Steam is a content delivery system used by 480 Windows games. Steam games are tied to user accounts, not computers, so players can download their games on any computer that can run Steam. Steam is already cloud-oriented, with a transparently distributed file transfer system, and an RSS-style approach to purchasing games and downloading trailers and demos. The new Steam Cloud services round these features out by add the ability to store game data, such as a player's customized settings, in the cloud so the changes will be reflected on any machine the player uses.
(photo by chotda, by-nc-nd license)
The first Steam Cloud enabled game will be Left 4 Dead, a cooperative multiplayer survival horror game. As a big fan of cooperative gameplay, I'm looking forward to the Left 4 Dead demo coming out on November 11. Coop is like collaboratively editing a Google Document, but even more violent.
On the other hand there's much to hate about Steam: DRM, Windows, region restrictions, no offline useability for single player use, using the PC as an overpriced game console, and basically being spyware that sits in your System Tray sucking up resources.
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