Buy it retail or steam?

[MJ12]

I know about that silly only install twice thing, has that changed?

I heard that as long as you uninstall it each time before installing again you can reinstall it as many times as you want? True?

Still, I am worried if my computer were to crash or something and I'd only have one more chance then.

Should I just go with the steam purchase?

 

[Krynn72]

Steam should be the only way you buy games.

 

[Pesmerga]

Steaaaaaaaaaaam

 

[staticprimer]

Steam, dude, come on.

 

[Lucid]

Why does it matter?

Personally, I prefer having a raw copy so I'd buy it in a store.

 

[MJ12]

Why does it matter?

Personally, I prefer having a raw copy so I'd buy it in a store.

^This is what I mean, and no, Steam should not be the only place to buy games, Steam can be a bitch sometimes, since it requires the internet. Also, I hear Steam is slowwww on updates. The only Steam games I have are that of tangible Valve games I've bought. I got blue shift straight off of steam though.

I would like a tangible copy of Bioshock but if it means only 2 installs, then no. But I am trying to figure out if they stopped that, or if it was true about as long as you uninstall it you can reinstall as many times as you'd like.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Steam, you can use the backup feature to burn a copy. I've done it to all of my steam games.

 

[Krynn72]

lol, people still use the "i'd rather have a disk" bit.

"I'd rather have a disk that easily scratches and ruins the expensive thing I bought never letting me play it again since you cant have it replaced nor refunded, than have a digital copy that I can use on any computer and never can get lost or damaged"

 

[MJ12]

Steam, you can use the backup feature to burn a copy. I've done it to all of my steam games.

I have not heard of this, that's pretty awesome. Guess I'll go with Steam then.

lol, people still use the "i'd rather have a disk" bit.

"I'd rather have a disk that easily scratches and ruins the expensive thing I bought never letting me play it again since you cant have it replaced nor refunded, than have a digital copy that I can use on any computer and never can get lost or damaged"

I guess, if you don't take care of your CD's..

 

[Paulaner]

I have not heard of this, that's pretty awesome. Guess I'll go with Steam then.

Oh yes, I make backup copies of every game I own on Steam and I keep them on my shelf. The only thing I miss is the capability to download the original cover art, to obtain nice boxes.

 

[MJ12]

Plus, discs, manuals, boxes and everything else that comes with them are pretty.

Yeah, it's just not the same without having something tangible. I like having that box in my hand, it's like the difference of reading a good book online or actually buying the hardback of it. You know, it's nice to have and think, "This is what I paid for"

But, oh well, I'll just get Bioshock from Steam and back it up.

 

[Lucid]

lol, people still use the "i'd rather have a disk" bit.

"I'd rather have a disk that easily scratches and ruins the expensive thing I bought never letting me play it again since you cant have it replaced nor refunded, than have a digital copy that I can use on any computer and never can get lost or damaged"

Well lets see, I still have my original Duke Nukem 3D Atomic Edition CD, completely unscratched.
I still have my original Doom and Wolf3D diskettes in their original boxes with their receipts.

I take very good care of my things unlike most other people.
Not to mention that I've also moved 5 times in life, and I haven't lost a single thing.

So, yes, I prefer the physical copy rather than digital ones.
Alot easier to manage too, without having to wait months at a time to get updates(STALKER on Steam, looking at you... still haven't got the latest update for it.)

Without having the hassle of being unable to use mods.(San Andreas on STEAM, looking at you... can't play SAMP because you can't downgrade the Steam version, good thing I bought a physical copy shortly after.)
And nearly every game I've gotten on Steam aside from VALVe games all have problems.

WH40k Dark Crusade for instance, resets my video settings and won't let me skip the long-ass opening intros, yet apparently after the first run I should be able to.

So yes, Steam is a huge pain the balls as far as third party games go.

 

[Thandurin]

In other news Bioshock is on sale for $15 on Steam for this weekend.

 

[Paulaner]

In other news Bioshock is on sale for $15 on Steam for this weekend.

My Steam says $27.49. Maybe my country (Italy) is getting a worse deal.

 

[Cormeh]

It's half price, so it'll vary on region. ($27.49 in the U.K too).

 

[Kadayi]

In other news Bioshock is on sale for $15 on Steam for this weekend.

Cheers for heads up. I've been waiting for this to finally come down to a sensible price on Steam vs the retail bargain bins.

*buys
*downloads

Yeah, UK as well. But $27 + the tax is a lot more in line with what they should be charging this long out of the gates Vs what they have been.

Was a complete bitch to get running on Vista 64 (numerous problems), but now it's up and running I have to say it looks glorious.

 

[Thandurin]

It starts up in windowed mode every once in a while but seems to run fine under Vista 64 for me. I was going to finish Stalker before buying Bioshock but it was too good a deal to pass up.

 

[Cormeh]

I got it working no problem on Vista, but the entire control scheme feels jittery and unresponsive on the PC.

I'll fiddle was various settings later on, but it seems so much more difficult to land a wrench blow or a headshot on the PC, which boggles my puny mind.

 

[MorganFreeman911]

Once you go steam(black) you never go back.

 

[Acepilotf14]

It really depends on the game. If it's a game you uninstall a lot and has a cd key, go steam. If not, or you don't plan to uninstall it, or it's midnight and you can be arsed to get out of your house, go steam.