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Impulse's popularity is gaining, baby!
Also don't hesitate to read some of the previous posts
Never heard of impulse, and I browsed their games now... they have a very very limited selection and the whole thing seems very amateurish IMO.

Wat... NO U!
Impulse > Steam. Even though I've got a fucking 103 games on Steam and only 6 on Impulse, I find it to be superior. GoG is still best overall though, but as far as digital distribution of new games go, Impulse is best.
Post edited September 07, 2009 by sheepdragon
Impulse was looking promising, but then they had to go the route of regional restrictions and regional pricing. I now use them far less.
Impulse isn't bad, and I like the fact that the client is only necessary for updates. But I don't know if I can refute the "amateurish" claim when my account fell apart and I had to ask them to piece it back together again. But then it's not like Steam are any more competent...
I don't mind using Impulse for my retail discs, but I don't buy anything digitally there unless it's super cheap (though they don't do their $3.99 sales anymore). I detest the backup and installation process.
Impulse is quite nice, I hadn't problem with it. For stardock games/soft it's only way to activate them but instead you can download them anyway you wan't and for any PC you log in, just like Steam. Also it's only way to buy add-ons for Sins of Solar Empire so 'a must have' for me :_-.
I find also their interface and site a bit non-intutative. I haven't checked the site recently, but I find it hard to find info that I am interested in. For example I am not sure how to backup my games. Another example, I remember reading last month they were adding some new or changing copy protection, but when I looked around I could find no details.
But as I see good deals I will have taken advantage of them from both impulse, steam, and of course gog. I don't buy from other online entities.
Post edited September 07, 2009 by tacitus59
Steam/GOG/D2D/GG weekly sales are usually more attractive for me than Impulse sales, so I never tried Impulse (this is coming from a guy who bought a $0.5 game on GG just to test its service). Seriously, judging from their website and twitter, it seems to me that Impulse team is not that enthusiastic over their own product.
I've bought 10 games on Impulse all of them bar one were bought in sales. And the one I bought full price was Demigod and that eventually earnt me two discounts, one for someone else to use and another for myself (which I used on top of sale prices =P)
Seriously, judging from their website and twitter, it seems to me that Impulse team is not that enthusiastic over their own product.
I get the same feeling from their comments on Impulse. They certainly seem to care more about the US market than international customers anyhow.
My thoughts on Impulse ...
Much like GOG staff they respond pretty quick to support requests and general questions about their products. The client works well enough and download speeds are quick.
I like the fact that once your game is installed and patched up, you're able to play offline without a net connection. I think this is crucial for users who are playing away from a network connection. It's one step closer to having physical media which allows for the same thing (FIXED exes for physical games which don't).
Much like other online stores, the prices are usually higher than retail and reselling of games isn't (yet) allowed.
Like Steam, you really can't "backup" your games even though this feature is touted on the website and even from users themselves. What they collectively do not get is when the "backup" requires authentication it's not really a true backup since there is a dependency on something you don't have control over. That's my nitpick though, as having a backup is HUGE for me.
Like others have said, their weekend sales are a little lackluster, but not terrible. I missed the $3.99 sales, otherwise I might have been tempted to pick up a few then. Until things change, I'd still recommend GOG or physical media for new (higher priced) games until true backups become an option for digital outlets.
Just my 2 cents.
The only thing steam has to do to completely obliterate their competition on all aspects is to allow 1 time autentication of the games like impulse does/will do (not sure) so that we can install a steam game where we want without having to go online (if we do have the backup obviously) .
Post edited September 07, 2009 by A-Pock
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A-Pock: The only thing steam has to do to completely obliterate their competition on all aspects is to allow 1 time autentication of the games like impulse does/will do (not sure) so that we can install a steam game where we want without having to go online (if we do have the backup obviously) .

Actually, there are a few more things they need to do too. Such as working far more agressively in persuading partners to:
No longer impose regional restrictions
Offer fair pricing accross regions, or better yet, no regional pricing variations
Remove all activation limitations from 3rd party DRM (after all, GamersGate manage it)
avatar
A-Pock: The only thing steam has to do to completely obliterate their competition on all aspects is to allow 1 time autentication of the games like impulse does/will do (not sure) so that we can install a steam game where we want without having to go online (if we do have the backup obviously) .
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bansama: Actually, there are a few more things they need to do too. Such as working far more agressively in persuading partners to:
No longer impose regional restrictions
Offer fair pricing accross regions, or better yet, no regional pricing variations
Remove all activation limitations from 3rd party DRM (after all, GamersGate manage it)

Yes, it's ridiculous that they can't use their GOO DRM for Call of Juarez. Steam gets it without TAGES, the most evil DRM scheme in history, and Impulse doesn't.
The service is all right. I got Street Fighter IV and Demigod on it, but I only got SFIV on it because it was $5 cheaper at the time than it was on Steam.
Impulse is just great. The best thing compared to steam is that it doesn't convert dollars to euros with 1:1 ratio, which is bullcrap!
I really like Impulse. Not as much as GOG, but I'd choose Impulse over Steam if given the choice. Why?
1) You don't need to run Impulse to play the game. Sorry but sometimes when in between lectures, waiting for Steam to load means much less game time.
2) Well basically Reason #1
3) Impulse has more games from the EU. Steam has more mainstream games. I think.
Anyway, Steam as a multi-purpose app wins Impulse. Otherwise, no thanks. I don't want to have to wait a few good minutes for this shit to load, just so I can play a quick 5-minute game of Plants vs Zombies.
I do agree that Impulse as an application is still lagging in functionality behind Steam, but I certainly wouldn't call it "amateurish". My main beef with that comment posted is that that guy is a complete doofus, and apparently uses his own ignorance to make a claim on behalf of the Internet, that Impulse is a failed experiment.