Steam games-you download or buy in store?

XZit · Apr 11, 2008

maybe a little off topic.
But when it comes to games off of steam-do you guys purchase these in store? Or download direct?

i.e. orange box e.t.c.

For example---I was thinking if you had a copy of the program (cd) you can install it everytime you say-make a new comp, or reformat.
If you had it downlaoded on steam-you can simply just download it again and again-and then burn it to a cd?

||Console|| · Apr 11, 2008

I like buying my games from steam . Fast Dl's and I can get it from anywhere .

pejsaboy · Apr 11, 2008

I may be a little old-fashioned, or maybe it's just paranoia, but I like having a disk that I can pop in my optical drive and a piece of paper that has the cd-key on it. I love the Steam concept though, how convenient is it to just download a game or 2 if you're on the road without all your game disks? Pure genius IMO

Leviathan41 · Apr 11, 2008

I like buying on Steam, usually they run a pre-order sale a few days before release, retail stores usually do not. Also, I don't have to go to the game store or pay Tennessee's 9.25% sales tax.

The best reason however, is that I don't have to worry about losing my disc or cd-key and I can play all my games on any computer I want without keeping up with any discs and can also re-download them any time I want.

evomac · Apr 11, 2008

I've bought all my Steam games directly from Steam except CS. It's super convenient, usually on sale, and anytime / anywhere access.

Like mentioned above, even if they are retail prices, you skip on the sales tax (7%) in NJ + gas. Most games take < 1 hour to download.

theoilman · Apr 11, 2008

I buy them from the store. I like having the disks, and I can register them with steam and download them whenever or wherever.

XZit · Apr 11, 2008

lol yep the good ol' sales tax.
Almost 10% where I live.

Goateh · Apr 11, 2008

I prefer to buy it from the shop, purely so I can have the media.

Dionysos · Apr 11, 2008

I keep losing all my CD key inserts for some reason. Thats why I love steam just log in and play without having to find the CD key. Plus if you really want the CD key there is a nice little option for you to find it, even if you bought it over steam.

IR1 · Apr 11, 2008

Once you register the game to steam you dont need the discs anymore. You can just download them if you prefer. Just like theoildman said. So if you buy the discs you get the best of both, hardcopy for quick install or download incase you ever lose the discs or key. I bought HL2 and the Orange Box all in retail so I could have the discs.

SteveLord · Apr 11, 2008

I buy them all at a store or site. Downloaded games almost always come with some kind of issue that affects some users.

jaymz9350 · Apr 11, 2008

I bought HL2 and Orange Box retail just because I had cash on hand (gift money) and didn't want to wait for it to get into my bank account. I have bought a few other games directly from steam and I love being able to download the games when ever I want. When ever i reformat and need a break from installing all the stuff you need (driver, progs, network setup) I just click download and install for all my steam games and walk away for a while.

Tiando · Apr 11, 2008

I've been looking around and I think steam is a great service and I plan to buy my future games there, but you guys are talking about taxes? What do you think about 20% taxes here in holland

mblue · Apr 11, 2008

My experience is pretty limited with Steam, but of the couple of games I have purchased all works well and the install was painless. The only problem I have and it may be just me, but it seems like the games should be a little cheaper if your downloading them. So far, I would have to say that I pretty much stick with buying in a store.

hibner · Apr 11, 2008

I'm downloading games from steam. They even run sales run and again.

benbaked · Apr 11, 2008

I like to have the pretty box, so I buy in store. I think the Steam concept is fantastic and works very well, I hope more companies employ such a method in the future. My only beef with steam is that the program is sluggish at times.

Leviathan41 · Apr 11, 2008

IR1 said:
Once you register the game to steam you dont need the discs anymore. You can just download them if you prefer. Just like theoildman said. So if you buy the discs you get the best of both, hardcopy for quick install or download incase you ever lose the discs or key. I bought HL2 and the Orange Box all in retail so I could have the discs.

Yeah, that's true for Valve's games, but not for other company's games. If you buy a Ubisoft or Activision game or whatever in the store, you can't register it to your Steam account to get all the benefits of Steam. You will have to purchase it through Steam to get these benefits.

evomac · Apr 11, 2008

Leviathan41 said:
Yeah, that's true for Valve's games, but not for other company's games. If you buy a Ubisoft or Activision game or whatever in the store, you can't register it to your Steam account to get all the benefits of Steam. You will have to purchase it through Steam to get these benefits.

For example I bought COD4 off Steam. I have redownloaded that game probably 5 times since I bought it from them. I'm about 90% certain you can't do that if you didn't buy it from Steam.

vixro · Apr 11, 2008

Most of the games you buy from steam can't be added to your account without a direct purchase from Steam.

The only games I know that will let you add them directly to your steam account are from Valve, like Orange box, CS, things like that. If you buy UT3 or COD4 you can't just add the key to your account.

I wish every single day I had purchased Bioshock through steam and didn't have the hardcopy with all the installation problems.

Jayws · Apr 11, 2008

I recently had this question with CoD4... I was going to go out to the store and buy it but then I realized that I could just download it without having to go out. It works great too if you build a new PC, reinstall, etc and need to put your games back on. Just install steam and login and you can auto-download/install all of your games.

Love it.

Steam games-you download or buy in store?

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