Digital Distribution or Retail

I pretty much flip a coin nowadays...

if I have to go to the mall anyways (which happens alot strangely enough), Ill just walk in and buy it, if I am not going to be near a gameshop the day the game comes out, I will use Digital Distribution.

I am kinda notorious in my friend circle, on buying most games the day (if not the hour) they get released.

I will admit that especially Steam is a great and helpful way to get new games, also thier catalogue is getting bigger for each month, often contailing pearls of the past I seem to have missed.

Growing up with Retail, I still feel like a little boy clutching my new game in my hands tho, a feeling I dont get from using steam...

I do occasionally use DD, but I still highly prefer hard copies.

Well, if the DD dudes gives me a cheaper game than the retail dudes, ill choose them. And vice versa. robertlie

I guess I'm being judgemental, but whateva. I think of people who refuse to buy games from download services as insecure and afraid of change. They need the box and disk like a small child needs a blanky. Skeptomania

I guess I'm being judgemental, but whateva. I think of people who refuse to buy games from download services as insecure and afraid of change. They need the box and disk like a small child needs a blanky. Skeptomania

HAHAHA! Thats one for the books. :D

LOL, no I don't think that is right, some people just want a hard copy. I go for both though. I'm bi ;)millerlight89

lol This one's for the books too.:P

depends on who has the better deal honestly..

i mean alot of these games you pay 30-40 dollars for on steam, you can get on amazon for 5-10 dollars.

but in turn, alot of games you can get for 2-7 dollars on amazon. you can get for 6-10 dollars on gog.com, which is faster, no shipping, you can redownload, dont have to have gog running to play it... and its garranteed to work on vista and xp....

so it depends on who has the better deal..

I prefer DD because I never have to worry about discs. Also, with Steam, I can install my games as many times as I want! :Dtheafiguy

What ever is the cheapest, i find it silly people would stick to one even if it's more expensive than the other (be it retail or DD).Stoner-Pimp

The fact that you don't have to keep using the disc is a definitely plus with DD; however, I have had some issues with some non-Valve games, such as COD4. It took me almost an hour to figure out the punkbuster problem before I could play MP. But I had the DVD copy before and had no problem.XRED_0

that doesnt really have anything to do with DD. it comes with the install period.

its just either the punkbuster service was disabled, or deleted.

I generally prefer retail because I prefer the physical copy of the game including the manual and other goodies that amy come with it. I also like to collect every game box and its contents. I am also in the armed services, so the base exchange store on all bases do not charge sales tax and the games are about $1 - $2 cheaper than other retail stores. :)

However, I do occasionally pick up a digital copy. Downside to base exchanges is there stock is not completely exhaustive, so I have to go through other means of getting games I want. Very old games that I don't have, I'll buy through digital distribution if they have it. I have noticed that digitial distribution sites will occasionally sell some games for a steal (Steam had Mount & Blade for under ten bucks for one weekend recently, for example), and that is something I cannot refuse.

So it depends. Games I cannot get locally, I will get a digital copy (if available), or games that are dirt cheap for a weekend. Other times, it's a retail copy.

Retail and I always will aslong as they exist.Tuzolord

I agree....I will always prefer the retail copy to DD, though I have purchased a few games off STEAM and FilePlanet and haven't had any issues with them. But I like to collect the box art and like the fact I have a hard copy of the CD. It does piss me off about the limited installs that developers have been trying to implement due to game piracy.

*+

I feel very reluctant to get DD.

I like something physical in my hands. I like the cover art, and the instruction book and to have the full package. If I could afford it id get all my games in the special edition version. But I really cant afford it.

In fact I might have to turn to DD just so I can afford to get any games as my budget is dwindling to pretty much nothing for games.

Genia

First retail , then retail and finally retail!

I prefer hard copies though i get multiplayer and special offer games on STEAM. I tend to but collectors editions if i get a hard copy these days, as i actually like the extra DVDs and such and i only buy games i really want these days.markop2003

Retail and I always will aslong as they exist.Tuzolord

DD is the best thing to happen to gaming since 3d graphics. There are games I bought 4+ years ago I can go back and play and I don't have to find my old CDs. Except for the parking lot in front of the store I bought the game, I don't look at the box again, I rarely ever use the manual because the tutorials are good enough and as a result there is less crap going to the land fill.

Also, I always end up accidentially scratching, losing or destroying my game CDs. DD just makes good sense. I don't like how some did it, requiring you to be logged into some added software package to even RUN the game, but sites like direct2drive are awesome. You go to your account, look at the list of games you own and *click* you're on your way to playing with screaming download speeds (most of the time).