Friend: Dude, I installed Steam 3 days ago and I've gotten laid 25 times already.
Me: Yeah, I've had it for 7 years and got laid 843 times, and that was 9 hours after I got it.
Friend: Sweet.
Online gaming store/client/DRM service created by Valve corporation. Games can be bought on Steam, and there are often game sales and bonus pack deals for promotions (Bioshock sold for $10.00 on Boxing Day). There is also a social networking aspect a la Facebook, where you can make friends, join gaming groups, etc.
There are a growing number of games which are using Steam for DRM purposes. These games are, once installed, tied directly to Steam and not your computer. The pro to this is that you can play said game on ANY computer with Steam installed using your account. Games also update themselves automatically. The con is that is that Steam has to be running for the game to play, althought offline mode exists.
The other definitons are outdated and don't represent the improvements Steam has made over the years.
Steam is a great gaming service and the least obnoxious forms of DRM. Yes it is still rather slow but the pros truly outweight the cons. Secu-ROM can burn in hell.
"Pull the truck up front and roll up the next blunt. So we can steam on the way to the telly, go fill my belly, a t-bone steak, cheese, eggs, and Welch's grape." - Notorious
The Game client that distributes games such as Half Life 2, Counter-Strike Source, Team Fortress 2.
Steam is actually a man named Steve who lives far away in the mountains in a little cabin. He controls the steam program but he's fucking retarded thus why steam crashes so damn often. Every now and then , his but buddy, Val( Valve) comes and gives him new programs, but he's so stupid he can't really operate new programs without crashing. So he passes out all the time trying to get these programs to work. Thats why steam is a piece of shit program.
1. A program made by a bunch of sadist programmers at Valve. The target audience is obviously masochists. Gives you the strong urge to torture small fuzzy animals.