Want that.

thats an interesting idea, perhaps i'll make on of those for myself... though it won't have the game on it

I like retail because I can fill my shelves with games and smile at my collection.

Plus I don't download things very fast.

...I'd pay an extra $5 for a flash drive with the game on it.

Portal 2 could look like the portal gun.

Duke Nukem could be a stick of gum.

FEAR 3 could look like a naked, undead ghost-lady.

Retail all the way. It's cool seeing a shelf full of games. Not cool seeing a list of text.

A shelf full of games is very impressive. I have two shelves with games in my room. I would have a third, but I need to adjust it so that it can fit the old Big Box games, like Baldur's Gate and Planescape Torment. Oh, and did I mention I have the collector's editions for BG and Icewind Dale? B)

"I like big boxes and I cannot lie..." :whistling:

Showoff!

My collection will grow larger with time.

You just like that box art, and all the other goodies.

I prefer physical copies of my games. That said, in the ~2 years I've been gaming exclusively on my PC, I've accumulated 8 physical games... and 43 digital games. With the exception of a small handful, all of the digital games cost less than 10 bucks, thanks to the amazing sales from digital game retailers like Steam. And while I will always pre-order a physical copy of a game if I'm that excited for it, games I'm willing to pay $50 for come along very rarely, and decent sales of physical copies that are comparable to the sales for digital copies come along about once in a blue moon.

So while I prefer physical copies, I can't deny that the only reason I can even call myself a gamer anymore is thanks to digital games.

This is one major point for me and why I started using Steam. Most times I drove to a store to pick up a PC game I wanted they wouldn't have it. So I started ordering online. Then I found Steam, no shipping fees and I get it within minutes or hours? Yes please. Not to mention great sales and all the deals they offer. I like the friends list, I like the web browser, I like the recently added screenshot feature. It's nice being able to buy indie games with more security. The boxed games were getting less and less decent content as well. I stopped reading the manuals when they stopped being interesting or informative. For the few games where the manuals are more than controls and how to start the game the PDF version is enough for me. I have no desire to pay $10 for a trinket I will never use.

i buy retail but i do have a few steam games that i bought from steam.

Mostly get games from a retail. However I also download games if its not found in store or I don't feel like traveling around town just to find it.

:D

I guess you could say...you love big packages! *ba dum tish*

Retail for me, although I have more downloaded games.

prefer retail but have a few downloaded games (TES: Arena, Daggerfall & the free legit MechWarrior 4:Mercenaries)

A game is something I really have to buy and hold in my hands before i actually feel like I'm worthy playing it

Oh how I hate retail games. I've lost 3 copies of diablo 2, one starcraft copy, one oblivion cd, all my total war cd keys which luckily I don't need, one sins of a solar empire cd, one company of heroes cd key, and I'm sure more that I can't remember.

Now all I have to do is download them. They are mine forever, and nothing that comes in the box with the game is worth having anyways.

Can't read the manual while lying in bed at night about to go to sleep ^^

On that note, you sound a lot like me. I've gone through 4 copies of diablo 2, 3 copies of morrowind, 2 1/2 copies of NWN(The diamond edition), and 1 1/2 copies of Warcraft 3. There are probably others, but I don't feel like trying to figure them all out. I still re-bought them all(and would even if I had the choice) in physical format, just because I prefer to have it like that. Also, I lost all of those either by loaning them out to friends and not getting them back, or them coming back scratched, or when I moved into my new place(I lost 1 copy of D2, Morrowind, and NWN during the move).

I prefer download. Got sick of my games getting scratched or lost.

Most of my big box games doesn't have any box any longer. About a decade ago I lived in a very tiny apartment and there were lots of boxes everywhere so one day I decided to get rid of most of them and only keep the discs and manuals. Something I very much regret nowdays

Although I only buy my games through Steam now I still prefer retail, its just that retail games here cost about 10, 20 or even 30$ more than what it would cost me to buy them on Steam and I don't currently hold the luxury of doing such a thing.

I'm guessing its more worth it for the companies to sell it digitally because there's no case production cost and shipment and all those things, but, even though the digital distribution market is getting bigger most of the sales still come from retailers.


Also, Steam sales :bowdown: :drool:



I did something stupid like that a long time ago, I threw away some games once because my dad needed some shelf space and I was like, eh.. I won't be playing those games 'nymore... :bonk:

Granted, I was pretty stupid back then. okay, REALLY stupid...

I don't like download games at all. Not only it selects de facto the gaming community to those with good internet speed but also it deprives you from the pleasure of the manual.
I love reading game manual, having a feeling of a big document. For example, the manual of Elite, of the first Guild Wars, of Baldur Gate series etc... Also, there are the add-on, the maps for example. My map of Oblivion is annotated with small comments on monster in the areas etc...

I am not 100% digital and I am proud to be so.

It won't be long before even retail games come without manuals. Not that they're particularly useful these days, usually amounting to control/gameplay rundowns that aren't as effective as their in-game tutorials, but I still like 'em.

I'd actually like to see publishers work to make manuals worthwhile again, rather than do away with them. Throw in some fancy artwork or something. I still like looking through some of my NES/SNES manuals for character, enemy and level descriptions/pictures.

I used to prefer retail, having the box and all that. But since I've started using steam so much I can't deny that I prefer that now.
It's just so much easier for me, not having the boxes lying around and having quick access to all my games instead of having to look through my shelf.

This is only for games though, I prefer buying music retail as I like to have the cover art and the pamphlet that comes with. I could feel the same for retail games I guess, butI haven't seen a single game cover that's worth having just for the cover, and manuals are quite boring and uneccecary to me.

It's the opposite here :blink: Well, the swedish currency is relatively strong now against the euro so buying on Steam gotten a bit cheaper, but still, there is a difference. I remember last year when there was a Mass Effect 2 sale on Steam, and it was still ~10 euros cheaper to buy the game in a local store that is usually somewhat expensive when it comes to games.

I only buy directly from Steam when the deals are really really good or the game is hard to find elsewhere. Because with Steam's $1=€1 policy it's often cheaper for me to order a game from Amazon.co.uk, especially for new games.

If I pre-order Portal 2 from Steam now, it'll cost me €44,99 (that's 64 dollars). Same price as the Dutch retail stores, pretty much.

If I preorder it from amazon.co.uk now, it'll cost me €28,36 (40 dollars).


(Yes I know I'd be paying in pounds, but I figure I'd mention dollars since more people here are from America )


On the other hand buying Mass Effect 1 in Dutch stores would cost me 15-20 euros, whereas I got it on Steam last summer I think for 5 euros.