Steam has added a new feature called Greenlight which allows voting on games you want to see on Steam. Anyone can start a Greenlight project and some just aren't getting it or just being a**hats. Adding things they want to see on Steam such as the original Metal Gear Solid, calling themselves the creators and getting banned in the process. It's a marginal time out but what the hell fellas? Look, it's simple: Author wants game on Steam, Steam for whatever reason has said no, Author adds game to Greenlight, Steam users vote on game, Game gets added or doesn't. See? Simple.
Two such games have come to my attention in this fashion.
First is Fibrillation, a game you can buy right now for a piddly $1.95 from the website or you can upvote it on the Greenlight Page. It's a 40 minute romp through a bizarre world with no violence or gore but plenty of atmosphere, puzzles and WTF-ery going on. There is no saving, just a blast straight through the game. My description does not do it justice, so watch instead:
Next up is Receiver which again can be purchased right now for $4.99, Greenlit here or you can get it free by pre-ordering Overgrowth, the sequel to Lugaru and thusly the reason I won't be getting it free. The game is involved to say the least, you will not be jumping in blind and blasting through without care. There are mechanics involved, complicated mechanics, cool mechanics, mechanics that big publishers would wipe away with abandon. It's also what makes the game worth playing and again I'm not doing it justice, so here:
Greenlight looks to be a great idea for the Authors and buyers on Steam. I feel there needs to be a percentage slider though. Right now, votes add 1 to the total votes required and after a set amount, the project is Greenlit. I feel that people who have purchased more games should have a heavier vote due to their obvious penchant to purchase from Steam. One or Two game buyers should continue getting their one vote, users with no games on their account or only free-to-play games should get 0 votes as far as I'm concerned as they buy nothing. You would have to massage the math of games purchased vs number of votes, but it solves the soon-to-be issue of purchasing upvotes.
