Steam

[Jason]

Ted or any other PC gamers, do you buy all of your games through Steam? If so, what's the benefit of buying through them?

[Ted]

I'm a really big fan of Steam.  There are plenty of people who hate it and plenty of people that don't care either way.  Currently my Steam library says I own 260 titles and I've had a Steam account since 2005 (when  I bought HL2).  I have not bought all of my games through Steam in that time, but I would say non Steam is definitely less that 26 so that means Steam over 90%.

I also use Desura because sometimes a little indie title will show up there long before it comes to Steam (Project Zomboid comes to mind).  I also use GOG (Good Old Games) for old titles that can't be found on disk anymore or the disk versions don't work with the newer windows versions (Startopia, B17 Flying Fortress).  And occasionally I will buy directly from the developer when that is my only option (OOTP although it's on Steam now, Starters Orders)

What I like about Steam:

1.  Digital only.  I do not want to deal with discs anymore.  There was a time long ago when I really relished the boxed versions, but that time is long gone with the disappearance of thick user manuals and interesting trinkets.  Also discs wear out, the disc version becomes obsolete as OS's update, the disc version needs to be patched externally every time you do a fresh install, etc etc.  I'm digital only now and never want to go back.  I've even repurchased games through Steam that I own/owned on disc because it went on sale and it was a chance to get it, example Company of Heroes for $2.50 at the time.

2.  Games are always up to date.  Game gets patched?  Steam automatically keeps the game up to date unless you tell it not to.

3.  Unobtrusive DRM.  DRM is a part of playing games now, but Steam is about as unobtrusive as you can get plus you can play in offline mode if you lose internet connection.

4.  My games go wherever I go.  If I go to CA to visit my Grandma I just load up Steam on her PC and download anything from my library to play.  Steam does notice it is a different machine and will email me a confirmation code to make sure it's me.  Never had a problem.

5.  If I'm interested in a game, but I don't want to pay full price I just throw it on my wishlist.  Once there Steam emails me anytime a game on my wishlist goes on sale.  Latest example was waiting for Nascar 13 Inside Line to finally hit my target of $5.

6.  The Community Hub system seems to be improving and I often find useful and entertaining info.  This is offset by the fact that the forums truly suck.

7.  Often times I have purchased a game independently from a developer and the game later gets to Steam and I get a Steam key to activate it there as well.

8.  Big Picture.  This is a mode in Steam that give big picture (television) support to games.  This is mostly done for games  that are console crossovers like Ass Creed, Skyrim, and F1 and that have controller oriented menus.  It also makes Steam look more like a service similar to Xbox Live.  I'm planning on building a Steam Box for under the television and eventually getting rid of the consoles there altogether.

Things I don't like about Steam:

1.  If you buy a game and it doesn't run on your system there seems to be no way to get a refund.  I've had this happen once.

2.  Once you buy the game you own it forever.  No way to resell it.  No way to give it away or trade it in.

3.  The forums suck.  They truly suck.  They are some of the most juvenile and unhelpful places on the internet.  This is offset by the Community Hubs often having fun or useful info.


Are you thinking about venturing into PC gaming?  There's probably more I like and don't like about Steam so ask a specific question if you have it.  I started gaming on PC's (a Commodore 64 in 1985) so the PC feel like home to me for gaming and the consoles came way later.  My first one was a Dreamcast I bought used off a coworker because I wanted to play 2k football, so I completely skipped the Nintendo and Mario craze.  I remember watching my kids play it with the neighbor kid around 1990? or so and thinking it didn't even look fun, but I would spend hours on my Amiga and later 386 in that era playing mostly flight simulators and racing games.

[Jason]

Wow, thanks for all the info.

I may be in the market for a new PC soon and I'd like to buy a mid-range nVidia card when I do. I don't mind digital-only copies of PC games and my question, which you answered, was if I'd be able to play those games on any PC. I guess as long I install the Steam software and log in, I can play on that computer.

I'm not worried about reselling purchased items and I guess I'll just have to carefully ready the system specs before purchasing anything. Either way, those are not big cons for me.

Update: Just installed Steam on my PC and created an account.

[Ted]

Let me know your Steam ID and I'll friend you.

Also, what is considered mid range at this time?  My PC is 18 months old and I'm still running everything at pretty much max settings.

[Jason]

Let me know your Steam ID and I'll friend you.

I didn't even know that was possible.....it's JasonSGN

I just realized the gamertag mod I installed here supports Steam too 

[Ted]

Sent invite.  It might come from atleiker or Hammerzeit.  Steam is a little wonky with how it identifies people.  For example I put in JasonSGN and it came up with jason.sundberg so I knew it was you.

[Ted]

Another thing to like:  Free weekends.  Every so often they put a game up and you can just download it and play it all weekend for free.  This weekend is Call of Duty Ghosts.  The game is also usually on sale at a significant discount during that free weekend as well.

[Jason]

Ted, what on your thoughts on this card:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00966IU4M/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2TUA7EOLXVL2B&coliid=I2LTVI3EFS40O6

[Ted]

You know, I just don't know about hardware that much anymore.  I don't have the time to keep up with what is the latest and greatest.  The last PC I built was in 2005 and my current PC I had built for me by a flight sim friend 2 years ago with the only instruction being my budget is $1500 and I want to run FSX at a decent frame rate on max or as close to max settings as possible.  He did it with $1300. It has an i5 2500 3.3 ghz cpu and the graphics card is an nvidia GTX 560 with 1GB dedicated video memory.  I do not know if that card is better or worse than the one you linked to, but the reviews are your card show that it should be a very good mid range card at least.  There are a couple comments in there that lead me to believe it may be better than mid range.  You certainly can't beat that price for a mid range + card.

I haven't added anything to my two year old system and I still try out everything on max and only have to back down on a few games a bit if I notice some stutters.  Also just for reference I'm viewing on a 27" 1080p monitor so you have an idea of the pixels I'm asking the card to push around.

[Jason]

Based on this comparison, I'm guessing the 650 will be more than enough for me, and yes, the price is what caught my attention:

http://www.hwcompare.com/13473/geforce-gtx-560-vs-geforce-gtx-650/

[Ted]

Yet another thing to like.

Valve just enabled library sharing for all users.  So now if we set it up and you want to try out a game to see if it runs on your system you can just log into my library and download it.  There are definitely some catches, but we can do this.

[Jason]

That's very interesting. I just checked out the FAQ for it here: http://store.steampowered.com/sharing/

I guess this is what Microsoft wanted to do with the Xbox One.

[Ted]

Some nice deals on Steam for 24 hours to celebrate the BAFTA awards.

http://store.steampowered.com/sale/baftapromo

NBA2k14 $10

I'm mostly interested in Brothers, Gunpoint, and Bioshock Infinite.  If Black Flag was a bit lower I might be tempted, but $35 still too high for me.