HL2: Steam vs Retail

[madpeon]

So... the big day is upon us!!

Just curious how many have gone the digital distro route as opposed to retail.

Personally, I just canceled my CE edition in favor of the Silver steam package.

Reasons:
1.) Can play right when its released
2.) $30 cheaper (Overnight + $20 difference)
3.) Give VU as little money as possible

Though a collector at heart, I've heard the CE packaging leaves much to be desired, and not having a physical copy doesn't really bug me too much.

[AgtFox]

From my understanding you can back it up to CDs or DVD once it is unlocked.  I tested it for Codename Gordon and once you download it you can right click on it in the "My Games" section and you can back it up to CD or DVD.

I would figure this would be the same.

[Hetz]

Getting the reatil makes no sense to me at all. There is no manual and unless you really love boxes, it just seems like a huge waste of money.

You get all the Steam backcatalog and the exclusive DoD: Source with the Steam package. You also get to stick it to their lame ass publisher and support Valve 100%...

It's a no brainer.

[Caine]

in the same boat as you.  have the ce on pre-order and not sure if i should just cancel and go with silver.  still on the fence about it.  i don't know if the stuff with the ce is still worth it as i heard the book was just a sample and not the full deal.  plus, i would end up waiting until wednesday or friday to actually play it as i had it shipped 2nd day.  at this point though, i won't have as much time to play it as i thought, so it makes little difference.  it does suck that while all you people here will be enjoying what seems to be game of the year, i'll be have to play old gta san andreas

i should add that i did get the ce for less than retail cost, but after tax/shipping, it ends up just under retail

btw, what has best buy been selling their versions for?

[Yossarian]

You can back them up even before they've been unlocked.

one way
another way

[farley2k]

Getting the reatil makes no sense to me at all. There is no manual and unless you really love boxes, it just seems like a huge waste of money.

You get all the Steam backcatalog and the exclusive DoD: Source with the Steam package. You also get to stick it to their lame ass publisher and support Valve 100%...

It's a no brainer.

Well I have a brain and I am buying retail.  

Why?  I am a game seller.  After I finish the SP of HL2 I intend to sell it to some other lucky soul so I really can't buy the on-line version.

[Caine]

you know what, i think i will cancel out the pre-order.  as i see it, if i buy silver instead of the ce, i trade a book i'll at a handful of times for dod, which i played the bejeezus out of.  plus, i'll actually save ~$15 bucks.  

damn, almost made a mistake there.  i really don't love the physical media idea anyways.  usually want to avoid having so many cd's around anyways.

[warning]

Getting the reatil makes no sense to me at all. There is no manual and unless you really love boxes, it just seems like a huge waste of money.

You get all the Steam backcatalog and the exclusive DoD: Source with the Steam package. You also get to stick it to their lame ass publisher and support Valve 100%...

It's a no brainer.

Just to note that the backcatalog and DoD Source only comes with the Silver Steam package.  At least I'm pretty sure.

[Clanwolfer]

Also, it would be difficult to sell unless you have a buyer who trusts you quite a bit.  Because the unlocking is key-based, not CD-based, you could easily sell off the CDs to some poor clueless soul without the username and password of the Steam account that it was registered to.  I know I wouldn't trust someone to sell me a copy of HL2 that had been unsealed already.

[disarm]

i bought mine Retail on saturday.  while i have no issues with using Steam (i think it's a great idea) and believe in supporting the developers instead of a publisher,  i was able to save a few bucks by going to BestBuy.  i had some coupons around and walked out with my copy of HL2 for $46...couldn't do that on Steam.  i also had no interest in the extras included with the silver/gold packages, so getting only HL2 and CS:S in the Retail package is fine with me...and fit my budget better.

[madpeon]

The one extra I really want out of all the crap they are offering is HL:Source.

I'd love to replay the first with the new engine, but coughing up $80 for the CE is pretty harsh.

Steam Silver seems like a perfect compromise. I get HL2 + all the mods for the cost of the retail game (55 + tax).

[angrycoder]

Getting the reatil makes no sense to me at all. There is no manual and unless you really love boxes, it just seems like a huge waste of money.

You get all the Steam backcatalog and the exclusive DoD: Source with the Steam package. You also get to stick it to their lame ass publisher and support Valve 100%...

It's a no brainer.

Well I have a brain and I am buying retail.  

Why?  I am a game seller.  After I finish the SP of HL2 I intend to sell it to some other lucky soul so I really can't buy the on-line version.

I really don't think this is going to work out as well as you think. The game is tied to your steam account once you register it. You will need to give away your steam account with the game, which may or may not be transferable.

[-Lord Ebonstone-]

SCREW VIVENDI -- BUY ON STEAM!

[Big Jake]

I'm not about to hand credit card info over to a bunch of idiots who couldn't protect their own work.

Man, given that Valve screwed the pooch big time, a lot of you guys are sure putting a lot of faith in them.

[Greggy_D]

I used one of those "one use" card numbers that Citibank generates for internet purchases.

I originally had HL2 pre-ordered through EB but cancelled it and went with Steam.

[farley2k]

Another reason at this point....how long does it take all 5 gigs to download?

Will it be done on my connection by tomorrow when I could buy it in the store and play it or will I be waiting days and days for it to finish downloading before I can play?

[Caine]

farley2k, i just started the d/l and the speeds are good.  in fact, they are taking up a good chunk of the bandwidth here at work  :twisted:.  is there any way to throttle it as i wouldn't want to get noticed for hogging all of the pipe.

[Yossarian]

Another reason at this point....how long does it take all 5 gigs to download?

Will it be done on my connection by tomorrow when I could buy it in the store and play it or will I be waiting days and days for it to finish downloading before I can play?

Steam's servers were pretty fast yesterday.  I was getting 1.2 Mb/sec for a most of the day.  Of course it still took like 7 hours to download.

[Jeff]

I'm not about to hand credit card info over to a bunch of idiots who couldn't protect their own work.

So instead, you'll give it to a 17 year old kid at Best Buy, who fancies himself a hacker. :lol:

I bought on Steam, and so far, the ol' bank account is still intact (sorry, i'm in smartass mode, hehe)

I'm happy to buy from Steam, as it prevents giving my money to French people. I've already backed it up to a DVD, and have the same 'media' as you'd get if you bought it from a store.

Counting down the minutes till activation....  hype or no hype, I'm pretty excited! I think I'll go watch that 500+ mb E3 video again

STRIDERS!!!! RUN!!

[-Lord Ebonstone-]

I'm not about to hand credit card info over to a bunch of idiots who couldn't protect their own work.

Man, given that Valve screwed the pooch big time, a lot of you guys are sure putting a lot of faith in them.

[Hamlet3145]

Steam.  

The middlemen publishers in all forms of media need to go bye-bye.

[Fellow]

Steam.

I don't know whose great idea it was to ship the HL2 package with PAPER SLEEVED CDs, and NO MANUAL. And I'd still have to pay $5 more than the average game, plus shipping? Yeah, no thank you, Vivendi.

At least with the silver package, I get the original (revised) half-life, and steam's backlog of other minigames.

[Falator]

You forgot the "holding out for demo" option

[Thin_J]

Yay for steam!

[Ascendent]

Not a huge fan of steam, but if it means that Valve gets bigger cut of my money this way then sounds good to me.

Ascendent

[Yossarian]

At least with the silver package, I get the original (revised) half-life, and steam's backlog of other minigames.

yeah, I think the silver package is a pretty good deal.  you really get a lot of stuff.

[rrmorton]

I bought it retail. I like to support the guys at my local Gamestop. When I found out the regular edition was 5 CDs in paper sleeves I upgraded to the collector's DVD edition.

The beauty is, even though they aren't doing a midnight opening, they said I could pick it up at closing time (45 minutes from now) so I can play it at midnight with all you Steamers and Best Buyers.

Frankly, I'm pretty excited.

[Caine]

hey rob, could you give me some detail about the book in the CE version?  pages, what's covered, quality, etc.  curious to see what i gave up for dod source

[Valael]

Steam.  I'm on the "Why bother with retail?" list.


Except you really want a box and CDs.  Or you have a bad internet connect.

Even the "I don't care about the extras" arguement doesn't work with me.  Extras don't hurt at all.

[jonsauce]

I preordered the collectors edition since I wanted it on DVD and I like having a box  The only thing I regret is that I won't be able to play it until tomorrow sometime after 10:00.

[Big Jake]

Hey LE, you're so clever to post that same pick in two different threads regarding the same subject.  Such brilliant proof that people different than you are idiots.

(Hey Jeff Jones, that's the type of guy whose on your side in this.    )

[Ragnarok]

Ok its monday night.  I could buy HL2 off the Steam sight now and be playing it tomorrow morning?  Or wait until the stores open and buy the retail/box version?  I'd rather just get it from Steam.  The retail/box version doesn't come with the HL source?  Just what do I get if I bought from the store vs. buying say, the Silver package from Steam. Also, can I infact play right away as of the 16th or do I have to wait until Steam sends me the package?

[Gryndyl]

Ok its monday night.  I could buy HL2 off the Steam sight now and be playing it tomorrow morning?  Or wait until the stores open and buy the retail/box version?  I'd rather just get it from Steam.  The retail/box version doesn't come with the HL source?  Just what do I get if I bought from the store vs. buying say, the Silver package from Steam. Also, can I infact play right away as of the 16th or do I have to wait until Steam sends me the package?

You can buy it on steam right this moment and download it (will take a while-large game) and be playing it as soon as it downloads. Or you can buy one from the store tomorrow, install from disk and play it then. You can play right away as of midnight pacific-if your fownload is done by then. Not sure what the store version includes, but HL2 Silver includes, Half Life 2, Half Life (original),  Counter Strike: Source, Counter Strike (original), Day of Defeat: Source (coming soon) Half Life: Source (coming soon,), Condition Zero, Condition Zero: Deleted Scenes, Codename Gordon, Team Fortress Classic, Day of Defeat (original), Half Life Deathmatch (original), Opposing Force and Ricochet.

 Not bad for 60 bones.

[rrmorton]

MIDNIGHT PACIFIC?!

Aw, crap!

All this time I'd been thinking Eastern Standard. Is that true?!

SUPER SUCKASS!

[-Lord Ebonstone-]

Hey LE, you're so clever.*

HAY BJ AND THANX

*The rest of your post was not worth responding to.

[Ascendent]

NM I'm retarded and stupid....

Ascendent

[Clanwolfer]

Midnight PST.

[rrmorton]

hey rob, could you give me some detail about the book in the CE version?  pages, what's covered, quality, etc.  curious to see what i gave up for dod source

The little book in the Collector's Edition is about 110 pages long. From the cover:

"Excerpts from both Half-life 2: PRIMA Official Game Guide and Half-life 2: Raising the Bar inside!"

The first half has lots of nice color screenshots, a character guide, some maps and level walkthroughs, typical stuff. No self-respecting FPS gamer would ever look at any of this.

The second half is a lot more appealing, featuring concept art and behind-the-scenes stories from the developers. Slightly spoilerish so I may wait and read it later. Then again, I guess I have some time to kill if it's midnight PST not EST.

All in all, not a bad little booklet but whatever. You aren't missing much.

I'm also not a fan of black t-shirts.

The highlight of the Collector's Edition, pathetic as it sounds, is the jewel case.

[Bullwinkle]

I guess it'll be tomorrow morning for me, then.  Damnit!

Oh, by the way, thank you for convincing me to go with Steam instead of retail.  Bastards.

[Caine]

gryndyl, if you have a good connection, you could get a large chunk of the game d/l'ed during the night.  currently downloading at 1.5 mps, with occasional high and low spikes.  

ex.  i've gone from 34 to 49% in 30 minutes.  i can't say exactly what the full game weighs in at, but i've heard its in the 4 gig range.  so, very roughly, i'm pulling down 600 megs in half an hour.  none too shabby i'd say.  at this rate, figure under 4 hours for a full install.