Bioshock Now On Steam for Pre-purchase

Yeehaw!

I'm so happy right now. I'll be in college on the 21st, and without a car I usually have to have games shipped (which would mean an even longer delay before it's in my hands). But now I'll have it ready and waiting for me on the 21st. I can't wait!

 

Yeah, because who doesn't like paying for a game and then having Valve authorize each gaming session? I hate Steam. :|

 

I just gotta find my wallet. And Pants...

 

Good find! I'm stuck in the same predicament, but this solves everything. I used to dislike Steam, but it's definitely getting more convenient (especially for laptops).

 

So does this mean you get to Pre-install the game early so that you can Pre-play it? Or does it just work like a Pre-order you can do in stores?

I've heard so many new derivations of Pre terms for this single game it's rediculous.

 

I have a quick question regarding Bioshock.. I know nobody really knows until the game or a demo is out yet, but do you think my laptop (sig) will play this game fairly well? I could get the 360 version but I'd rather save the $10 and get it for PC if it will run & look good. I greatly appreciate any insight because I may pre-order it tonight.

 

Should be fine with med/high settings. Im not sure whether you should get the DX9 or DX10 version though.

I still dont understand everyone's gripe with Steam. Ive never had a problem activating or downloading games. Im strongly considering ordering the game so I can have it playable right away.

 

I would get it on 360... it will run better IMO

 

Ditto! Steam FTW

 

Thanks for the opinion, I'd be perfectly satisfied if it ran good on medium dx9 so I'll probably pre-order the PC version tonight.

I think I'm going pre-load it on Steam, buy the hard copy of the game and then just enter the CD-key in steam so I can play it right when I get it.

 

I agree. This also solves the activation problem with bioshock. I was wondering how I was going to install in on my pc and my laptop, which should not be a problem now as long as I am not logged into Steam on 2 different computers.

 

I only use Steam for Valve's own games. There's constant authentication problems: I get kicked off servers, all my games become greyed out and I have to restart Steam, etc. If I didn't enjoy CS:S and Sven Co-op so much, i'd have un-installed the data miner.

I don't see how instant gratification is worth getting sucked into Steam :/ I can go pick up the game in a store sometime later and own a physical disc. (Steam purchases can be revoked by Valve at any time without any legal recourse).

 

Alas, that won't be possible. A 2K representative clarified here:

" Hi guys,

To answer some questions raised here:

1) You will not be able to use Bioshock retail keys with Steam. The two versions use two separate authentication systems, and are not compatible. You can probably move save files between the two, although I haven't tried it.

2) Pre-loading is pre-loading, and that's all it is. You won't be able to access any of those files until the unlock (which is noon pacific time on the 21st).

3) We did not have any ulterior motive in announcing today. We can't make these kinds of announcements until the deals are finalized and the announcement is agreed upon by all parties involved, and that meant we couldn't announce until this morning. There are a lot of people involved in a deal like this, and these things take time.

4) I know a lot of people dislike Steam (personally, I think it's the greatest thing ever). Fortunately we are not forcing you to use it. The game will be available at retail, over Direct2Drive and Steam on launch day. The retail version doesn't use Steam at all, so if you don't want to use Steam, don't buy it over steam. You have plenty of other options.

Hope that clears some things up!"

In this case, it means that you download and install the game in full (all 5GB or whatever of it), but you aren't able to play it until August 21 (noon Pacific time).

Same here, Steam rocks my socks. I have tons of games on Steam and I've never had any problems with it. I wouldn't mind if every game were released on Steam; downloading games directly (and skipping the retail middle man) is the way of the future.

If I'm not mistaken, this is the first time a major, non-Valve, Triple-A title has launched simultaneously on Steam. Usually it's either a smaller game at launch (like Roboblitz), or a major game a while after its original release (like Call of Duty 2, Prey, etc.). But now a major game like Bioshock is on Steam at launch; hopefully this is a sign of things to come.

 

I don't like Steam because you need to be connected to the internet to play the games you've already purchased. I'm sorry that someone managed to get ahold of the HL2 code before it was released, but that doesn't mean Valve should go crazy and require you to authenticate your copy every time you want to play. Because of this, I won't be purchasing any Valve products in the near future.

Oh, and I enjoy having a physical copy of my games.

 

Argh, well that puts the kibosh to that plan! Oh well, all is good anyways - I just pre-ordered the game. Thanks for the heads up so I didn't waste the time pre-loading.

 

When you connect to steam there is an option that you can play in offline mode.

 

Thanks man! I used to personally hate steam, until Katrina wiped most of my CD's out but I installed Steam on my new machine and BAM instant, free (already had them ) download.

 

yeah i gotta say i love steam as a laptop user.

if i want to bring my laptop to a friends house or a lan or whatever, the CD is one less thing i need to bring.

 

i always loose cd's and keys, i dont like how you sometimes cant play games without the internet, its dumb when you can't. other then that i have no complaints, works perfect.

i just bought it over steam! why pacific noon time though? i want to play it at mid night! But really, why noon pacific?

 

I know! I was hoping it was midnight too, but I guess it's to be fair to the retail stores. If Steam let you get the game late Monday night, they'd have a major advantage over the stores, and the publisher probably doesn't like that. Blah, that's 3:00 PM Eastern time.



It sits there. Taunting me.

 

I LOVE Steam. I seriously wish all gaming companies do something similar... It makes it so convenient to buy games.