Steam games-you download or buy in store?

[dfonda]

Bought HL 2 the first time from Steam, the orange box came from....newegg on sale.

 

[dogbert_2001]

Stores generally have sales.

 

[moocow]

I prefer buying them in the store. I have my bookshelf loaded with game boxes and I like to add to that collection.

 

[technoViking]

+1 for downloads, i love it because I ususaly lose disks or scratch the hell out of them

 

[jmsanders2]

disks always, I want the hardcopy so I always have my purchase in physical form and not something that can be lost by others (irregardless of how good steam is).

 

[Sarsbaby]

Whatever is easier at the time of purchase. I'm about 50-50. You can also load shortcuts for all your other games too, steam or not.

 

[ratbuddy]

Toss up for me too. If I'm in the store and see a game I like, I'll buy it. If I'm home and want something they happen to have, I'll Steam it.

All Steam is missing that would make me buy 100% of the things they carry from them rather than retail is letting me store saved games on their server rather than locally. I'd pay for the service even..

 

[Leviathan41]

All Steam is missing that would make me buy 100% of the things they carry from them rather than retail is letting me store saved games on their server rather than locally. I'd pay for the service even..

That's a really cool idea. I wish Steam would implement it, then you play all your games anywhere with ease (including single-player).

 

[SteveLord]

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.

Because "going out" is such a hassle......

And installing Steam, logging on and downloading a full game is somehow light years faster than installing it off a disc?

 

[TheGreySpectre]

I like steam, its so easy and convienient to download and install my games. And I don't have to deal with all the funky things like the limited installations on bioshock or other problems of that sort if I want to have the game on my desktop and on my laptop. I also think it is a great medium for small games which you would not purchase at the store, such as audio surf.

 

[Jayws]

Because "going out" is such a hassle......

And installing Steam, logging on and downloading a full game is somehow light years faster than installing it off a disc?

The closest store for me is about 5 miles away so it is somewhat easier to just be able to download it. It typically isn't faster but I like the fact that I don't have to keep track of the packaging/product key. I guess it's just more slipstreamed for me. No disks to worry about scratching... no disks to bother with period (for the few games that require them to be in the drive while playing). I also currently live in a college dorm room (aka VERY little space) so the less crud that I have to deal with/keep track of, the better.

 

[TheGreySpectre]

I find it especially nice as I am in school right now and hence moving about once a year, so its less to keep track of if I buy it on steam.

And yes, downloading it can be faster than going out to the store when you have a fast internet connection and its 11:00 at night and you go "man I really wish I had _______ game"

 

[DomoRawks]

We still have to pay 17.5% sales tax on steam games in the UK.

I've heard theres often problems with direct to drive style games being a bugger to patch, but will buy all my valve games through steam.

 

[lordkosc]

I still like store games or buying online is ok as long as I get a box sent out to me

 

[Jayws]

I find it especially nice as I am in school right now and hence moving about once a year, so its less to keep track of if I buy it on steam.

And yes, downloading it can be faster than going out to the store when you have a fast internet connection and its 11:00 at night and you go "man I really wish I had _______ game"

I've already moved 2 times this year and while I can't say that I mind that much looking back it's still a bit of a hassle. I hear ya on the connection. When I downloaded CoD4 I was pulling about 6000-8000 kb/s. It's not always like that but if you catch them at the right time of day, my internet connection is faster than their servers.