Good, older games?

Looks good - maybe worth waiting for the 'next generation' refresh next year though?


Wow, but hang on, I'm a complete nube here, how are their different prices for the same game through Steam? How does Good Old Games compare to Steam? Can anyone provide a decent explanation on how to buy games these days? Last game I bought came on a CD from Electronic Boutique!

The new fresh for witcher will be free. Just how cdpr roll
 
Wow, but hang on, I'm a complete nube here, how are their different prices for the same game through Steam? How does Good Old Games compare to Steam? Can anyone provide a decent explanation on how to buy games these days? Last game I bought came on a CD from Electronic Boutique!

There are some key sites that sell Steam codes for a lot less then Steam directly, they source these codes from various places, now some sites are dodgy and some OK/genuine.

I've used CDKeys for a long time and never had any issues, or places like Fanatical, Humble, GOG, I'm sure others will chip in with some suggestions.

Though still check Steam as occasionally their prices are cheaper :)
 
[..] Wow, but hang on, I'm a complete nube here, how are their different prices for the same game through Steam? How does Good Old Games compare to Steam? Can anyone provide a decent explanation on how to buy games these days? Last game I bought came on a CD from Electronic Boutique!

PC gaming is pretty much entirely digital distribution nowadays. Even if you buy a physical copy, it will probably require digital distribution anyway. You might get a disc with just a downloader on it. You might get a box with a code in it to redeem at a digital distribution site.

Almost all digital distribution companies have their own client that you must use for the games you got from them. This usually includes bloatware and spyware because of course it does. It also makes it possible to buy the same game twice by mistake by buying it on different clients. Plenty of people have done that.

That's one of the ways in which GOG (which no longer calls itself Good Old Games because it no longer only sells old games) is different. They have a client, but you don't have to use it. You can install and run games from them like people did back when people bought games rather than effectively renting them for as long as the publishers allow. You buy a game from them, it's yours. No client required, no DRM, etc.

There's a trend towards different publishers having their own clients, so you might end up having to install and use half a dozen different clients, each with their own seperate library. In some cases, this is used to force publisher exclusives in order to ensure that everyone who wants to play a particular game must do it through one specific client and only that client, trying to turn the open platform of PC gaming into a closed platform. Epic is particularly infamous for this, especially as their client was spectacularly defective at launch and lacked most of the basic functions of a gaming client.

There's a trend towards having meta-library software that can display the contents of libraries from different distributors and run the different clients for each one. That at least solves the problems of buying a game more than once by mistake or wondering which library a particular game is in...as long as the different clients are supported.

The reason for the different prices in Steam is that you can buy a key code for a game and apply it to Steam to get the game added to your account. Which is effectively what you're doing anyway, it's just more obvious when you buy the code as a standalone purchase. You might be able to do the same with other distributers, but it's at least far more common with Steam. There's a grey market in game codes acquired from various sources, which vary from legit to outright theft and fraud. It's a contentious issue. At one extreme, there have been devs who have publically stated that they would prefer people to outright pirate their games rather than buy a key from a keyseller business. There are various keyseller businesses and they have very varied reputations.
 
Haven't done any gaming for around 12 years, what have I missed? Are there any classics over the last decade that are now really cheap?

Portal 2 - currently £1.43 on steam so bargain
Borderlands 2 (best in the series IMO, if you've not played any i'd look at them all but probably avoid the presequel)

Might also want to say if there are any specific genres you like.

As for buying games, to add to what some others have said, some places are a bit iffy, I'd say G2A and Kinguin (they're kinda like ebay for game codes) will come under this category. Though I've bought games from both and been fine. Some places are in a grey area like CDKeys - I don't think they are authorised resellers of the games they sell. Again I've bought from them and been fine. Then you have places like Green Man Gaming, GamersGate, WinGameStore which, AFAIK, are authorised resellers. IMHO the best place to look is https://isthereanydeal.com/ as, again AFAIK, it lists the reliable end of the game selling companies. Also shows deals on the sites, though it's still best to check the actual website.
 
As for buying games, to add to what some others have said, some places are a bit iffy, I'd say G2A and Kinguin (they're kinda like ebay for game codes) will come under this category. Though I've bought games from both and been fine. Some places are in a grey area like CDKeys - I don't think they are authorised resellers of the games they sell. Again I've bought from them and been fine. Then you have places like Green Man Gaming, GamersGate, WinGameStore which, AFAIK, are authorised resellers. IMHO the best place to look is https://isthereanydeal.com/ as, again AFAIK, it lists the reliable end of the game selling companies. Also shows deals on the sites, though it's still best to check the actual website.

Thanks, that's really interesting - but what a mess! Looking on 'Is There Any Deal' show's lots of places with stuff cheaper than Steam - even though it says delivery 'Steam Key'.
Is there ANY difference between buying directly through Steam and buying a Steam Key through a third party like GAMESPLANET?
 
Haven't done any gaming for around 12 years, what have I missed? Are there any classics over the last decade that are now really cheap?
Witcher 80 hours
can get the complete pack for like £12 will do you or 80 hours of gameplay

Sleeping dogs 14 hours
GTA in hong kong

GTA V 40 hours
Doom
 
For me:

Witcher 3 GOTY Edition. A lot of gameplay for the money. Brilliant story and you can get a lot of mods for it (I.e. graphic mods)

Skyrim. I can’t see how this can be confused with the above. It’s more a first person RPG. Brilliant game for not much money and the mods are awesome.

Batman. I’d play them in order. It’s just a nice change to the usual FPS we get on the PC.

For around £20 quid on a good offer day the above will give you days of gaming.


M.
 
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