I think Stardock has come a long way, and I was especially compelled in the beginning by the availability of digital downloads. As for Gen 3 clients, I hope Impulse is very successful, since everything that came before it paved the way for the digital revolution that happened in their wake. Although one thing that would really be great would be the addition of third party software in areas other than games. The tying in the registration information with the Stardock.net account has worked out amazingly, making installs even easier. Maybe the next step would be to incorporate the Wincustomize browser with Impulse, or at least the ability to download and apply skins with it. I love where Impulse is going, and I truly hope it leads the way into a bright and plentiful future for Stardock.

A 'next gen' shouldn't just be a client. It should be a unified platform where everything is done within it. Xbox live & marketplace is the closest in this regard (although probably not the best example since its implemented in a closed system).

I'm not a huge fan of "Gen" things, and while I think your Gen 1 and 2 are accurate, you might've missed a few things Steam has done in order to give Impulse (which I'm a fan of, and dislike, at the same time) a great look.

Steam has capability for Persistant Community.  There's a great community tab that allows for MySpace style user pages complete with blogs, messaging, and knowing what other users are playing and even own. (My friends make fun of my extensive list of games on there.)

Steam also has capability for distro from multiple sources, trace the packet transfers quickly and you'll notice they give a feed from multiple areas.  Steam also loads quickly, is mega customizable, and basically an industry standard (for now).

Ones you might've forgotten are launchers like the "Station Launcher" from Sony.  Which is smaller (albeit more problematic) way of doing Sony Station games (MMOs and card games).  By your list, it's probably considered like Gen 1.5 roughly.

What no launcher, except iTunes, has done to date is tap the vast market offered by Apple users.  Even games that run on Apple are forced to use Windows Distrobution methods online if they want to put them on there.  I would consider "Generation 3" to be a generation based on "Complete Cross Platform Capability", such as GreenHosue from the Penny Arcade guys (Win/*nux/Mac).

Customization of the launcher is less important as the data it displays.  it has to be simple, clean, and effective.  Steam did this right, StarDock Central did it nicely too, Station Launcher does it fairly Poorly, iTunes does it great... Impulse I haven't figured out the simple logic paths to where things are moved, making me think it's too complicated to use on regular occassions.

Hmm. I think that from the perspective of a user, it's important that a download service is ...

a) reliable
easy to use
c) secure (if money transfers are involved)

Of course, other (more general) considerations like reasonable pricing and the quality of the games offered apply as well.

Imho, all these criteria can be met (or missed!) by websites as well as by programs, so I don't see a good reason for excluding websites from the primer. I'd expect users to prefer a reliable website to a buggy program, for example, because it's the quality of the service that counts, not the platform on which it is offered.

It also occurred to me (just a thought) that Stardock Central might be seen as a hybrid in that regard, because although it is a program, it *also* allows registration and integration of games that people bought through other venues.

With regard to the "Others?" question, I'll throw in Direct2Drive and Gamer's Gate. I've got no experience with Direct2Drive (because I don't like their DRM system, which treats Direct2Drive customers as second class users compared to those who bought the games in a shop), but I think that D2D is what you'd call a web-based service. Gamer's Gate however has a management center that is similar to Stardock Central, although it was less comfortable and more buggy when I tried it.

Other things "Gen 3" should have:

64 Bit Support Natively - To date the only games I've installed that have 64 Bit versions are games that work on OSX and HellGate London.  We're living in 2008, we're pushing that limit where people want to use that 4th stick of RAM, and are buying 64 Bit Operating Systems. (should be easy)

Steam's Community Features work WITHIN the game itself.  It's quite different when you play Portal (which I know you've played Brad) and at the bottom when you start it up it says how to access the Steam Community without leaving the game, and having a Community Tab within Steam (or Impulse) itself.

Without getting banned from Impulse (sorry, doing a little constructive critism here), one of my biggest complaints is the lack of easy to read data.  In SDC I could pull up my games list and arrange by last date updated, or added, or alphabetical.  Those little icons in Impulse are cute, but now I get to spend alot of time clicking around to get half the information that used to just be available.  Steam modeled itself after SDC basically, now Impulse (SDC2?) is modeling itself after the much hated "Games" screen in Vista?

When I started to use Vista, I thought that was a cute screen.  Never used it again because it was slightly a pain and did not display data easily.  The clean look of a list would be a much welcomed addition to Impulse, just like it was on SDC and Steam. 

Like Windows "View" submenu after right clicking, give us that option to go back to the simplicity of "Details" view.

Digital Distrobution has come a long way, it also has a long way to go.  I've been a fan of it since I got my hands on it, I basically try to buy all my games that way.  It's how I learned about a few nifty programs such as Multiplicity and TweakVista (both of which I consider my saviors).  And I can't wait to see If any of my suggestions make it into Impulse like one of them did during the GalCiv2 Development!

I'm not sure whether this is the right thread for this comment, but . . .

I found Caesar's Ghost's comments to be insightful, by and large, although I personally have very mixed feelings about digital distribution of gaming content. While I think it's terrific for updates, patches, and non-gaming content (MP3s, MyColors themes), there is something almost ineffable about having a physical disk and an actual manual that you can take in the living room and read or on a road trip, et cetera. I guess this goes back to the bygone era (something discussed in a recent article in the now-defunct Games for Windows print magazine) of really nice packaging of games. These days most collector's editions of games that aren't completely composed of having "bonus in-game content" contain items that would be par for the course to be packed into standard versions of games that were released ten or fifteen years ago. The death of "big-box packaging" is what really accelerated this trend to the point where many games you buy off-the-rack in a retail outlet come with a tiny, thin, black-and-white printed manual and a CD or DVD in an envelope inside a box whose proportions are relative to the old big boxes the way that 12 Earths could fit inside Jupiter.

I guess these are what I see as the advantages of digital distribution:

- Ability to access your content from any internet-capable computer (depending on licensing agreement)
- Ability to easily install content on multiple computers (depending on licensing agreement)
- Retention of licensing records "off-site" in the event that your local machine crashes

The disadvantages I see, beyond what I mentioned above are these:

- Possible security issues (Steam has had a number of these since its launch)
- Possible inability to play games/access content in the future when the software or service is considered obsolete or the sponsoring company closes (this was an issue with Triton, an early digital distro channel that died, leaving quite a few early buyers of 3D Realms's shooter, Prey, up the creek until a fix was released that disabled the online authentication check)

I have bought games through digital channels, mostly because I could get the game cheaper online than at retail. Maybe this is another item for the advantage column. I picked up the so-far-rather-mediocre Two Worlds on sale on Steam for $10 one weekend. I've also purchased some indie games from Bigfishgames.com using their discount program (a subscription, basically).

By and large, though, because I'm one of those people who actually likes reading game manuals, watching bonus DVD content, and collecting little gemgaws, I really like getting my gaming content in "hard copy" form. (And don't try to tell me that, well, you can print a pdf manual--sure you can, if you have a really nice printer, good paper, and lots of spare ink or toner, but let's get real--who wants to lug around 100 sheets of paper stapled together?)

On a side note, I notice no one has mentioned GameTap, which is a software (GameTap Player) based model of distribution, although it's not generally used for purchasing games as much as "renting."

Blizzard has very recently started a service on their website where you can register your games (the ones that have a serial key) and get access to download them whenever you want, in a version that does not require a CD to play (if you own Starcraft you will get Brood Wars for free after registering, since it had no serial itself). This is entirely website based though, and their web shop is also getting updated with these digital versions of their games so that you no longer have to buy hard copies of their games. It doesn't seem like they have any plans for a separate client at this time, but who knows what they'll do somewhere down the line if they find that digital distribution works well for them.

Better late than never, I suppose. Heck, I ended up buying the Warcraft 3 expansion purely because I could download it straight away rather than pay for shipping and handling + waiting for it to arrive in Norway by mail. I love digital distribution, especially when it means no DRM hassle or losing CDs and serials all the time. May many more companies get a clue and start releasing their games this way

For it's purpose, it seems like a great start.

Although, I'm not sure why we need the "generations." Digital distribution's strongest asset is that it is changeable asynchronously. It's not like a year or so needs to pass for adaption or hardware. Most digital distribution software is more lightweight and agile then the content it supports.

I'd probably parse by major features with current or latest offerings from each distributor. A history on the first ten years of digital distribution would probably look best when viewed through it's innovations.

BTW - Didn't Macromedia have something set up for downloading and updating for Studio MX and all of the software it was composed of, as well as extensions?

I actually always go physical, never really digital. Maybe it's just darn credit cards. Or maybe I'm just too stingy, but I'll buy a physical copy before digital most any day. The exception being small ($10 or less) purchases other than music, I always prefer a disk I don't make.

I hate quoting myself, but I wanted to add that this has long been one of the things that bothers me about MMO gaming. If something unfortunate should happen and Stardock should close its doors in a few years' time, I could still load SoaSE onto my computer (at least I think I could) and play it. Ditto with the dozens of other games that I've bought over the last ten years that don't "phone home," and whose security (aside from DRM, which is an issue that was brought up in this thread, but I haven't given much consideration in this context--Stardock's releases have shown that you don't have to eliminate physical distribution to eliminate DRM and, conversely, the hoopla over the delay in the release of Mysteries of Westgate has shown that if you do eliminate physical distribution it's no guarantee that you're eliminating DRM) consists solely of entering the correct serial or ID code into the installer (and maybe subsequent CD checks).

However, if I decided, say, in 2010, that I wanted to dust off my copy of Guild Wars, would I still be able to play it? Or will those servers be shut down or repurposed for hosting GW2 content? As far as MMOs are concerned, I think only the giant (and we know who that is) will have the interest, the desire, and the resources to maintain operational servers for the original version of its flagship product for the foreseeable future.

I think CG may have just gotten used to Steam. I have Steam for Halflife 2. It works fine. But it doesn't let me sort my games by date or present useful information with my games. What good is a metascore by a game that I already have? How do I set up my own blog on the Steam community? It's a pain in the ass. How do I set what directory I want Steam to install games to? Steam works but it's pretty primitive.

Impulse is pretty but it's feature light still.

Steam is the defacto standard. But it isn't a standard to be proud of. It feels kludgy, it's slow, and its rigid in design.

I think Direct2Drive is a pretty big player in it... there was/is also File Planet's subscriptions which can sometimes get you free games, it was one of the earlier sites I saw doing something like this(I think this turned into Direct2Drive?)...

Mobile games have a pretty good way of distribution, send a text and get a download, not the same catagory but it's pretty neat.

I also saw a site that has downloadable game rentals, or you can get them shipped, I think for a more casual player this is a great solution rather than buying a whole game.

For some reason I keep thinking of Second Life as well... in a way it is an application supporting a vast community where you can purchase more content... I haven't done anything more than look at it but from what I saw you could potentialy sell games in it.

 

I love direct 2 drive, the only downside is that it took 7 hours to download Unreal Tournament, I didn't think about how big it was.. I could have driven to a best buy 200 miles away, shopped, bought it, brought it home, installed it and played several games by then... ... lol.... and I would have got an exclusive character... lol...

The good thing about Stardock is the way that Impulse, and Component Manager only install the needed files, and don't download any they don't have to... I would love to do an update for my game if one is ever available, but a 7 hour download again for another map maybe... I don't know about that...

Yes Direct 2 Drive is good. They are very forgiving in the event of license depletions. There is a casual games site Big Fish that says youre out of luck if they extend licenses to you too many times and you use them all. Not perfect for people who always format all the time trying to get the perfect system on their computer.