text: Sanus NFA245 5-shelf audio component rack (Black) Zoom Black finish Black finish Photos Videos Item #: 051NFA245B Review Summary 19 people say In Stock $329.99 Was: -$30.00 : Savings Free Crutchfield lifetime tech support Free Shipping Your price $299.99 Available options: Black-$299.99 Cherry-$299.99 Mocha-$299.99 Add to cart + Add to wishlist Email me alerts for this product Buy this item and earn up to 300 Rewards points See more offers and ways to save Special Financing Available x By buying this product you'll earn up to 300 Rewards points. When you sign up for a Crutchfield account, you'll be enrolled in Crutchfield Rewards. You'll earn one point for every dollar you spend on gear from us. You can turn your points into Rewards Cards that you can use toward future purchases. You can sign up for an account now, or after you complete your purchase (you'll get credit for the points either way). Sign up for a Crutchfield account Overview Details Customer Reviews Q&A Articles & Videos Accessories Our take on the Sanus NFA245 by Ralph Graves The NFA245 component stand from Sanus features five tempered glass shelves for your audio/video gear. The sturdy frame consists of solid, grade-A hardwood. Hollow channels in the rear pillar hide your system's cables for a clean, uncluttered look. See more info on this item Highlights:hardwood frame5 tempered glass shelvestop shelf26"W x 22"Dweight capacity: 60 lbs.each interior shelf19"W x 18-1/2"Dweight capacity: 50 lbs.bottom shelf19"W x 18-1/2"Dweight capacity: 70 lbs.interior cable channel26"W x 45-1/16"H x 22"Dwarranty: 5 yearsOur 60-day money-back guaranteeassembly required Hands-on research from the Crutchfield Labs (what are the Labs?) Features and specs chart | What's in the box? | In-depth notes Features and Specs General Features Stand Type Audio Stand Style Stand Color Black Number of Shelves 5 Number of Adjustable Shelves None Number of Drawers None Assembly Required Yes Main Materials Hardwood frameGlass shelves Wire Management Yes Built-in Cooling Fan No Width (inches) 26 Height (inches) 45-1/8 Depth (inches) 22 Stand Weight Limit 280 lbs TV Shelf Weight Limit 60 lbs TV Shelf Width 26 TV Shelf Depth 22 Parts Warranty 5 Years Labor Warranty 5 Years Product Research What's in the box? Download owner's manual Front frame Rear support 9 Shelf supports Large wire channel cover Small wire channel cover 5 Glass shelves 2 Curved brackets 2 Straight brackets 9 Bolts 6 Small flat washers 5 Large flat washers 6 Threaded inserts 4 Glass pads Sanus logo Allen wrench Assembly Instructions Our Product Research Team At Crutchfield, you'll get detailed, accurate information that's hard to find elsewhere. That's because we have our own in-house Product Research team — they open the box, verify contents, check the owner's manual, and record dimensions, features and specs. We stay on top of new products and technologies to help people make informed choices. Features Overview: The Sanus Foundations Natural Series NFA245 is a 45-inch tall five-shelf audio stand with a contemporary design that blends perfectly into any home décor. Its hardwood and graphite-finished steel construction offers a superior combination of stability and elegance. The audio stand uses extra-thick tempered-glass shelves. Top shelf rear corners are angled for positioning in corners. Features include non-slip protector pads to isolate shelves from frame, open architecture for unrestricted airflow and a concealed rear cable management channel. Solid Construction: The NFA245 features a hardwood frame that is strong and solid for optimum acoustics. Flexible Positioning: The Audio Stand's top shelf rear corners are angled to allow tight placement in corners of your room. Five Shelves: The Audio Stand features five fixed tempered-glass shelves with polished edges that are strong and stylish. The top shelf will support up to 60 lbs, while the bottom shelf will support up to 70 lbs. Each middle shelf will support up to 50 lbs. The bottom shelf has a compartment height of 8.75". The two lowest middle shelves have a compartment height of 8.4375", while the highest middle shelf has a compartment height of 8.25". Open Architecture: The NFA245 utilizes open architecture to allow unrestricted airflow to keep your AV components cool and operating safely. Wire Management System: The Audio Stand's wire management system helps keep your cables concealed and organized for a professional looking installation. Colors: The NFA245 Audio Stand is available in Black, Cherry, or a Mocha wood finish. Black and mocha-finished models feature smoked glass, while Cherry-finished model feature clear glass. Review this product Submit a review and then enter to win a $500 rewards card Sanus NFA245 Reviews Average Customer Review: 19 people say: Review this product: Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences about this product. Please be sure to focus your comments on the product itself. Read our Review Guidelines for more information. Review title * Email Your email won't be visible. Please use the email address that is associated with your order. Display name (e.g., JohnD) Your review will be signed using the display name and location * Your location (e.g., Charlottesville, VA) * Your rating Click on a star to rate the overall product on a scale of 1-5 1500 characters left * Your review Attach a YouTube Review Crutchfield Video Review Guidelines Only submit videos that you made or are authorized to use. Do not submit videos that contain music, video or visuals that are copyrighted and belong to someone else. Please see our Review Guidelines for more information. Submit the URL of your YouTube™ video review or product demonstration. e.g., "http://www.youtube.com/v/o79TWHh598U" 500 characters left Pros 500 characters left Cons * Agree to Terms By checking this box you agree your review becomes the property of Crutchfield, that you are over 18 years of age, that you own or have owned this product, and that you are located within the United States or its territories. Please see our Review Guidelines for more information. We reserve the right (but are not obligated to) review all submissions and edit or remove any review in any manner which we deem necessary. Your review should be posted within seven days. Filter by rating: 5 Star: (0) 4 Star: (0) 3 Star: (0) 2 Star: (0) 1 Star: (0) 5 out of 5 Sanus NFA245 Written By Audio Cabinet, Tampa FL on Saturday, October 11, 2014 Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?) Easy to assemble, meets all my needs for audio cabinet Was this review helpful? Yes | No 4 out of 5 Good Product; Great Customer Service Written By Kris, Wichita, Kansas on Sunday, June 29, 2014 Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?) Product basically as advertised and fairly easy to assemble. Mine took 3 tries/shipment before I had one I would keep. The first 2 were destroyed by UPS. 3rd one was double boxed and arrived fine. Crutchfield customer service was great throughout the process. Pros: Good value; looks good and easy to assemble. Cons: The manufacture's carton is not appropriate for shipment 2 out of 2 people found this helpful Was this review helpful? Yes | No 4 out of 5 SANUS NFA 245, I put it together ...myself, yes Written By Tony, North Carolina on Thursday, February 20, 2014 Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?) I thought I had ordered Mocha, somehow I later saw that what I had coming was Cherry. Now I see someone else had a similar experience. Never mind, Cherry looks pretty good. The box is very heavy but it arrived in one piece, fairly well treated. All the parts were in good shape. It looked hard to assemble but it was fairly easy and quick after all. I wished it was bit sturdier but it's not flimsy for the task at hand. It seems it will do the job. It looks good. I find the top glass needs better pads, lost one right away. Pros: It's easy to assemble, it meets my needs and it looks good. I think I will be happy with it. Cons: A few more reinforcement points would help. Need to improve the pads for the glass on top. 1 out of 1 people found this helpful Was this review helpful? Yes | No 2 out of 5 If I had it to do over again... Written By NoProAtThis, E. TN, USA on Monday, February 17, 2014 Bought this after seriously considering the other Sanus products, esp. the CFR2115 and CFR2127. Kicking myself for not going the extra money mile and buying an enclosed unit. Visible wires and cables detract considerably from the overall aesthetics of the unit no matter the rear hollow pillar feature for wire/cable management. Build quality is OK but not outstanding...the glass shelves simply will not fit flush in what appears to be the intended fashion, and the whole unit sort of sways a bit in spite of snugging the hardware up and putting the heavier components low in the stand. I have a fairly heavy receiver (Marantz SR7008 also bought from Crutchfield) in addition to other, much lighter components, but between the shelves not fitting properly and the sway, I just can't recommend Pros: The individual parts seem fairly well made, especially the tempered glass shelves. Cons: The unit as a whole just doesn't fit well together. 4 out of 4 people found this helpful Was this review helpful? Yes | No 4 out of 5 nice looking stereo equipment rack Written By dmacsimus, calif on Monday, January 27, 2014 Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?) Very easy assembly and looks really nice. Stereo equipment will have ample cooling for the design is a very open design. Pros: Easy assembly, looks great, quality is nice. Open design for equipment cooling effectability. Cons: Could be a tad sturdier because with heavy weighing equipment, front to back stability is an small issue. Open design which makes often dusting is a must to stay clean looking. 1 out of 1 people found this helpful Was this review helpful? Yes | No 4 out of 5 Good Product Written By RichW, Temple, TX on Tuesday, September 03, 2013 Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?) The unit is very nice looking (mocha) and is very stable on a wood floor. Easy to put together, took less than 30 minutes once I received the hardware...as others have stated the shipping container isn't UPS friendly and the box had a tear so guess the hardware slipped out!!! Sanus was quick to send the missing hardware but it would be nice if they just used a better shipping container. Crutchfield's website is easy to use and they processing orders quickly...will continue to use them. Pros: Nice Looking, Stable on wood floor, easy to put together, instructions on Sanus webiste Cons: Shipping container needs some reinforcement 1 out of 1 people found this helpful Was this review helpful? Yes | No 1 out of 5 Missing parts, damaged finish, pathetic packaging Written By DaveD, Scotts Valley, CA on Saturday, April 06, 2013 Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?) I needed this component rack for a new stereo system that was being installed the following day. The Sanus arrived the day before looking like it had been run over by a truck. A piece of hardwood was sticking out from the end of the box and the finished was damaged. When I opened the box, 10 critical components for its assembly were missing, and I'm not talking about screws and such hardware. When the audio company came the next day to do the install, they had to hook everything up temporarily and stack the components on top of each other. Now I have to disconnect and reconnect 6 different components on my own after paying quite a bit for the audio company's installation. Quality control at Sanus must be non-existent, it is inconceivable to me that so many big heavy parts could be missed. When I called them to get the parts replaced they acted like they could care less. Buyer beware, you may be one of the lucky ones or you could waste a lot of time and money like I did. Pros: None Cons: A complete waste of my time and money. 6 out of 8 people found this helpful Was this review helpful? Yes | No 5 out of 5 Electronics Cabinet - Sanus NFA245 Written By Dr. Michael M, Charlottesville, VA on Monday, March 25, 2013 Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?) Handsome look, esp. in "Mocha" - well designed and engineering - high quality parts - easy to assemble - good looking AND functional. Pros: Handsome look, esp. in "Mocha" - well designed and engineering - high quality parts - easy to assemble - good looking AND functional. Cons: (Had to assemble it myself.) Was this review helpful? Yes | No 5 out of 5 Excellent audio stand and beautiful to look at Written By Tom, Raleigh NC on Thursday, August 30, 2012 Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?) The Sanus NFA245 audio stand is excellent in every respect. I have looked at a lot of similar audio stands, both in retail stores and on the web, and it is the best looking among them. It probably is not as sturdy as some other, but it doesn't truly have a problem with sturdiness, and anyone who experienced that problem probably just didn't do a very good job of putting it together. I was concerned about that prior to ordering it, and I went to a retail store and studied how it was put together. I concluded that although the design is not inherently as strong as other designs, that there should be no problem if assembled with care, and this proved to be true. The only real problem I experienced was with the packaging, and this occurred because the packaging was not intended to serve as outer carton material for shipping individual units. The packaging was intended to protect the product when they are stacked on pallets and wrapped in shrink wrap. Once the manufacturer carton is open, it is apparent that a lot of effort went into just the packaging. There are numerous pieces of structural cardboard, all cut very precisely and fitting together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. And the carton had very many large staples. But the outer carton was made of soft, paper-like cardboard, because it just was not intended to stand up to the kind of abuse that something of this sort gets treated to if shipped individually and using the likes of UPS. So I recommend that when you place t Pros: Beautiful, functional Cons: Somewhat less sturdy than competing products, but certainly as sturdy as there is any need for it to be Was this review helpful? Yes | No 4 out of 5 Great product Written By Kg, Plainfield, il on Friday, May 18, 2012 Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?) Solid and stylish product. Can not beat it for price. Pros: Sturdy, easy to assemble, stylish look Cons: Box arrived like it went thru aware. Luckily stand was not damaged. Was this review helpful? Yes | No 5 out of 5 Simple, Elegant AV Rack Written By PaulO, Amherst, MA on Monday, April 02, 2012 Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?) Simple, elegant, and easy to assemble, this reasonably priced AV rack allows hidden cable routing and excellent ventilation to keep your components cool. Very pleased with this product, but it came in a box that looked like it had been through the trenches of WW I and missing hardware. Crutchfield overnight shipped a replacement unit (which also arrived torn and beaten up) to replace the missing hardware, but I needed to repack the replacement after fishing out the hardware and had to bring the 75 lb box to a UPS shipping store and pay $7 for the return shipping. Pros: Great, inexpensive and elegant AV rack. Cons: Shipped in substandard packaging and arrived with missing parts. 3 out of 4 people found this helpful Was this review helpful? Yes | No 5 out of 5 Sanus Stand rates a full 5 Stars! Written By JoseD, Midway City, CA on Thursday, March 01, 2012 Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?) First of all, I ordered the Black Sanus Stand online. The Crutchfield web application changed my color selection for some reason from Black to either Mocha or Cherry. I really cannot remember. I thought that I had accidentally selected the wrong color, so I re-did my shopping cart. I had to call Crutchfield to take care of the color selection problem. I had the order processed with the correct color within 3 minutes. Then, I received my stand within a week. CAUTION: There are a total of 9 bars that go from the front of the stand to the back, AND only three are used (one) for each of the three middle shelves. I screwed in the wrong bars (they all look the same at first) into two of the middle shelves and the screws went through the front of the stand! I called Sanus (English speaking tech support & based in the USA) and the person there decided to send me out a new front of the stand for FREE!!! I had the new face of the stand within one week. The assembly of this stand is EASY once you get the right bars in the correct places! Only one tool is necessary and is included in the package. The stand, itself, is very sturdy (made of real wood - not particle board), the shelves weigh a lot and are high quality. Assembly shouldn't take you more than 30 minutes. I have a 40lbs. receiver on a middle shelf and it seems to take the weight without problems. After I placed the smoked glass shelves in place, it weighs about 50lbs! Use two people to carry the stand! Pros: Easy to assemble with one tool (included). Great support from Sanus. Easy ordering online - Call to Crutchfield took care of the wrong color problem within 3 minutes. Very sturdy. Glass shelves are very high quality. Made of real wood. Overall, worth the $300. I found it for $20 less from another online retailer, but I knew that Crutchfield support is great, so why mess with an unknown online retailer? Overall, satisfied with purchase. Cons: Weighs 70lbs in the box! Use two people to carry it! Shelves are not adjustable - No casters - Assembly is easy but not foolproof! Problem with ordering online from Crutchfield. Not much else is a con. I am satified with my purchase. 3 out of 3 people found this helpful Was this review helpful? Yes | No 4 out of 5 Sanus Rack Written By Rick A., Springfield, Mo. on Sunday, January 22, 2012 Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?) Nice Looking and very sturdy rack.I am overall very pleased with this rack.I wish it was adjustable. I have thought about getting a bigger reciever and do not know it it will work with reciever I am looking at. Pros: Great Looking and very sturdy Cons: Not adjustable 2 out of 2 people found this helpful Was this review helpful? Yes | No 5 out of 5 NICE STEREO RACK Written By GARY, PUEBLO WEST, COLORADO on Thursday, November 03, 2011 Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?) WENT OLD SCHOOL. TURNTABLE WITH VINYL.VINTAGE STEREO RECEIVER. THE RACK WORKED PERFECT FOR WHAT I WAS DOING. Pros: EASY TO SET ASSEMBLE.THE RACK LOOKS GREAT Cons: N/A 1 out of 1 people found this helpful Was this review helpful? Yes | No 5 out of 5 High Quality Sanus Product Written By Al A, Orland Park, IL on Wednesday, June 15, 2011 Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?) This stand is sturdy! Each shelf can hold nearly twice of what others in the same price category can hold. Great value, easy to assemble and looks great. The packaging is thick. Good thing, UPS is brutal with packaging. Was this review helpful? Yes | No 5 out of 5 Another great Sanus product Written By Brian, Boston, MA on Saturday, April 23, 2011 I had purchased some Sanus speaker stands a few years ago so when I needed a component rack I checked them out first. Quality is excellent, esp. compared to cheaper stands that look good in photos but are flimsy in real life. Very easy to put together with Ikea-like instructions. The cable routing features are excellent. Best part is my wife likes the way it looks in the living room! Very pleased with my purchase and would recommend to anyone else in the market for a high quality rack to hold your components. 2 out of 3 people found this helpful Was this review helpful? Yes | No 5 out of 5 5tier Written By Dave, Green River on Friday, March 04, 2011 Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?) Top quality easy to put together MOM loves this piece for her music room. Very stable,wire routing shroud and access hole well planed! We looked in the local area found nothing of this quality. THANKS 3 out of 3 people found this helpful Was this review helpful? Yes | No 3 out of 5 Good unit Written By dan, Charlotte, NC on Sunday, February 01, 2009 Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?) This is a good unit for holding your AV equipment. The flexible plastic that is supposed to bend around and hide the cables is way too narrow to do it. It needs to be at least twice as wide to be able to go around the cables. 9 out of 10 people found this helpful Was this review helpful? Yes | No 5 out of 5 Excellent and good value!! Written By Frank, New Haven, CT on Friday, January 30, 2009 Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?) The Sanus natural audio rack has met my expectations. It was well packaged and the instructions were very easy to follow. The quality is excellent with real wood pieces and sturdy metal. The shelving is deep and tall enough to hold my McIntosh amplifier. The only minor quibble is the finish is darker than I thought it would be but it still looks good in the living room 6 out of 6 people found this helpful Was this review helpful? Yes | No 2 questions already asked Are shelves adjustable? If not, how much space between shelves? [ Dave123 Apr 07, 2014 ] 6 answers can you remove a shelf? My sub would sit on the bottom shelf but I would need to remove the shelf above that one to have room for the SUB height [ Deb Jul 31, 2014 ] Can a shelf be removed so my sub will fit on the bottom shelf? [ Deb Jul 31, 2014 ] Shelves are not adjustable. Around 8 1/4 inches between top shelf and 10" between others. The open shelf on top is great for adding a turntable. [ JEFFREY Apr 16, 2014 ] Not our product. [ STEVE Apr 14, 2014 ] Shelves are not adjustable. The useful space height-wise is 8 1/2" +/- just a touch. [ PAUL B Apr 07, 2014 ] Shelves are not adjustable and there is 8.75" of space between shelves. [ Edwin Apr 07, 2014 ] Is this product sturdy? Is it easy to move to gain access to the back?Should I put sliders on the feet? [ Reggie May 14, 2014 ] 6 answers Hello, Access to the back is very good, assembly was no problem. Sturdiness, well, it is reasonably sturdy, but not rock solid. I have a turntable on the top shelf and didn't want any give to the rack at all. I have checked and made certain all the bolts and screws are tight, so I believe I put it together correctly. Having trashed it, let me say it isn't horrible. If the top shelf isn't used (the very top) the lower center of gravity would make it more stable. As for moving it, I don't think you could with equipment on it. Even without it is quite heavy. The rack does look nice. It isn't flimsy, and pieces together without trouble. [ ANDREW May 15, 2014 ] It is fairly sturdy and not too heavy (unloaded) although the glass shelves do add most of the weight. It can be moved fairly easily with two people. I would not think that sliders are needed, but that might make moving it easier depending on placement. It is a good looking stand [ JOHN May 14, 2014 ] Fairly sturdy Remember it is flat shipped and you put together. Back access is fairly easy but it depends how accessible the unit is from the slides. It will not slide around with ease. It is made to be stationary [ Louis May 14, 2014 ] The product is sturdy as long as you properly tighten all of the bars. The unit does flex a slight bit as I move the tower, but I do not feel it will fall apart when the tower is moved. I do recommend putting sliders on the feet. I have hardwood floors, so I use felt sliders. My tower is placed in a corner and I have short cables connecting my equipment through the wall. So, I've rotated the tower many times to make adjustments or to add additional equipment into my AV receiver. [ MICHAEL May 14, 2014 ] This product is very sturdy- I am using all 5 shelves, with heavy Mac equipment on mid two shelves, table on top, tuner and tape deck below. Cable management is very good. My unit is on carpet, in a corner, and cannot be moved with equipment in place. I access the equipment when needed from front, and reach around back if cabling needs adjustment. Rack looks great with my gear. Would definitely purchase again. [ David May 14, 2014 ] The product is sturdy and looks beautiful in our family room. It's accessible and although we don't have the need to move it you could put sliders on its feet. It is a nice addition to our home. [ NANCY May 14, 2014 ] Add accessories for the Sanus NFA245 Add Accessories See all categories & accessories Cable Management Power Protection Infrared Repeater Systems Home Remote Controls Professional Installation Wiremold CordMate® Cord Organizer (CMK10) Conceal audio/video cables along your walls Your Price: $24.49 Add to Cart Wiremold Flat Screen TV Cord Cover (CMK30) Conceal your wall-mounted TV's audio/video cables 16 people say Your Price: $21.49 Add to Cart Wiremold CornerMate Cord Organizer (CMK40) Conceal audio/video cables in a corner 1 person says Your Price: $26.99 Add to Cart Wiremold CordMate® II Cord Organizer (CMK50) Conceal A/V cables in your room 2 people say Your Price: $26.99 Add to Cart Wiremold CableMate Cord Organizer (CMK90) Conceal computer or home entertainment cables Your Price: $26.99 Add to Cart Panamax M8-AV Power line conditioner and surge protector 7 people say Your Price: $119.99 Add to Cart Panamax PM8-AV Power line conditioner and surge protector 3 people say Your Price: $89.99 Add to Cart Furman Elite-15 PFi Power line conditioner and surge protector 10 people say Your Price: $699.00 Add to Cart Sanus ELM501 IR Repeater System Hide your gear and control it using your existing remote 63 people say Your Price: $99.99After $30.00 Savings Add to Cart Niles RCA-SM2 Infrared repeater system 6 people say Your Price: $274.99 Add to Cart Niles RCA-TT2 Infrared repeater system 5 people say Your Price: $249.99 Add to Cart Universal MX-450 Remote Control Multibrand remote with one-touch operation 6 people say Your Price: $249.99 Add to Cart Universal® MasterControl RF-20 Multibrand remote with learning capability 17 people say Your Price: $79.99 Add to Cart Logitech® Harmony® Smart Control Turn your smartphone into a powerful Wi-Fi® Harmony remote 52 people say Your Price: $129.99 Add to Cart Logitech® Harmony® Ultimate One Universal remote with customizable swipe and tap touchscreen 6 people say Your Price: $249.99 Add to Cart TV Stand Assembly Stand-alone Service 1 person says Your Price: $119.99 Add to Cart Why choose SquareTrade? The #1-Rated Protection Plan Thousands of people have reviewed SquareTrade Protection Plans — and made us #1. 5-Day Service Guarantee & Free Shipping We'll repair or replace your item in five business days or less after we've received it, or your plan is free. And, as always, we pay for all shipping. Protection from Normal, Everyday Use Repairing your average mechanical or electrical failure can cost as much as buying a new device. With SquareTrade, you're covered — including parts and labor. For a more in-depth review and enhanced detailed information on the Sanus NFA245, please visit the Crutchfield website product page (/ISEO-rccbcspd/p_051NFA245B/Sanus-NFA245-Black.html ). × Black finish Black finish Searches related to the Sanus NFA245 5-shelf audio component rack Sanus Sanus Entertainment Furniture Entertainment Furniture under $300 Sanus NFA245 reviews Sanus NFA245 vs Bell'O ATC402 Sanus NFA245 vs Bell'O TP-4501 Triple Play® Sanus NFA245 vs Bell'O TP4463 Triple Play™


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|Michael Rooney
I'm curious how this shift would affect the perception of steam. I like steam in significant part because it is somewhat currated. I'm curious how they can ensure a good quality bar if it becomes as open as it sounds.
|Robert Boyd
Right now, Steam sits at a happy medium between extremely curated storefronts like XBLA and anarchy like we see in the mobile space. If they don't tread carefully here, they could ruin that delicate balance.
|Enrique Dryere
As an indie dev trying to slug through the Greenlight process, I'm glad to hear that the process is being given continued thought and care. What I'm hearing here excites me, but the change will be a double edged sword. I know first-hand that the bottle necking is a problem, yet it also drastically reduces the "noise-to-signal ratio" of games that actually make it onto Steam. That is to say, once your game is actually "Greenlit" you can expect a drastic increase in sales because it enters a restricted market.
Ultimately, I think that curation is essential, but shouldn't simply be left to public opinion. Just as agents and publishers carefully select books, industry experts should screen games that make it onto Steam, so that there is still some measure of prestige and exclusivity -- or rather a guarantee of quality -- associated with being on Steam. These don't have to be Sages pulled off a lofty summit somewhere in the Himalayas; there's tons of gamers and journalists that are more than knowledgeable enough to work in this regard, giving games a fair chance, scrutiny, and not just voting based on a screen shot or based on a genre.
|Russ Menapace
Seems like that would open the door for every store owner to be a curator. They'd be competing for players just like games do now, hopefully with the better curated stores rising to prominence. Sounds like it could work really well... I'm interested in seeing what happens.
|Dave Reed
This all sounds pretty good. If they let anyone+everyone put a game on Steam, but rely on the users to curate it, it could work out quite well.
Valve can still run their store as they do now, promoting their own games and the big releases, and on the surface it could appear to be barely changed.
But dig a bit deeper, and you could find all sorts of niche/experimental/amateur titles that simply can't get onto Steam as it is now. Maybe a user store specialising in roguelikes, for example. Just being able to easily get a game onto Steam, even with no help to promote it from Valve, would be a huge win for smaller/lesser-known indies!
Instead of putting time into chasing Greenlight upvotes, we could actually be chasing very real sales - even if it does mean a somewhat more App Store-like environment where a lot of games disappear without a trace.
However it works out, it's really good news that they've realised that Greenlight isn't working.
|TC Weidner
sounds good, I like where he is going. I think there really only needs to be a bare minimum of curatorship.
Much like You tube, except with one additional filter to make sure no malware or viruses exist.
|Christopher Thigpen
There is only one true feature I would love for Steam. And that is the ability to port all games on steam to whatever PC device you have.
I hate as a primary mac user (for work), that when I travel, I am only stuck to the games available for mac.
This would be my one and only dream for Steam. They do that, they rule the world....even more so.
|Bob Johnson
Very interesting.
My thought is it sounds like a lot of work for me the consumer. :)
But i guess he has that covered too as it sounds like I could choose the curated route if I want to. I can choose the standard store front.
|Bob Charone
Maybe they don't need curation, if Valve can give some games a Valve Seal of Quality!
|[User Banned]
|Michael Joseph
Valve and Steam are moving away from a publishing focus to a retail one. Or maybe it only looks like retail because they're essentially accepting all applications? It can still be a publisher that promotes certain titles by adding service tiers.
There are more game developers than ever. There are more games being made each year than ever. You'd better bring your A-Game if you want to succeed. That's how it should be.
With Steam going to a network API, does this mean that you will even be able to host Unity web player, Flash or HTML5 games on your "storefront?"
Steam could end up competing directly with Facebook and Friends but with a pricing model that makes it more appealing to average developers. A Facebook for game developers... hmm?
|Daneel Filimonov
I think Greenlight was an inevitable stage for Steam to go through. Of course, part of this is because Valve had yet to experience what it was like to have the customer choose what should and shouldn't be on Steam. I hope Valve figures this out! I'm sure they have a game plan.
|Erin OConnor
I almost think steam is moving toward what Amazon is.
There is still the amazon storefront (and there will still be a steam storefront.)
But they are opening the door for others to have their own store within steam to sell their own games much like there are multiple retailers and vendors that use amazon as their storefront.
I like it. Now any publisher can create and sell their games on their own storefront via steam.
It also allows others (GoG maybe ?) to create and sell via steam as well.
Heck, even I could create my own store and sell via steam!
I smell a lot of win here.
|Simon Ludgate
Another potential concern would be whether or not the games purchased through Steam remain accessible through steam. If Steam just opens up as an API, who hosts the games? If Valve still hosts them and there's no approval process, what's to stop some jerk from uploading a bajillion petabyte "game" just to clog up their servers? If Valve doesn't host them, what's to stop the company that is hosting it from pulling the plug and making you lose your digital purchase?
To people who are posting "greenlight sucks unless you already have a large fanbase". Hello! That's what Valve is after. They want to grow their platform. One way to do that is by expanding their content and then marketing through their own methods. The other, and probably one they vastly prefer, is to sell games that are already popular and absorb that fanbase into Steam and cross-sell.
|Joshuah Kusnerz
My concern is that this will open doors to allowing more shovelware games. We saw the misstep in allowing War-Z to be released in such a unfinished, falsely advertised state. When games like that start getting let through it could be a short ride to actual vaporware scams that will take your financial information for no return. We could see games released with Trojans or key-loggers, it's happened in the mobile app shops.
Steam has built up a reputation of quality and security (at least it has to me). I'd hate to not be able to trust the game I got would be finished and not be malicious.
On the other hand as an indie developer, I have always thought it would be impossible to get a game on Steam without "knowing someone who knows someone".
Interesting times, I'm going to err on the side of optimism here and choose to believe everything will work out fantastic for all involved.
Just my five cents.
|Rachel Presser
I have mixed feelings about this. While Greenlight is proving to be cumbersome for indies, there needs to be SOME curation to Steam to protect the values of the games within.
There were definitely problems with the old way of getting a game onto Steam and receiving what was often a vague non-answer for why your game didn't make the cut. Greenlight is better on paper than in practice for the most part and had some serious teething issues. While yes, we have to promote our games to get people to vote on them-- most indies don't have a dedicated marketing person to try and rally as many votes as humanly possible.
But if Greenlight gets axed, do all the indies who forked out $100 to get their games onto the now-defunct service get it back? (I know the proceeds went to charity, but Valve themselves are clearly not cash-poor. For those whose games get accepted, it can be an advance on the royalties.)
While it's unfair to everyone who submitted a game under the $100 rule, it's especially unfair to the devs who submitted completed, functional games that got buried by all these new submissions, many of which were incomplete and/or buggy. To rub salt in, many incomplete games got Greenlit as well, taking the space of completed and functional games that could've been making both the dev and Steam money.
So curation is needed to prevent broken games from being accepted, or worse yet, malware and shovelware from just appearing everywhere. Steam's content acceptance system is broken, but mobile-market-like anarchy isn't the solution either.
|Bob Johnson
What about charging people to vote on games in Greenlight. $1 a vote or something?
It would eliminate some of the thoughtless voting down of games. Encourage those to think twice before voting yes to something too.
Donate the money to charity...
|warren blyth
i think this idea would get really interesting if custom storefront maintainers could be given some small percentage of sales they generate. i'm dazzled by the idea that a sort of "marketing by the people for the people" might emerge.
It's also dazzling to think about tackling the huge problem of finding critics/reviewers that you trust. This has always been a frustrating failing of the internet (hard to find movie reviewers or games journalists who are both: good writers and share my tastes in entertainment).
instead of yahtzee, i prefer to wonder what a Giant Bomb store front would be (because I've spent so much time listening to each of their reviewers that I'd have inherent trust in their picks).
it might even open the door to a new way to look at video game reviews. instead of "what number did your gang give that game" it could become "how did your gang choose to feature that game on your steam store page?"
|Luciano Lombardi
I think this is great news, and as counter intuitive this may feel, I believe it could help to solve the problem of discoverabilty.
IMDB user lists can serve as a good example of this: More than once I have followed the recommendation to see a specific movie by some random user because I loved most of the titles he had added to his 'best movies list'.
It is a relatively safe bet to think that you will like one of the movies that you have not seen from his list, for the mere fact of agreeing on the rest of the titles. The same could happen with games... people who make great reviews can directly link the games their recommend to buy, adding their analysis on why you should buy it. This could be very beneficial for websites like 'Rock Paper Shotgun'
On the other hand, I don't see why Valve couldn't create themselves one of these 'user-generated stores'. They would be opening the field, but they can also retain some of this 'curator value' at the same time, but without the pressure of being the bottleneck by which is decided what games are available for purchase.
|Johan Wendin
Why not "just" change the greenlighting process to reputable store owners then? Stores given Valve's stamp of approval get a say of what gets in? Like Old Man Murray, Rock Paper Shotgun or even lesser ones like cynicalbrit or MMOHut etc?
Basically extending the screening for greenlight out to reputable sources. Smaller niche games could have their own reputable source that they had to convince about the quality of their game.
Heck, the end-user could opt in/out of products screened by any specific sourcing partner.
|John Flush
I really like Steam. I'll actually rebuy games from them because of how easy it is to see my library, get patches, track how long I play certain games, etc. However if any of these features break that ease of use - the ease of purchasing, which should be 'one click, download, play' I think it is the wrong path.
A good example of this breaking down is many of the Stardock games are on there now (Galactic Civilizations) that require me to do more work (registering with their site and such) to even play the game. That defeats the purpose of Steam for me. if I have account everywhere tracking my games, with separate logins, why bother with Steam at all?
|Bart Stewart
Curation has value when it gives you trustable information in not one but two crucial areas: level of quality and type(s) of content. Steam has been useful because it has done both of those things pretty well.
But most people will assess things on just one measure: did I like it? Having lots of people provide that kind of assessment only gives you a measure of popularity, which is not the same thing as quality, and which doesn't directly tell you anything about what kind of content lurks within.
So I don't think a simple upvote system is good enough to replace what Steam currently offers for discovering good games. I'd like to see a rating system in three parts:
1. Quality rating: bad, OK, or great. Still subjective, but better than an all-encompassing "I liked it."
2. Content type tags: free-text with pop-up suggestions of existing tags, similar to StackOverflow. Because this calls for a specific description, the more people who enter tags to describe a game, the more accurate the top-selected tags should be. (As a practical matter, you might require a tag to be selected for a game N times before it's displayed -- this would reduce "junk" tags entered by anonymous humorists.)
3. An optional "Favorite Game" checkbox, with a limit of 10 possible. This would be similar to a "like" button, but the limit would encourage raters to like the games that best satisfy their interests. The value of this would come from a "Suggest a Game" system -- your favorites would be compared to everyone else's, and games you haven't favorited that are liked by people who like most of the same things as you would be suggested.
No system is perfect. This one could be dinged as being "too complicated." But it would get Valve out from full-time curation on quality and content without devolving into a popularity contest.
|Daniel Dobson
I'm glad to see them admitting the issues with Greenlight, and talking with the community. It will be good if Steam itself isn't the only 'Steam Store' - I like the sound of Steam as a networking API, where consumers can choose which stores they actually go to. Seems highly democratic, and open :D
|Felix Leyendecker
What if opening the floodgates will simply cause a race to the bottom, and F2P emerging as the only viable business model? 2013's GOTY lists would have looked a lot different.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Notes to My Younger Self
I've been seeing a few posts in this style pop up lately (1 + 2) & I loved reading them so much I decided to write one of my own. There are quite a few things I would like to go back and tell my younger self (like maybe dying your hair Ariel red wasn't such a great idea) but the five items below are what I consider pretty important.
Spend time being your own best friend Something I wish I had been privy to early on in life is realizing the importance of independence and taking care of you. Relishing alone time (and more importantly being comfortable being alone). Figuring out your likes + dislikes because they're specific to you and not what everyone else is into or trendy. The latter part of my twenties was when I really started to hone in on this stuff and feel truly comfortable in my skin.
Your heart will get broken...a lot Oh, and how it will hurt each and every time. But don't be discouraged or embittered--love will find you a couple of times and it will all be worth those tears and lonely nights because each time you collect another little piece of the puzzle to what a real, raw relationship is. Fall in love with as many things as possible and always tell people how much you love them. You will love to love and that is a beautiful, unapologetic quality.
Not everyone will like you & it's okay You will encounter people who don't like you for their own reason or sometimes even no reason at all and it will make you sad, but that's okay. The important thing is that you like yourself and that you treasure the people who lift up your spirit. Nurture those relationships, because they make life that much sweeter.
Listening is just as important as speaking up You are naturally born both curious and a chatterbox. You will grow to have opinions as strong as you are and this sometimes comes off as abrasive. Remember to close your mouth and open your ears and heart when it's someone else's turn. Patience is something you will struggle with but eventually conquer with your good intentions.
Above all, family first Spend as much quality time as possible with your relatives. As the oldest of 5 sisters, they will all look up to you and one day (even though you will want to kill each other during your teen years) your mom will become your best friend. Your dad will be in and out of your life for various reasons and it will shape you as a daughter and person. Try to remember people make mistakes and to keep forgiveness in your heart and in the words on your lips. Luckily you are Mexican which means there will always be someone to play in the yard with, come over and bring you medicine when you're sick, host your birthday party and sing tequila shot-induced Spanish ballads with. The saying "blood is thicker than water" rings true.
Are there some things you wish you knew then that you know now? I'd love to read what you'd tell your younger self so if you post your own notes, share the link in the comments.