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/

stabiz · 03-15-10, 03:14 AM

I actually gladly pay MORE for a hard copy, still dont like the digital method. Besides, lately I have also found the hard copies cheaper.

I paid 18 euros for Napoleon: Total War at play.com.

HunterICX · 03-15-10, 04:46 AM

Same here, not into the digital purchase&download thing.

I rather go to a shop and get myself a hardcopy from the shelf.

but when the case says it's powered by steam the better as I'm certain that I can change the game's language to english (most of the games here in spain are dubbed over)
I can live with the text but the voices are a instant atmospheric murderer.

HunterICX

CCIP · 03-15-10, 07:02 AM

I used to be a hardass for hard copies. Now most of them are sitting in my parents' basement, while I haven't got enough storage for them

I have to admit, I'm no Steam enthusiast. Their system has its faults (although looks like heaven compared to UBI DRM and DOES provide something which could be called good online service features). But I've now had 4 (and a half, due to major upgrades) different machines on which I operated my steam account since 2006 and it's honestly proved to be more reliable and convenient than my actual discs.

If hard copies of games these days came with good supplements, I'd probably be more keen to defend them, but honestly, as far as media formats go, I no longer really see the superiority of the CD/DVD as a digital media format, as compared to a stable online platform like Steam. They're just as potentially unreliable and a jewel case isn't much nicer to look at than a .jpg file.

But I'll totally go an extra mile for a game that actually ships with good physical supplements. I'm the same way with music these days - as with games, I don't really pirate anything, but I've now gone mostly to buying digital-download music from independent labels/online services (i.e. not iTunes - which in many respects is similar to Steam). On the other hand if an artist can put together a good package with supplements, I am glad to invest a little extra in it. Sadly it's rare these days, but it's gradually becoming more and more common. Bring on more LP-sized box sets!

AJ! · 03-15-10, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stabiz

I actually gladly pay MORE for a hard copy, still dont like the digital method. Besides, lately I have also found the hard copies cheaper.

I paid 18 euros for Napoleon: Total War at play.com.

This is what i am getting at. It seems completely mad to pay more for a download then a hard copy.

On the other hand i have also bagged some great deals on steam during the sales. Some games drop by about £25-30 during a good sale. I picked up stalker, Prey, dangerous waters, Defcon and both max paynes at the same time for under £10

Dowly · 03-15-10, 01:48 PM

Only buy digital copies myself (if available). The price is the same as if I'd go to the local stores. Which blows, digital copies should have lower price tag as there's no extra expenses involved in making the case & manual.

Amazon doesn't ship here or if it does, it'll double the price with shipping so that's a no go.

I'm just waiting when the people on the worse side of the pond (na na naa

) start to pay the same amount of money for their games as we do on this side.

Archangel · 03-15-10, 02:10 PM

I like Steam primarily because of the good deals they have during the sales, I saved alot of money during the christmas sale and filled up a decent backlog of games now that will keep me occupied for quite some time.

In addition I do not mind having digital copies as opposed to physical ones, I do in that regard however buy the 'Must haves' in the store, other games I can do without and get on Steam, and I also like the friends list which has made many of my L4D1-2 games much more enjoyable, and community wise there is alot of information tied to one place in the forums.

Furthermore like others have mentioned it is rather nice to just log on and purchase a game and DL it within an hour or so instead of going for the shop in all kinds of weather.

I have only used Steam for about 7 months though, but I am very happy with it so far and I will for sure continue to do so, primarily keeping to the sales, because I do think their prices are rather high, but it is about the same in regards to retail prices here in Norway so it is not very bad, just a comment due to the online part production wise. Other then that then I would like however to have an option to pay in dollars and not euros.

Funny thing is that I have never bought a full-price game on Steam until this saturday when I got BFBC2 in order to tie me over until BF3 as I have basically stopped playing BF2. The reason I used to justify the price as I originally would wait for a discount was that I skipped purchasing another game I removed from my list, SH-V.

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, 03:14 AM	#10
stabiz Silent Hunter Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Norway Posts: 4,224 Downloads: 14 Uploads: 0	I actually gladly pay MORE for a hard copy, still dont like the digital method. Besides, lately I have also found the hard copies cheaper. I paid 18 euros for Napoleon: Total War at play.com. __________________

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, 04:46 AM	#11
HunterICX Rear Admiral Join Date: May 2006 Location: Malaga, España Posts: 10,750 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 0	Same here, not into the digital purchase&download thing. I rather go to a shop and get myself a hardcopy from the shelf. but when the case says it's powered by steam the better as I'm certain that I can change the game's language to english (most of the games here in spain are dubbed over) I can live with the text but the voices are a instant atmospheric murderer. HunterICX __________________

03-15-10, 07:02 AM	#12
CCIP Navy Seal Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Waterloo, Canada Posts: 8,700 Downloads: 29 Uploads: 2	I used to be a hardass for hard copies. Now most of them are sitting in my parents' basement, while I haven't got enough storage for them I have to admit, I'm no Steam enthusiast. Their system has its faults (although looks like heaven compared to UBI DRM and DOES provide something which could be called good online service features). But I've now had 4 (and a half, due to major upgrades) different machines on which I operated my steam account since 2006 and it's honestly proved to be more reliable and convenient than my actual discs. If hard copies of games these days came with good supplements, I'd probably be more keen to defend them, but honestly, as far as media formats go, I no longer really see the superiority of the CD/DVD as a digital media format, as compared to a stable online platform like Steam. They're just as potentially unreliable and a jewel case isn't much nicer to look at than a .jpg file. But I'll totally go an extra mile for a game that actually ships with good physical supplements. I'm the same way with music these days - as with games, I don't really pirate anything, but I've now gone mostly to buying digital-download music from independent labels/online services (i.e. not iTunes - which in many respects is similar to Steam). On the other hand if an artist can put together a good package with supplements, I am glad to invest a little extra in it. Sadly it's rare these days, but it's gradually becoming more and more common. Bring on more LP-sized box sets! __________________ There are only forty people in the world and five of them are hamburgers. -Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart)

03-15-10, 01:48 PM	#14
Dowly Lucky Jack Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Finland Posts: 25,052 Downloads: 32 Uploads: 0	Only buy digital copies myself (if available). The price is the same as if I'd go to the local stores. Which blows, digital copies should have lower price tag as there's no extra expenses involved in making the case & manual. Amazon doesn't ship here or if it does, it'll double the price with shipping so that's a no go. I'm just waiting when the people on the worse side of the pond (na na naa ) start to pay the same amount of money for their games as we do on this side.

03-15-10, 02:10 PM	#15
Archangel Seaman Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 35 Downloads: 7 Uploads: 0	I like Steam primarily because of the good deals they have during the sales, I saved alot of money during the christmas sale and filled up a decent backlog of games now that will keep me occupied for quite some time. In addition I do not mind having digital copies as opposed to physical ones, I do in that regard however buy the 'Must haves' in the store, other games I can do without and get on Steam, and I also like the friends list which has made many of my L4D1-2 games much more enjoyable, and community wise there is alot of information tied to one place in the forums. Furthermore like others have mentioned it is rather nice to just log on and purchase a game and DL it within an hour or so instead of going for the shop in all kinds of weather. I have only used Steam for about 7 months though, but I am very happy with it so far and I will for sure continue to do so, primarily keeping to the sales, because I do think their prices are rather high, but it is about the same in regards to retail prices here in Norway so it is not very bad, just a comment due to the online part production wise. Other then that then I would like however to have an option to pay in dollars and not euros. Funny thing is that I have never bought a full-price game on Steam until this saturday when I got BFBC2 in order to tie me over until BF3 as I have basically stopped playing BF2. The reason I used to justify the price as I originally would wait for a discount was that I skipped purchasing another game I removed from my list, SH-V. __________________ \"Beast of morality\"