Steam v Retail Discs

[gameranand]

I agree with the disc carrying hassle, but don't you think download games again and again is painful?

Well you can always make backup so that you don't have to download again. There are always option if you want to carry disk but wouldn't that defy the meaning of digital copy.

 

[tkin]

I prefer steam, but since in India we have pi$$ poor internet bandwidth(well except hyd and a few places), I am forced to prefer retail discs, beats the hell out of waiting a week to get the game. Also another issue with Steam is forced updates which may be a few GBs in size, another few days wait, game drags on forever, get retail disc and play through it all at once.

If you have the power of Beam then it's no problem.
otherwise carry discs

About that, soon I will be moving into a PG near Q-City hyderabad, do you know if Beam gives connection there?
*maps.google.co.in/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=tcs+hyderabad&aq=&sll=22.571739,88.437184&sspn=0.030236,0.053773&vpsrc=6&ie=UTF8&hq=tcs&hnear=Hyderabad,+Ranga+Reddy,+Andhra+Pradesh&t=m&fll=17.427335,78.335427&fspn=0.00781,0.013443&st=109146043351405611748&rq=1&ev=zi&split=1&ll=17.427335,78.335427&spn=0.00781,0.013443&z=17&iwloc=A

 

[CommanderShawnzer]

I always wonder, why would i buy game from steam, with all those complex transactions, downloading the whole game(with the pathetic speeds we are getting),

would you say the same if you *downloaded* the game for *free*

i buy steam games on discs but i dont like sneaky steam downloading the game rather than installing from discs

 

[furious_gamer]

would you say the same if you *downloaded* the game for *free*

. Those days are gone. Now it purchasing games phase....

i buy steam games on discs but i dont like sneaky steam downloading the game rather than installing from discs

Steam games?

 

[cyborg47]

. Those days are gone. Now it purchasing games phase....

Yeah, we're all grown up you see

 

[Skud]

Can't vote. Among the options given, the closest one for me is "I download", but the poll option probably points to torrents only, you should have added another option like download from other online portal. Well unlike most of the guys here, I don't like to have all my games in Steam, so can't vote for it. Discs I rarely buy, the only 02 over the last 04 years are bought this year, Max Payne 3, and Sleeping Dogs, price being the deciding factor here. I mostly purchase from GamersGate and GOG.com, and sometimes GetGamesGo. And yeah, if someone is offering a non-Steam version or any platform independent version, I prefer that, even at a slight premium. For DRM Free games, I am ready to pay even a higher premium. No wonder both my Witcher games were purchased at GOG.

I prefer steam, but since in India we have pi$$ poor internet bandwidth(well except hyd and a few places), I am forced to prefer retail discs, beats the hell out of waiting a week to get the game. Also another issue with Steam is forced updates which may be a few GBs in size, another few days wait, game drags on forever, get retail disc and play through it all at once.

Provided the game is not Steamworks enabled (like Metro). Otherwise, a disc is as good as half the game installation.

 

[furious_gamer]

^^ Valid point. DRM free is what a good game distribution should be. Sick of all these DRM craps...

 

[avinandan012]

I prefer steam, but since in India we have pi$$ poor internet bandwidth(well except hyd and a few places), I am forced to prefer retail discs, beats the hell out of waiting a week to get the game. Also another issue with Steam is forced updates which may be a few GBs in size, another few days wait, game drags on forever, get retail disc and play through it all at once.


About that, soon I will be moving into a PG near Q-City hyderabad, do you know if Beam gives connection there?
tcs hyderabad - Google Maps

yeah Beam gives connection there, but in your building if you are the first customer then expect a delay. Otherwise they will provide a new connection withing 2-3days max.


Give a call to them to be sure @ 040 66 27 27 27

IMO get this plan 15Mbps @ Rs.1100 30GB FUP after that true 2Mbps unlimited

 

[furious_gamer]

^^ Wow. This thread topic changes to Can i get Beam BB Connection in my place?

 

[CommanderShawnzer]

Can't vote. Among the options given, the closest one for me is "I download", but the poll option probably points to torrents only

le skud : GOG is the best.I GOG

Steam games?

what?
darksiders 1 had the problem while installing from the disc(or rather activating)
i activated it and steam started downloading,then i found a work around for installing from discs.skud explained nicely

Provided the game is not Steamworks enabled (like Metro). Otherwise, a disc is as good as half the game installation

Yeah, we're all grown up you see

great,this comes from the guy who said

i *demo* games before i buy them.

some months ago
and,
there is no age to become a Jack Sparrow

 

[CarlonSamuels]

there is no age to become a Jack Sparrow

There should be a Captain in there somewhere

Oh and yes I do *demo* games but only ones thay dont have a free to play demo available

 

[gameranand]

Previously most of AAA games used to release a demo of their game but now it seems like they are just afraid that many fans of the series itself might not buy the game if they play the demo and see that game is not that good. many games wouldn't had sold that much copies if demo would had been available. But maybe thats just my opinion and real reason is something else, I am not sure about that.

 

[furious_gamer]

^^ lol. Might that be reason? Who knows.

I remember, few years ago, i used to download all demo's and happy with that. Once i feel like good to play that game, i will get the *ahem* copy in local market...

 

[gameranand]

^^ lol. Might that be reason? Who knows.

I remember, few years ago, i used to download all demo's and happy with that. Once i feel like good to play that game, i will get the *ahem* copy in local market...

Thats the difference. Previously we used to demo for getting the pirated copy but now if the game is good enough and I am sure about that then I will gladly pay for it but unfortunately demo days are gone.

 

[furious_gamer]

^^ Yep, no we have to see the gameplay in youtube and decide for ourself. Business trend is changing.

 

[gameranand]

^^ Yep, no we have to see the gameplay in youtube and decide for ourself. Business trend is changing.

Youtube videos are never reliable. Actions might be nice but controls might not be good. This happened with DA2.

 

[furious_gamer]

^^ Cons of not having demo's for the concerned game.
I still remember, i downloaded Pro Street Demo, and played for a while and decided not to get that game.

 

[Vyom]

I think this vid fits in: Funny as hell, btw



s/floppy/DVD/

 

[Samarth 619]

My opinion about download:

1. Our infrastructure is not that good. Even fast internet's choke when they face 8-16 GB of data... And Imagine the costs?? To download 16 GB in high speeds you're giving more money than purchasing the DVD itself. Will this be economical? Not unless you have someone's open Wi-fi near to your house.

2. And still, it takes a frustrate-able amount of time.
And if you format or your system crashes, be prepared to lose 6-10 hours again. 6-10 hours for "EACH game". Ouch!!


My opinion about Steam/ any DVD's:

1. It is true that they will tell you to download from the internet. But, I got one Steam game and I installed it through the DVD's only.. How? I just used a command line in the Run option of Windows, something like "C:/Program Files/Steam/Steam.exe D:" and then it installed from D drive, my DVD drive. That install happened in just 20 minutes.

2. The high quality merchandise, like GTA IV Map, other box content is worth it I believe.

3. Re-installations won't consume so much time. That's the best part.

4. Internet is consumed only about 50-100 MB after DVD install, for patches, etc. which is not too much. Its economical.


So, it will be the Retail Disc for me. I can't find enough reasons to download such heavy stuff from servers when they can reach us manually. While my hatred for DRM is something that everyone knows here by now, I still find the DVD's more convenient than internet, and that will remain, even if I had a 8 mbps connection.

 

[furious_gamer]

^^ Exactly my point. Even if we had 8mbps connection it doesn't matter because of stupid FUP, Seriously, for 16mbps FUP is 30GB!

And the goodies that come in box, is worth it. But the major advantage of Steam is their discounts.