Why buy games off Steam???

AJ! · 03-14-10, 01:19 PM

Has anyone else noticed that on almost all occations the digital downloads they have are far more expensive then most retail and online stores prices for hard copies..

Empire TW - Steam £30 Amazon £19

Napoleon TW - Steam £25 Amazon £17

MW2 - Steam £40 Amazon £30

MW - Steam £30 Amazon £20

Chaos Rising - Steam £30 Amazon £18

Now this was just a quick comparison with amazon but i know there are cheaper prices out there. What i dont understand is how steam can charge this for downloads when you can get a hard copy of the game for much less

When i bought Dawn of war 2 from Amazon i got it for £15 while Steam was charging over £30. I now have it installed which means i can redownload it off steam whenever i want or use the disk when the steam servers are playing up......

I dont see why anyone would want to use the steam service to buy games

Ubergeek87 · 03-14-10, 05:27 PM

It must be something with that side of the pond. I just checked all those games and Steam's price was identical or better than Amazon.

As a general rule of thumb (and also because I'm cheap) I don't buy games on Steam unless they're on sale which has saved me more money than I care to admit. I also like the convenience of not having to go to the store or wait for shipping, the achievements, and the community overlay.

CCIP · 03-14-10, 05:33 PM

I just buy stuff off Steam when it's on one of their sales or in packs - very rarely do I bother with their regular prices. Their sales are rather sweet at times however (snagged a few games for $5 over Christmas, including Mass Effect and GTAIV). As a result of those, I have somewhere in the neighbourhood of 60 games on Steam now. Also like to buy stuff for friends via that.

03-14-10, 09:18 PM

Steam despite my slow connection is still worth buying games off of, their sale prices are just mad sometimes, ETW for 10 bucks, hell yeah!

Arclight · 03-14-10, 11:20 PM

Yep, only buy the specials as well.

Falkirion · 03-14-10, 11:48 PM

I only buy games off Steam when there's a sale on. Its a great service though, they had a 12 day sale last xmas. Hoping for another one this year round Xmas too

ajrimmer42 · 03-15-10, 01:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CCIP

I just buy stuff off Steam when it's on one of their sales or in packs - very rarely do I bother with their regular prices. Their sales are rather sweet at times however (snagged a few games for $5 over Christmas, including Mass Effect and GTAIV). As a result of those, I have somewhere in the neighbourhood of 60 games on Steam now. Also like to buy stuff for friends via that.

GTA IV for $5!!! No way!

CCIP · 03-15-10, 02:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ajrimmer42

GTA IV for $5!!! No way!

Yes way

Great deal, isn't it? (well, I might be wrong, it could have been $7 and not 5 - but, you know, still in that neighbourhood)

A lot of games were there to be snagged for great prices over the Christmas sale, so it was sure worth keeping an eye on. There was a WWII pack (from Ubi I think) which included IL-2 1946, SHIII and SHIV Gold and 3 or 4 other games, which went for a total of $24. At two points during that sale, Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl (really fantastic game with mods, much like SHIII, by the way) was going for $4.

Ubergeek87 · 03-15-10, 02:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CCIP

Yes way

Great deal, isn't it? (well, I might be wrong, it could have been $7 and not 5 - but, you know, still in that neighbourhood)

A lot of games were there to be snagged for great prices over the Christmas sale, so it was sure worth keeping an eye on. There was a WWII pack (from Ubi I think) which included IL-2 1946, SHIII and SHIV Gold and 3 or 4 other games, which went for a total of $24. At two points during that sale, Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl (really fantastic game with mods, much like SHIII, by the way) was going for $4.

I think it was $7.50 or £4.99

Here's a list someone put together of the sale
http://savygamer.co.uk/2009/12/23/steam-christmas-sale/

Der_Meister · 03-15-10, 02:20 PM

I recently picked up AvP Classic 2000 for 4.99, and Red Orchestra for 4.99 a few months ago! Steam has great deals sometimes.

Flopper · 03-15-10, 02:36 PM

I picked up sh3 for $5 around Christmas, and last week picked up IL2 Sturmovik 1946, also $5, or was it 10? And Railworks Mega Bundle was 66% off and I picked that up too. I didn't have to drive somewhere and see if they were available, and there's an offline mode. I had my doubts at first, but so far, so good.

Camaero · 03-15-10, 03:56 PM

I seem to find great deals on steam... I'm actually a fan of the whole thing. Steam takes care of patches and puts everything in one nice and neat place. Plus for MP games it's *very* nice being able to have a friendlist and see who's playing what and blah blah. Meh... I can't say I have much to complain about as far as Steam goes.

Actually I will say this: I have impulsively bought games on Steam that I would have otherwise never bought had I needed to drag myself to the store or was forced to wait and have it shipped to me. Sometimes this has lead to regrets and a waste of money... but I blame being part of the "now" generation more than I blame Steam.

Eyebiter · 03-16-10, 02:19 PM

Steam is fine for games without any additional DRM. Things get ugly though when the publisher uses Steam for distribution with an invasive copy protection method like Starforce.

TteFAboB · 03-19-10, 05:54 AM

The first game I bought on Steam was Dangerous Waters, because I couldn't find a hard copy anywhere. Then the convenience of just pushing a button and having a game installed on my machine tempted me to buy another game on Steam, and another, and another, etc.

So now I have about a dozen or so games on Steam, and 4 on Impulse, the tiny competitor.

And I regret it immensely.

Because when you buy a game on Steam, while for all practical purposes you do "buy a game" like in a store, technically you are actually paying a one-time fee for an indefinite rental service, which means that if or when Steam disappears all your purchased games will go down with the service.

So they better keep that boat afloat... You could compare it with buying a real bar of gold and a piece of paper that states your right to withdraw a bar of gold from bank Rupt. Gold, diamonds and jewel cases are forever (except when targeted by giant laser cannons).

Gladly, most games on my Steam (and most games in general) won't be worth playing or having in the next decades anyway, but some of them will, and for these I miss a disc from which I can install anytime, anywhere, regardless of the financial status and history of Company A or B, internet connections, etc.

So I'd recommend buying a disc of the games worth keeping through the times, even if you have a Steam version as well for Steam's conveniences.

Having said that, as the service it intends to be Steam is way better than alternatives with limited activations, fixed hardware requirements, E.T. phoning home every week or bust, internet connection required to start, etc., and it works most of the time, though I've been caught off guard by server maintenance in L4D2 a few times, but that won't be a problem with off-line games.

Flopper · 03-19-10, 02:52 PM

I'm missing one of my FS2004 disks. I've looked everywhere... can't play it.

03-14-10, 01:19 PM	#1
AJ! Commodore Join Date: May 2006 Location: That lil island above france Posts: 601 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Why buy games off Steam??? Has anyone else noticed that on almost all occations the digital downloads they have are far more expensive then most retail and online stores prices for hard copies.. Empire TW - Steam £30 Amazon £19 Napoleon TW - Steam £25 Amazon £17 MW2 - Steam £40 Amazon £30 MW - Steam £30 Amazon £20 Chaos Rising - Steam £30 Amazon £18 Now this was just a quick comparison with amazon but i know there are cheaper prices out there. What i dont understand is how steam can charge this for downloads when you can get a hard copy of the game for much less When i bought Dawn of war 2 from Amazon i got it for £15 while Steam was charging over £30. I now have it installed which means i can redownload it off steam whenever i want or use the disk when the steam servers are playing up...... I dont see why anyone would want to use the steam service to buy games __________________

03-14-10, 05:27 PM	#2
Ubergeek87 Machinist's Mate Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 123 Downloads: 15 Uploads: 0	It must be something with that side of the pond. I just checked all those games and Steam's price was identical or better than Amazon. As a general rule of thumb (and also because I'm cheap) I don't buy games on Steam unless they're on sale which has saved me more money than I care to admit. I also like the convenience of not having to go to the store or wait for shipping, the achievements, and the community overlay. __________________

03-14-10, 05:33 PM	#3
CCIP Navy Seal Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Waterloo, Canada Posts: 8,700 Downloads: 29 Uploads: 2	I just buy stuff off Steam when it's on one of their sales or in packs - very rarely do I bother with their regular prices. Their sales are rather sweet at times however (snagged a few games for $5 over Christmas, including Mass Effect and GTAIV). As a result of those, I have somewhere in the neighbourhood of 60 games on Steam now. Also like to buy stuff for friends via that. __________________ There are only forty people in the world and five of them are hamburgers. -Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart)

03-14-10, 11:20 PM	#5
Arclight Navy Seal Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Land of windmills, tulips, wooden shoes and cheese. Lots of cheese. Posts: 8,467 Downloads: 53 Uploads: 10	Yep, only buy the specials as well. __________________ Contritium praecedit superbia.

03-15-10, 02:36 PM	#11
Flopper Weps Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Asheville, NC, USA Posts: 356 Downloads: 107 Uploads: 0	I picked up sh3 for $5 around Christmas, and last week picked up IL2 Sturmovik 1946, also $5, or was it 10? And Railworks Mega Bundle was 66% off and I picked that up too. I didn't have to drive somewhere and see if they were available, and there's an offline mode. I had my doubts at first, but so far, so good. __________________

03-14-10, 09:18 PM	#4
Rilder Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	Steam despite my slow connection is still worth buying games off of, their sale prices are just mad sometimes, ETW for 10 bucks, hell yeah!

03-14-10, 11:48 PM	#6
Falkirion Ace of the Deep Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Melbourne, AUS Posts: 1,043 Downloads: 34 Uploads: 0	I only buy games off Steam when there's a sale on. Its a great service though, they had a 12 day sale last xmas. Hoping for another one this year round Xmas too

03-15-10, 02:20 PM	#10
Der_Meister Watch Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 25 Downloads: 17 Uploads: 0	I recently picked up AvP Classic 2000 for 4.99, and Red Orchestra for 4.99 a few months ago! Steam has great deals sometimes.

03-15-10, 03:56 PM	#12
Camaero The Old Man Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: USA, Massachusetts Posts: 1,477 Downloads: 18 Uploads: 0	I seem to find great deals on steam... I'm actually a fan of the whole thing. Steam takes care of patches and puts everything in one nice and neat place. Plus for MP games it's very nice being able to have a friendlist and see who's playing what and blah blah. Meh... I can't say I have much to complain about as far as Steam goes. Actually I will say this: I have impulsively bought games on Steam that I would have otherwise never bought had I needed to drag myself to the store or was forced to wait and have it shipped to me. Sometimes this has lead to regrets and a waste of money... but I blame being part of the "now" generation more than I blame Steam. __________________

03-16-10, 02:19 PM	#13
Eyebiter Watch Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 22 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Steam is fine for games without any additional DRM. Things get ugly though when the publisher uses Steam for distribution with an invasive copy protection method like Starforce.

03-19-10, 05:54 AM	#14
TteFAboB Admiral Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 2,247 Downloads: 4 Uploads: 0	The first game I bought on Steam was Dangerous Waters, because I couldn't find a hard copy anywhere. Then the convenience of just pushing a button and having a game installed on my machine tempted me to buy another game on Steam, and another, and another, etc. So now I have about a dozen or so games on Steam, and 4 on Impulse, the tiny competitor. And I regret it immensely. Because when you buy a game on Steam, while for all practical purposes you do "buy a game" like in a store, technically you are actually paying a one-time fee for an indefinite rental service, which means that if or when Steam disappears all your purchased games will go down with the service. So they better keep that boat afloat... You could compare it with buying a real bar of gold and a piece of paper that states your right to withdraw a bar of gold from bank Rupt. Gold, diamonds and jewel cases are forever (except when targeted by giant laser cannons). Gladly, most games on my Steam (and most games in general) won't be worth playing or having in the next decades anyway, but some of them will, and for these I miss a disc from which I can install anytime, anywhere, regardless of the financial status and history of Company A or B, internet connections, etc. So I'd recommend buying a disc of the games worth keeping through the times, even if you have a Steam version as well for Steam's conveniences. Having said that, as the service it intends to be Steam is way better than alternatives with limited activations, fixed hardware requirements, E.T. phoning home every week or bust, internet connection required to start, etc., and it works most of the time, though I've been caught off guard by server maintenance in L4D2 a few times, but that won't be a problem with off-line games. __________________ "Tout ce qui est exagéré est insignifiant." ("All that is exaggerated is insignificant.") - Talleyrand

03-19-10, 02:52 PM	#15
Flopper Weps Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Asheville, NC, USA Posts: 356 Downloads: 107 Uploads: 0	I'm missing one of my FS2004 disks. I've looked everywhere... can't play it. __________________