Steam passes 30 million accounts, maintains strong growth

@InkSix
I just love the huge sales they have. I got L4D2 for seven bucks.

@InkSix

You can be on Steam and still love boxes ya know.
The only thing is that Steam has the best sales ever.

@MacabreArts

Sigh, yeah those are great. At least I can probably look forward to always getting a box for my MMOs of interest.

@InkSix

No. I prefer them too, but only when there is a sticker saying "$4.99".

Target is a GOD send.

@InkSix
I hate boxes now. Unless its cheaper for me to buy a DVD Id rather download the game. The reason is, I have tons of games. keeping track of boxes or cd-keys are a real pain. With steam you have one login and then you can download and install very easily and then play.

@InkSix

"Am I the only PC gamer that still loves a box?"

Well, apparently I'm the only guy that needs to get his mind out of the gutter. I giggled...

@InkSix
I love not having to track down a disc for a game I installed two months ago.

I bought Half-Life almost 12 years ago. I'm not sure where the box is now but I registered the cd key with Steam. Now I can play it whenever I want from any computer. That is what first won me over to Steam. Plus their sales are awesome.

@InkSix
There are a bunch of MMO's available through Steam as it is.

Though really, an MMO seems like the least sensible kind of game for a retail box in the first place. They're tied to an online service by their nature, so you probably can't come back to it many years down the road, so the longevity of physical media is moot. And besides, they're constantly patched, so if it's more than a few months past launch, chances are you're going to redownload a huge chunk of data to replace most of what you've got on the disc, anyway.

@InkSix
Eh, I used to, but then they neutered them by making them DVD cases and then neutered them even more by making them barebones more often than not. Couple that with the insane sales Steam has and I haven't looked back yet.

Now, I get my box love on consoles and my digital love on PC. I would NEVER EVER have it any other way, now.

@InkSix I love boxes, but Steam is just too damn convenient.

@InkSix


With the money you save buying games on Steam you can buy yourself a whole mess of boxes.

@Uncle Jesse Lol I thought you said you JIGGLED. Oh cousin Jesse,YOU and your wife are soooo naughty.

@InkSix:

While you and many others miss boxed version, I really don't personally and here is why:

1. They eventually create a lot of clutter once my collection begins to grow. Digital downloads don't take any extra physical space.
2. I can buy and have my games instantly as opposed to waiting for a boxed copy to arrive or driving to a nearby gamestop.
3. Digital versions sometimes have lessened DRM than their retail counterparts (no disc check for starters because there's no disc to check). If I felt like swapping discs all the time, I'd just get a console (although this does not apply to all PC games naturally and Steam is arguably a form of DRM in on itself).
4. My game collection can never be damaged or stolen (although Steam accounts can be hijacked but thankfully there is a recovery process for that)
5. MUCH easier to manage and apply updates. Steam does it for me as the game is installed rather than me having to manually go, download a patch, and install it every single time after the game itself.
6. Some retail games (like Modern Warfare 2) use steam anyway making the retail version completely redundant. They could have very well sold you a piece of paper with an unlock key. The disc's data is likely to be outdated from the start necessitating that you wait for the updates to install anyway.


The ONLY big disadvantage of digital versions vs retail ones that I can think of is that it gives the distributor a LOT of power over you. If Valve pulls the plug on their services, kiss all your games goodbye. Same deal if they decide to ban/disable your account. You are at their mercy in that sense so best not to use them unless you really feel trusting. So far I haven't had a problem yet.

@ONmedz x.x joystiq didn't like my heart after the word steam. Can't wait for the holiday sales. :D

@ONmedz I thought you were stating an awesome one word fact.

Why are you downloading dictionaries from porn sites?

@Ezio Auditore da Firenze

I think Steam has done a LOT for PC gaming. Speaking for myself, I would probably be completely done with PC gaming by now if it wasn't for Steam.

@Ezio Auditore da Firenze
I know that I own copies of the same game on both the 360 and the PC because of Steam.

@Uncle Jesse That said, 8 years ago, I doubt we'd think Steam would become as wonderful as it is. Back then, it was just DRM for HL2 that pissed us off? Now? Greatest service ever. Who'd've thunk it?

@MowDownJoe

Exactly! I remember my buddy wanted me to lend him HL2 when I bought it and I told him that I couldn't because of this thing called Steam. I think I bitched about it to him and we both decided that it sucked right then and there. Turns out, it was actually us that sucked for ever having complained about Steam.

@paper

Feeling of ownership > Deals

? > Feeling of ownership

Saving money on Deals > ?

It makes sense in my head...

@Frank the tank

Terrible idea. Going "all out" on a PC is something you regret 6 months down the road.

@ZForce915

Says you. Counting my boxed PC games, titles bought from the Impulse store, and the games I bought on Steam, I have at least 113 PC games compared to my library of 8 Wii games, 21 Xbox 360 games, and 24 PS3 games. I bought more PC games in one year than my entire console library combined. For people like me, PC gaming is the way to go.

@intriq
Portal for free.

Ok, so maybe that doesn't count as a purchase, but it was definitely the greatest thing ever.

@Marshillboy
Actually, I have an a few occasions seen measurements in "libraries of congress", usually for storage space, though, and not download speed.

@Marshillboy

400Gps

400 / 92.6 = 4.32gigs for the oxford dictionary.

@Marshillboy
It's not so much a unit of measurement as it is a statement of how awesome their infrastructure is. Who cares about what file type they use? The fact remains that they can do it.