Games
Tons of games hit Steam daily. Most don’t make it to consoles, but these 10 would be a perfect fit.
In recent years Steam has become a breeding ground for some of the best games on the planet, but often these titles are exclusive to the PC audience, either indefinitely or for a long period of time. More and more of them, too, are from indie developers, labours of love that capture PC gamers' imagination in novel and unexpected ways.
While the likes of Gone Home, Smite and even Diablo 3 all eventually made the transition, there are still a heap of games that those of us with a console are unable to enjoy. In order for console gamers to see just what they are missing out on, here are 10 Steam games that we need on console right now.
Stardew Valley
A labour of love made by one person over four years, Stardew Valley is currently one of the most popular games on Steam, having sold well over 425,000 virtual copies in its first two weeks on sale.
After becoming tired of your city life, you relocate to your grandfather's old farm and are tasked with bringing it back to its former glories. Growing crops, fishing, mining and managing livestock are just a few of the ways to grow your empire, and with a whole town of folks to meet there's never enough hours in the day to do everything.
Stardew Valley is the perfect fit for console: there's already controller support for the PC version and the visuals certainly won't challenge any of the current gen. Creator Eric Barone just needs to find the time to bring it across – no small task, but he's made it this far, so here's hoping.
Master of Orion: Conquer the Stars
Wargaming, the folks behind World of Tanks, are diversifying their portfolio with their new WG Labs publishing arm, and the first title to come from that is Master of Orion. Based on the original Master of Orion from back in the '90s, this new version is a turn-based 4X strategy game being developed in Argentina.
With multiple races to play and tons of win conditions, each Master of Orion playthrough feels unique, and the relatively high difficulty offers many hours of challenging gameplay. Currently it is only available in Steam Early Access, but the turn based gameplay would not be hindered too much by twin thumbsticks, and everyone loves a space setting these days.
Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and The Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist
Not only does Dr.Langeskov have one of the best names in all of video games, it is also one of the funniest and cleverest you will ever play. Going into too much detail without hitting spoiler territory is difficult as this walking simulator only clocks in at around 20–30 minutes of play time, but that time is filled with laughs and interesting looks at its subject.
With voice over from comedian Simon Amstell and the creative genius of William Pugh from The Stanley Parable fame, this small, free, experiment has an impressive amount of talent behind it, and that's shown in its excellent execution. If this were to release on console for free like on Steam, then millions more people would get to try this short yet brilliant experience.
Squad
With the likes of Call of Duty heading further and further into the future, and the lack of a true Battlefield game for some years, console fans have been left with very few options for a realistic modern day first person shooter. On Steam however there is less of a drought and leading the charge is Squad, an Unreal Engine-powered modern day shooter currently in Early Access.
Featuring up to 50 vs 50 battles on large scale maps, Squad focuses on communication and teamwork to secure objectives, and win the battle. When everything is complete and Squad launches there will be options to construct buildings on battlefields, as well as roam around in a variety of vehicles and significantly larger maps up to 8km square. Combining the realism of modern war and a massive online shooter seems to be an obvious formula for success and with the popularity of shooters on console making the jump over, providing the machines can run it, seems like a no brainer.
XCOM 2
After the success of XCOM: Enemy Unknown, a sequel was inevitable and many assumed that it would also make its way onto console, as the first title did. But here we are with XCOM 2 available on Steam and still no sign of a console outing.
This sequel takes place years after the first game, in a world where the aliens won and now have control of everything. You lead a small resistance in trying to defeat and drive away your new leaders, a task that seems impossible at first. The core gameplay remains the same and involves taking your squad out on missions that are in the form of turn-based levels, with a certain objective that must be completed, such as rescue a useful person or destroy enemy equipment.
After post release patches XCOM 2 is one of the best games this year, and denying console fans the chance to play doesn't just seem harsh – it's turning away free money. Would you do that?
American Truck Simulator
While serious simulators are often knocked by those who haven't tried them, the truth is their quality over the last few years has increased significantly, and now American Truck Simulator is one of the finest realistic driving games available.
As you would expect American Truck Simulator sees you driving large HGVs across the States (although only California and Nevada are available right now), abiding by traffic laws and delivering goods unharmed. But that isn't all: this is also an empire building game, where you start out as a driver for hire and work your way up to become the biggest haulage company in the area, even hiring other drivers.
What may seem like a throwaway title for only hardcore fans of trucks is actually a very deep and enjoyable game that anyone with a taste for driving or strategy games will enjoy.
Factorio
Take a look at a screenshot of Factorio and chances are you'll have no idea what any of it is, but spend a few hours playing and suddenly everything starts to make sense. Billed as a kind of real time strategy game, Factorio sees you build and maintain factories in an infinite world.
While things start out small, quickly you will have an entire automated supply line that can grow forever, with conveyors to move items around and many production machines. There's some serious complexity here, with people building unimaginable systems to arrive at peak efficiency. But that doesn't mean a move to console is impossible, as a good console UI and a change to the infinite world would surely allow this to run on both the Xbox One and PS4.
Endless Legend
Of the all genres, it's strategy games that are most underrepresented on console. Endless Legend is another 4X turn-based strategy game, and widely considered to be one of the best and most interesting in the genre.
All of the standard gameplay is here, with multiple routes to victory and tons of unique races, that all have their own playstyle and interesting interactions. After being out for a year-and-a-half on Steam, Endless Legend is now at the perfect stage to launch on console. The PC version has been constantly updated and is full of content: all that's needed is a decent control scheme for controllers, and one of the best strategy games of all time could have a new lease of life on a new platform or two.
Undertale
The biggest surprise indie hit of last year, Undertale is unlike anything else. While the words 2D RPG may give you an idea of what this game is, the fact is that you won't really know what it's like until you play it – its tone is utterly incongruous to its graphics, which only serves to make it all the more fascinating.
As you explore the underground world, trying to get back to the surface, you'll encounter many foes. However you can complete the entire game with no violence whatsoever, instead using hugs and dancing, among other tactics, to defeat those in your way. The charming art style, soundtrack and excellent story are the icing on this magnificent cake, which is sure to grab you from the moment you jump in.
Football Manager 2016
Football Manager has been one of the most successful franchises on PC – and now mobile – for years, yet it hasn't been seen on consoles for what feels like an eternity. By this point you should know what Football Manager involves: you join a team and as the gaffer must guide them to success, or face being fired.
The latest iteration is the most sophisticated yet, with more features than you can reasonably count, all of which add up to the most realistic and engrossing football management simulation available. We know Football Manager works on consoles, as the franchise appeared on the Xbox 360 back in the 2000s, but in recent years it has never made the jump over from PC, which means all the console fans out there can't get their managerial fix. Let's change that, Sega.
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