Steam vs PC?

[Vek]

good luck, PC games are not sold in stores anymore. your best find would be a diner dash or build a lot game....

Where do you live that they don't sell them in stores? It's either:
1)PC gamer hell or
2)Console developer heaven.

[quote="Ururu117" post="9.165790.4378063"Actually, games ON Steam but not made BY Valve are independent of Steam once they are downloaded, ie, you don't need Steam to run them (you can just go click the little exe in its particular file). Making it essentially DRM-free.[/quote]

False. Just look at the huge debacle 2K games had with their DRM and people who downloaded Bioshock over Steam. I still don't know if they ever found a workaround for the 3 install limit.

 

[The Madman]

Actually, games ON Steam but not made BY Valve are independent of Steam once they are downloaded, ie, you don't need Steam to run them (you can just go click the little exe in its particular file). Making it essentially DRM-free.

Most STEAM games come with whatever manuals the game provider provides, which is usually an HTML version of the box manual.

This is just a little silly.

Ever visited Good Old Games? It really is a fantastic little site that goes beyond any other digital distribution site to try and please their customers. For example older games sold via STEAM work on a buyer beware premise, not guaranteed to work on newer systems nor do they generally come with anything beyond the game itself. GOG on the other hand has their own installer which they've implemented for every game in their catalogue, tweaking the games so that they'll work on newer systems. Customer support is also fantastic and most if not all games in their library come with extras, not simply manual's and wallpapers, but often entire soundtracks and the like. No DRM of any sort either, once you've downloaded the game it comes in a simple exe file you're free to do as you wish with, nothing more, nothing less.

It really is a great website. Saying it's superior to STEAM as far as distributing older games go isn't the least bit silly, it's common sense.

Give it a try!

 

[Wofiel]

Boxed games on the PC are much like boxed games on the PS3, you got a game disc, put it in your computer, install and play.

Except for the mountainous piles of ludicrous DRM methods (eg. can only be installed X times before the game that you own won't work), that Steam usually doesn't have for the most part. It has its own DRM system, if you've bought it, you can play it.

 

[Chicago Ted]

I find Steam a lot better, however, it can take quite a while to download sometimes.

 

[Mr. Grey]

I found that Steam overcharges for games you can get for cheap at Good Old Games. And Good Old Games has a manual for every game there, I have yet to actually get a manual for any of the games I've purchased off of Steam.

Good Old Games actually offers a lot of great stuff with what they have to sell, unfortunately it's not a widespread business. It's Good Old Games, after all.

I also said that Steam itself is one huge DRM. If it doesn't want to work, neither will your games.

I only put up with it because of that one sale it had, now I doubt I'll purchase anything else from it. I prefer boxes, not digital.

Actually, games ON Steam but not made BY Valve are independent of Steam once they are downloaded, ie, you don't need Steam to run them (you can just go click the little exe in its particular file). Making it essentially DRM-free.

Most STEAM games come with whatever manuals the game provider provides, which is usually an HTML version of the box manual.

This is just a little silly.

I have yet to find one of my games given a manual that doesn't say "Forbidden". I don't like being forbid to see a manual from a game I purchased. Arguably they may not have it yet due to licensing. I concede to that if that was your point.

And all of my games not made by Valve or published by the company that supported Valve need Steam to start up so long as I purchased it off of Steam. I probably missed something though, I'll delve deeper into its files later on.

Yes my argument was mostly nitpicky and you utterly destroyed it. I'll return when I have more to argue about, which is inevitable. I'm also horrible at debating about things that aren't philosophical.

I found that Steam overcharges for games you can get for cheap at Good Old Games. And Good Old Games has a manual for every game there, I have yet to actually get a manual for any of the games I've purchased off of Steam.

Good Old Games actually offers a lot of great stuff with what they have to sell, unfortunately it's not a widespread business. It's Good Old Games, after all.

I also said that Steam itself is one huge DRM. If it doesn't want to work, neither will your games.

I only put up with it because of that one sale it had, now I doubt I'll purchase anything else from it. I prefer boxes, not digital.

GoG.com is indeed amazing, but methinks the topic's creator is more interested in shall we say 'newer' games than the variety of classics gog offers, and for that purpose Steam serves well enough. If you're ever going to be buying an older game though look it up on gog before Steam however, as gog is without a doubt the superior of the two distribution methods, no doubt about it!

Personally I prefer to have a physical copy of my games, if only because I like actually physically 'owning' the games I bought. Got a nice shelf in my library set up to display games all the various games I've bought over the years, pretty impressive display if I do say so myself if a weeeeeee bit on the nerdy side. Still, that's my preference.

Steam works just fine though for its purposes.

I know, I know... I just recently got off a debate with a buddy that told me to get Steam. Guess it was still a little fresh. My bad there.

I agree though Steam does get the job done.

 

[The Madman]

I'd say it is VERY silly, given my experiences with GOG, which are categorically opposed to your assertions.

For example, my system, a bit of an esoteric one to say the least, is completely unsupported by GOG but well supported by STEAM. I've found STEAM games, which are much more, shall we say, intensive than GOG games, are guaranteed to be less supported on older systems but far more supported on newer ones, which invalidates your supposed benefit right forth for anyone who would rather play a new game.

The two different systems are just that: different. They have different intentions and different markets, and therefore, different policies.

Not simply my assertions, mine and everyone I knows experience with the service. Not like I work for em, do I read like I'm Polish? It's unfortunate that you've had bad experience in the past because of your computer, but that doesn't change what I typed. And I'm absolutely certain that were you to contact their support they'd try to help you with whatever problems you're having, don't know how much help they can be if your system is really so unique, but it's worth a shot.

And why are you referencing newer games? The website is named 'good old games', of course STEAM is the superior service for newer games and I never said otherwise. Indeed reading back I even added 'as far as distributing older games go' to ensure there was no confusion.

I honestly don't see why you're up in arms about this.

 

[Snotnarok]

Sorry to say you just missed a fantastic sale on steam where a lot of games were dirt cheap. I got a 30 dollar game for 2 bucks, hot damn.

 

[Bob_Bobbington]

I don't have a credit card so I really can't buy things off Steam. It would be nice if they let people buy point cards for Steam that could be used to buy games.

I wholeheartedly agree with this. The implementation of a system like this would save me a lot of space.

 

[Radelaide]

Steam downloads force updates in such a way so as to make games unplayable while they are being downloaded, tends to break if your offline and links games to a single account, meaning that if the account is lost your games are lost.

Boxed games on the PC are much like boxed games on the PS3, you got a game disc, put it in your computer, install and play.

As you can clearly see, I was absent when god decided to make everyone a steam fanboy. It is a shit system and I wouldn't reccommend it to anyone who didn't have a kickass internet connection (if you, like me, are Australian, this is a NO).

I hav a God-awful connect and I still like Steam. It's a neat little package to keep all your games tidy. Even non-steam games can be shown in the games tab. It's a bit of hit or miss with Steam, but it's generally a win.

 

[Goldeneye1989]

Steam downloads force updates in such a way so as to make games unplayable while they are being downloaded, tends to break if your offline and links games to a single account, meaning that if the account is lost your games are lost.

Boxed games on the PC are much like boxed games on the PS3, you got a game disc, put it in your computer, install and play.

As you can clearly see, I was absent when god decided to make everyone a steam fanboy. It is a shit system and I wouldn't reccommend it to anyone who didn't have a kickass internet connection (if you, like me, are Australian, this is a NO).

Except when you decide to turn off forced updates in the properties, or maybe your in a part of Australia that is still working on the telegraph.

I would only suggest that you dont get steam if you A. have a tendency to forget your login details (even though you can log into your account soon as you turn your computer on with your details).

I highly suggest steam, unless you decide to cheat and get yourself VAC banned...

 

[Phowks]

They both have advantages.

With Steam you have the ability to save whatever games you have so if you switch computers you can just download them directly, which is really nice. You also get updates and some sweet discounts on games. However you can get some updates that you have to install before you can play which can take a while and be rather irksome. And sometimes the discounts on games come right after you buy it but I wouldn't say that's a problem with Steam, more just a timing issue. Also the community feature is nice and it's great to be able to chat with people while playing a game (Shift+Tab brings up a chat box) so it's a good way to keep in touch with people.

With a disc you get the security of actually having the hard copy. As said before, if you lose your Steam account you don't have to worry. Also you get the box and the little paper guide that comes inside (some even come with more stuff) But this all goes along with having the hard copy. You don't also have to deal with Steam updates or the little pop up that comes after you exit the game.

There really is no reason not to go with both. Get Steam, even if you don't initially want to buy games off of it, you don't have to, nor do you need to put a credit card in unless you are buying a game, so thats safe.

I like having the disc, box and all. but having Steam is also incredibly useful. One is not really 'better' than the other, they just have their own advantages.

However, I'm a Valve fangirl so I might not be the most reliable source...

 

[Yog Sothoth]

Steam is great, I love it... integrated friend list, voice chat, play your games on any PC that has internet connection, lots of great promotions, good prices, good tech support...

You won't be disappointed, OP...

 

[Therumancer]

I dislike Steam on principle but due to their holiday sale I own a ton of games on Steam right now. Let me explain things as I see them though:

The big differance is that when you buy a PC game in a store you get a disc in hand with the game on it, you now basically OWN that game. Unless your disc is broken or lost or whatever it's yours. 15, 20 years from now you can dust off your old computer, install, and play your game if you have a hankering to. You also typically get a player manual with instructions to play the game. While most games involve a tutorial having a manual to refer to at times can be a lifesaver.

With STEAM (or other services like Gamersgate, or Direct2Drive) you are basically just getting the game, and what's more your entirely at the mercy of their service. If they go out of business for some reason you lose your game since you do not have a physical "hard" copy of the data. What's more you do not get any docs with most games, IF the game does have docs on steam you either have to use them online, or print them out (which is nessicary if you want them to refer to while playing) and depending on how extensive the manual is, that can ultimatly amount to a bit of a price when dealing with ink cartridges and toner. With many games you might not even get the choice.

Right now STEAM seems to be the most succesful service, but especially with the way fortunes can change at a moment's notice (EA, etc...) it's a bit of a gamble.

Part of the equasion is also that buying games via download costs the same exact price as getting a hardcopy. So basically your paying exactly what you would for the box in the store with a copy you own (and the "rights"/"power" that give you) but your getting very little in return except for the promise that you can play the game as long as the service exists.

Now the reason why I got a bunch of games on STEAM is because they were just doing a sale where some of the games they had were like 75% off or more. I bought a bunch of stuff that was like in the $3-$5 range with the holiday price reduction (and a couple of games that were like $10 instead of $40-$50). I felt that was worth the risk, and mostly I got games I wasn't sure about in general so I figured it was worth the price. Basically getting STEAM ownership for the price of what a rental or two might cost in most cases. That promotion is however now over with. If it comes around again, you might look into it, but otherwise I recommened avoiding such services unless your after an indie game or rare/uncommon title you can't get
a physical copy of from a store.

I mean really, I only find such things worthwhile under an extreme discount. If like their holiday sale prices were their normal prices (given what your giving up) I'd recommend STEAM but I don't see that happening, and if it ever did I'd be concerned that it would only last until they finally forced Brick and Mortar stores out of business (at least for PC games) then they would raise the prices back up again once they were the only game in town.

If your looking at a game like oh say Borderlands for PC (I have it for my console personally), there is no reason to get it from Steam unless it's under a substantial discount when you buy it. I mean why pay the same price as in a store, and then not get a disc in your hand and a harcopy of the manual you can look at if needed without blowing a bunch of ink or toner?

 

[alinos]

Steam downloads force updates in such a way so as to make games unplayable while they are being downloaded, tends to break if your offline and links games to a single account, meaning that if the account is lost your games are lost.

Boxed games on the PC are much like boxed games on the PS3, you got a game disc, put it in your computer, install and play.

As you can clearly see, I was absent when god decided to make everyone a steam fanboy. It is a shit system and I wouldn't reccommend it to anyone who didn't have a kickass internet connection (if you, like me, are Australian, this is a NO).

how many times have you forgotten the password to your email account and been permanently locked out id hazard a guess at nearly zero

besides if your credit card is tied to the account it is possible to retrieve your account with that


as for the australia thing steams fine provided your not with a terrible service provider
telstra and node both offer unlimited steam downloads and most others have enough bandwidth provided that you should get enough games

as for the unplayable download for games this has happened to me 2 times ever there has been 2 times where when ive gone to play a game that had already been fully downloaded that i couldnt play because of an update

the only real problem is that when it update day for the heavy hitters like Team fortress and L4D there can be issues with other downloads but otherwise it works great

not having to have a pile of game boxes is also awesome

also for reference i have a 1500 internet connection which means it is 150kbps which means yes games take a while to be downloaded but unless your planning on buying every game on there and downloading them all for play ASAP im sure youll be able to play what youve already got while you download your next one

its a shame you just missed all the massive sales they had on the games mass effect was like 5US at one point i think