So you read the first part of our Steam guide? Splendid. Many PS3 gamers who have bought Portal 2 will now have a Steam account (if you got in before the PSN issues of course) and many of you will have downloaded some freebies that we outlined here, so what next?
Well as promised, this time round we’re looking at the community features of Steam and just how easy it is to get together with like-minded gamers for a few games or a bit of a chat. Communities in Steam allow you to do several things and carry several functions, and begins by either adding people to your friends list or joining a group. First thing’s first, let’s look at joining a group.
Groups are easy to join – why not get started by joining the Gaming Review group? It’s only just been set up so feels a little empty right now! Once a few people have signed up you’ll be able to view the profiles of others, send friend requests, take part in organised events and even join the group chat room to discuss things with others in the group. If you’ve picked up a few freebies from the previous guide, or got hold of Portal 2 and want a few games of co-op without making your PSN friends list even bigger then this is the perfect way to do it, helped by the ability to see exactly what each member is playing at that time. There’s even a Blotter (a bit like Facebook’s wall feature) where you’ll keep up to date with goings on in the group, see recommendations from others and view group members’ recent gaming sessions. If it’s community gaming you like, you need to join a group!
Friends will link you directly to other Steam gamers whether you’re logged in on a PC, Mac or your PS3. If you’re playing Portal 2 on your PS3 and fancy seeing who’s around, hit Select and you’ll instantly see which of your friends are available, and every desktop Steam game has the option of bringing up a similar overlay. You can chat to your friends using text or voice chat, again even if you’re not on the same type of system, and at any point see what everyone is playing. It’s entirely separate to any other friends list you’ve got, away from the PSN, Facebook, anything else. It’s your window to having friends that play the same games as you, not just share the same console. It’s brilliant. Again, if you’re short on Steam friends then feel free to add our account to your list, we’ll use it to keep in touch with you all! If you fancy trying out some co-op while the PSN is down, then check out our previous article and download Alien Swarm – great multiplayer action to be had without the need for a beefy PC.
You’ll only really see how these community features work when you try them out yourself, so join our group, make a few new friends and see just what Steam can offer you!
Stay tuned, part 3 of our guide will be with you soon…
I joined ur group but I’m still so far away from having a Steam workable computer that I haven’t even installed Steam on my computer in a year or two. Got some sweet gems waiting for me on that special day though.