Steam Gaming Platform

Steam Gaming Platform

When it comes to gaming, you have multiple platform in the console world, Nintendo, PlayStation and Xbox. However, like console, PC has multiple gaming platforms which includes, Steam, Epic, EA Orgin, Ubisoft’s Uplay, Activison’s Battlenet and RockStar Launcher.

Out of the all the platforms, Steam, created by Valve, is the largest game platform in PC with the largest genera of games to buy. From Arcade, Indie, Simulation to Triple A Tiles like Gran Theft Auto, Destiny, Horizon Dawn and 50,000+ other gaming titles in the Steam Store. I’ll go over each of the other gaming platforms in separate blogs.

Braking Down Steam

If you never gamed on PC, never heard of steam, then this blog is for you. Steam is one of the largest and user friendly gaming platforms on PC, with over 50,000+ gaming titles to choose from. From classics from LA Noire to upcoming new release like Ghost Wire and more. The selection of games is enormous.

Don’t think that if you game on PC, you have to play all games with keyboard and mouse (K/M), absolutely not. You can play with keyboard and mouse, ideal for FPS games, like Call of Duty, Apext Legends just to name a couple, an Xbox 360/One Controller, Scuff Controller or a generic game pad, a Wheel for racing simulators, and VR Head Set. I play with K/M, and my Xbox One Controller. Yeah, I have no VR Headset or wheel. Well, I do have a wheel, but it’s attached to my car parked outside.

Steam is loaded with many features

Store: Featured Games, Discovery Queue, your Wish List, Point Shops: Every times you buy game, you earn point, News, Stats of current Steam Users.

Library: Home where are games are located. You can create categories for your games to keep it organized.

Downloads: when you can see the progress of the game your downloading.

Community: Discussions, Workshops where you can download mods for your games, Market and Broadcast to stream your games.

Profiles: Activity, Friends, Groups, Content, Badges you earn and your inventory where you see your collection of cards you earn by playing games.

Achievements: and a level up system. You can also text and voice chat with friends or create a group and invite multiple people to text or, voice chat.

Big Picture: “Mode: is a mode of Steam designed for use with your TV and game controller, so you can enjoy your Steam games from the comfort of your couch. With the press of a button, Steam displays a full-screen user interface which has been completely redesigned for readability and interaction on TV”. This is how Valve explained. However, I, personally, used it very rarely. One thing I like about Big Picture, you can download controller mappings from other gamers. Or, you can map your own buttons on your controller.

Pictures: You can take countless picture by pressing F12 and have a large collection of your favorite funny moments

Review: When you buy a game, you have the option to write up a review or your though about the game.

Videos & Artwork: You can also record and up load videos of game plays. You can also upload art work you’ve created.

Guide: You can write game guides, such as Game Play Walk Troughs and upload them. You can also check out other peoples Game Guide.

Stream: You can stream your live games with in Steam. All you would need to do is enable the stream.

Steam is packed with a lot of content for you to play around with and try out. Even to sweeten things up a bit, Steam also offer and hand held gaming device called a Steam Deck where you can play all your games on the go. Since I don’t own a Steam Deck, I can’t give you my opinion on the hand hade gaming device. The only thing that I can say is, I haven’t heard any complaints about the Steam Deck. For more information on the Steam Deck https://store.steampowered.com/steamdeck

Sales Galore

I’m telling you, when I first got on Steam back in 2016, the amount of sales that I saw was insane. What do I mean? Steam has 24 hour sells, Daily sells, Mid Week Madness sale, Weekend Sales. Holiday Sale… Fine, I’ll keep going… Winter Sale. Full Moon Sale, Spring Sale, Summer Madness Sale, Fall Sale, Spring Sale, Black Friday Sale, anywhere form 10% to 90% off. Did I miss a sale? I’m pretty sure I did. Now, if you don’t think that’s insanity, your shrink has a lot to answer for!

But I Ain’t Rich, Bro

Well, we have something in common then, ’cause I ain’t rich and you don’t have to be. When it comes to PC specs, every game on PC has low to recommended specs. You don’t need a 10K dollar rig to game on PC. A standard PS5 will cost around $600 up to 1,000 plus. That’s not including games, or a PS Plus subscription. You can spend around that much for a gaming rig (PC). To be a bit more clear, below, I’m going to give you an example using Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition PC Specs.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: Minimum Top Row. Recommended Second Row.

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS: Windows 10 64-bits
• Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K@3.3GHz or AMD FX 6300@3.5GHz
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 (3 GB) or AMD Radeon R9 290 (4GB)
• DirectX: Version 12
• Storage: 100 GB available space

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS: Windows 10 64-bits
• Processor: Intel Core i7-4770K@3.5GHz or Ryzen 5 1500X@3.5GHz
• Memory: 16 GB RAM
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB) or AMD Radeon RX 580 (8GB)
• DirectX: Version 12
• Storage: 100 GB available space

The above specs should give you a well rounded idea of what type of gaming PC you should buy or build. Nothing is edged in stone and every game varies. With the above specs, you can pretty much play any game you’re currently playing on console. Obviously, you’re going to have gamers with different opinions on what type of rig you should buy or, build. There’s no right or wrong, per say. However, it’s what fits your financial budget at the moment. The beauty of a rig is, you can upgrade it any time you want. When I first started out, I checked different games spec, like the picture above, and it helped me as a guide. I started with a low end rig and worked my way up to a high end rig. If by now your pumped and want to jump on PC, just download Steam. https://store.steampowered.com/

Lastly, I want to point out that not to long ago, Windows 11 came out. I do not know how well games run on Windows 11. I, however, run Windows 10, now sure now stable or unstable Windows 11 is for gaming. If you want to move to PC and start gaming, You need to make sure that all games on PC is going to run well on Windows 11 with no problems. If you are currently running Windows 11, game on all PC Platforms, how well does your games run on Win 11?

You can leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments below.