IIRC, it was about 3 or 4 days before the release that I heard you could pre-download it on Steam. Then again, I was avoiding the boards before Fallout New Vegas came out so it could have been sooner that the predownload could happen.

I'll be getting the physical copy, I can control myself and wait til the next morning. :wink_smile: Just going to make sure I get a good night's sleep and I'll be playing all day.

^ :goodjob:

Right there with you. I love the box I love the smell of a new booklet. I love the connection I feel with the CD, I prefer the retail version over a small digital download. It feels more personal to me.... if that makes any sense?

Hmm. Again, it seems I"m in yet another minority.

Just over 2 years ago or so I began using Steam.

Not had any issues since and use the service more and more.

In the past 2 plus years I've not bought many hard copies of games. No need to.
In fact, a lot of the stuff I want to buy you can't even find in the store. Retail software shelves
began shrinking some years ago. The local Fry's is perhaps less than half the size it was say 3 years ago, the software game isle that is, PC games.
Best Buy, the same if not worse.

Not sure why the hate on Steam. Hell , with many games it makes life easier on me. I don't have to be forced to stuff the stupid DVD or CD in
the drive just to run the game I want at the moment.

In fact, with Steam I dont' even have to be online at all, once the game is 'registered' in their system. There is a perfectly functional offline mode that I know
works because I've used it. Least with the games I have.

I remember avoiding Steam back a decade ago because of issues but from my experience those issues no longer exist. Stability and all.


Oh, yah, I forgot to mention. I'll just pre-order from Steam. Laugh. I won't have to pay sales tax either.

I ordered from Amazon, I like having a physical copy.

First, its the CE - I like the added content.
Beyond that I keep my DVDs in a safe place should I ever want to re-install (good games I typically do).
Most of the time when I want to reinstall though, I have the DVDs backed up to my NAS, I just mount them and re-install that way.

Though, with steamworks you do get both worlds - Install it, its registered to you, you can re-download it later if you somehow lose the DVD.

Beyond that - As a person who works for an online company who streams content all over the world through multiple 10 GigE trunks, I know first-hand how dependent those customers are on our servers.
I don't want to depend on someone else to be always online, and fast, in case I wish to reinstall a game.

There are no Fry's stores near me. When I went to Dallas last year for some training I went into their Fry's. When I reached the PC game aisle, I thought I was in nirvana. I had to ship some stuff home I bought so many games. I can only imagine what it was like back in the heyday of PC games....

I pre-ordered my copy from amazon because I don't have access to a connection that can handle downloading it. The pre-order bonus is nice to, so I probably would have bought a physical copy to get it anyway since I'm not getting the CE.

I thought that even if you buy the physical copy you still need to go online to download a lot of the actual game files. Is this not the case? Will the DVD really have the " entire game" on it?

Retail for me. I want to 'own' my game still, online takes away that last tangible 'right' you have left. Beside, all the maps and that scent of a fresh box case, nothing beats that, I tell you. I love the excitement, going to the mall and buy the game.

The disc does indeed have all the data on it. You still need to activate the game through Steam and can either install from the disc or download the files.

I pre-ordered it through the interwebz and bought it on steam. Will start downloading it from Steam as soon as it's unlocked, while hopefully have the box arrive in mail asap (PS3 Version). :hubbahubba:

Cool, thanks.

If I end up preordering I'll do it for a digital copy. No point in having a physical box for something that's dependent on Steam. The physical copy is pretty much just for looks, and I still have boxes of game boxes from 15+ years ago. I don't need any more boxes. Plus, I'd rather be playing at 12:00 am rather than just buying the game and still needing to install it, or waiting till the next day to get the game. And also, no tax for a digital copy.

my DVD drive works when it wants too, and doesnt work more often than not. So, digital DL it is. I have a physical copy of oblivion, and I cant install it right now, I had to rebuy it on D2D.

Since the retail version will be tied to Steam anyway just like the digital download version I see no point in buying the former. Add to that that I don't care much for the paper map and once the game is installed the disc becomes useless.

I think there will be a few key files you need to download from steam upon install for the game to run. Other than that, ofcs.. Why else would there be a DVD?..

Main reasons I bought hard copies... stuff happens, I need to reinstall but I have no internet, etc.

And I didn't have to put up with the infestation of garbage that is steam. Except that now I have to. Multiplayer games? Fine. My single player? Couldn't they have dome something else? I don't want that damned rootkit on my computer. Gah. Wonder if I can uninstall it after Skyrim's registered...

It's for the map.

There's no difference between having the physical copy and downloading from Steam. Anyone saying that they want the physical copy as "insurance" in case something were to go wrong with their Steam copy is going to be very sad if something does end up happening.

I'm getting a physical copy through Amazon.

For new games that I must have RIGHT NOW, I always get a physical copy and pay full price ($60). If I can wait a bit, then I just wait for the game to go on sale for only $10 on Steam. If I'm really patient, I will wait till it's only $5 on Steam with full content (expansion and DLCs). In other words, I only buy through Steam to get older, dirt cheap games.

I always get physical copies of the games that are most important to me. You never know when something may go wrong with your Steam account, and I'd hate the thought of losing my entire library of games instantly. The only exceptions are:

-Mass Effect 1: The retail copy had a DRM with a 3 install limit. The Steam copy does not.

-Mass Effect 2: Got this for free with Dragon Age 2, but only as downloadable through Origin/EA Store

:P

Can I spend the 2 hours digging Steam OFF my computer once it's activated? Because I don't want that disease infesting my computer any longer than I have to.

For clarification, Steam is not a rootkit program and you can uninstall Steam at any time. However, if you do so, unfortunately you would not be able to play any Steamworks games until you re-install the Steam client.

To avoid derailing this thread, please use the following thread for discussion of the pros and cons of Steamworks, DRM, etc: http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1242900-unofficial-steamdrm-discussion/

Of course buying in the store !
I just have to hug the box every time I get to super cold places. [ Lolwut ? ]

Disc version, always. The only games I dont install via DVD are MMOs, but I still also have the discs for the ones Ive bought.

Some states don't have sales tax either.