Downloadable Games

mytgroo

Watchdog
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March 17, 2007
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I am interested in hearing about your experiences with direct downloads of games. I have had no problems with small independent companies like Spiderweb Software, or Rake In Grass. In fact it has been very easy to use their download services and keycodes. Manifestogames and Gametunnel both were every easy to use as well to download independent games. I have also used Gamersgate and Gametunnel to buy a few games directly. These required me to directly download special downloaders so I could buy the games. I have heard of other services like Steam and Direct2drive which I have not used. The game store near me now only sells nintendo and PS3 mostly. There are very few older games available or independents. I have found a few bargains on the download sites-- Evil Islands, Kult Heretic Kingdom, Gothic II, and of course all the Spiderweb downloads. I am looking forward to downloading Echelon Book 1. I have heard some very interesting things about downloading games. That downloads are good for places like Australia, New Zealand, and other places where it is cheaper to buy a download of a game than a boxed game. Please tell me about your experiences with downloading games to buy.

What I would really like is if I could download Icewind Dale instead of having to buy the boxed game. I would like to be able to purchase the download.
 
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Mar 17, 2007
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Downloaded NWN2 via Metaboli... well, not sure what to think of it. You can download the game only three times (which is ok I guess after all you can just burn it to DVD), but what really pissed me off was that I needed a new key to re-install the game to a new computer. So your software is basically keyed to your hardware - can't say I like that. What for example if Metaboli has to close down... where do I get a new key from? I really don't mind connecting to a server so my key can be checked, but this is clearly crap.

No idea about Icewind Dale, mate. But I fear it's not available for digital download. Interplay is not really alive anymore (well, they are... but more like undead) and IWD were released at a time when digital download wasn't overly popular.
 
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Dec 21, 2006
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I don't like downloadable things because I don't think I'd be able to preserve the game throughout 10 or moire years either on my harddisk or on a self-burned CD-ROM or DVD.

I personally like to have stuff that I can put into a shelf, like books.

Unfortunately I might be a dying race, because the trend indeed goes into downloadable content - like Microsoft goes into that direction with Hasta la Vista : Everything is on a CD, you just have to unlock it via paying.
An article I recently read suggests quite strongly that major companies wil sell through online shops - even operating systems - in the near future.
 
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I use Steam extensively, and am absolutely, 100% thrilled with it. On a new PC, I simply select which of the games I own I want to install, and off it goes. Great stuff - and I have never had to worry about patches.

Telltale games - for Sam & Max - is also great, nice easy 80MB downloads.

I got my review copies of Battlefield 2142 through 'EA Link' with a download purchase code, and it has been a really crappy experience. Slow, often quitting, telling me I've exceeded bandwidth caps, and so on. It took most of a day to get a 2GB file plus 200MB of patch & expansion ... and most of that time was fiddling with the service.
 
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Oh yeah... I got another good one. I purchased Vanguard - Saga of Heroes online. I had to download around 8 gigs or so in packs of 2 gigs each from a non-resuming server (yep that isn't a typo). In my desperation I used getright, and although the server was listed as non-resuming, I was able to resume the packages. Unfortunately not one of the packes was working when I was finished, all of them had crc errors.
Of course SOE in all its glory offers another download alternative - the Vanguard launcher - that tool will just download every damn single gamefile which blows up the download size to 17 gigs.

Well... it's SOE - what the hell did I expect?
 
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I don't like downloadable things because I don't think I'd be able to preserve the game throughout 10 or moire years either on my harddisk or on a self-burned CD-ROM or DVD.

I personally like to have stuff that I can put into a shelf, like books.

Unfortunately I might be a dying race

I am with you 100 percent! I also like having the box, manual, map, whatever else comes with the game.
 
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If Steam is an option I use it instantly (in fact, I've bought a game or two only because they were on Steam).

It works perfectly (for me), is transferable across PCs and doesn't use activation codes. I've also used TGN, Manifesto and direct downloads from the likes of Spiderweb. All happy.

I'd probably hesitate with systems like Direct2Drive because they have limitations (often 3 downloads or the like).

Couldn't care less about the "what about in 10 years" thing. Steam has such a large userbase that if they went offline, I have complete faith someone would have cracked the system in a few days at most. *shrug* There are also so many factors out of my control - what if a 10 year old CD game doesn't run on my new hardware? New OS?
 
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Dhruin, while I've heard a lot about Steam, I've never read what it really is and how it works. Do you have a link you could post that would enlighten people like myself!!
 
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@ Corwin: You can always just download Steam from www.steampowered.com . It's free and easy to use (self-explanatory) :) .
 
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Thanks for the Link Mo!!
 
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http://www.steampowered.com/v/index.php

Basically, Valve (Half Life) being cashed up and seeing that this was the way future distrbution would likely head, set about being one of the pioneers. They developed Steam as both a distribution system for their own games and third party developers.

Steam works with a small program (client) that runs on your computer to control things. That's both a strength and weakness: critics don't like this program residing on their computer (it can be switched off- it doesn't have to run all the time but must run when you are playing a Steam title). From within the Steam client, I can browse the games available, buy them, control the games I've already bought (download them, delete them, back them up to CD/DVD, change some settings, setup "Friends" lists for MP games and so on).

Steam patches automatically, so I don't have to think about patches for Steamed games.

Your "access rights" are tied to your Steam username, not the computer. In other words, I currently have Jade Empire (from Steam) installed on this computer...I could go over to your place, log into Steam with my account and install Jade on your computer (or my notebook, a new computer...) -- it doesn't care. Of course, I can't play the two copies simultaneously and leaving my account on your computer gives you control of my account, I wouldn't really want to leave it there for you to play.

Given that Valve is basically a shooter developer, I guess that skews the games towards an action bent but it is quickly becoming the online system of choice and the catalogue is expanding rapidly, including some niche strategy titles.

People with limited bandwidth such as yourself would have to manage things but I love not going to the shop and relying on EB (blech!) or Australian distributors. I've had Jade Empire, Silverfall, Dark Messiah and several action games all pre-loaded before the day of release, ready to go.
 
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Sounds good. Obviously you can afford more download than I can!! :) Plus, I have 3 other people sharing my internet account including my 20 year old son who loves playing WOW online!!
 
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Corwin, are you sure you´re up-to-date on all the different ISP offers in your area? It sounds really strange that there is no DSL or cable (full) flat rate for a few bucks. 20 GB volume sounds like a contract from 5 years ago.
 
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I think Corwin's limit is 10Gb. I'm limited to 20Gb (shaped after that to 64k, which is too slow for me to deal with) -- and I'm well up to date on the options available. I think Corwin is with Optus and that wouldn't be my choice but Australia's options aren't great.

I used to have a 40Gb limit on a $79.95 / month 1.5Mb ADSL connection. My ISP's of choice don't have ADSL2 available in my area (and won't for a long time), so after thinking about the options I moved to a 8Mb ADSL1 plan with my preferred ISP with 20Gb limit at $89.95 / month. I'm not sure if the extra speed has been worth the smaller cap...I'm still thinking about that.

There are cheaper / bigger plans out there but this is the best compromise for me at the moment. Maybe in a year or so, ADSL2 will be a viable choice for me.
 
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Yep, I get 12 GB cause I've been with my ISP for a LONG time. I pay $59.95 a month, but get 3 months a year FREE cause I've been with them over 5 years and have cable TV too!!
 
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No flat rate.. That sounds terrible. Then again, in the village I'm originally from there isn't even ADSL available at all. Just 64k ISDN. And no flat rate for that. It's like a two-class society...
 
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Down here, we basically have a two company choice and in many places, NO choice!! Large area and small population means we get what's on offer and like it!!
 
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Down here, we basically have a two company choice and in many places, NO choice!! Large area and small population means we get what's on offer and like it!!

Well, I once saw a documentary about the great distances in Australia. Some children lived too far from everybody and had to take lessons using a Walkie Talkie instead.
And it wasn't out of the ordinary for people to drive 100-200 km before arriving at something somewhat civilised according to the docu.

Regards Asbjørn
 
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Yep, that's pretty standard in many places here. A 200 km drive to do the shopping is not unusual in some places!!
 
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There is an interesting history with Software Downloads and I don't mean the Wolfenstein or Doom model.

Egghead software used to be one of the largest Software retail outlets in North America. I think one of the reasons for their success is how much they catered to the business market.

Egghead was one of the first Software companies to go public and thanks to this brand new thing called the Internet some market analysts insisted the future of retail will be online and Brick and Mortar stores were costly overhead

The investors then pressured Egghead in closing the shops and be strictly a download only company at the time where most people's internet was thanks to a floppy disk they got in the mail. The investors rewarded Egghead handsomely as their stock went up.

After a brief move from the Silicon Valley to Mcleary, Washington (a ton of about 1000 where I actually have some friends), not surprisingly Egghead also became one of the first to go pop in the .com bubble.
 
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