SumoX

I liked it, but I wouldn't go as far as to say I loved it.
 
It was a neat game with some really interesting ideas. Too bad there were a few rough gameplay ideas and the story went absolutely nowhere.

The only feature that these have in common is the fact that they allow for online gaming. So since that seems to be the real comparison, my ranking goes:

Gamespy > GFWL > Steam

Really, though, I don't think any are that good, but all for different reasons. My order is basically just which service has the least amount of BS associated with it.

I was pretty impressed, though I'm still a bit bothered that this kind of accuracy wasn't in the remote on day one.

Still, there's something I don't quite like about Tiger Woods Golf...I don't want to just say the graphics are bad, but they're ugly. I very much prefer the simplistic look of Wii Sports Golf and if given the option, would rather have that with new courses and Wiimotion plus controls.

Wow, I've never seen such an embarrassing list.

Why embarrassing? I'm sorry, but if OoT is the "best game to play" today, then not only is the industry in decline, but it's utterly unrepairable.

This isn't a jab at OoT (though I've never particularly liked Zelda games) but the idea that this list is basically saying that in 11 years since OoT, there is not one better game to play. I could see the argument that OoT was one of the most influential games, sure. I could see the argument that OoT was the closest a game has gotten to 'perfection' for the age it was released in. But this list is "the 100 Best Games to Play Today." Sorry, OoT may rank somewhere on that list, but there have been many games that have since then simply outclassed OoT (and many other games on that list, for that matter) and are far superior to play in this day and age.

Even then, just think of it this way. One of the big knocks against Twighlight Princess that I hear is that it's basically just OoT redone. So if TP is basically just OoT with prettier graphics, how can OoT be the best game to play today? If given two perfectly equal choices in every other regard, but one has superior graphics, wouldn't the game with superior graphics be the one to play? Logically the list doesn't even hold, and that's before we get into "why wasn't game X included?"

" Miyamoto is a good pick, but man this just seems like a list that just shouldn't be made in the first place. "

Just a bit of an update for myself.

After contacting Steam's support, they basically gave me a direct link to the American store (I guess just typing steampowered.com automatically directs me to the Chinese/Asian store). I haven't tried to buy anything, but I do know that I couldn't get the Empire: Total War demo due to "region restrictions" before but now I can, so it looks like it might be possible for me to buy something.

So my opinion of Steam has improved considerably thanks to this thread. I still believe if given the same price, go retail, but now Steam doesn't seem nearly as bad. I do think it would be cool if I could register more games under Steam- I'd be even willing to pay a small surcharge (say $5) to buy a retail copy and be able to register with Steam, which would give me all the benefits of Steam's service but would allow me to keep my game independent of Steam if I chose to do so.

"SumoX said:

• You ever try contacting support about your payment problems? They will actually try to help you. This is simply fraud prevention at work.
• Well, that comes down to personal preference. I always leave it running so it's not an issue.
• That's something you should take up with the third-party developers and publishers - it's their choice, and you'll find it in any of their other versions.
• Valid point, and if you're paranoid of this, that's your right.
• I never resell my games so this is not a problem for me, but if you like to pass your games along then yes, it can be a problem.
• They don't, because legally Steam is a subscription service.
• Backup feature does have a habit of messing up sometimes. My recommendation - unless you need the compression, just copy \steamapps\. There's a knowledge base article for your listed problem.
• Steam's in-game overlay works for nearly all 3D games, and many 2D games. That's what the "Add non-Steam Game" button is for. You can create desktop shortcuts that launch these games through Steam, too. xfire's and Steam's systems have their advantages and disadvantages. xfire does NOT do it for all games, only games that are in its database. Steam doesn't track individual time stats (but does track total time) for non-Steam games though, so if you care about that...
  

"

I certainly think it deserved it. While I've tried recently to finish all the games I buy, rarely do I ever play through a game twice, especially one that takes more than 20 hours. But I did with GTAIV and I still want to play through it again!

But to be honest, I don't view it just as a game- it's got a lot of great social commentary about the US, and that just raised the bar as far as I'm concerned. Yeah, it might not have the greatest mission selection, but the characters and the radio stations just made me want to keep going. Those guys are Rockstar North should be proud.

I become more anti-Steam everytime I think about what Steam is. There are just so many negatives (and potential problems) that come with it that it's almost worthless as a service to me.

The biggest issue I face is that Steam is absolutely retarded in terms of letting people purchase things. You've heard the Europeans' problems, but here's another. While it's supposedly a global service, it's not. I"m an American, but I live in another country. Steam won't let me purchase things because my bank account is in the US and I"m currently not. From what I understand, all of the other major DD providers allow this, but Steam is the only one that actively refuses money.

My other issues with Steam.

- While the client is reasonably lightweight (in terms of resources), it takes far too long to boot up. I don't want to wait 30 seconds just to start accessing my games. Furthermore, I don't even think I should have to launch a client.
- DRM still exists in many of the games. What's the point of having to log into Steam if the publisher is going to install other DRM on top of it?
- If Steam ever closes down or gets bought out, you might be hosed. Don't say it can't happen- many online sites that sold DRMed music closed down, leaving users with a collection that can only be played on one computer (which can never be upgraded now). Furthermore, suppose Microsoft buys out Valve- what's to say that policies such as unlimited downloads will stick around? Do you want want to trust your gaming collection to the whims of a companies ToS?
- Absolutely no resale value, though I only find this to be a problem for brand-spankin new games.
- A growing number of states have laws deeming software as a product, not just a license (therefore, you'd have legal recourse if a company ever attempted to lock you out of your bought games). I'm unsure if these protections would apply under a service like Steam.
- I've had issues with the backup feature, where after attempting to install a backup, it very quickly stops working and just attempts to download 99%. That's not really a time-saver.

I don't think Steam is a bad service in all regards. If it has an older game not available elsewhere, I see nothing wrong with buying it. But most of its features outside of purchasing are readily available from sources that are independent of how you buy your games (Steam trracks your game usage and has in-game chat forf Steam games...Xfire tdoes it for ALL games).

For now, I'll be sticking with retail whenever I can get it.

While a lot of your questions have been answered, I'd like to focus on just a few things to help out a newbie. For the record, it's been less than a year since really becoming a PC gamer (though I've always played to a certain degree all my life), so I remember the pains of learning about PC gaming.

The biggest thing for me was getting used to the controls. To do this day, I still WASD sucks- I can't believe PC gamers don't demand better. When most people complain about using kb/mouse, I don't think anyone is worried about the mouse- very quickly you'll realize how superior it is in FPS. But God WASD sucks. I'd suggest that you stil try, but if you're willing to drop a few bucks, I can highly recommend a Belkin Nostromo n52 Speedpad. It has 16 keys, a mouse wheel (that really sucks), and a d-pad. I now remap all of my games to allow me to use the d-pad to move. Just using those other keys for specific actions such as jumping don't make my hand cramp up like WASD did, since you're not holding them down the entire time. There's still a bit of a learning curve that comes with it, but if you've been playing with controllers your whole life, it's not that hard. After getting super comfortable with this setup, I tried to play Far Cry 2 on the 360...how did I ever aim using dual analog?!

I'd also recommend a mouse with at least 5 buttons and a scroll wheel. It doesn't have to be "gamer-grade" or anything, but some PC games will want to use a lot keys, so having a few extra on the mouse is a great idea.

And as far as transition games go, I do suggest The Orange Box. The only game I haven't played really is Team Fortress 2 (I live in China, so basically nobody plays this game), but the rest of them have fairly simple control schemes. Some games will overload you with commands, which makes you work to learn all of the keys as well as learning how to just use keyboard/mouse. None of the Orange Box games will overload you with that kind of stuff- they all fit comfortably in my setup. Also, Battlefield 2 is pretty good about this as well, and is hugely popular.

The last thing I'll touch on is Steam/D2D. Your factual questions have been answered (such as re-downloading), but I would highly advise you NOT to purchase new games from these sources. I'm talking about a game that's just hitting gamers' hands. The reason is, if you buy through them, you have absolutely no resale value and you paid pretty much the exact same price. Heck, usually a store will have some kind of sale on the first day so you can actually get the boxed version cheaper. If you buy the boxed copy and don't like the game, there's opportunity to sell it on ebay to get some of your money back.

However, as games get older, they also get pushed off the shelf. If you're interested in a $20 game that's a few years old, then I don't think you'll go wrong by buying them digitally. I mean, if you find a game on sale for $10, you can afford to be wrong and not like it (not saying you wouldn't like your $10 back instead, but you get the point). I think Steam's ok, but I hate running the client just to play my games. But I can totally support a purchase from Good Old Games- download one DRM-less exe file. No activation and unlimited downloads.