In an interview with GI.Biz, VALVe marketing king Doug Lombardi, has revealed to the world a few facts about the birth of the now norm thing, Steam.

In what must go down with some of the biggest "damn...why didn't we do that.." moments in the games industry, Doug told GI that Valve approached Microsoft and Yahoo with the idea for steam, looking for backing and support, but they were told to leave as the idea was "too far in the future". Unfortunatly, it soon, when valve launched themselves, became clear that Steam was not an idea for the future, it was an idea for now, and it has rolled on to be a massive success!

PS. team fortress 2 is free to play this weekend, check it out if you don't already own The Orange Box!