[coolguy204]

Hi guys. I plan on buying Bioshock soon but I have a very important question. I was wondering whether to buy Bioshock in a retail box at a local game store, or on my Steam account. I am having a hard time deciding because I would really like to have a box and stuff with manuals, which Steam obviously doesn't give you a box. The only concerns that I have are that one day Steam may be shutdown or bought out, and then what will happen to my games, do they just drift away like they were never bought? Also if I buy from Steam I have to have Steam running as a background task, which means just another running process to add to task manager. But there are many good things that come with the Steam version, such as not worrying about the game CD's being scratched and never losing the CD's. Also when I want to install it I press download from online in my Steam account, go to bed, wake up and it's done in the morning instead of staying up and popping CD's in and out. I can also back up the game to a DVD. Also the games are automatically updated by the Steam server. I have never had a problem with Steam before, and I have even bought Far Cry off of Steam, and I must say it is great. But now that I am starting to think about it more, the more I am getting worried. Someone please respond soon. Hopefully someone who has played Bioshock on Steam can tell me how it is.

[Cazio]

Bioshock on Steam is just fantastic.

While it is theoretically possible that Steam may one day be shut down, it is highly unlikely. Sales via digital distribution are skyrocketing, so Valve isn't hurting for money. I can't say what they'd do if the service got shut down for whatever reason, but it seems likely that they wouldn't leave their customers hanging. Plus, as you mentioned, you can always back your games up on DVD. I say go for it.

[Gulo Luseus]

You pays your mobey, you takes your choice I guess. I take a lot of games from Steam, and no probs. You may not realise, but you do not have to be connected to the net to play games, if steam detects no net connection it will start if offline mode with the full game. So in the unlikept event that Steam dies, its all still there. As far as manuals go, not many games seem to have them now so its no great loss.

[coolguy204]

I thank you both very much for your responses, and I will get Bioshock on Steam. It is also a good gas saver, so I don't have to go out and drive to a game store. I just had another question. Do you think that Steam will allow your own personal uploads of games? Such as if I want to upload F.E.A.R.. They should do that, but make you pay per gigabyte. Do you think that this will ever happen?

[PrivatePC]

Do not buy your games used that go on Steam!!

[coolguy204]

What are you talking about?

[Gulo Luseus]

I wouldnt want them to. I take it you mean they give you a space allowance where you can upload games and then play without needing to install to your computer. The time it would take to load would make it pretty impossible, and anyway, I prefer knowing where the things are

[PrivatePC]

i mean like. I got Half-Life 2 from amazon.com used game. I tried to play and wont let me becuase duplicate cd-key. get it?

[Couriant]

Originally Posted by PrivatePC

i mean like. I got Half-Life 2 from amazon.com used game. I tried to play and wont let me becuase duplicate cd-key. get it?

I doubt that Steam does USED games so he will be safe.

[PrivatePC]

omfg.. u dont get it. Steam DOESNT do used games!! AMAZON did and they do it to spam u so dont buy used valve games!

[Jarmer]

I have had great experiences with Steam on my PC's. It keeps the games up to date, backs them up, keeps your games across different computers, etc...

I highly recommend the platform.

[tom6049]

I can also highly recommend Steam. I have purchased about 60 games through Steam and I'm very happy with their delivery method. I especially like not having to fumble with countless CDs.

[Dustdvl]

If you purchased games out of steam you would probably wanna install steam because it has the server list im pretty sure

[Tomtheman70]

Originally Posted by PrivatePC

Do not buy your games used that go on Steam!!

I'm with this guy...

Steam has never really been reliable on my machines, it always slows down games that I put through it with its community crap.

Just buy the retail, that way you'll have it forever, or 100 years till the DVD rots. :P

Also: I buy all my single player games from retail, but purchase most of my multiplayer games through direct download.

Originally Posted by Dustdvl

If you purchased games out of steam you would probably wanna install steam because it has the server list im pretty sure

What are you rambling on about..? Bioshock is a single player game...

[Dustdvl]

dude steam has never slow'd down my computer i would always buy my games with steam. specially counterstrike