Direct2drive or Steam, which do you prefer?

Steam.

in before "I like retail because of the manual."

Steam.

in before "I like retail because of the manual."

Hewkii

And the cool box and disc.

The main difference between Steam and D2D is that Steam requires installation of software and a login to play the games. D2D has a small download manager, but once you download the game it is completely stand-alone. Some people, like myself, find it a bit off-putting to have to install this additional Steam software and have to connect. However, I recently started playing the Portal and Half-Life 2 games. The one big plus about Steam is the download speeds are exceptionally faster than D2D, especially if one is not patient. D2D games download off a third-party site (I think it's FilePlanet) and if you are not a member of that site you are subject to the same decrepit download speeds. This is something that D2D really needs to change in order to compete in the future. Otherwise, D2D is not a bad place to download very good games and their selection of games has grown quite large.

I'm still leery of Steam and will likely uninstall it once I've completed the Half-Life 2 series. Most of the other games on Steam I can get from D2D and I don't care about multi-player.

I couple of other notes about D2D is that although they do keep up and provide patches for the games, they don't always have the latest patch. However, this is not a problem for a lot of newer games like CIV IV and Company of Heroes, as these games are self-patching.

I think digital distribution of video games and self-updating games are the future of PC gaming. We may find at some point soon that it will be the only option for obtaining PC video games. As long as they work out some of the flaws, I think this is great.

I like self updates. I don't like being required to have internet connectivity.

So neither. I want the normal install.

The main difference between Steam and D2D is that Steam requires installation of software and a login to play the games. D2D has a small download manager, but once you download the game it is completely stand-alone. Some people, like myself, find it a bit off-putting to have to install this additional Steam software and have to connect. However, I recently started playing the Portal and Half-Life 2 games. The one big plus about Steam is the download speeds are exceptionally faster than D2D, especially if one is not patient. D2D games download off a third-party site (I think it's FilePlanet) and if you are not a member of that site you are subject to the same decrepit download speeds. This is something that D2D really needs to change in order to compete in the future. Otherwise, D2D is not a bad place to download very good games and their selection of games has grown quite large.

I'm still leery of Steam and will likely uninstall it once I've completed the Half-Life 2 series. Most of the other games on Steam I can get from D2D and I don't care about multi-player.

I couple of other notes about D2D is that although they do keep up and provide patches for the games, they don't always have the latest patch. However, this is not a problem for a lot of newer games like CIV IV and Company of Heroes, as these games are self-patching.

I think digital distribution of video games and self-updating games are the future of PC gaming. We may find at some point soon that it will be the only option for obtaining PC video games. As long as they work out some of the flaws, I think this is great.

eclarkdog

You forgot that D2D has a download limit similar to what EA is trying to implement. Also, patching and online play can be very problematic.

I suggest you stay away from D2D and all the other digital distributors like Trymedia at all costs. Steam is better but retail is the best option.Deihmos

Direct2drive and Steam is quickly becoming equal in providing the same amount of games. Question is which site do you prefer?Jd1680a

Neither! I still prefer to get my games on a DVD in a box with a manual. Downloading means all you get is a game and maybe a PDF of the manual. And to save space, you may not get the manual. Plus, if any of those sites are down and I wish to reinstall a game then I have to wait. I know it is old school but I just like having the shiny disk in hand.

Steam is an abosolutely incredible service and there's nothing like getting your game collection downloaded and auto-patched simply by downloading a small program, logging in, and pressing download.

I know some people hate it because of certain problems but I havn't had anything besides minor interface problems and they fixed them.

I don't like D2D, or anything else real similar.

Steam, because the account will ALWAYS have the game on it. So you never worry about losing any keys or CD's. I dont know how D2D works, because ive never used it, but i have seen that they have some games that steam doesnt.

Steam also updates on the fly.

Steam doesnt take over xfires combatibility though.. if they joined forces, it would be one tough company to beat.

Neither! I still prefer to get my games on a DVD in a box with a manual. Downloading means all you get is a game and maybe a PDF of the manual. And to save space, you may not get the manual. Plus, if any of those sites are down and I wish to reinstall a game then I have to wait. I know it is old school but I just like having the shiny disk in hand.Gruug

Satisfied Steam user here. Although we in Australia have a much smaller games catalogue available to us compared to US and other areas, it still offers a brilliant service. The interface is clean, friends list and other settings are easily maintained and I've never had a problem with having it running. Its the small things, like no download or install limits, that make all the difference. In comparison to EA and D2D, Steam is lightyears ahead.

Steam i like better, for some reason i also feel more safe with Steam, not sure why, but thats my opinion. If they got a bunch more games it would be perfect!

I also really like how you can RE-DOWNLOAD the games you bought right away if you had to reformat unexpectadly or what ever.

Also dont have to worry about losing the serial number/manual with steam which is nice (so many old games of mine that i have packed away dont have the serial with them so that always sucks)

[QUOTE="Jd1680a"]Direct2drive and Steam is quickly becoming equal in providing the same amount of games. Question is which site do you prefer?Gruug

Neither! I still prefer to get my games on a DVD in a box with a manual. Downloading means all you get is a game and maybe a PDF of the manual. And to save space, you may not get the manual. Plus, if any of those sites are down and I wish to reinstall a game then I have to wait. I know it is old school but I just like having the shiny disk in hand.

steam mostly because it's required for Valve games.

I also prefer retail because it's cheaper. L4D preorder was 45 on steam and 35 on amazon.

Steam, but I prefer retails :).DanielDust

Steam by a mile. I have one game off D2D and about 230 on Steam.

Alan