Should I buy games directly from steam or CD/DVD??

[FearofLAVA]

Says it in the title^^^ Thanks!

[Mattio]

Steam!
If you buy on Steam your games will be there forever, no need to look after a CD/DVD that can get scratched or lost.
We have no need for CD's anymore, maybe for the odd backups but personally I haven't truly needed a CD/DVD for maybe 4 years now, don't even have a DVD drive near other than a 9 year old laptop :)

[Kargor]

Depends.

It's easy with games that are "always" on Steam anyway. Certain titles will give you a Steam game even you buy them on DVD, so the DVD is basically useless.

For other games, you usually get some copy protection to deal with on the DVD version, or even some "propietary" DRM like installation counters on top of that.

For myself -- the day Amazon sent me games with Steam-keys was the last day they sent me a game at all. Although I don't necessarily buy the games in the Steam store.

[Astraea Kisaragi]

The number of games which you buy on DVD but still need to register on Steam increases every year (especially now when GFWL almost gone)

Games bought on Steam are usually a lot cheaper, in the case that there is a sale. Games in box save some time to install as long you don't need download all files - just updates. You get also a nice box - about which some think that collects only dust.
Some games you will never find on hardcopies - true on most indie games.

Of course you have games which are on DVD and doesn't need Steam, but novadays pretty much everyone used some DRM and let's say straight, Steam is still the most user-friendly.

By the way...perhaps you could get a few then...there is less games in your game library as there is goodwill inside me.

[HLCinSC]

Even if you buy a physical copy it is most likely they will require Steam or some other form of DRM. Many of those games don't even have the whole game on the discs. The discs are made early from prerelease builds and when you have to activate them online it will tell you there is a mandatory update which could even be the whole game.
If you can find a physical copy of a game that requires Steam, then all you have to do is buy the cheaper version as the physical copy would instantly convert to a digital one and attach it to your account just like a regular Steam game.

[FearofLAVA]

so CD isnt even worth it then. By the way, Im thinking abut getting fallout 3 on my PC but im not sure if i should down load from steam or buy as a disc. (im just trying to get the most user friendly way considering i have windows 8.1)

[WowbaggerTheInfinitelyProlonged]

there are pros and cons to both downloading does have more pros but its easyer to go to a friends house with ur cd then to download it plus installing a game from the CD saves time but they can break get scratched and for every game u want to play u have to change it out plus STEAM SALES FTW can save lots of cash

[HLCinSC]

Originally posted by FearofLAVA:

so CD isnt even worth it then. By the way, Im thinking abut getting fallout 3 on my PC but im not sure if i should down load from steam or buy as a disc. (im just trying to get the most user friendly way considering i have windows 8.1)

Fallout 3 will not work by default on Windows 7 or 8.1. You have to do a quick process to get it up and running. After doing that it worked fine with my Win 8.1 desktop and Ultrabook, even with a lot of mods:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=149946772

Good luck and have fun it is definitely in my top 5 games I've played. It's also really easy to mod and I suggest doing that before starting the game.

[SHON]

Only reason to buy physical copies these days is to save on bandwidth, other than that I never buy physical anymore.

[Silicon Vampire]

Haven't bought physical media in more than eight years... and I still have a pretty big box of games.

[Scottsophrenia]

you should try both because what if your computer gets screwed up and someone hacks you you still have the CD/DVD.

[arxon]

There is virtually no reason to buy overpriced games from steam store, when you can get the steam keys cheaper elsewhere.

[Kröll]

Originally posted by arxon:

There is virtually no reason to buy overpriced games from steam store, when you can get the steam keys cheaper elsewhere.

Often you will find that the steam prices are cheaper than retail.

[Kargor]

Originally posted by IamStephano:

Originally posted by arxon:

There is virtually no reason to buy overpriced games from steam store, when you can get the steam keys cheaper elsewhere.

Often you will find that the steam prices are cheaper than retail.

No, usually they are not. Steam may be many things, but cheap isn't one of them. At least when talking about pricing, they might be cheap in other things.

However, there are sales and bundles. Back when I was still checking Amazon for games, sale-prices on Steam and other sites were roughly comparable with the standard prices on Amazon, for the *few* cases that I looked up.

[ KARR™]

Originally posted by IamStephano:

Originally posted by arxon:

There is virtually no reason to buy overpriced games from steam store, when you can get the steam keys cheaper elsewhere.

Often you will find that the steam prices are cheaper than retail.

As Kargor mentions, that is mostly wrong.

Quick example from the games in the store banner that are available elsewhere
:
Wolfenstien - Steam £34.99 Amazon £20.20 Game £24.99
Sniper Elite III - Steam £39.99 (20% off so £31.99) - Amazon £34.99 base.com £24.99
Dark Souls 2 - Steam £39.99 - TheHut £26.99, Zavvi £26.99, base £29.99, Amazon £31.87
Watchdogs £39.99/£44.99 - amazon £24.99/£32.99
Ultra Street Fighter IV - Steam £22.99, Amazon - £14.86

Games like Witcher3 are on 'special' at 20% off, making it 30p different from the NORMAL price at amazon and 6 pounds MORE than the normal price at other retailers!

[kev]

If your computer(s) has a disk drive and you don't want to install the games, use CD/DVD.
If your computer(s) have large amounts of hard drive space and you don't mind installing games, use STEAM.