If you had asked me about a year ago if I would ever buy and download a game on-line, I probably would have said that you were nuts. I was firmly in the camp of "The only good games are the ones you hold in your hand".

Now, about a year later, I have dozens of games that I have downloaded, and I don't even bother checking anymore (for the most part) for actual hard-copy games - I am a full-fledged download convert.

So, I thought it might be interesting to see what others think of the various Game Download sites. How would you rank them, and what do you / don't you like about certain sites.
The sites that I am the most familiar with (and have bought things from) are:
GOG, STEAM, Direct2Drive, GamersGate, Amazon, Games for Windows, and Impulse.

Here is my ranking / opinion of these sties:

1) GOG - The fact that they do what no one else does - remove all DRM, and make the games so easy to use and install is worthy of launching them into a tie for first place in my list. Plus they have the BEST customer service out there, and they carry so many old classics that no one else has.. Unfortunately they don't have the biggest selection of games, or they would probably sit alone on top of my list.
1) STEAM - They were the fist to get me to try downloading a game, and I've been hooked ever since. They seem to have one of the biggest selections, most updates, best sales, and incredible forums of all Game sites. Unfortunately they do allow DRM (sometimes without really doing a good job of mentioning it), so that puts them in a tie for first.
3) Direct2Drive (D2D) - I haven't downloaded to many games from them, but the ones that I have, I have had no trouble with. The purchasing, downloading, installing and playing have all gone without a bit of trouble. They have a good selection of games, and they provide quite a few sales (I love their 2 dollar Tuesday sales).
4) GamersGate - I've only recently started buying from them, but I have been impressed with their service as well. They offer many games that no one else seems to carry, they have quite a few good sales every week, and they even let you earn credit with every download. I' m not crazy about the payment choices, but since I do have a Paypal account, it's not that big of a deal.
5) Amazon - After years of searching for great prices on hard-copy games, I recently discovered their downloadable content. It's Amazon, what more needs to be said.
6) Impluse - I actually haven't had a chance yet to buy a game from them, but I do check their site every day. On most days they have a daily sale going on. They have many not-so-popular games that you might have never heard of, as well as many of the better known selections. They also offer non-gaming programs that most gaming sites don't.
7)
8)
9)
1000) - Games for Windows Live - During the Holidays, they were offering different games for .1 cent each. I purchased a few of these games, and still think I might have paid too much. Never have I had to try and jump through so many hoops to try to get something to work as I do with those dumb games. For the most part, I refuse to buy another game from them (unless it's something I really want, and it's for .1 cent again, then I might think about it). If GOG is at one end of the spectrum for good customer service, I would say that GFWL is definitely at the other.

So, what gaming sites have you tried, and how would you rate them, or have to say about them. Also if there are any other sites that I'm not aware of (I hope so, even though my wallet doesn't), please share them as well.

GetGamesGo; Gamesplanet (fr.gamesplanet.com, uk.gamesplanet.com,game.gamesplanet.com), Gametap (these sites owned by Metaboli); Greenmangaming you should try them

They don't have much but they do publish games that they don't write: http://www.playgreenhouse.com/

Used them. Nice ability to sell back games, but the site/store itself is not great. And that Capsule client it uses... yuck! Wouldn't mind seeing them get bigger though and hopefully iron out the bugs a bit since again, the ability to trade back games is pretty awesome.

So, what gaming sites have you tried, and how would you rate them, or have to say about them.

Not much time today so I'll just list the order in which I prefer to use the sites I've had experience with. The higher the number, the more likely I am to use them (I'll explain why later when I have time):

100) GamersGate

My current go to place for games. If it's available on other services too for a similar price, I'll get it from GG every time. Support are actually helpful and have managed to solve pretty much every problem I've had with the service. They also sell games to me that most other services won't (and now that even includes many Steamwork titles Steam won't sell to me). I've posted my full opinion over on Didimatic.

080) Big Fish Games

Pretty much the best place to get "casual" games from. If you're member the prices are good ($6.99 vs. $9.99/$19.99 everywhere else for standard games). They need to sort out their collector's editions so it's possible to buy them with credits, but other than that they too have top notch support.

060) GetGamesGo

Used to be my go to place for Steamwork titles, etc. I haven't used them much, but the fact you can change currencies on most game sold (can't seem to do it with a couple of games) means you can pay in the currency with the cheapest price.

050) Steam

Used to be my main go to site. But that was before they decided to screw over my region. They have the worst support going and the only time it's now worth using them is when they are selling sommat cheap. As for the client itself, I really wish they'd stop adding fluff to it and removing the only useful functions it had.

040) GOG

I've pretty much already bought everything I want. And the quality of support has declined drastically which doesn't really give me much incentive to buy from here when the same game is available on another service. That said, if GOG ever get Eye of the Beholder, I'll buy it so fast the internet will asplode.

035) EA Store (UK, via proxy)

Only use them when they have a sale. No complaints and thanks to sharing servers with EA Japan, they give me the fastest download speeds of all services (12 to 14 megs a second vs Steam's average of 3 megs a second). I haven't tried EA UK's support pretty much because I try to avoid EA support as the last time I used them (US support I think) the rep pretty much tried to phish my identity.

020) D2D

I used to use them for the odd sale. But since they screwed me over a pre-order when they decided to change the regional availability, I've lost pretty much all interest in buying from them. They also borked my credit card and support won't fix the problem. Which forces me to pay via PayPal. Not a big deal except they've somehow removed the whole PayPal log in process which means the second you hit buy, it's bought. Makes it a little too easy to accidentally purchase sommat if you ask me. Support is kinda meh.

003) Impulse

I only use them for Objectdock now. Terrible attitude towards international customers pretty much turns me away. I've posted my full opinion on Didimatic.

002) EA Store (Japan)

They are a fucking joke. Seriously, they still want 7500 yen ($91 USD) for Mirror's Edge. And while they now rarely have sales of 10 to 50% off, the original prices for most games are so extortionate you don't even notice the sale. Last game I bought from them was Burnout Paradise as they actually had the cheapest price for that one. Although a server error on their end prevented downloading for a few days and EA Japan support (at that time) were only available for 4 hours a day. Also, while they sell a limited selection of English language games, they don't provide any support for them.

001) Green Man Gaming

Something about their 3 day activation model really winds me up sommat rotten and I tend not to mind DRM. I also don't like the way they now force regional restrictions when they once told me they'd never do that. I pretty much used a proxy to buy a Steamworks game from them simply to wipe my balance out. I've not gone back since.

Matrixgames.com

I love wargames and historical strategy games, and Matrixgames is the best place to get these kinds of games. Their titles are niche games for sure, but it's great that there is a publisher that still cranks out quality titles in these genres.
The 90's were sort of the heyday for wargames. Titles like Close Combat and Steel Panthers were popular back then. They aren't nearly as popular now, but Matrix still releases newly-made sequels to these games. Their prices are a bit high, but they offer downloadable or physical copies of their games, and I have had no problems with them.

1. GamersGate... Probably because of their Blue Coins system.

2. GOG, well, DRM-free and $ currency.

3. Steam, best for Steamworks games (which GamersGate is slowly starting to offer, a move that is very welcomed, to Bansama at least). :p

I only use GOG, Gamersgate and Steam. Most of the stuff that can't be bought retail, I'll head over to Gamersgate. Great service, love the Blue Coins, ability to bypass their in-house DRM - it's all good. GOG is a nice place for DRM-free digital backups of old games, especially ones that I still have boxed but cannot play anymore due to OS incompatibility. And Steam, well sometimes the prices are so low, they're justifiable even if one considers Steam to be a rental service.

GOG, Steam and GG works for me. Once tried EA Store, and will not try again :)

Btw, there was once an review about Space Rangers 2 Reboot in PELIT-magazine (finnish gaming magazine) where the writer was totally trashed by impulse. He had some major problems with installing the game via their application, and I'm pretty sure he will think twice before buying from impulse again :)

It probably sound trivial to angst about this but:

I got burned by D2D on DAO's release. I went with preordering with them because they boasted about the fact that the game could be preloaded for those that preordered, and they had the preorder page up in June when the game was released in October. Well, come time that everything else was starting the preload, D2D kept pushing the time when the preload started and I was getting irritated (the game file was pretty big and preloading meant I could jump right in come release day). Hours went by and still no preload, I was not a happy camper and decided that if they were not going to be able to backup their claims, I wasn't interested in giving them my business. Now I think the only time I give them money (AKA I only own two games from them) is when they are the only place selling a particular game I want,

GamersGate, Steam and GOG have been very good to me though, so that's probably where I'm going to keep shelling out my money.

I'm constantly keeping an eye on game sales, checking out a variety of online stores, but tend to stick with Steam and GoG.

Given the backlog of games I have here and Steam, I don't buy many games at all nowadays, but when I do, it's always from these two. No other store beats these sites' sales, ease of use and support.

I love GOG and Steam. Steam provides me with newish games dirt cheap, GOG provides me with old games dirt cheap. What's not to love? :D

In my opinion the only ones to avoid are Impulse and Windows Live.
Impulse normally has terrible deals, and a lot of region lock
Windows Live is just not good enough (but isn't really horrible)

Direct2Drive occasionally has a good deal.

Good Old Games, Steam and Gamersgate are THE best digital distributors, and are the only real contenders.

Steam usually has cheaper deals, but Gamersgate normally has a broader spectrum of deals, and Gamersgate do try to compete with Steam, (I've seen them react to similar deals on Steam).

As for Good Old Games, I wouldn't be here daily if it wasn't the best! :D
(seriously, Cheap games, frequent sales, tons of extras, good community)

Dead.

Personally: I like Steam, although I wouldn't pay full price for a Steam game, largely because I'd know that it'll be half price or better within six months. I also like Gamersgate, largely because of the Blue Coins scheme, admittedly.

Direct2drive I'm not fussed on, since there was too many hoops to jump through for my personal taste. GetGames also not very fussed on, largely due to the TryMedia DRM they used, largely due to TryMedia's treatment of Worms Armageddon. Silly thing to worry about, since their DRM is basically emulating Telltale's but...

Games for Windows Live... I can't recall when I've had a major problem with it, to be honest. Tried downloading Age of Empires 3 Complete on it when it was cheap, worked perfectly first time. Would I buy regularly from them? No: largely because their selection is rubbish and their prices are steep.