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I was having a look around on Steam and it seems it's cheaper to buy a boxed game from Amazon than from Steam. What am I missing?
What's the point of Steam?
- Thread starter daninthemix
- Start date
This for me.
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- 2 Dec 2008
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OK but for instance Far Cry 2 - £20 on Steam vs £6 on Amazon.
Rip-off either way.
The deals on Steam are often good, but I would never pre-order or buy games on there at the normal prices, it's a complete rip-off. If digital distribution wants to take over, they need to get make their pricing far more sensible first, and people need to stop paying £5-10 more just because "it's on Steam!".
Ok but for instance, GTA IV for £5 in a sale, all of THQ games for £26 in a sale. Weekly deals on good games, most new games sell for £25-£30 like the shops. You're just picking bad examples. It's also an IM.
Yeah from the games I've looked at it has always been a cheaper option to buy from Amazon, in some cases £10 cheaper for the slightly newer titles. You would think that distributing games via download would reduce cost below the boxed version, I guess not.
Convenience is what Steam is for really. Depending on your 'net connection you could download, install and play a game within hours without leaving your chair. But it'll cost yah
.
Convenience is what Steam is for really. Depending on your 'net connection you could download, install and play a game within hours without leaving your chair. But it'll cost yah
.
Soldato
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Steam is better for conveniance and sales, example the summer madness sale, I bought, Ghostbusters, Left For Dead 2 and Force Unleashed for under £15 and they reside happily on my HDD with no boxes ready for my CBA to develop
If they undercut physical retailers, then the publishers get the hump as retailers would give them aggro.
Steam are expensive, but it's the sales that mainly keep people buying from Steam, the convienience as i've already stated is there, but some people don't mind paying like £20 for Far Cry 2 because they can afford to spend that much on it and that it's more convenient for them, if you're sensible though, you'll wait for the sales.
They do need to get it sorted though, having a premium over other shops "just because its on steam" is a bit rubbish. If not to undercut but at least bring it to within a few pounds.
Soldato
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Steam don't set the price on Steam. Publishers do, and they undercut the retail sales for a reason. They take away a larger portion of the sales that way.
Since I got a debit card at about 17 (Nearly 4 years ago), I think i've only bought one retail game (Bad Company 2). I buy everything on Steam and i'm totally happy with it, although I really want Empire and Napolean Total War right now which are way overpriced on steam. Thing is, I just don't buy them.
I try and support Steam as much as possible, because I love Valve and love Indie devs, and by purchasing games on Steam I can support both.
I try and support Steam as much as possible, because I love Valve and love Indie devs, and by purchasing games on Steam I can support both.
Steam is overpriced and a nuisance I feel, however I can see it offering advantages to those who are unable to get to the shops or who want to get the newest titles as soon as possible.
Right this minute I'm installing COD MW2 which I have just been and purchased from Arg0s for £24.99 steam are charging £39.99 for the same title, its only taking me 15 minutes to install and not several hours to download.
Right this minute I'm installing COD MW2 which I have just been and purchased from Arg0s for £24.99 steam are charging £39.99 for the same title, its only taking me 15 minutes to install and not several hours to download.