Yeah, there's no way around that at the moment. Given that it's not always blatantly obvious which games require steam and which don't it does mean that you have to do your research.
The only way it could work is if they gave you their account too. But then that would naturally include anything else they have in there and is against Steam's rules too. I don't know if they would ban the account though. They say they'd only do that in the case of fraud.
Still, Steam does need a lot of work. I just hope Valve are fully aware of just how much work it needs.

I've never really had an issue with min. specs not being realistic... most people don't seem to understand what min. means, as in they have low, low specs and then try to run the game in HD resolutions with AA and such.
As for Steam, I find people who flat-out refuse to use it to be a bit irrational, but that's just me. I would rather get non-steam versions when I can, on average, but it's not like the program is so vile I would refuse to play awesome games because of it.

The only times I tend to hear about people having trouble with meeting the minimum specs is either when they have a laptop and don't seem to realise the importance of having an actual graphics card to play games, or when they have a pre-built desktop with the same problem.

I own 3 games that require Steam to activate which are Empire:Total War, Dawn of War 2 and Saints Row 2. All of them clearly state on the box that you need Steam to activate and you have to accecpt the Steam Subscriber Agreement.

I shouldn't have to research it. I'm not buying a vintage WW2 Enigma machine, I was buying a game. People need to get this thing out their head that if a company doesn't want to do what you need them to that somehow it's your fault. Companies are here to serve us. They wouldn't exist if it wasn't for us.
GamersGate allows you to keep the game installation files on your PC for reinstallation. I'd say that's a good sign of trust.
I like your style.
That sucks man, my bro in law got Empire for my birthday. Yep, I was surprised it had Steam on it. It's a cool game, but very HEAVY on the system requirements.
What's weird is I've never seen Alpha Prime in any store.
It's good that they are atleast trying. Couple lawsuits later................ :-)
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I guess I'm just an old geezer gamer that's not use to the these new fangled ways and the young ones think it's normal to have no rights.

You should research it. You research before you buy a home, a car, speakers, computers, why should games be any different?
If you don't research, it is your fault. And no, that isn't a lack of rights, it's just you showing a lack of common sense.

Research a movie before you go see it? All you hear is, "I heard" when you research something. You gain no experience, nothing that might sway your mind in another direction. If you don't act you gain nothing. Afterward you might say you know after doing all that research those guys were wrong.

And I've also seen some stores who put the big price/barcode, by coincidence (yeah, right...) just on the Steam logo, hidding it...

Nice straw man. That had nothing to do with my point.
My point was that if you want to see if something will work on your computer, you should research it. It isn't hard. When you look at the system requirements, you should also look at the low ratings to see what reason they gave it low ratings for.
For Alpha Prime on Amazon, look at the comments.
http://www.amazon.com/Alpha-Prime-Pc/product-reviews/B000WJSEBG/ref=cm_cr_pr_helpful?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0
Two of them mention that you need a Steam account. Obviously that won't work with used games.

LOL, Since it's so obvious why do sellers sell it used when they know Amazon has such a strict return policy?

Because they know that there will always be some people to buy it. What do you think? That Amazon is your friend?

Are you purposefully ignoring my points or do you just not get it?
Your responses to my posts are the equivalent of me quoting the words "return policy" from your post and then commenting "LOL You said return I bet that aliens are going to return one day."

Because you complained about it. Many customers would do nothing in that situation. If Amazon was really on their customers' side, they would not let used games that need activation to be sold.

Oh Lord, If the Steam activation is so obvious and no one, not even your grandma can activate a used game. Why do Amazon sellers continue to sell it knowing that they have such a strict return policy? The sellers loose money when they sell them. It doesn't make any sense. Which says they don't research their own games that they sell. Which in turn tells you not everyone has the time to research every little detail of life.
Everything in my life led up to that point in purchasing that specific title at that exact moment. Thinking that it's just a indy game what type of protection could it possibly have? Now I know and would have never of guessed. With future purchases I shall look before I leap.