As for needing a program for every developer- you're right- I don't. I do want one for Stardock stuff though.
The reason I want it is simple: Steam is something that can go wrong- so it's not my first option, and Impulse just doesn't have anything I really want anymore: the quality of their game selection has gone down heavily since the Impulse takeover. Also, I may pick up some of the Stardock non-game stuff, and the lack of an updater for those things turns me off of doing that right now.
My guess is Stardock is doing this for the reason I mentioned above: that it hurts to not have an update program for their application side. They are putting the games on there because there is a minimal cost in doing so, and because there is a hardcore anti-Gamestop element in the Stardock fanbase who wishes this. They're probably a small minority, and I'm not hardcore anti-Gamestop, but I'm more likely to buy Object Desktop in the next year then a game on Impulse (and I can buy any Impulse game on Gamersgate or Steam instead, which is a better deal) Also, ultimately, doing it yourself means that if something goes wrong, you've got a failsafe. What if Impulse got hacked PSN style (very unlikely, but no system is 100% secure)? Having a failsafe is a good thing.
I seriously doubt Stardock will abandon Impulse, so if you don't want to buy your games separately, you won't have to. I expect the next non-Elemental Stardock game to be on Steam/Impulse/SDC, which will be even better for consumers.
