^ I actually kind of like those low-poly models. There's a certain Quake 2 era charm about them. (Even though they're obviously much higher-res than Quake 2)
Actually, that's false. A new game on steam costs as much as a retail version, and in most cases it's more expensive - which is one of the reasons I've not yet condoned to the digital distribution idea.
For example, I just checked how much I'd have to pay for the Steam version of Championship Manager 2010, and I found out it will set me back 39.90 euro. Afterwards, I went to Play.com. Look what I found here (plus, keep in mind that offer free shipping):
Digital Distribution is taking a completely wrong direction here, I think. They release the same game, at a higher price, and for them it'll bring in a lot more money since they save stuff like transport and packaging and stuff like that.
It's like this on the consoles too! PSP games bought in a PSN store generally costs as much as or mor than the retail versions.
Goddamit, I thought digital distribution was going to save us money? After all, they're saving THEM a lot, but we as as a customer lose out on having a physical copy of the game as well as losing the right to trade it in or sell it later on, while still paying as much. So what does digital distribution give us in many cases? Well, you have more space in your shelves for a few extra books. Unfortunately, you've already spent all your money on the games that should be cheaper, so you can't afford the books. :P
Anyway, dd is good in some ways, but really really needs to sober up in others.
^ didn't they offer for a short while Championship Manager 2010 on the official site at a 'pay-what-you-feel-it's-worth' price, with a minimum of £2.50?
I still can't warm to digital purchases when there's a physical copy in existence - unless it's drastically cheaper to go digital. For me £30 is too much to spend on something that I can't hold.
Steam is installed on my computer for MI:SE but I have to have it closed most of the time because it causes my display adapter to keep resetting.
I couldn't get MI:SE to run at all. Tried everything, driver updating, tricks, re-installing. It just won't run. I get a black screen and it jumps straight to the desktop again, like nothing ever happened. I just gave up in the end, as it seems there's no answer to this issue on the internet anywhere. I had already bought the XBLA version anyway, and I really only bought both versions to show LucasArts my support. Still, would be nice to be able to play the game too.
That said, Steam is a great way to get certain games, like the re-released LucasArts titles - bought Fate of Atlantis almost immediately after it was released, and I'm getting all of the LucasArts adventures eventually. Hopefully, they'll release more titles on Steam (although I'd prefer if they struck a deal with GOG.com), especially Grim Fandango and DOTT among others.
Actually, that's false. A new game on steam costs as much as a retail version, and in most cases it's more expensive - which is one of the reasons I've not yet condoned to the digital distribution idea.
For example, I just checked how much I'd have to pay for the Steam version of Championship Manager 2010, and I found out it will set me back 39.90 euro. Afterwards, I went to Play.com. Look what I found here (plus, keep in mind that offer free shipping):
Digital Distribution is taking a completely wrong direction here, I think. They release the same game, at a higher price, and for them it'll bring in a lot more money since they save stuff like transport and packaging and stuff like that.
It's like this on the consoles too! PSP games bought in a PSN store generally costs as much as or mor than the retail versions.
Goddamit, I thought digital distribution was going to save us money? After all, they're saving THEM a lot, but we as as a customer lose out on having a physical copy of the game as well as losing the right to trade it in or sell it later on, while still paying as much. So what does digital distribution give us in many cases? Well, you have more space in your shelves for a few extra books. Unfortunately, you've already spent all your money on the games that should be cheaper, so you can't afford the books. :P
Anyway, dd is good in some ways, but really really needs to sober up in others.
Steam is awful for newer games I agree. Daylight robbery alot of them are. However when games get older, steam do some killer multi deals and developer packs, which give you a tonne of games for cheap.
Do admit, I still prefer buying it irl. Like to hold the box in my hands. Feels more authentic.
Steam is awful for newer games I agree. Daylight robbery alot of them are. However when games get older, steam do some killer multi deals and developer packs, which give you a tonne of games for cheap.
Do admit, I still prefer buying it irl. Like to hold the box in my hands. Feels more authentic.
Yeah true, though i'm veering away from physical copies. It means I gotta have the disc in the drive and i've little enough room to keep them all. Plus i'm sure it's a bit more eco-friendly to not have a pressed CD and all the transit involved
* I can play any language of the game that is available (that does not work for THQ-Games), German retailversions almost always only include german audio.
* I don't need the disc in the drive
* no copy protection drivers like starforce
* great Chat-program
* great weekend-deals (who buys anything for full price on steam anyways?)
The only Steam games I've ever paid full price for were ones that were already pretty cheap, like Plants vs. Zombies and Monkey Island SE. I don't ever pay full price otherwise, especially since there's a sale on something almost every single weekend.
The thing I like the most about it is being able to get games that are nigh impossible to find anymore, like Beyond Good & Evil and the Lucasarts games.
The best part about steam in my opinion is that all of your games are available online. For example, I bought most of my games for home usage, but occasionally I'll need to twiddle my thumbs for a few hours at work. I can go to steam and suddenly all of my purchased games are available quick and easy like. Or I just got a new computer, I didn't have to go to the trouble of tracking down all of my disks. I just downloaded the ones I needed with no hassle.
A new game on steam costs as much as a retail version, and in most cases it's more expensive - which is one of the reasons I've not yet condoned to the digital distribution idea.
While this is true, like most things in life there is a reason behind it. Imagine you are a game publisher, you've just released a new game, you have a million copies sitting on retail shelves, you have another million copies sitting in a factory waiting to be distributed, each one of these copies costs you money; the boxes cost you money, the game disks cost you money, the instruction manuals cost you money; every copy you don't sell before retailers take the game off the shelves is money down the drain. So why on earth would you offer consumers on Steam as a cheaper alternative? You can't ignore the digital distribution market, there are many consumers who exclusively buy there, so what do you do? You hike up the price, which then in turn makes buying the physical copy preferable.
So yes, buying new games on Steam usually isn't the way to go. Blame that on the publishers (or the system if you like) but it's hardly Steam's fault. I think you will find that almost all older games are cheaper or the same price then they would be for a physical copy.
Funnily enough here in Australia it's still cheaper to buy new releases off Steam at the inflated American prices than it is to buy the physical copies here at the insane prices they've always charged at retail. I bought Resident Evil 5 a little over a week ago at $55.00 USD on Steam. That would be a pretty crazy price to pay if I lived in America but in Australia the cheapest I could find the game was $85.00 AUD, which translates to $75.60 USD. I'll take that Steam price any day.
Wait, new release games don't cost $100 in america?
They cost $100 AUS here, that's why steam is a little bit cheaper.
PS3 and 360 games cost $120 at release normally.
That's not normal?!?
Oh my dear god no! Most new releases in America start at around $50.00 USD ($56.00 AUD). New 360 and PS3 games can go for around $60.00 USD ($67.00 AUD). We're getting screwed. Always have been. The reason for this is because A) when these prices were set the Australian dollar was doing a lot poorer, thus these stats didn't used to look as bad as they do now and Australia is a smaller market and publishers want to get more from us becasue they aren't selling anywhere near as many copies as in other markets such as the US, UK and Japan.
Things like Steam have helped drive Australian game prices lower in recent years but we are still getting screwed when compared to the rest of the world.
Oh my dear god no! Most new releases in America start at around $50.00 USD ($56.00 AUD). New 360 and PS3 games can go for around $60.00 USD ($67.00 AUD). We're getting screwed. Always have been. The reason for this is because A) when these prices were set the Australian dollar was doing a lot poorer, thus these stats didn't used to look as bad as they do now and Australia is a smaller market and publishers want to get more from us becasue they aren't selling anywhere near as many copies as in other markets such as the US, UK and Japan.
Things like Steam have helped drive Australian game prices lower in recent years but we are still getting screwed when compared to the rest of the world.
They might want to realize that as price goes down, quantity demanded goes up.
They might want to realize that as price goes down, quantity demanded goes up.
Well they haven't really thought it through. The piracy rates for video games in Australia are one of the highest in the western world and that can be basically be blamed on outrageous prices and release delays. While I don't condone piracy myself (at least not the non-Monkey Island verity) the number of people I know who pirate games greatly outweigh the number of people I know who always, or almost always, buy games legitimately. However I have noticed a fair decrease in piracy amongst my friends over the last few years and Steam is one of the biggest reasons why. Through Steam we are getting charged the same as Americans, plus with many multiplayer games like TF2 and L4D you really need to have a legitimate copy to your name to play with friends and track your statistics.
Plus things like Steam have finally forced retail outlets to lower game prices to remain competitive.
Japanese prices are pretty high despite the popularity of games there. Was looking at an article the other day any the price for Final Fantasy XIII is the equivalent of $100, and that isn't just the price of Final Fantasy XIII, went on further to investigate, and it seems most PS3 games are around that price. UK and Europe don't get it as easy as America either. UK Prices come to around $80, and European prices are $90. Both arent quite as bad as Australia I admit. But still, as long as you live outside of the United States and Canada(Although Canadian prices are slightly more than American), you're paying way more than they are and it's bullshit. Not got any excuses either, PAL as an whole, so Europe and Australia, by far passes America in terms of sales I'm sure(Europe alone stands on par).
Atleast you Australians get to pay American prices on steam. Europe is forced to pay $=Euro. I'm slightly luckier as I live in the UK, which isn't Pound=Dollar, theyve got a more reasonable conversion rate, however it is still more expensive than what Americans pay.
Japanese prices are pretty high despite the popularity of games there. Was looking at an article the other day any the price for Final Fantasy XIII is the equivalent of $100, and that isn't just the price of Final Fantasy XIII, went on further to investigate, and it seems most PS3 games are around that price.
One of the most useful features of Steam is the fact that you can transfer your games to another computer by simply installing Steam on your new computer and then transfer your steamapps folder from your old PC to your new PC. Job done, your games are installed the next time you fire up Steam. Meanwhile, the traditional disc would have you install them all individually, then tracking down the individual save files and transferring those...
Although, I have to admit, they tend to be grossly overpriced in Europe (less so in the UK and US, although you will probably find the games cheaper elsewhere. Except is EA games, since the Steam version should be all SecuROM free, while the disc games has SecuROM on it. That said, it's one charge Telltale can't exactly plead innocence to, either. At least Telltale doesn't impose install limits...)
Exactly what is steam? I never really got the concept.... I understand that you buy games there, but what is so special about it that causes so many people on here to use it? Do you get a discount or something?
I'm a big Steam fan, although I'll freely admit that's partly due to my insane Audiosurf addiction. Nonetheless, I like Steam for the following reasons:
* Regularly discounted games. People in this thread have (rightly) complained that new games on Steam cost a lot, but that's true of pretty much all download services. But Steam has a Weekend Deal every weekend, where you can get a given game at a discount. I didn't mind paying £2.99 for Tomb Raider Anniversary, for instance, and it's worth noting that this weekend, following Gordon Freeman winning Gamespot's "All Time Greatest Game Hero" with a percentage vote of 55.8%, all the Half Life games have a 55.8% discount.
* Community - You can track friends across games, chat, join communities and more. It's a great tool for matchmaking multiplayer games.
* Portability - As others have mentioned, if you have a Steam account then your games are playable on any computer with the Steam client installed. Best of all, you saved games are uploaded to something called Steam Cloud, meaning that if you do play on a friend's (or, God forbid, work) computer your save games can be propagated by the server and you can just carry on from where you left off.
* Auto Updating - Steam can automatically update installed games. Personally, I find trawling the internet for updates and patches extremely tedious, so having a service like Steam that handles everything for me is a real brain-saver.
* Indie Games - As I mentioned up top, I love Audiosurf, and Audiosurf is only available (at present) through Steam. But that's not all; Steam support loads of indie developers, giving them much-needed exposure. I discovered Ben There, Done That through Steam, and I'm super glad I did.
* Non-Threatening Big Brother-Style Stuff - Normally I'm totally against companies spying on what I'm doing with my computer but when Valve do it I don't mind, because they're totally up-front about it and the end result benefits me as a gamer. For instance, the Steam Hardware Survey used Steam to report back computer capabilities to Valve, giving them a better idea of the average computer out there and enabling them to ensure compatibility with a maximum number of machines. They're also able to track where people die the most in games, and how many people give up at what point, enabling them to streamline difficulty spikes and better design their future titles.
I hear a lot of complaints about Steam, but you don't hear the silent majority who find it to be a useful, simple and invaluable system. It's like Games for Windows Live would be if Games For Windows Live worked and wasn't crap.
The best part about steam in my opinion is that all of your games are available online. For example, I bought most of my games for home usage, but occasionally I'll need to twiddle my thumbs for a few hours at work. .
I wish my job allowed me this freedom from time to time...probably "research" for your job at Telltale. : )
I love Steam, I really do. When Steam first started, it sucked and constantly crashed and froze up my computer - the install for HL2 took soooooooo long, and after waiting for so long to get it it was torture. But not it seems to have the system down pat, and I enjoy it a lot. I don't ever buy anything from Steam unless it's a grrrrreat deal. Most of the time you can get some older games in bargain bins or on Amazon for a lot cheaper than Steam has them, but they've got great deals every so often. I bought Braid for $4.99 a few weeks ago, and Unreal Tournament 3 for $8. Watch their sales, and you'll find a gem ever so often.
Comments
Actually, that's false. A new game on steam costs as much as a retail version, and in most cases it's more expensive - which is one of the reasons I've not yet condoned to the digital distribution idea.
For example, I just checked how much I'd have to pay for the Steam version of Championship Manager 2010, and I found out it will set me back 39.90 euro. Afterwards, I went to Play.com. Look what I found here (plus, keep in mind that offer free shipping):
http://www.play.com/Games/PC/4-/8705965/Championship-Manager-2010/Product.html
Digital Distribution is taking a completely wrong direction here, I think. They release the same game, at a higher price, and for them it'll bring in a lot more money since they save stuff like transport and packaging and stuff like that.
Another example for a brand new game, Risen. A little more expensive on both Steam (49.90 euro) and Play.com - but Play.com still leads by a mile: http://www.play.com/Search.aspx?searchtype=PC&searchstring=risen&page=search&pa=search&go.x=0&go.y=0
It's like this on the consoles too! PSP games bought in a PSN store generally costs as much as or mor than the retail versions.
Goddamit, I thought digital distribution was going to save us money? After all, they're saving THEM a lot, but we as as a customer lose out on having a physical copy of the game as well as losing the right to trade it in or sell it later on, while still paying as much. So what does digital distribution give us in many cases? Well, you have more space in your shelves for a few extra books. Unfortunately, you've already spent all your money on the games that should be cheaper, so you can't afford the books. :P
Anyway, dd is good in some ways, but really really needs to sober up in others.
I still can't warm to digital purchases when there's a physical copy in existence - unless it's drastically cheaper to go digital. For me £30 is too much to spend on something that I can't hold.
Steam is installed on my computer for MI:SE but I have to have it closed most of the time because it causes my display adapter to keep resetting.
That said, Steam is a great way to get certain games, like the re-released LucasArts titles - bought Fate of Atlantis almost immediately after it was released, and I'm getting all of the LucasArts adventures eventually. Hopefully, they'll release more titles on Steam (although I'd prefer if they struck a deal with GOG.com), especially Grim Fandango and DOTT among others.
Do admit, I still prefer buying it irl. Like to hold the box in my hands. Feels more authentic.
Yeah true, though i'm veering away from physical copies. It means I gotta have the disc in the drive and i've little enough room to keep them all. Plus i'm sure it's a bit more eco-friendly to not have a pressed CD and all the transit involved
* I can play any language of the game that is available (that does not work for THQ-Games), German retailversions almost always only include german audio.
* I don't need the disc in the drive
* no copy protection drivers like starforce
* great Chat-program
* great weekend-deals (who buys anything for full price on steam anyways?)
The thing I like the most about it is being able to get games that are nigh impossible to find anymore, like Beyond Good & Evil and the Lucasarts games.
I think that's what you meant to say
While this is true, like most things in life there is a reason behind it. Imagine you are a game publisher, you've just released a new game, you have a million copies sitting on retail shelves, you have another million copies sitting in a factory waiting to be distributed, each one of these copies costs you money; the boxes cost you money, the game disks cost you money, the instruction manuals cost you money; every copy you don't sell before retailers take the game off the shelves is money down the drain. So why on earth would you offer consumers on Steam as a cheaper alternative? You can't ignore the digital distribution market, there are many consumers who exclusively buy there, so what do you do? You hike up the price, which then in turn makes buying the physical copy preferable.
So yes, buying new games on Steam usually isn't the way to go. Blame that on the publishers (or the system if you like) but it's hardly Steam's fault. I think you will find that almost all older games are cheaper or the same price then they would be for a physical copy.
Funnily enough here in Australia it's still cheaper to buy new releases off Steam at the inflated American prices than it is to buy the physical copies here at the insane prices they've always charged at retail. I bought Resident Evil 5 a little over a week ago at $55.00 USD on Steam. That would be a pretty crazy price to pay if I lived in America but in Australia the cheapest I could find the game was $85.00 AUD, which translates to $75.60 USD. I'll take that Steam price any day.
They cost $100 AUS here, that's why steam is a little bit cheaper.
PS3 and 360 games cost $120 at release normally.
That's not normal?!?
Oh my dear god no! Most new releases in America start at around $50.00 USD ($56.00 AUD). New 360 and PS3 games can go for around $60.00 USD ($67.00 AUD). We're getting screwed. Always have been. The reason for this is because A) when these prices were set the Australian dollar was doing a lot poorer, thus these stats didn't used to look as bad as they do now and
Things like Steam have helped drive Australian game prices lower in recent years but we are still getting screwed when compared to the rest of the world.
They might want to realize that as price goes down, quantity demanded goes up.
Well they haven't really thought it through. The piracy rates for video games in Australia are one of the highest in the western world and that can be basically be blamed on outrageous prices and release delays. While I don't condone piracy myself (at least not the non-Monkey Island verity) the number of people I know who pirate games greatly outweigh the number of people I know who always, or almost always, buy games legitimately. However I have noticed a fair decrease in piracy amongst my friends over the last few years and Steam is one of the biggest reasons why. Through Steam we are getting charged the same as Americans, plus with many multiplayer games like TF2 and L4D you really need to have a legitimate copy to your name to play with friends and track your statistics.
Plus things like Steam have finally forced retail outlets to lower game prices to remain competitive.
Atleast you Australians get to pay American prices on steam. Europe is forced to pay $=Euro. I'm slightly luckier as I live in the UK, which isn't Pound=Dollar, theyve got a more reasonable conversion rate, however it is still more expensive than what Americans pay.
Although, I have to admit, they tend to be grossly overpriced in Europe (less so in the UK and US, although you will probably find the games cheaper elsewhere. Except is EA games, since the Steam version should be all SecuROM free, while the disc games has SecuROM on it. That said, it's one charge Telltale can't exactly plead innocence to, either. At least Telltale doesn't impose install limits...)
I'm a big Steam fan, although I'll freely admit that's partly due to my insane Audiosurf addiction. Nonetheless, I like Steam for the following reasons:
* Regularly discounted games. People in this thread have (rightly) complained that new games on Steam cost a lot, but that's true of pretty much all download services. But Steam has a Weekend Deal every weekend, where you can get a given game at a discount. I didn't mind paying £2.99 for Tomb Raider Anniversary, for instance, and it's worth noting that this weekend, following Gordon Freeman winning Gamespot's "All Time Greatest Game Hero" with a percentage vote of 55.8%, all the Half Life games have a 55.8% discount.
* Community - You can track friends across games, chat, join communities and more. It's a great tool for matchmaking multiplayer games.
* Portability - As others have mentioned, if you have a Steam account then your games are playable on any computer with the Steam client installed. Best of all, you saved games are uploaded to something called Steam Cloud, meaning that if you do play on a friend's (or, God forbid, work) computer your save games can be propagated by the server and you can just carry on from where you left off.
* Auto Updating - Steam can automatically update installed games. Personally, I find trawling the internet for updates and patches extremely tedious, so having a service like Steam that handles everything for me is a real brain-saver.
* Indie Games - As I mentioned up top, I love Audiosurf, and Audiosurf is only available (at present) through Steam. But that's not all; Steam support loads of indie developers, giving them much-needed exposure. I discovered Ben There, Done That through Steam, and I'm super glad I did.
* Non-Threatening Big Brother-Style Stuff - Normally I'm totally against companies spying on what I'm doing with my computer but when Valve do it I don't mind, because they're totally up-front about it and the end result benefits me as a gamer. For instance, the Steam Hardware Survey used Steam to report back computer capabilities to Valve, giving them a better idea of the average computer out there and enabling them to ensure compatibility with a maximum number of machines. They're also able to track where people die the most in games, and how many people give up at what point, enabling them to streamline difficulty spikes and better design their future titles.
I hear a lot of complaints about Steam, but you don't hear the silent majority who find it to be a useful, simple and invaluable system. It's like Games for Windows Live would be if Games For Windows Live worked and wasn't crap.
I wish my job allowed me this freedom from time to time...probably "research" for your job at Telltale. : )