Steam vs PC?

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

I've been looking around back issues of the escapist for 20 minutes now but I can't find the article that puts so eloquently why steam (and other D2D) must die. I'll try to surmise my own feelings about it thoguh. This is a far5 less compelling argunet than the articles made so if you have time, look them up (Such as "The Downside of Direct Downloads" from issue 212). No offence to you steam users, but I'm quite happy with the selection of games that I can buy and hold in my hands. I don't need the excessive (and at the same time limited) selection of steam.

1: When you buy a game from steam, you do not physically own the game. You have a digital version that is only acessible too you if you have the internet. If your harddrive crashes or if the steam servers go down. You have paid money to own absolutely nothing.

2: When playing some (not all) games. You play on servers that are hosted by the company. As such, if coupled with the above steam argument, what you have just done is (metaphoricaly), not to buy a car, you have paid money to loan a car and drive it on someone elses porch. When I buy a game I expect to be able to just put it in my PC, install, and play. I do not expect to be forced to install extra programs (i.e. steam) nor do I expect to be forced to be connected to some internet serverce (WL and sometimes steam) just to play the game. I expect to be able to play without the latest patch should I choose to do so, and download said patch when I want. AND I expect to be able to play even if a power outage has made some server in america unavailable.

3: To exemplify my point I'll say that I'm a great fan of the Dawn of war games, yet I'm not touching the second one with a 15 foot pole after the clusterfuck that windows live turned it into. I'm SURE steam is diffrerent but I don't give a damn. If I'm paying money so that I can stand in three years time after steam turns sour and not own a single game. They can frankly go f*ck themselves.

PS. If blizzard is going to go battle-net only with SC2 I'm not buying. DS.

Actually although you own a virtual copy of the game you can actually download it and reinstall it as much as you please all you need is access to your steam account that you bought said game on. The only problem I have with steam is even if you want to play a Vavle game offline you are forced to update it first and you have to be online to play games on steam other than that I have no problems with Steam as I bought over 30 with those christmas deals.

lemme guess. the eidos pack?

THQ one and as I'd never played Prince of Persia games and Half Life I got Half life Anthology, Orange Box, Prince Of Persia games and KotOR as most were under 5euro and Killing Floor went under 5euro too so you kinda see what happened here.

 

[TheSeventhLoneWolf]

Careful with the VS title.

Steam is great. It's like a personal ticket to games, to any computer you have it installed in without needing CD's. So no switching disks or anything,

 

[brumby]

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).

But then again, Here in Australia we pay $100 for a new released game in store. Thats $91 US dollars! On steam new releases are normally under $50 US dollars ($54 Australian). So I get my games for almost half price, but I pay a buttload to my Internet Service Provider.

And if steam is updating while your playing a multiplayer game, God hates you and your doing something wrong.

Steam is awesome, except for all the impulse buying your going to do. Every week there's up to 75% off on a game I don't have and now i've ended up with half a dozen games I either haven't played much or even downloaded at all. I Picked up Shattered Horizon ($5), Torchlight ($5) and GTA4 ($7.50) over the holiday sales and I've only played Torchlight .

 

[brumby]

The one thing that troubles me about Steam is that I'm not sure what happens to the games if it shuts down.

Hypothetically if Steam hits the skids for whatever reason and has to get pulled I think that there is little or no obligation to sort out the games that you've bought on Steam so that they can be played without it. The standalone aspect of other sites (direct2drive, Impulse, Gamersgate etc) being one of their bonuses.

But hell, I've got 81 games on Steam, and counting, so I'm screwed if it goes down!

Question!! how many of those games have you not touched at all?

 

[gxs]

so youre saying that america has the worst currency? steam is cheap as for me

No. I'm not talking about how bad is your or anyone else's currency. I'm talking about how e.g. Batman costs 40€ or 40$. But 1$ is about 0,8€ and that's the same as the retail price of said game.

So to recap (I didn't get the exact cost of a game because I'm too lazy):
Steam 40$ = 40€
Retail 33€

So you can see that the store bought games are cheaper if you leave in Europe (and pay with Euros) just because of the unfair pricing system Steam uses.

 

[incal11]

You will be able to play any game 15, 20 years from now that you bought on steam, assuming steam is still around, and I can't think of any reason why it wouldn't be (seriously). Valve have also stated that if they ever shut down the company they will release a tool which can make all games from steam playable without steam, at which point all you'd have to do is backup your games (burn them to disk and they're essentially the same as a retail game.. the backups even come with an autorun designed for disks) and use the tool when you want to install them. They've already tested ideas such as this and reported it works.

And who needs manuals? Manuals have become redundant since the internet. Everything you need to know is right there on the net, usually on the official game website.

Manuals used to enrich the game's stories, and sometime came with gorgeous illustrations ; they were more convenients than searching forums for tips, and more enjoyable.
I'd even say that good games come with good manuals...
For example Planescape, Morrowind, Homeworld, Vampire: the mascerade, and fallout 2 all had great manuals; if you ever get them in your hands , you will agree with me.

I don't think you need steam's official tool (assuming it really exist) to make a game non-steam, others out there did not wait for steam to tank.
It does not solve the problem of being robbed of all the games you supposedly bought if you have your account permanently banned, even for a good reason;
I know this is as rare as dying in a plane crash, but you can't deny the chance exist, and it makes me too uneasy.

 

[Ranthus]

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 have to agree with the fact that everyone started liking Steam out of nowhere(Probably when Steam started selling every game on the PC?), but I pretty much disagree with the rest. Steam automatic updates are a good thing, it beats searching on the filefront page trying to figure out which update you need. Steam often gets good deals(missed the holiday sale!), and it's pretty simple (but it takes awhile) to download and install new games. At least you don't have to click next or switch CDs in the case of older games. Also, Steam has games that pretty much don't exist retail any more. Getting the Orange Box will require you to install steam anyway, as it runs through steam. It's pretty much an install disk and an activation key for Steam(At least, that's what I've seen in the boxes I've gotten(CS1 Anthology+TF2))

Anyway, get it on steam because it's probably cheaper. Also, if you get a new computer, you won't have to hunt down boxes and CD keys. And a few games have no retail, and never did.

Edit
Oh right, never give anyone your password. EVER. No matter what. If you lose your Steam account, you lose your games. That's a down side. I have never lost my account, but I tried to mess with a few stealers once. I always just told them my old account info while switching to a new password.
And I forgot.

I can't seem to a good answer for this question, so I thought I'd open up to you guys (hoping that escapists won't spam the forums with "omg noooooob" everywhere)

omg nooooo-no....

 

[Firenz]

Question!! how many of those games have you not touched at all?

If we don't count the multiplayer itterations of singleplayer games as seperate, nor the things like Episodic games, Source SDK and Zeno clash models then the number changes to 56 I think and the answer is I've played every single one of them from Uplink and Space Empires IV to Sid Miers Pirates and MW2.

I've been active on Steam since HL2 first came out and have been buying games on it they first were availible.

EDIT: Steam is a fantastic piece of software but it is limiting game distribution.
My advice is to look into Direct2Drive, Impulse, Gamersgate etc first and then check out Steam as it is a bit controlling.

 

[Daedalus1942]

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'm australian, and I have no issues whatsoever playing TF2, L4d 1 and 2, or DoD: source online. The bottom line is your internet connection is just shit...

 

[Daedalus1942]

so youre saying that america has the worst currency? steam is cheap as for me

No. I'm not talking about how bad is your or anyone else's currency. I'm talking about how e.g. Batman costs 40€ or 40$. But 1$ is about 0,8€ and that's the same as the retail price of said game.

So to recap (I didn't get the exact cost of a game because I'm too lazy):
Steam 40$ = 40€
Retail 33€

So you can see that the store bought games are cheaper if you leave in Europe (and pay with Euros) just because of the unfair pricing system Steam uses.

I live in Australia ad I can safely say here... that steam games are alot cheaper than most of the retail prices here. Henceforth why I use it most of the time for brand new PC games (unless they're collectors editions).

 

[lyfeindeyth]

Steam looks a bit messy so I've never wanted to download it, but what the the pro's and cons of such a system?

 

[lockeslylcrit]

I'd rather have the best of both worlds: disks and Steam. Just like with Empire: Total War, I've got a DVD for the game in case I want to install it on a computer out in the boondocks that has crappy (read: dial-up) internet connection (such as when I'm visiting family for the holidays), and I've got it on Steam in case my disk gets scratched.

 

[CUnk]

Steam looks a bit messy so I've never wanted to download it, but what the the pro's and cons of such a system?

Were the previous 3 pages of comments addressing this question insufficient?

 

[ThePirateMan]

Their are a few problems I have with Steam.
1: You have to be connected to the internet in order to PLAY games and if your on the road with a laptop your shit out of luck.

2: Valve will NOT lower the price of their games no matter how old they are (I still thought $7 for HL1 was a rip off)

3: Why the built in internet browser?

4: if the game originated on disk then you cant lend the disk out to others in order to try it out before they buy it.

5: You can't regulate the speed at which you download, you can only pause it.

1: I have played offline on steam many many times.

2: I find that price pretty damn cheap for what I consider such a good game and most of the older games I find on steam are pretty cheap

3: I find it very practical to just shift-tab in the middle of a game and then go on the internet to search for stuff like.. cheats, guides and stuff. Mostly because my computer has the habit of breaking whenever I alt-tab or whatever you call it.

4: Can't really argue against that, but you could also loan out your Steam account. But I would never do that.

 

[wildpeaks]

I can't seem to a good answer for this question, so I thought I'd open up to you guys (hoping that escapists won't spam the forums with "omg noooooob" everywhere).

I'm a PS3 guy who wants to play some games that have not been released on PS3. I'm primarily interested in 1-player games like Mass Effect and the Orange Box. I'm trying to figure out the difference between buying/playing games on Steam and just buying the PC game in a store. The biggest differences i can figure out thus far are that 1) Steam games are downloaded and therefore instantaneously available and 2) Steam has its own network, similar to XBL and PSN.

Which should I go with? Why do you like Steam or PC?

I'd go Steam (especially if you want the Orange box given you're basically buying an empty box as you need to install Steam to decrypt the game files and isntall updates anyway) when the price is about the same, but if the game is old, you could find cheaper used boxes.

Steam's community features are pretty cool though, Steam is more than just a delivery system to download games.

 

[Nomanslander]

The only negative thing I've come across with Steam is the fact it takes so damn long to download the game that going out, buying the game, then installing it would have taken you far lesser time.

Either than that little detail...it's still better.

 

[teisjm]

Unless you're old-school materialistic like me, and has to own the box, theres no reason not to use steam.

 

[King Chronic]

steam is by far the best way to go for gaming on the pc in my eyes, it holds all your games in 1 list, access your friends list AND COMMUNICATE WITH FRIENDS in or out of game

i own MW2 for ps3, yet i play CS:S on steam more than MW2