Why to boy Games via Steam

I work in Brum in the week and use my main rig, then back to Newcastle at weekends with my backup rig. Steam is really convenient when moving between multiple PCs. I don't have to worry about carrying disks around and a lot of the recent games support steam cloud which keeps my saves up to date wherever I happen to be in the world :D
 
The criteria for adding your retail game to Steam is whether they support Steam Works, not if they sell the game on the store. There is a list somewhere, but I can't be bothered to find it. Also there is no download limit, at all.

Steam hasn't got everything right yet, but it's far and away the best gaming hub for PC gamers, their sales are incredible, auto patching makes life so much easier and the social features are pretty spot on too. Steam Works should just get bigger and bigger, hopefully devs will start to shy away from services like GFWL and concentrate on supporting the services that the majority gamers actually want.

Having said that, I wish Steam would release Steam Works without the need for the client as an option. Similar to how GFWL works, you are signed into Steam and get the overlay when you launch the game but dont need to have the client running. That way Steams competitors wouldn't also have to sell the Steam store with Steam Works games. Uptake of retail games you can add to Steam might rise then.
 
tomos said:
yes there are. it's not down to valve for some games. there are disclaimers on some. not 100%, but it may have been assassins creed
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You're talking about 3rd party DRM, actually downloading content off the Steam servers is totally unrestricted.
 
There are a small minority of games which have additional DRM. This is always clearly listed on the game info page. If download limits are a problem then don't buy these games and hopefully the publishers will get the message one day!
 
Frapple said:
I always buy retail where possible so I can sell the games on later.
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Must admit, when I bought Black Ops DVD, after completing singe player I couldn't sell it on because the ******* registered it to my steam :mad:

Because of crap like this I'm now more tempted to torrent the game instead of buying it, their fault, their loss.
 
I read the title and got a bit worried! "Steamy boy games"?

I use Steam whenever the price is right as it saves me dealing with deliveries and looking after DVD's etc.

Andi.
 
I haven't bought a retail PC game since 2008 when Mass Effect came out. If it's not on Steam, I won't get it. :D
 
If its cheaper to buy a retail copy il do that, but if its same price or cheaper il always buy through steam. Its amazing to not have to reinstall all your games when you reinstall windows. I also love how you can just set it downloading over night and thats it. Installing games via a disc is annoying if there are lots of patches as well.
 
Puppetmaster said:
If its cheaper to buy a retail copy il do that, but if its same price or cheaper il always buy through steam. Its amazing to not have to reinstall all your games when you reinstall windows. I also love how you can just set it downloading over night and thats it. Installing games via a disc is annoying if there are lots of patches as well.
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Agreed, I'll usually just buy whatever's cheapest but that a Steam version by preference. I don't even care about not having the media anymore since I've realised I rarely, if ever, replay games these days. There are too many new ones released for me to play already. Having the media just means more physical crap to keep in my house.
 
Buying on steam saves you the trouble of going to the shops when everyone is queing. Also you can pre load certain games ready to play on release date. Special offers are almost unbeatable over the xmas period they also have some good midweek/weekend deals throughout the year.

You can download the game whenever you want to and if you want it on CD you do have the option to backup the games you currently have installed to a CD/external HDD.
 
Steam is great for special offers, just add any games youre interested in to the wishlist and keep looking out for them. I got Bioshock for about £2, and Mass Effect for about £4. Basically offers you're unlikely to get in the big retail stores. Plus free demos and cheap "arcade" games can be quite decent if you look around. Also you can set it to auto update any game through steam.
 
Like others I go by price, I buy too many games to buy everything from one place. Although Steam does awesome sales the new releases cost way too much compared to other places.

I've actually started to pre order games I know will be pretty good, I think I have Diablo 3 for 15 or 20 quid with fixed pre order price, when that's out it will probably cost 30 odd.

(I thought the OP wanted people to boycott steam from the title :P)
 
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