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Weekend Open Forum: Where do you buy your PC games?
With that kind of cash flow, it's no surprise that a ton of competitors are scrambling establish a presence in the digital PC market. Just this week, Microsoft promised to improve its Games for Windows Live platform. Given this year's intimidating list of anticipated titles, we thought it would be a great time to ask: where do you buy your PC games? Steam undoubtedly earns the bulk of my game purchases, but I won't ignore a good deal elsewhere, especially on new releases.
User Comments: 90
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http://www.shopto.net/ for console
Store.steampowered.com for PC
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Steam. I'm too lazy to buy them in a store. And prices here are crazy compared to other countries.
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I forgot about shopto!
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It says 'buy' not 'obtain' you dolt.
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I did the illegal thing for a while, but there is just so many times where they dont work - especially on older games.
Now i find myself doing the illegal thing mainly for games i already own (but have lost/CD broken etc) and buying "new" games from GOG and various boxed games from online retailers.. Denmark has a service that allows us to search for a specific game and then sort it by price, so i have no favorite boxed site!
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Mostly Steam. But sometimes D2D or other places if a good deal pops up.
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When I purchase games, especially ones that are not released yet, I use Amazon. If its a game that has been released already, Gamestop.
Amazon is great for pre-ordering games because they offer special promotions and same release day delivery.
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Mostly Steam (due to sales). There was a period during which I bought lots of games at Big Fish Games. I buy my Wii games at TheHut.com.
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kg363 said:
95% Steam, sometimes Best Buy
same
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andreasf93 said:
Steam is way too expensive, I buy from Amazon/Ebay.
Are you joking? I bought GTA IV for $5, and Kane and Linch 2 for $5, and Just cause 2 for $7.50... I cant get either of those for that cheep... Shipping alone cost that much... Steam is the CHEAPEST place to buy games (when they are on sale) otherwise they are full price that you would pay at Walmart or any place else. And when you buy a game you can download and play it several years later... With hard copies you could lose them...
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Steam, if it's on sale, unless it's at least 50% off, I'm not interested. Five years ago I would use just use a torrent site, but these days I barely care enough about games to bother.
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@thewind
That's not really true actually. I agree 100% that Steam is by far the cheapest during a sale, but look at any game over six months old on Steam and compare the price with somewhere like Amazon and you'll notice it's cheaper on Amazon 90% of the time.
Basically when a game first comes out it's generally slightly cheaper on Steam than a physical copy, after about six months to year later it's usually considerably more expensive to purchase via Steam than online store such as Amazon, and when it's on sale it's much cheaper than anywhere else.
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yRaz said:
Guest said:@thewind
That's not really true actually. I agree 100% that Steam is by far the cheapest during a sale, but look at any game over six months old on Steam and compare the price with somewhere like Amazon and you'll notice it's cheaper on Amazon 90% of the time.
Basically when a game first comes out it's generally slightly cheaper on Steam than a physical copy, after about six months to year later it's usually considerably more expensive to purchase via Steam than online store such as Amazon, and when it's on sale it's much cheaper than anywhere else.
People who use steam log on almost everyday and see the games deals. They usually change their deals 3 times a week. If you use steam you should be in the right place at the right time. You can get any game for cheap on steam you just have to be patient.
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Physical stores for really old games, like command and conquer generals or age of empires 2.
Amazon for somewhat older games, like BF2, Starwars Battlefront, Portal (that's how I go into steam), etc...
Steam for indie games you can't get else where, eufloria (it is fun, even though it looks boring), audiosurf (very fun with a friend), plain sight, cogs, etc...
I don't like to get all my games digitally because if a place like steam were to go out of business, I would loss all my games. Very unlikely, but I like to be in the safe side, I don't buy a game from steam unless it's really cheap or you can't get it anywhere else.
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@yRaz
I'm not sure you understood my post. I was talking about general prices, not my own buying habits. The fact there are lots of sales on Steam doesn't change the fact that they price most of their catalogue higher than non-digital competitors such as Amazon.
Like I said, I only buy games during Steam sales - including all other sources. I really don't care enough about games these days (due to the decline in quality over the past ten years) to exert the effort of installing a game from a disc, patching it, dealing with DRM hassles, etc. or to go look up an nfo site and torrent a pirate version. I usually snap up most deals if they're discounted over 50%, currently have 189 games on Steam, but only really got round to playing about a dozen of them so far.
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i either by my pc games from Steam, Direct2drive or the EA store. i no longer buy hard copy of games. buying digital content instead of hardcopy you dont have to worry about scratched/damaged discs and\or lost cdkeys. if my HD were to crash i only need to re-download the game and reinstall it and i am good to go
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I mostly buy REAL games(not downloadable stuff) from Amazon or Play.com, sometimes if I'm in the GAME shop I'll have a look at the games, if the price is good and I like the look of a game then I'll get one there.(GAME and gamestation is like gamestop in of the UK but always plays crappy music like gamestation does =/)
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People who use steam log on almost everyday and see the games deals. They usually change their deals 3 times a week. If you use steam you should be in the right place at the right time. You can get any game for cheap on steam you just have to be patient.
Totally agree!
I've now got over 20 games, including Civ4 with all expansion packs (the whole lot under a tenner if I remember correctly!), L4D2, TF2, HL and HL2, Far cry 1 and 2, both Deus Exs (old skool!), Bioshock, Bad company2, All the STALKERS, the Witcher Enhanced, and Portal. Some I've paid a couple of pounds for, doubt I've paid more than £60 for the whole lot so far.
I'd also check Amazon, you often find blinding deals on older games - I've only really played 4-5 of my games, so I've enough to last me ages yet.
I tend to just wait until deals come along for what I want. The only exception to this rule will likely be Crysis 2, because I've wanted it forever now.
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gog.com GOOD OLD GAMES
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play.com, cex/gamestation (local used computer games shops). The only time I have torrented a full game was Metro2033 - this due to not being able to buy a s/h copy, which was a result of THQ's arsehole attitude towards its customers. I have a steam account but I ONLY use this for the half life series, Valve's customer care, along with their fat **** ceo's attitude is utterly ****!
The only reason i dont want or support digital distribution is because the current sale model doesn't allow for me to sell the game on after I have finished playing. In response to games companies attitude where I have to spend 30+ for 6-8hrs worth of gaming and then I'm stuck with the game.. I DONT ****ING THINK SO!
The only digital distro model I would be happy with is the ability to long-term rent a game for a fixed price that is a lot less than retail, so say Crysis2 for £10 for 6months - I arrive at this figures because I currently buy a game new for £30 and then sell for £20 etc.
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I purchase games from multiple sources (various brick and mortar stores, amazon, ebay, steam, etc), at the same time I do night buy games very often as I'll make them last for exceedingly long amounts of time, either through replaying, higher difficulty runs, or multiplayer (note: I actually don't play that many mutiplayer only games).
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That pic of Fry, is exactly how I will look like when Battlefield 3 is released at a local Gamestop.
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Steam 80%
GamersGate 20%
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I would probably buy one or two games a year (only really good ones) and download the rest. I would probably buy all my games from retail outlets if Australian consumers were not being blatantly ripped off and gouged by the retailers/distributers. Our dollar is currently on parity with the US yet we pay around $120 for a brand new game release whereas the US are only paying around $60. Profit is the only reason for such an enormous difference in pricing and I do not like being gouged and I do not like blatant profiteering. My protest to these greedy retailers/distributers is to download rather than put more money into their big fat wallets.
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I really love owning a physical item, it makes me feel better. I never buy online unless I have to.
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