There's a new Steam Beta client available. To access the Beta, go to File -> Settings. On the Account tab press the Change... button to open the Beta Participation dialog. Then Select Beta Update, and allow Steam to restart itself. Here are the specific changes:

1/31/2011

- Changed microphone voice input from 11khz to 16 khz
- Changed voice output from 8khz to 16khz
- Moved game invites from friends outside of the chat stream, into their own panel in the chat dialog
- [Mac OSX] Fixed a problem where attempting to resume a paused/interrupted download could always report ‘server unavailable’
- Fixed games not launching automatically after resolving a cloud conflict
- Fixed download rate sometimes erroneously reporting very high speeds
- Added password strength meter when you change your password
- Added UI prompting you to choose a new password if you've had support change your password
- Added Steam screenshots feature. Press F12 in any game to take a screenshot. Screenshots are automatically uploaded to the steam cloud after exiting the game, or can be manually uploaded while in-game through the in-game overlay. Screenshots can be managed through the community site and can be published to your Steam Community Profile to share with your friends. Games that use DirectX 8 and earlier are not yet supported.

According to an estimate done by the Research and Analysis division of Forecasting and Analyzing Digital Entertainment, LLC (FADE); Steam brought in an estimated $970 Million USD during 2010, with December’s total rounding out at an estimated $230 Million alone. What this essentially means is that the digital distribution method of delivering PC games to players around the world which has been a hot button issue at times over the last couple of years is not only a proven method of choice but also a healthy growing market. While there are still many players whom prefer the experience of going to a brick and mortar retailer, the growth seen in 2010 in digital distribution shows where the future is leading.

Included in the release regarding this report, here’s the top selling titles by their estimated gross revenue in 2010.

Top Selling Titles, by Estimated Gross Revenues in 2010

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision) - $98.2 Million USD
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision) - $39.4 Million USD
3. Left 4 Dead 2 (Valve) - $36.0 Million USD
4. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Electronic Arts) - $25.4 Million USD
5. Sid Meier’s Civilization V (2K Games) - $21.9 Million USD
6. Portal (Valve) - $20.0 Million USD
7. Fallout: New Vegas (Bethesda Softworks) - $17.0 Million USD
8. Metro 2033 (THQ) - $13.4 Million USD
9. Mafia II (2K Games) - $11.9 Million USD
10. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising (THQ) - $10.8 Million USD

We all knew the success seen for Call of Duty: Black Ops, which sold an estimated 1.6 million copies for $98.2 million USD which made Activision the #1 publisher on steam. Given all this success and these estimated numbers, I believe we’ll see even higher growth in 2011, especially with some of the anticipated titles for this year. Included of course Portal 2 from Valve which I expect will drive Steam’s sales when it’s released. Digital distribution is alive and well and growing by leaps and bounds.

Forbes posted an article last week on Valve and Newell which is quite interesting and i don't think it was discussed here.

- Newell had a congenital eye disease that destroyed his corneas. He receieved transplants in '06 and '07 and now sees better than ever.

- Forbes estimates Steam controls 50-70% of the downloaded PC games market which is figured to be $4 billion.

- Valve has 250 employees. Newell describes it as "tremendously profitable." An analyst estimates Valve revenue in 2010 to be in "high hundreds of millions of dollars."

- Per employee, Valve is more profitable than Google or Apple.

- Valve is thought to be worth between $2 and $4 billion by various sources.

- Half-Life 1 sold 2.5 million copies in its first year. HL2's LTD is 12 million copies. L4D2 has sold over 4 million copies in 2009 and retail only.

- John Riccitiello has this to say about Newell: "I think Gabe is brilliant. He's one of the smartest people I know. He has some sharp insights for what makes good games and for what's around the corner in technology."
Aksed about why Newell succeeds, Riccitiello answers: "I don't know what would be the right expression . . . maniacally focused?"


The article has more info:
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2011/02...ne-mayhem.h...