Best place to (legally) download games

I'm thinking of buying Bioshock, but seeing as I live in Japan, I think my best option is to download the game. What sellers/online stores do people recommend?

I don't want any 3rd party software involved if possible (for example, it looks like steam takes care of patches, etc which I assume means it installs a monitoring program of sorts..?) I just want to pay, download, and play (I know, I know, register first, THEN play!)

I'm looking for good prices, reputable, and safe - what do you all use?

Thanks!

 

you can just download the demo of Bioshock to see it it runs well on your notebook or if you like it at all.

Steam lets you download full games as well.

 

I've used Direct2Drive before, and as I recall, it required no monitoring software to be installed along with the game. The download was also very fast, which was nice. Their prices might not be the absolute best though. Still, its a good solid service that I would buy from again.

 

Steam all the way baby.

 

What makes you vote for steam? Since I've never used it, I would like to know pros/cons

@Gophn - I just got a G1S so I think I should be able to run it at medium settings at least. I suppose I could try the demo first but... just wondering if there would be any complications going from the demo to the full version..?

Firov - I did come across direct2drive and it's good to know that downloading should be a simple matter. However I always thought that downloading should offer some cost savings (since no disk/manual/boxing/etc) but it listed it as US$49.99 whereas one of the Amazon resellers was something like US$45. I know it's only a 5-buck difference, but was just wondering why downloads were full cost..

I may still go for it if there aren't any other download options..

 

con: you have to verify the game installation every time you want to play a steam game. that means you have to be connected to the internet when you want to play. very f-ed up system for dial up users. (yes, I am so far out in the country I cannot get high speed.)

 

Even though I have a high-speed connection, what you've just written is enough for me to NOT want to get it through steam. Thanks for the heads-up!

So I guess so far only direct2drive..?

 

Steam has the largest game library up for download, with more being added almost every week. Steam community offers you what Windows Live does, but for free. And any game you purchase from steam stays on your account. This means no more lost cd-keys/damaged cds etc.

The only problem is steam can be moody sometimes. It won't start completely sometimes. But it's become much, much more stable every since it was first released.

 

Thanks for the clarification Dodoman However, if (as Andrew states) you have to verify each game each time you want to play (even for Bioshock, which as far as I know is single player correct?) then that would be annoying (imho)

I just want to get my game, and play - imma simple guy

 

I don't see that as being an issue. But if it is for you then...

That whole verification thing is only for BioShock. Steam users have it better than normal PC users, because it validates nearly immediately. Once you load up steam and run the game, it verifies and the game runs. It's fast and pain free.

I reiterate - the repeating verification is only for BioShock.

 

Ok what about Illegally? I mean what the best place to download pc games illegaly?

 

If you're internet is down, and you depend on Steam ...

Direct2Drive can be a PITA, but once it's done, it's done.

 

Could you elaborate on that? Why a pain in the a$$?

 

http://downloadfullversionpcgames.com/blog/2007/06/17/100-of-the-best-legal-full-version-games-you-can-download-online/

 

Does Steam have a resume download service? I can only download 175MB at a time due to my Internet policy. So would it be possible if say I wanted to dl a 2GB game I could dl 150MB every 8 hours until I got the game? While stopping inbetween to let my Internet recharge?

Thanks,
-Taylor

 

FYI, Steam will run in an offline mode should it not detect an Internet connection and you'll be able to play. I do this all the time as I fly around the country and obviously don't have an internet connection. That's how I played SiN Emergence.

Also Steam verifies the game data to make sure that it is currently patched. This saves time in locating the patch and then installing it. Steam does that for you.

Yes Steam does still have it's issues but given the choice between Steam and Direct2Drive, I'll choose Steam. I can load Steam on any one of my 3-4 computers and not have a problem with licensing. Direct2Drive has you activate the game and once you've done it twice you have to contact their support and have them update the account to allow you to activate the game again. This becomes a hassle if you rebuild your computers every 6 months like I do.

One other point to Steam that I really like. I got Lost Planet as a free game with my video card. It activated through Steam and now shows up in my games list. So for the other computers I have, I can let Steam just download the game over night and not have to load it manually. This is really nice if you lose your game disc or it becomes damaged for some reason.

Hope this helps.

-Shawn

 

Yes, Steam allows you to start a download and restart it at your discretion.

-Shawn

 

i don't think you would want to be doing that. and i've heard that even with a cd crack it still won't work. one of my friends tried downloading a few games "illegally" and none of them worked because it still asked you for a cd key to play.
you could always use gamefly.com and rent the games and see how you like them. Or just download a demo from fileplanet.com or direct2drive (like some of the other mentioned) .you can also download a demo on the bioshock site. if you like it well enough you will be willing to buy it now or later when the price goes down.

 

There should be almost none really.

If the demo runs fine on your system, then the full version should do the same as well.

 

The offline mode only works if you save your account info in Steam.

 

Even then it doesn't work reliably. I remember one recent outage, no one could play Steam games due to bad design. See, your login information and authorization status is saved locally after a sucessful login by default, but that one time, once you failed to connect, the local cache was deleted and you were stuck.

 

That as it may be hasn't been the case for me and I've been travleing for over 3 years with Steam. *shrug*

 

Run steam in offline mode, you'll only have to verify once a week.

 

how much does steam cost?

 

Nothing, except the prices of the games.

 

Your rights. You no longer buy a copy of the game (this is true of most games today, sadly enough), you buy the right to access your "subscription" to a game, which VALVe reserves the right to terminate at any time, for any reason. The official contract

 

All software is like that now. Doesn't matter what it is. Most AV and Anti-Spy programs run on a subscription basis. This is the way software is going and has been this way in the business world for several years now.

 

pro: no cds you can download the game for install all you want and/or make a back up cd of it once its on your system, patches etc are automatic,

 

It looks like opinions are really divided on the steam model..

Personally I think that what some of you have said is right, and the steam business model is only going to be more common in the future. Maybe that's not such a bad thing - having an easy way to download games anytime, check for patches anytime, etc., does sound good. However, I really don't like the idea of recurring verification (even if "only" once a week)

I wouldn't mind signing up for a service where I could log on see what games I like, pay, download, and play... and if I change computers log back on to the website and download again. That would be ideal.
I really don't want any 3rd party software to be installed on my system, forcing me to verify every time (or once a week) I want to play.. I don't know what else that software is doing that I am not aware of!

I reckon (at least for the time being) that I'll go with direct2drive. I'm a bit surprised though, that it looks like choices for game downloads are basically only between steam and direct2drive - I was expecting that there would be a lot more out there..

 

I don't understand why you're so against the idea of verification. I didn't buy Bioshock through steam, but the verification is very quick and painless. You don't have to input any info, it just checks automatically, and it takes about 10 seconds. It's really not an issue at all. As long as you have an internet connection, I doubt you'll notice it.

 

Oh, I completely understand a one-time verification and I have no issues whatsoever with that. What I don't like is the idea of continuously having to verify in order to play.. (unless it's an mmorpg in which case I can also understand)