Posted September 03, 2009
I only have a handful of games on my Steam account, and whenever possible, I pick up physical copies of games, preferably without excessive copy protection. Steam has improved quite a bit since its inception, and the service does have its advantages, but the DRM and lack of physical media are still a major turnoff. I prefer knowing that I'll still be able to reinstall and play a game a decade or so from now, without having to rely on activation servers that might no longer exist.
For being a digital distribution service, their prices are not all that competitive either. Without having to pay for physical media, packaging, and retail space, they should be able to charge less while making more profit. Instead, their prices are typically higher than those found in stores, with the exception being some of their weekend deals and other sales. It's pretty bad when you can go to a site like Newegg, and have a physical copy of a game shipped to you for significantly less than you'd pay through Steam, even for titles developed by Valve themselves. With the possible exception of those occasional sales, its simply not worthwhile from a value perspective to buy games through Steam.
As for the resale of physical copies, I see little against it. The vast majority of my games were bought new, and I don't sell games I've played, though I have bought some pre-owned older titles. It's often difficult to find new copies of games that are no longer sold in stores, and if someone feels they no longer have any use for a particular game, they should be able to sell or give it away. I can certainly see how it could affect sales if a large number of people sell their copies of a game shortly following its release, but this is something the developers can reduce by providing their games with good replayability and continued support. Expansions, add-ons and multiplayer are just some of the ways developers can curb the immediate resale of their games.
For being a digital distribution service, their prices are not all that competitive either. Without having to pay for physical media, packaging, and retail space, they should be able to charge less while making more profit. Instead, their prices are typically higher than those found in stores, with the exception being some of their weekend deals and other sales. It's pretty bad when you can go to a site like Newegg, and have a physical copy of a game shipped to you for significantly less than you'd pay through Steam, even for titles developed by Valve themselves. With the possible exception of those occasional sales, its simply not worthwhile from a value perspective to buy games through Steam.
As for the resale of physical copies, I see little against it. The vast majority of my games were bought new, and I don't sell games I've played, though I have bought some pre-owned older titles. It's often difficult to find new copies of games that are no longer sold in stores, and if someone feels they no longer have any use for a particular game, they should be able to sell or give it away. I can certainly see how it could affect sales if a large number of people sell their copies of a game shortly following its release, but this is something the developers can reduce by providing their games with good replayability and continued support. Expansions, add-ons and multiplayer are just some of the ways developers can curb the immediate resale of their games.