Become a fan of Slashdot on Facebook

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
Businesses The Internet Games

Game Retailers Facing Digital Distribution Transition 155

This editorial at Eurogamer examines how the games industry is dealing with the growth of digital distribution — a transition they're handling better than other entertainment industries, but not without a few stumbling blocks of their own. "The examples from other industries undergoing this transition are not promising, since they tend largely to focus on metaphors involving creeks and a distinct lack of paddles. Bricks-and-mortar retailers of music and movies have largely sat back and grumbled while their businesses were hijacked, first by online retailers of physical product and then by digital distribution services. ... Specialist games retailers who follow that model face little more than a decline into insolvency in their medium-term futures. Worse again, they face competing with far bigger companies to retain their slice of an already shrinking pie — as boxed game retail sales fall off in favor of digital distribution, supermarket chains are increasingly seeing high profile games as a worthwhile loss-leaders."
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Game Retailers Facing Digital Distribution Transition

Comments Filter:
  • And the hardware? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by houstonbofh ( 602064 ) on Sunday October 25, 2009 @11:07AM (#29865015)
    Something tells me that it will be harder to download the game hardware itself. And yes, you can buy it online, but there is a huge "I want it NOW!" market that online and shipping will never satisfy. But the margins will have to come down on many things, and value (Expertise perhaps) will have to go up.
    • Re: (Score:1, Troll)

      by Bieeanda ( 961632 )
      Then the buyer goes to Wal-Mart, Best Buy, or another big box store that can afford to have computer and console games and accessories as a sideline, instead of a specialty shop that may or may not have what you want in stock. If the big box doesn't have it, chances are the little boutique won't if you didn't pre-order it either.
      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Opportunist ( 166417 )

        Quite the opposite. A specialized store will probably have it, or at the very least know immediately where to get it within 2 days. A big store using computers as a sideline, additional income will only offer you what's mainstream and most of the time won't bother with special orders at all.

        Especially with hardware I do not want to deal with stores that sell it alongside of consoles, dvd players and toilet paper. Neither with online stores. The reason is simple: It's cheaper for hardware manufacturers to de

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by shentino ( 1139071 )

        I can download hardware, sorta:

        Project64
        Dolphin
        GnuBoy
        ZSNES
        Gens

    • Re: (Score:1, Troll)

      by lukas84 ( 912874 )

      I can get next-day shipping from several big online shops here. They have plenty of stock, too.

      Whenever i go to a brick and mortar store, they usually sell outdated stuff (e.G. i needed a new graphics card, and was looking for a GT210 or something like that. the brick and mortar star only sold 8xxx Nvidia cards). I ordered it online, even though i actually was in three stores - none of them had any GT210.

    • Nail, hammer, head.

      There's always going to be gaming hardware to buy. Not just consoles, but controllers, cables, adapters, cases, accessories, and repair parts.

      Also, download distribution faces the Christmas Conundrum. It's a lot more impactful for a parent to give their kid a boxed copy of Game X instead of a point card they can use to download Game X from Download Service Y.

      Plus, there are diehard collector dorks like me who like to have a shelf full of our games rather than a hard drive, memory card, or

  • by Animats ( 122034 ) on Sunday October 25, 2009 @11:08AM (#29865017) Homepage

    Record stores are dead. Video rental stores other than a few major chains are dead. Why should game stores stick around? The only one near me is a tiny one next to a Cartridge World (ink, not ammo).

    The A titles may still justify some shelf space at WalMart, but I don't see any remaining need for standalone game stores.

    • by badboy_tw2002 ( 524611 ) on Sunday October 25, 2009 @11:18AM (#29865077)

      Two words: used games. You can't sell a digitally downloaded game back after you've played it. A game store will take a box title back. Though I guess if there were digital download rentals that would put another nail in the coffin.

      • by sopssa ( 1498795 ) * <sopssa@email.com> on Sunday October 25, 2009 @11:25AM (#29865129) Journal

        That's probably some people, but most also don't care about it. For me it seems just a lot of work to get something like $10 back from it (and then you really lose the value you spend for buying the game because you dont have it anymore).

        • That's probably some people, but most also don't care about it. For me it seems just a lot of work to get something like $10 back from it (and then you really lose the value you spend for buying the game because you dont have it anymore).

          You can buy them used too and its cheaper than new.

        • I see what you're saying, but I think it's very important to correct your parenthetical clause. If you really lose the value of a game when you sell it, then if you just toss it in the trash instead, you would have somehow lost more than 100% of the value. Even by your definition of lose, selling something used at less than what you paid for it still means at least you didn't lose as much. More, the total value you got out of owning something was really the sum of what you sold it for and the utility value

      • You can rent games from GameFly and it's cheaper than buying-then-reselling them. If that's what you're looking for, your needs are already taken care of.

    • by eric-x ( 1348097 )

      Because there are still people buying offline? And the remaining offline retailers get more and more customers as everyone else stops putting games on the shelf.

      • by sopssa ( 1498795 ) *

        Exactly, and you can always see large walls of games, tons of albums and movies in large stores. I'm not from USA and I dont really buy from them myself because I enjoy just getting them online, but when I go buy hardware or something else, there's always lots of people there. Other thing is that there's actually many different gamestore chains now, which wasn't true pre-2000.

    • by Ifandbut ( 1328775 ) on Sunday October 25, 2009 @11:30AM (#29865159)

      1) If I lose internet one day and I want to play a random game I have it is alot easier to install it with an actual disk (however some DRM is making this moot).

      2) If I move and have to go back to 1.5Mb internet connection then it will be faster to install from a disk then patch online instead of downloading the whole game.

      3) For some games the manual is extremely valuable (NWN, KOTOR, even WoW for the lore) and it is easier for me to thumb through a hard copy instead of a PDF.

      4) This may make me appear old fashion but I still like a physical version of the product.

      • by sopssa ( 1498795 ) *

        For 1) and 2), for example Steam allows you backup or copy the game data to DVD's. Yeah it's an extra step, but it's possible if you need it. Many don't. And yes, games from Steam also work in offline mode.

        What comes to physical version of product, I agree it's nice to have something on the wall even if its just for the hell of it and for looks. But it's not really more physical than that, and actually just downloading the game online is more failsafe than having DVD that can break or get scratches.

        • I buy the disc for the shelf and the physical security, as I too am old school like that. I rip an ISO of it to my storage server and install from there. The holy grail though is something like Unreal Tournament 3 or Counterstrike: I have the game on my shelf in physical form and rip ISOs on my server, but the key goes directly into Steam and I can add it to my account there.

      • "even WoW for the lore"

        Unless you got the CE, WoW's book was pretty much "Check the website for information."
        • My vanilla wow copies came with a bigger manual for a PC game then ive seen in years! Last game i can remember with such an extensive manual was falcon 4.0
        • Even the 20 pages + credits manual that came with WotLK expansion has alot of lore for its size.

          The story so far covering the Burning Crusade expansion and patches.

          A prologue telling the Lich King's origins.

          Death Knight lore and class information.

          I cant find my vanilla WoW manual atm (in a box somewhere) but I remembering that thing being easy 50+ pages with history from at least WC3 and race/class history.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Narpak ( 961733 )
      Personally I believe that digital distribution will continue to grown. I have a 12mb internet line that is very affordable and have no qualms about buying games through steam or other such services (though predominantly I use steam). The games I have bought is in a nice list that makes me able to reinstall at a whim. Nothing being able to resell my games isn't really an issue for me since I didn't use to do that before anyway; however I can see how those that do that regularly could see this change in distr
    • Because some of us (me included) will give up our game boxes only when you pry them from our cold, dead fingers. For me, buying the shiny new package, opening it up, and looking through the manual is part of the experience, and digital downloads can never replace it. Digital downloads are OK, but they'll always be inferior to a physical product for many of us.
      • There are a lot of industries moving to rental related models. So many people make monthly payments for rent, utilities, cable TV, Internet access, land-line and cell phones, online games, and the list goes on.
        The law (in the US and Britain at least), generally recognises more rights for an actual owner than a renter. A man's home is only his castle if he owns it. Even in places where the landlord can't simply walk in unannounced, the law tends to be strongly biased in favor of

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Blue Stone ( 582566 )

      >Why should game stores stick around?

      Well with the European Parliament being bought off by the large music and movie cartels, such that somone who is caught downloading a few dodgy torrents is kicked off the internet, and can no longer spend ANY money online, I'd say all those bricks & mortar distribution points may well see a resurgence in use!

      Nice to see those large monopolistic bastards and their political bitches doing something for the little people, no?

  • by commodore64_love ( 1445365 ) on Sunday October 25, 2009 @11:14AM (#29865049) Journal

    ...I'm not buying.

    The Digital download would have to really, really cheap (less than $10) to make it worthwhile for me to participate in this new economy. Why 10? Because oftentimes I buy a game on DVD for $20, play it, and then sell it used for $10-15, so my actual out-of-pocket cost for most games is less than $10 overall.

    • Re: (Score:2, Offtopic)

      by zippthorne ( 748122 )

      Where are you buying games for only $20? And how are you managing to get $10 for them used?

      • PS2/3 Greatest Hits DVDs only cost $20. Or less. For example I got Kingdom Hearts 2 this past spring for $18. Now come Thanksgiving I can sell it on ebay as a "like new" game for about $15.

        In some cases if you hang onto a game long enough it will actually increase in value. Like Mario Sunshine which I was able to acquire it for $20 three years ago (Nintendo Player's Choice), and then sell it for $70 on Ebay last Christmas due to its rarity. Same applies to my copy of Final Fantasy 7, which I could mak

        • PS2 games? Of course they're cheap. They're from 2001. We're talking games from 2004 and up.
          • Kingdom Hearts 2, a PS2 game, came out in 2006. The games for the system were still sold and developed up until 2007.
            • The games for the system were still sold and developed up until 2007.

              Make that 2009, there are still new games coming out for it, the PS2 just won't die

          • Reread what I wrote. PS2 *and* PS3 games can be had for $20 as part of Sony's Greatest Hits portfolio.

        • And buying games for $20 is just a matter of waiting for the pricedrop.

          The pricedrop happens roughly when the game's publisher turns off the matchmaking server for online play. After that point, all you get when you try to play online is "DNAS Error -103: This software title is not in service."

          • Online play? What's that? (I kid.) No actually I have no interest in being harassed by a bunch of kiddies that lack manners, so the problem you describe has never happened to me. I prefer standard offline games - me versus the computer.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        If you wait about a year or so, or sometimes longer, depending, games come down in price. Buying immediately at full retail when they're released is foolish unless you've got a ton of disposable cash.

        As an example, when Half-Life 2 first came out, I waited, because my PC's hardware wouldn't have been up to running it, and I didn't want to spend $1000 or so just to upgrade to a new box so I could play one game. Within about two years, I built a PC that exceeded the high end specs from back then, for about

        • by sopssa ( 1498795 ) *

          That's ok if staying behind doesn't bother you. But knowing you're playing a few years old games while others play the shiny, great new ones would bother me and probably many more people. You also couldn't talk about them or read on slashdot and other sites, and with mmo's and multiplayer games most of people would already be in high-level areas or many players left the game already, and you dont get the same fun.

          • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

            That's totally fine by me. I depend on people like that to stock shelves in used game stores with stuff they bought and don't want anymore. I'm more of a collector, and don't generally sell off anything I own, unless I have more than one of it. A lot of people buy a game, play it until they beat it or are bored with it, and then sell it. Some people really want to be the first to play a new game, and enjoy being the one in their group of friends who has all the insider knowledge, and who has gotten ther

          • >>>knowing you're playing a few years old games while others play the shiny, great new ones would bother me

            So if I invite you over to play my 20+ years old Atari, Commodore, and Super Nintendo collection, you won't be RSVPing? Alright. I'll just enjoy these fine games alone. (Point- I think your view is silly. A game is just as fun whether it was released this year or years ago. Classics don't age.)

        • by carou ( 88501 ) on Sunday October 25, 2009 @03:34PM (#29866955) Homepage Journal

          I generally buy games "behind the curve", after they've come down in price, and after enough time for the hype to wear off, and for it to become common knowledge whether the game is actually that awesome or not.

          Oblig xkcd. [xkcd.com]

          The cake may or not be a lie! (I wouldn't want to spoil the ending for you).

    • Exactly, I find it really really hard to buy anything off the PSN as I know I will never be able to resell it when I don't want it any more. If they start offering "$60" games on there for anything more than $20 then forget it.
    • Re: (Score:1, Insightful)

      by PhrstBrn ( 751463 )

      Some people value their time more than others.

      I usually look at the deals on Steam and Impulse, and buy something if it looks interesting.

      Usually I can pickup a game for $5-20 (at 33%-75% off normal price) and I usually get my money's worth. I'm not "losing" that $5-20 of value because I can't resell it, because

      • I can play the game again, and you can't
      • It's not worth my time to try to sell it on E-bay. In fact, I see that as a huge waste of my time for a measly $10. I'd rather be doing something else.

      I ra

      • >>>a measly $10.

        You say you value your time, but you forget money IS time. My combined ebay/amazon sales last year (not just games but also books & hardware) were over $3000 - or about 150 hours/4 weeks worth of labor on the job.

    • Because oftentimes I buy a game on DVD for $20, play it, and then sell it used for $10-15, so my actual out-of-pocket cost for most games is less than $10 overall.

      Allow me to be the first to say.... THIEF!!!!!!!

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Opportunist ( 166417 )

      I used to think that way too until I stopped a moment to consider:

      I pay about 60 bucks for a game. I can sell it used after a week for about 30-40, after a month for less than 20. After that the price drops to about 10 bucks and stays there. In a nutshell, that would mean that I rent the game for 30 bucks for the first week and for another 10-20 for another 3 weeks. And a game that's worth renting it for 30 bucks for a week is worth keeping.

      • >>>I used to think that way too until I stopped a moment to consider: I pay about 60 bucks for a game. I can sell it used after a week for about 30-40, after a month for less than 20.
        >>>

        Apparently you should spend a few more moments "considering" because rather than pay 60 bucks you could just wait 1-2 months and pay 20, same as I do.

        • We were talking about buying it, playing it, then selling it back. Which is, as you point out, only feasible if you buy it right when it's released. Else, why bother buying it for 30 bucks used after a month if you can buy it new for that amount by then?

    • Why don't you just rent through Gamefly or something if you're going to sell it?
    • Downloadable games are mostly very cheap. If my past self from five years ago were able to see the kind of selection and value you could get on Steam, Wiiware, Xbox live and PSN store, I'd be amazed.

      If you boycott downloads, then you're already missing out on some of the most innovative and best games in recent years.

  • One thing though (Score:5, Insightful)

    by dagamer34 ( 1012833 ) on Sunday October 25, 2009 @11:38AM (#29865209)
    Digital downloads need to be loads cheaper because of the following reasons. They can't be: 1) Borrowed 2) Rented 3) Returned which means that if someone wants to buy a game, they have to get it straight from the publisher. Plus, our broadband infrastructure isn't really equipped to download GBs of data as the primary way of purchasing games. And then you have to factor in the cost of bandwidth that we'll probably pay for in one way or another and you begin to see that the real benefits are only for the publisher and not for consumers. I'll stick with discs, thank you very much!
    • >>>our broadband infrastructure isn't really equipped to download GBs of data as the primary way of purchasing games.

      That's for sure. Verizon DSL recently had a "free week" of downloadable games. While most of them were reasonable in size, when I downloaded Tomb Raider Legend it took all night, plus a big chunk of the morning until I was finally able to play it.

      Plus Verizon's player has a rather stupid design. You can't play games and download in the background. You have to just sit and wait.

      • While a bit of an issue with older games, it's not really all that much of a problem when purchasing a new game. Often times the service will allow you to download a large portion of the game before that actual release date and then it will activate the game on the day of the release and allow you to play. A company could take preorders and start pushing out a decent portion of the game (i.e. the art assets or audio files.) that is stable in advance of the rest of the game. Of course today that's not a prob
    • The resale angle is significant, and reduces the actual value of the item quite a bit. Returning is not as big a deal for CC users, as you can always tell them to give you your money back, or you'll have the CC company do it for you. It's a pain, but how many have you actually returned for legitimate reasons?

      I think the bandwidth is there. Of course, that's based on my own experience and is totally anecdotal. Unless you need it immediately, a couple of gigs is easily downloaded in a afternoon or less using

      • Re:One thing though (Score:5, Informative)

        by Narpak ( 961733 ) on Sunday October 25, 2009 @12:12PM (#29865389)
        I have a 12mb line and always seem to get a nice 1.2mb/s download rate from Steam. Also I find using Steam for the majority of my computer game purchases very handy, I can buy it from home, set it to install (and it does relatively quickly with my line), have it automatically update to the latest patch, and during those rare moments when I lose my DSL connection (happened twice last year, both lasting about two days) I can set it in offline mode and continue enjoying my games. Visiting my parents I installed steam, logged on my account, installed one of my smaller games (their computer is getting on in years), played it until I left and un-installed. Everything worked without no fuss. Considering that, for me, a computer game only have a few years (at best) expiration date this system suits me fine; and it is so convenient that I now buy more games than I did the years before I started using steam.
    • Plus, our broadband infrastructure isn't really equipped to download GBs of data as the primary way of purchasing games.

      My ISP is. 200GB/mo for $30!

      I've started buying everything online.

    • Digital downloads need to be loads cheaper because of the following reasons.

      Sadly, they won't be. The PSPgo is a good indication of this - Sony's charging just as much for digital downloads as you'd pay for a physical copy, because they're afraid of undercutting retailers who they think they need to sell the device in the first place. Another example is Microsoft's Games on Demand feature. It may be slightly more convenient, but I'm not sure I want to pay $30 for a two year old title, or $20 for a game I can get used at GameStop for $5.

      As long as the console companies are relyin

  • NO!NO!NO! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by XPeter ( 1429763 ) * on Sunday October 25, 2009 @11:38AM (#29865215) Homepage

    Uggh. I've had some HORRIBLE experiences with digital distribution for games (EA Download Manager, Steam).

    Give me a hard copy over digital any day.

    • Re: (Score:1, Troll)

      by sopssa ( 1498795 ) *

      Of course you conveniently left the experiences off your post. Steam has been working great for years, and I've pretty much started buying everything from it because it's so convenient.

      • Re:NO!NO!NO! (Score:5, Informative)

        by MetalPhalanx ( 1044938 ) on Sunday October 25, 2009 @12:22PM (#29865523)

        The tl;dr version: Steam Support can really suck and that is the reason that many people hate it. See below for an example.

        In my experience, there are three camps for Steam. Those rabidly against it due to the rights management, those who love it, and those who have had an experience with Steam "Support" and now loathe it. I'll give personal experience as an (anecdotal) example for you:

        I bought Champions Online off of Steam on Sept. 7th.
        To my dismay, when I attempted to activate my CD key, it was already activated. I called Cryptic for support, and after speaking to a couple of employees, was told that since Steam was my distributor, I needed to contact Steam to get a new CD key. i.e. it was Steam's fault. I submitted a support ticket with the requested information within an hour of buying the game. I received the confirmation email and a ticket number from Steam Support, everything to verify that they actually did receive my support ticket. Researching their average response time, I gleaned a community accepted value of "3 to 5 days".

        Fast forward about 4 weeks (October 9th).
        After weeks of checking, my ticket was closed with no reply. I logged in to check it, and status was set to closed. There was no indication that anyone had even looked at the ticket. I re-opened the ticket, left a polite but firmly displeased message about the quality of the support and restated my request to get this resolved.

        Fast forward another 2 weeks (October 23rd, this past Friday).
        I FINALLY receive my first reply from Steam support. It's a one liner asking me to paste my conversation with Champions Online support into Steam. Since I talked on the phone, I can't do that. I sent a note explaining this, and have yet to receive another message back.

        The situation as it stands now, is that the close group of friends I bought Champions Online to play with spent about 5 weeks intensively playing it, and have since moved on to other games (Our usual schedule for many games). I'm now left paying $50 for a game I never got to play, and by the time their glacial support gets around to solving it, I've lost all desire to play.

        I'm now a wary customer as well. I've been burnt and am now much more reluctant to deal through Steam, with their lack of phone support and awful online support. Given that my friends and I tend to consume at least one new game a month or so, they've lost a pretty regular customer. Due to my experience, some of my friends are also starting to buy games elsewhere as well.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Eevee ( 535658 )
          Did you pay with a credit card? Chargeback time. Product was defective (bad CD key) and Steam hasn't fixed it.
          • Re:NO!NO!NO! (Score:5, Informative)

            by MetalPhalanx ( 1044938 ) on Sunday October 25, 2009 @02:45PM (#29866637)

            If you chargeback they suspend your account, removing access to all the games you have ever bought.

            I looked into it and discovered that little gem. It seems almost criminal.

            • Re:NO!NO!NO! (Score:4, Informative)

              by Alpha830RulZ ( 939527 ) on Sunday October 25, 2009 @07:17PM (#29868027)

              If they do that, report it to the card issuer (VISA/MC) . The card issuers are quite firm about how the people who use their cards are treated. Retaliatory behavior not supported by a court judgement could result in the vendor losing their capability to take credit cards. That's a healthy sized hammer.

          • by Pengo ( 28814 )

            Yup, and I am sure if you were to put a polite notice on your ticket that you WILL be contacting your bank for a chargeback, they will be a bit more responsive.

            Companies like Valve (Steam product) live and die by their chargeback rates. Most companies, if the charge backs are too high, they have to get a high-risk merchant or can lose the merchant altogether. Amex has almost NO chargeback tollerance with vendors, and if they don't cooperate with or fraud timely, they will indeed lose the merchant account.

          • by CaseM ( 746707 )

            Try this and you'll get your entire account banned. Say goodbye to the rest of those games you bought on that account.

            Love,
            Valve

  • All this means is that the business model put forth by Steam on March 22, 2002 won.

    I use it and it works great, with nearly a thousand games, sale prices on older games, and the option to either play it off-line in case Steam ever dies(just turn off updates and "keep this game up to date" for every game, then kick it into offline mode) or on, and also whether you want it kept patched or not(one game I have I've modded to a silly degree and so I've got that off).

    It just works and I can get a game in an hour

    • by Mashiki ( 184564 )

      No. It means that people have yet to realize that physical copies = ownership. Digital copies = you're SOL if they decide to ban your account for *insert reason here*.

      • by Plekto ( 1018050 )

        No. It means that people have yet to realize that physical copies = ownership. Digital copies = you're SOL if they decide to ban your account for *insert reason here*.

        ***
        And that was the traditional argument. Apparently the "I don't care, give it to me for less money" crowd has won the fight.

        If you don't like Steam, Direct2Drive also offers almost the exact same software list without any of the idiocy - they give you a serial number and a stand-alone installer. In that way you do "own" it if you decide to

        • by Mashiki ( 184564 )

          Still holds to be true. As the executable is still encrypted in various cases, since they're encrypted not only do you still not own the product but now you're in some cases getting stuck with a special type of DRM. On top of this, that encrypted exe has a tendency to not work with many of the extended scripting engines that are in use with a variety of mods, and parts of the modding community at large. Modders being what they are, are unwilling to break said encryption to give people a chance to use the

  • I'll use Steam as a good example of digital game distribution because they are very good at it, although have room for functional improvement. Steam is a good thing, but I didn't start out feeling that way. Even now, I have issues with not being able to grandfather (aka register and seamslessly update) in my old retail games that Steam currently offers the same downloadable version of. They have a limited list of retail games you can do this for, but it's not nearly extensive enough. I priced my retail

    • by Renraku ( 518261 )

      Steam IS the best example of digital distribution of video games that the world has seen to date. They have a huge selection of games, efficient software, good prices, sales all the time to keep you coming back, and they really do have something for everyone. There are a few horrible problems with it though, which I'll elaborate on.

      1. Bandwidth costs: With many ISPs setting download caps in the USA, a game from Steam can easily run 2-4GB, which is 1-2% of your monthly allowance according to Comcast. No

      • Fantastic points! We both agree that the industry leader for gaming digital distribution is Valve and Steam.

        1. Bandwidth - Not having an alternate way, any way to get games to consumers without downloading is a missed opportunity. My suggestion is that at checkout on Steam, you can select to pay a few dollars more and wait an additions few days for the physical media to be created and mailed to your address. To minimize any problems, the activation code could be recieved at the time of purchase and requi

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        Your point 2 on non-portability is incorrect. Right-click on the game you want to back up and select "Back up game files", and there's a wizard that will step through the creation of a back-up archive that you can easily burn to DVD. The back-up archive includes a reinstallation utility that puts the games back into Steam without any messing around, and the wizard includes the choice of whether you want CD-sized volumes, DVD-sized volumes, or larger, and they're just standard Windows files so you can burn t

    • I bought a valve game a while ago from a brick and mortar, and i had to sign up with steam to play the game. Steam wanted all kinds of information. When I reinstalled windows on my PC, I had a hell of a time getting the game to play. Eventually I just gave up and threw the game out. That was the last game I bought that steam is involved with in any shape or form, and I won't buy another one of the same ilk. I just don't like the download business model, I like a DVD of some sort to show that I have act
      • Reinstalling games with Steam is incredibly easy. Just download/install the Steam client and log into your account. Click the Games tab and then select the games on your account you want to download. Another nice feature is that if you are reinstalling or moving to a new computer you can just copy/move the SteamApps folder in Steam's install directory and all of your games will be ready for you to play without needing to redownload them. This is much faster than having to reinstall all of the games off

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • When there are still regions of the country without affordable broadband [usatoday.com], games as digital downloads are a long way off. I don't think any of the console companies are ready to ignore significant chunks of the country because their residents can't afford to pay for expensive broadband plans solely to justify their shiny new console.

Don't get suckered in by the comments -- they can be terribly misleading. Debug only code. -- Dave Storer

Working...