EA's Origin service might be a great thing after all

Views have been mixed on Electronic Arts' move to make Origin the next great games service, but maybe this is a good thing for all gamers...

There was a bit of a kerfuffle over EA's recent move to not sell BF3 on Steam, and focus instead on its own Origins service. The company cited Valve's hardline stance on direct access to installed code as the reason, but for a lot of people the move seems more about fortifying the Origin service as a viable alternative to other digital games outlets.

If that's your take on the issue, then the news that EA is going to be selling third party games through Origin should make you sit up and go ah-ha! However, to us, it now makes the service not only more useful, but also a good thing for the gaming community as a whole. Why?

Competition is good.

Now, we love Steam, and have done since the early days. In fact, we've been using the service, and pretty much enjoying it, so long that our username is still the email that the game required for log-in back then (this also confuses a lot of game PR types who need our Steam deets for game previews). It's a great service itself, and the regular Steam sales seem like some dire conspiracy to both seperate me from my money and fill my harddrive with games bought for little more reason than 'hey, I can't afford to NOT have this'.

But that said, Steam is still pretty much the go-to place for many gamers. Sure, there's other options, but few have the breadth of titles or the power to sell them so cheaply (unless of course the Australia Tax comes into play, and we get screwed regardless). Now, imagine Steam forced to compete with someone the size of EA. Imagine Origin forced to compete with Steam.

See what we're seeing? Surely the competitive edge that both companies will seek to create can only benefit gamers - that's what we think, anyway. Both companies will need to make sure their offering is as sleek, functional, and affordable as possible, as (EA titles like BF3 notwithstanding) there's other places to go if one is too expensive or suffering any kind of service glitch.

About the only issue we can foresee is of Valve or EA start trying to secure exclusive titles. If that happens then it's most definitely a bad thing for gamers, and the industry. But even EA can't be that monopolistic...

Right?