging the activity feed.

I don't know why people sign up for this. But I can assume that they simply didn’t see good publics. But they are right there, nearby, in the same VK. The only difference is that in place funny pictures about Dota 2 and CS there will be truly original content: information about freebies, analyzes of game theories and translations. Real gaming communities are not very popular, but they are very interesting. And in my opinion, they deserve much more attention than popular, but terribly stupid gaming pubs with funny pictures.

4.Use of “unique” cheats and programs

Despite the constant bans of cheaters and warnings that using cheats will lead to blocking, there are still characters who use cheats. There are many reasons: someone wants to quickly level up in CS GO, someone wants to punish other cheaters (lol), and someone simply watches a video on YouTube decides to check out a new mega-ultra-undetectable cheat for cool gamers. And he also gets a ban.

Even in a game without an anti-cheat, the use of cheats is dangerous - they can be unexpectedly added and create a surprise, what can we say about games that have an anti-cheat? But there are still individuals who continue to use cheats in the hope that “the anti-cheat won’t notice” and then go cry when discussing the game.

Using cheats, absolutely any kind, is very stupid. Even if it’s not a detectable cheat that definitely won’t be burned. In fact, they will burn it, albeit not immediately. Google the story about L maobox.

3.Remembering passwords

Creating a new mail and Steam account is, in general, an important event. And I am very surprised that many people try to remember all this, instead of just writing it down. Hence the heap of letters to support about lost accounts and the well-known whining in Steam discussions.

In the first issue of Stymology there was advice - to have a notebook or notepad to write down passwords and account names. Yes, information security specialists might have been mercilessly beaten on the wrist for tactful advice, but the fact is that they work and save nerves and time. Moreover, not only yours.

Passwords and account names are not poems of great poets. Memorizing them is possible, but if you forget them, it will be a very unpleasant experience. It is better to write it down and hide it in a secluded place.

2. Ignorance of the basics

E that point is especially stupid. Oddly enough, many users Steam They don’t understand at all how the client is tripled, how the functionality works and how to navigate it. YouTubers are especially “pleased” with this, who sometimes spend half an hour stupidly unable to find the button located right in front of their eyes.

But ok Steam. Many people use it simply as a launcher and don’t bother with the settings.

After all, it’s the same with games. For example typical cooperative games. Many players, instead of reading guides and practicing their acquired knowledge with bots in single-player mode, immediately go into the lobby. And it’s good if the game is not difficult. What if it's some kind of hardcore?

Just look at the stupid requests to leave the mob for the player to level up. This can be done in a single - why go online with it?

Excessive self-confidence is harmful, as is cowardice. If you poke at a client and see where the ban is, they won’t give you a ban. And they will only thank you for reading the guides. Ignorance of the basics is not stupid, it's just embarrassing.

1. Buying random keys

In first place we have unimaginable, amazing and very interesting stupidity. What do inexperienced gamers do, besides hacking achievements and making money on dubious sites? They buy random keys. Hoping to get a free one GTAV or some DayZ many people are able to spend money many times more than these same games cost. And the reason for this is the sellers of random keys.

What is a random key? This is a kind of lottery, the purchase of an unknown product at a fixed price. In theory, this means that by purchasing such a key for 30 rubles, you can get any game - from a cheap casual game for 50 rubles to an expensive shooter for 3 thousand.It all depends on luck.

But in practice everything is much more complicated. Let's start with the fact that typical sellers of random keys are people whose business is built on the resale of keys from bundles, purchased at the sale of gifts and game keys that they managed to grab on free giveaways Oh.

I won’t explain what bundles are, that’s what Google is for. I’ll just say that lately there have been a lot of free giveaways and it’s not at all difficult to get games for free. You just need to have Twitter and Facebook . Often the distributions are simply huge and you can get even the most expensive games there.

But those who don’t know about distributions are usually not very familiar with the service Steam and the movement around him. And, as a result, they become potential clients of random key sellers. You can meet them both on digital goods platforms and on personal websites. A random key is usually inexpensive. The description contains a list of games for which the buyer may receive keys. Almost always there is something very expensive and in demand. I won’t even doubt that such keys exist there.

However, potential buyers should know that selling keys is a very specific way to earn easy money. The fact is that the usual content of random keys are unclaimed games from bundles, outdated games and various kinds of indie games received in huge quantities from free giveaways. Yes, the price of such games can be quite high in Steam , but this does not negate the fact that it is almost always mediocre trash, costing 10 rubles at best at discounts.

Therefore, the buyer of a random key will almost always receive what he could have gotten absolutely free. Confirmation of my words can be found at Youtube- most of the reviews of random key stores end with the reviewer spending a lot of money on games from free distributions.

Therefore, when you buy random keys, you not only throw away money down the drain, but you also encourage the brazen plunder of free giveaways - enterprising businessmen sometimes manage to grab a hundred keys before the giveaway ends, because there is demand.

Well, most buyers sometimes don’t even notice how spend huge amounts for such slag.

However, there are still exceptions. Sometimes very large traders actually sellgood random games. But this phenomenon is very rare.Often, large sellers simply buy huge quantities of indie games from developers and sell them. This, of course, is not the level of freebies, but up to GTA 5 is far away.

Therefore, my young lover of computer games, if you want to play the lottery, you better open a box in one of the games. There, the prizes are more substantial and there are more benefits - after all, the money will not go to just anyone, but to the developer’s company, which makes all these games and updates for you. (Votes: 2 , grade: 5,00 out of 5)
To vote, you must be registered.

“,” experienced gamers say goodbye to each other. And any avid fan of computer games understands what we are talking about. About a place where each of them is a superhero. About where you want to return again and again. About the virtual “house” where sweet games live.

Steam is...

You probably already guessed what Steam is. This is a gaming platform, a service designed for purchasing and launching computer games, communication between players, creating gaming communities and much more related to gaming topics.

Being the brainchild of Valve in the early 2000s years Steam was used only for the distribution and activation of products from this developer. Today it is a full-fledged social network with many functions, like Facebook or VK, which supports more than 10,000 games and applications from different manufacturers: Sega, Epik Games, Ubisoft, Rockstar Games, etc., including many free ones.

The Steam platform exists in a web version, accessible through a browser, and as an application for all major desktop and mobile operating systems - Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 3, Android, iOS, as well as Samsung Smatr TV Tizen OS (with restrictions) . Installation and use of the service is completely free, payment is charged only for content.

Features, pros and cons of the platform

In recent years, the functionality of Steam has grown to such a scale that even a developer probably cannot say which of its functions is the main one. Its users are provided the following options:

• play on any supported device;
• buy content at promotions with a 50-75% discount and play paid games for free, and such promotions take place almost constantly;
• install game updates as a priority - the platform does this automatically;
• do not think about the safety of game data - Steam also takes care of this;
• create and save backup copies of game distributions;
• activate supported games purchased in boxed versions;
• buy games as gifts for other users;
• return the money spent if you don’t like the game (the option remains up to 14 days after purchase, provided that the toy was played for no longer than 2 hours);
• create personal pages and groups, join communities;
• find like-minded people and friends;
• exchange messages and communicate in built-in voice chat;
• share achievements;
• exchange, buy and sell game items - inventory, cards, etc.;
• take screenshots and shoot videos, post videos on YouTune;
• record and broadcast streams without third-party programs;
• receive the latest news about events in the gaming world;
• listen to music stored on the device instead of game soundtracks;
• Give other users access to your game library (family sharing);
• customize the design of your personal page to your liking;
• use the services technical support developer.

And since Steam is the official store game content, the products that are distributed through it are 100% legal and safe.

Among the disadvantages users of the service attributed:

• Inability to use means of gaining illegal privileges over other players (cheats).
• Inability to run pirated content.
• There is a high risk of losing your account, and with it the funds stored on your balance. Steam user accounts are very attractive to attackers and are often attacked. To prevent attacks, Steam Guard is built into the platform, but it does not guarantee complete security.

Some people think that buying content through Steam is too expensive and for this reason they do not use the platform. However, it provides an opportunity not only to spend, but also to earn real money. One of the ways to make money mentioned above is by selling gaming equipment. Also, some users manage to unofficially sell previously purchased games, and experienced gamers make money by promoting and selling upgraded accounts.

How to register on Steam

To register for the Steam service, launch a pre-installed application or open the website store.steampowered.com, go to the “Login” section and click the “Create account” button.

Enter email address, its confirmation and verification code. Accept user agreement and confirm your registration by clicking on the link that will come in the email.

After confirmation, return to the registration section, create a unique name that will be displayed to other users, and a password. Click "Complete Registration".

How to link a payment instrument to your Steam account and top up your account in the system

To link a bank card to your Steam profile, go to the “About Account” menu. In the Store Transactions section, click Add a payment method to this account.

Select a payment system from the list and enter the card details - number, expiration date, CVV/CVC code.

In the “Account Information” section, indicate your real first name, last name, postal code, residential address and telephone number. In the “Billing address” and “Billing address 2” fields, enter the street, house/building number and apartment number.

After linking the card, funds for purchases in the Steam store will be debited from its balance.

In addition to the tied ones bank cards, you can use money in your personal Steam account to pay for content.

To top up your account balance, do the following:

• Click the “+Top up balance” button in the “Store Transactions” section. Select one of the suggested amounts (minimum 150 rubles).

• Choose a convenient payment method. In the CIS countries, Visa, Mastercard, Maestro and American Express cards are available for this; payment systems PayPal, Yandex.Money and Webmoney; check mobile phone and cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Once you have made your selection, click Continue.

• Further actions depend on the specific payment method. Complete the payment by following the instructions on the screen.

How to download games

The selection, purchase and installation of games are made through the “Store” section of the main menu. The distribution of content by genre and other categories (new releases, top sellers, etc.) is in the column on the left.

Clicking on the game banner will take you to its purchase page. There are more than detailed information about the offer: trailers, gameplay screenshots, description, system requirements, as well as the game distributions themselves and additional paid content. The same page contains information about discounts and promotions.

To buy something from what is offered, click the “Add to cart” button next to the product and follow the instructions to make a payment. The purchased game and additional content will be downloaded to your Library.

How to add friends

To add Steam users as friends, go to the section of the main menu named after you and select “Friends”. In the “Find Friends” field, enter your username. Once it is found, click "Add as Friend".

In addition, the “Add as a friend” button is present on the personal pages of Steam users:

And on your personal profile page in the “Your Friends” section there is a search bar for users by login and game name (the system shows who you played with):

The “add as a friend” feature becomes available after replenishing your account balance or making a purchase of $5 or more.

In general, the Steam platform is quite easy to understand and master; just wander through the sections and everything becomes clear without explanation. Moreover, it is completely translated into Russian, and besides it supports 25 more languages ​​of the world.

Even outside the season of big discounts, the Steam platform remains the main source through which millions of gamers around the world replenish their collections of computer games. But what if the Steam servers suddenly stop? Is there an alternative to Valve's commercial titan that is just as rich in content and reliable enough to trust.

In fact, there is, and not just one.

There are at least a few alternative services that allow you to buy PC games online, and you can safely use them without worrying about your digital collection.

If Steam is temporarily out of order or you just want to try something new, here are five alternatives that are worth considering.

GOG.com (also known as Good Old Games) has a great mix of big budget games like Alan Wake, Assassin's Creed and Walking Dead along with indie hits. Popular publishers, such as Bethesda, as well as successful independent studios (Double Fine, for example), offer their games on this platform.

Games on GOG.com are sold without DRM restrictions. Prices usually range from 5 to 10 dollars and you can always buy something at a good discount. Thanks to the Connect service, some purchased in Steam games can be transferred to GOG.com for free, and the transferred games will be available on both platforms

By the way, unlike Steam, on GOG.com you do not need any software client to download or run games. The site returns money within 30 days from the date of purchase in case of technical problems.

Not everyone knows, but GOG.com belongs to the Poles from CD Projekt RED - the creators The series Witcher.

Origin

After seeing Valve's success with Steam, Electronic Arts rushed to create a competitive platform. If anyone can do this, it is undoubtedly EA. As a result, the world's largest video game publisher launched Origin, its digital store for computer games.

Unlike most similar services, which favor indie games and low-budget projects, Origin is the place where you can buy the latest hits. Just a few clicks of the mouse - and here in front of you are blockbusters Battlefield 1, Titanfall 2 and FIFA 18 and many others

Similar to Steam, Origin offers discounts during the holidays, so be sure to check the Promotions section because there are almost always tempting offers there.

Itch.io

If you like indie games, experimental thinking and design, be sure to check out Itch.io. There you will not only find a veritable treasure trove of games from independent developers for Windows, macOS and Linux, but you can also download various game creation tools, mods, components and much more. The catalog currently contains more than 40,000 games and programs, many of them free. You can even pay for purchases with Bitcoin.

Again, Itch.io is a place where you will find games created through various gaming competitions, initiatives and forums, as well as connect with a large and active community of developers, artists and designers. If you have even the slightest interest in amateur development, then Itch.io will not let you get bored. Overall, it is a platform for game players and game creators.

Humble Bundle

Humble Bundle offers big-budget and indie games at competitive prices, with a portion of the proceeds going to various charitable causes. Users can determine the price of each game collection themselves using the “Pay what you want” model. In 2015, the first sets of console games appeared on Humble Bundle - a collection of arcade projects for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. In addition to digital distribution, Humble Bundle is engaged in publishing activities.

The platform was created in 2010 and has established itself as a leading digital store where you can get interesting deals on games for computers, consoles and mobile devices. Weekly, monthly and worldwide sales are available. Humble Bundle is especially popular among PC gamers.

This fall, Humble Bundle has a new owner - IGN Entertainment Corporation, which also owns the famous gaming site IGN.

Green Man Gaming

Green Man Gaming is another popular way to get great games like Dishonored 2, Watch Dogs 2, DOOM and others at reasonable prices. Their holiday promotions are on par with other well-known digital distribution platforms. In addition to the usual merchandise consisting of several games, the platform offers so-called “Mystery Bundles” (their contents are unknown) - a great option for those who are feeling adventurous.

It has reached an unprecedented peak in our time, when many projects collect billions of dollars after release, overtaking the highest-grossing films in Hollywood. And this is just the beginning - consoles are selling in huge numbers, and PC components are becoming more progressive and modern. Below we will tell you about the best gaming platforms existing on the market. Well, let's go!

Personal computer

Most popular platform in the post-Soviet space, which is why it is sometimes called “Slavic”. From the objective side, a PC has both advantages and disadvantages, which we will discuss in more detail below. So, the advantages of computers are as follows:

• In our area, PC games are much cheaper due to the commercial system. As a rule, compared to console games, you will have to pay 30-50% less for games than for a similar copy on Xbox or PlayStation.
• An equally important advantage of a PC is the ability to upgrade it. The fact is that the life cycle of consoles is very long - 6-8 years. Manufacturers do not modernize them, which stops the engine of progress. In turn, more powerful video cards, processors, RAM memory and other components regularly appear on PCs, which allow owners of this platform to enjoy much better and more detailed images at 60 FPS, and even in higher resolutions: FullHD, QHD, 4k, etc.
• A huge number of manipulators that are not available for consoles: keyboards, mice, steering wheels, gamepads, joysticks and others.
• Exclusives. This is another advantage of the PC, which, however, is also true for consoles. Many projects are released exclusively on computers: the “Civilization” series, Total War, XCOM 2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., World of Warcraft and others.

However, there are also some disadvantages, which are very sad for PC owners:

• Many developers prioritize developing games on consoles, as sales are much higher on consoles. The reason for this is piracy, which is thriving on various torrent trackers. Of course, many manufacturers are trying to create the latest types of protection, but they are not always effective.
• Expensive upgrade. This is the disadvantage that is slowly “pouring out” of the advantage for computers. Nowadays, games are becoming more beautiful and more demanding on hardware, which is why gamers have to upgrade their PCs every 2-3 years by buying expensive components. At the same time, on consoles the hardware remains unchanged, and the picture corresponds to the PC settings in the medium-high range, and without annoying freezes or sagging. Finally, the cost of the set-top box corresponds to the price of a top-end video card. Here everyone makes a choice for himself, deciding what is best for him to buy.
• Unavailability of some console exclusives. And we are not talking about individual exclusivity, as was the case on PC (release on only one platform), but about multi-platform. Such games include Red Dead Redemption, many parts Final Fantasy, Dragon's Dogma and others.

And be that as it may, when comparing gaming platforms it remains one of the best of its kind.

Xbox

The Microsoft gaming console is also very popular due to its excellent exclusives and relative cheapness. At the moment, 3 consoles have been released: 360 and Xbox One. The latter, unfortunately, is significantly inferior to its main competitor from Sony, which we will talk about later. Distinctive feature consoles are the presence of a Kinect game controller, with which any user can interact with the console without additional accessories using gestures and voice. In addition, many projects have been developed specifically for this device, which are fun to play with friends and family.

As for the exclusives available for Xbox, there are several of the most popular series: Halo, Gears of War, Forza, as well as a number of others for Kinect. The current cost of Xbox One in Russia is from 18 thousand rubles.

PlayStation

Another popular console that started its life path back in 1994. Latest version The console that came out from under the wing of Sony is the PlayStation 4. The latter has sold 40 million times since its launch, almost 2 times faster than the Xbox One. This is not surprising, because higher quality exclusives are released on the Japanese device, and their number is much higher. In addition, the PS4 hardware is also much more powerful, which is why the graphics quality on it is better than on the X1. As for exclusives, at the moment the following projects are the most popular: the Uncharted series, Gran Turismo, Killzone, infamous, God of War, as well as singles The Last of Us, Heavy Rain and The Order 1886. The average price in Russia is 23 thousand rubles. When comparing the best gaming platforms, many gamers around the world prefer the Japanese creation.

Operating systems Android and iOS

These OSs are now installed on most smartphones available on the market. There is also Windows Phone, but there are significantly fewer games released on it. Regarding its main competitors, Android was developed by Google employees and currently has the highest market share - 80% versus 15% for iOS. The latter, in turn, is installed only on Apple devices.

Unlike consoles, smartphones are only gaining popularity in the video game market, which is why developers are increasingly paying attention to mobile platforms. So, on phones you can play the GTA trilogy (3, Vice series Modern Combat, Need for Speed and many other titles. Previously, smartphones did not have such power to reproduce great pictures and sound, but now everything has changed, and on mobile devices toys look no worse than on PCs or “adult” consoles. This is how, in recent years, gaming platforms have gone beyond stationary devices such as computers or consoles.

Types of platforms on PC

Once upon a time, there were only a couple of platforms on the PC that united the community of players and also offered to purchase licensed copies of games. The most popular was and remains Steam, developed by Valve. Steam is a distributor of games from many developers, and also represents an extensive platform for gamers, boasting an achievement system for games, numerous forums, guides, trading platforms and many others.

Some time ago, the largest publishers existing on the market began to release their own platforms, similar in functionality to Steam. So, Ubisoft’s gaming platform is called UPlay, EA’s Origin, Rockstar Games’ RGSC and others. Of course, this somewhat loses gamers who are forced to download numerous clients to install purchased games, but the market sets its own rules.

A very interesting platform can be called Gog Galaxy from CD Projekt, where old games from the late 90s and early 2000s are posted, which will provide you with proper nostalgia for old projects. After the release of the third “The Witcher,” attention to the Polish studio became more intense, which increased the popularity of their own platform. Today, "The Witcher 3" has collected more than 300 awards, including " Best game of the Year 2015", which gives CD Projekt incredible performance from the players.

Playtech gaming platform

In the last section we will mention a client that is somewhat different from its predecessors. The fact is that the Playtech gaming platform is a special platform designed for playing in online casinos. Of course, there is the possibility of playing for real money, which puts it on par with popular online platforms for gambling applications.

PlayTech is a young, aggressive software company that is also extremely international in nature. So, the owners are immigrants from Israel, developers from Estonia, and the domain is registered in the Netherlands. The company, which entered the market in 1999, quickly gathered an original clientele, and even squeezed out its inveterate competitors. The casino itself constantly pleases its visitors with regular tournaments, bonuses and reward systems.

In conclusion

Gaming platforms represent an extensive list that attracts millions of fans to their TV screens and monitors. Video games have long ceased to be children's entertainment. Nowadays it is rather an art that can be easily compared with cinema. Amazing graphics quality, strong plots for individual projects, strong-willed characters - what else is needed for a true masterpiece of art?