Jimquisition: Why PC Gaming Gets Away With It

[LaochEire]

I don't really post on The Escapist, but can I just say that Steam is an absolute rip off when it comes to new games. In fact over in Ireland Gamestop can undercut Steam with a physical retail copy of a PC game by ?20 euro. I never understood the myth about Steam being this bastion of excellence and the main reason to own a PC.

Sure, it has those great sales and they are great, but if I want a game upon release I would have to wait up to a year before it becomes anyway affordable on Steam.

Honestly, with Steam. I really just don't get it. Someone enlighten me, please.

I agree, I don't understand the pricing either and it's often a significant amount of time before the price becomes reasonable. Although I never buy new games from there and almost always buy from sales.

If PC was your only gaming platform, then I couldn't see buying from Steam being the best choice if you like playing games upon release.

Although a lot of that is a problem outside of the US. Steam often tends to convert directly from dollars into euro's and pounds, whereas retail games don't.

I have never bought a game brand new from Steam. I always buy from Amazon or GS due to lower price. Also, games like Football Manager, Rome Total War 2 and Company of Heroes 2 will be mandatory when you buy retail copy so you get bonus of having Steam version as well.

I actually game mostly on PS3 now. The PSN sotre is far worse than anything Steam does since PSN doesn't account for income levels and standard of living across EU. Some games are 69.99. A friend of mine lives in Denmark and he says he pays that and more for games. In Ireland and UK we would never pay that for console game.

Moral of the story. Digital Distribution is not working for me on any platform and I'll continue to buy physical copy as it's far cheaper...And he was I think digital distribution would usher in a new age of cheaper games. Wasn't it suppose to do away with all that manufacturing, packaging and shipping costs adding to the price we pay for games?

 

[SirCannonFodder]

I don't really post on The Escapist, but can I just say that Steam is an absolute rip off when it comes to new games. In fact over in Ireland Gamestop can undercut Steam with a physical retail copy of a PC game by ?20 euro. I never understood the myth about Steam being this bastion of excellence and the main reason to own a PC.

Sure, it has those great sales and they are great, but if I want a game upon release I would have to wait up to a year before it becomes anyway affordable on Steam.

Honestly, with Steam. I really just don't get it. Someone enlighten me, please.

It's the same here in Australia; on release games on Steam are usually priced to match our RRP (but in USD, which is bullshit now that we're no longer at parity), which fails to take into account that retailers here usually price games at $2-$10 below RRP (sometimes more, eg when Dishonored came out, it was $80 on Steam, but JB HiFi [http://www.jbhifi.com.au/] and EB Games (our two biggest games sellers) had it at $69 and $68 respectively. Fortunately places like Green Man Gaming, Get Games, Gamersgate, etc usually have the games at US prices.

 

[Bindal]

I'm still mad that retail PC games just come with Steam codes now. I remember being able to install... hell. Even Fallout 3 on multiple people's computers at once, and now everything is bolted to a single account instead. Fair enough, I guess, there's a demand for Steampowered games, but... yeah. I'm still annoyed about that.

Are you sur you can't just use your steam account elsewhere? I know it's added contrivance but you can still install from disk too with steam so you don't need to download it, so I'm pretty sure you can have it on someone else's computer.

Oh. Actually, I'm thinking about more sharing between multiple people, not just installing on multiple computers.

Install it on multiple computers, let them all use the same account in offline-mode. TADAA! Everyone can play the game!
Obviously only works with games that don't need Steam to be online, but every Singleplayer and game that has local Coop/MP will work just fine and dandy.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

Man, do I miss the days when I could just pick up and play on my consoles without all the bullshit.

Same here, firmware updates are the reason my ps3 is for the large part gathering dust and only being used as a occasional Netflix box for the living room, but even doing that is more of a pain than it should be.

PS3: "Firmware update"
Me: "eh fine"
PS3: "Game patch."
Me: "oh come on"
*An hour later*
Me: "Sod it. I'll watch something on netflix instead"
PS3: "Netflix update."
Me: "FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU"

 

[MPZero]

most times when a game apears out on all platfoms i will go stright to the PC version... why you ask. Mod's the ability to mess around with the game more so than a console is just the added fun of them custome built maps the ability to not have to play the same 4-5 maps over and over till a "patch" now payd DLC updated them to something better i could boot something like CS:S and have a map playlist so big i wouldnt even play the same map 2s in a year of playing i boot up something like COD or BF and il be back on that map with in an hour at best

we might have lost the ability to trade games in and away but we got MUCH more back something consols cant do and probly will never beable to Mod Edit Fix and Keep.

thats my view on this that said i will probly pick up a PS4 for the exclusives not sure if il buy on Day 1 or wait half a year for the problems to be fixed (mostly) we will see

 

[MB202]

Watching Jimqusition episodes make me even more puzzled but people who will eat up the bullshit like this is nothing. I'm STILL thinking of that GameStop employee I talked to who KNEW all the downsides to the Xbox One but honestly didn't care because he wanted the Halo TV series and other exclusives. Like he was willingly going to be Microsoft's *****. And when I brought up Diablo 3 and SimCity, he dismissed it as "oh games never work on the initial release date." YOU REALIZE THAT'S NOT GOING TO HELP YOU WIN ANY SALES YOU KNOW?! Not to mention, when I mentioned how I missed the days when you could just pop in a game and play it, he mentioned, in an equally dismissive voice, that that's not how it is anymore.

Well, he's right, it's not that way anymore... But unlike him, I'm NOT going to stand for it. It shouldn't have to be this way, God-dammit!

...That being said, Microsoft doing a 180 has made me consider getting an Xbox One... Eventually...

 

[GAunderrated]

Man, do I miss the days when I could just pick up and play on my consoles without all the bullshit.

Yeah, that's why I've moved back to playing on the PC. At least I can get the benefits of PC gaming along with the bullshit, where now with consoles it's the bullshit of PC gaming without any of the benefits.

How I play PS2 games: Put disk in tray, play.

How I play PS3/360 games: Update console, put disk in tray, update game, play.

How I play PC games: Install/download it, update it, faff about to get it to work (not always needed, though), play.

Small nit pick on the PC side, when you install/download it does the update for you. You don't download a game than it updates, it does the update while downloading/installing.

Only on Steam. I primarily buy physical copies or from GoG because lol downloading modern games on my 80kb/s internet connection lol.

Though in GoG's case I don't need to update, which is nice.

Ah well in the case of physical copies yes you do need to update after installing.

I thought we were talking about digital downloads only.

 

[Entitled]

That reminds me, actually; with The Witcher 2 you wouldn't even need to know how to do that. The game comes with a serial code that you can use to get a free DD copy of the game from GOG. Since the disc version is also DRM-free, it can be resold... so it's entirely possible to download your free GOG copy and then sell your disc.

Would that qualify as piracy? It's certainly a dick move.

Well, that's just the thing. You don't even need to use any such dick moves. If you really want to play a game without compensating the publisher, it's easier to do actually do the normal, old-fashioned piracy, than to invent some special elaborate reinvented "digital used game system".

Anyone on the PC who is still choosing to pay to publishers for games, is doing it out of the goodness of their heart while the alternative would be just as simple.

The PC model is growing so much right now, because instead of focusing on control, and trying to killing used games for the sake of killing them, they have consolidated themselves with the fact that some games will be played without rewarding them anyways, but at least all the money from PC gamers' pockets is ending up with the industry.

I personally think that if you have $120, then spending all $120 on two of the games on Steam, and then pirating the third one, is less morally aceptable, than buying one $60 console game and two $30 used games from Gamestop.

In both cases, you played three games, spent $120. The only difference is in how much of that money was sent to developers, and how much of it to a redundant disc-circulating business.

 

[Agayek]

Oh. Actually, I'm thinking about more sharing between multiple people, not just installing on multiple computers.

You can actually do that, with single player/offline games at least.

A good friend of mine uses my Steam account to play games that I recommend that he's not interested enough in to pay for right out of the gate. It's actually really easy, just toss over the credentials and have them log in and download it, then go into offline mode as soon as it's done, and then you can both play whatever. The only issue with it is the validation emails that pop up occasionally, and that just requires forwarding a 6 digit code along within a few minutes.

Granted, it's not a perfect "anyone can play your games at any time" thing, but it's pretty close.

 

[Something Amyss]

You mean beisdes prohibitive cost?

My PC upgrade cost less than a PS4. The only things kept from my old build are the optical drive and processor. When I upgrade those, it'll cost about the same as a Bone. I probably could do it cheaper, but these are the specs I want. Except the processor, a regrettable cost-saving measure to be able to afford to eat this month.

It used to be somewhat true that gaming PCs were more fiscally intensive. It really hasnt'been true for years, though.

Or the fact that some of us have an extensive console library already?

Kind of moot with no BC from either Sony or Microsoft this gen.

Or the unspoken guarantee that a game put in a console will work, every time?

The problem with an unspoken guarantee is that it's only worth the breath spent on it.

Now granted with the next gen

You mean, the one that was being discussed?

Yes, there's some validity there.

but until that time where I no longer have to carry around a sticky note with my system specs written down when I go shopping, I'm staying console.

Which is more than fair.

Would that qualify as piracy? It's certainly a dick move.

It's neither. They're making an offer you can freely take advantage of. I'm certain they calculated the risk before they did so.

 

[RandV80]

Well if you're talking about used games I always like to point out that places like Gamestop started abandoning used PC games well before Steam became a big hit. Steam didn't kill PC gaming at retail, retail started abandoning PC in favour of console all on their own. PC gaming was on a pretty steep decline, and Valve/Steam stepped in to fill that void and along with other services like the Humble Indy Bundle and Good old Games completely resurrected it.

Personally I became a convert back when Empire: Total War was released. On release day I went to my local EB Games (Gamestop in Canada) to get it, and they didn't have it. Drove out to a further one, they also didn't have it and didn't know when they would. So I said **** em and bought it on Steam, haven't looked back since.

 

[GAunderrated]

I don't really post on The Escapist, but can I just say that Steam is an absolute rip off when it comes to new games. In fact over in Ireland Gamestop can undercut Steam with a physical retail copy of a PC game by ?20 euro. I never understood the myth about Steam being this bastion of excellence and the main reason to own a PC.

Sure, it has those great sales and they are great, but if I want a game upon release I would have to wait up to a year before it becomes anyway affordable on Steam.

Honestly, with Steam. I really just don't get it. Someone enlighten me, please.

Here man I live in Ireland too and your a bit wide of the mark really. I have seen copies of terraria go for ?25 quid in GS while it's standard price on steam is ?9.99 also GS matches the price for most new releases.......except COD which is ?10 cheaper than steam for some reason. GS Ireland really can't give a fuck about PC games and as an ex employee I can attest to that I mean there is literally a 1x1 foot spinning shelf thing in my local GS for PC games and most other stores the PC games are hidden away from view while the Steam vouchers are right in your face as you walk in.

I understand so just an update on a few titles. Don't forget I'm talking about pre-order or brand new releases.

Company of Heroes 2
Steam 49.99
GS 39.97

Rome Total War 2
Steam 54.99
GS 44.97

Skyrim Legendary Edition
Steam 39.99
GS 29.97

Bioshock Infinite
Steam 49.99
GS 34.97

Total savings from shopping at GS over Steam ?45.08. That's a massive difference.


I swear as soon as I go and try to get more examples the bloody site goes down.

Edit to say I will update the post with more when GS website decides to co-operate.

No offense but cherry picking a few examples does not mean it is a global example.

Also steam is the referenced used most often but they have huge steam sales which trounce retailers a few times a year (summer, spring, fall, winter sales). Otherwise it is usually steam's competition that have the better deals such as GoG, GMG, and amazon.

The key to shopping correctly with PC is using all the competition to find good deals. When you are mutually exclusive to retailers who all agree on a set price you don't have to compete with much so the prices never vary drastically.

I got Bioshock Infinite for 34 bucks ON RELEASE from GMG which matches the deal you just posted today, several months later.

Edit: disregard my post I didn't know you were talking about pre-ordering. Pre-ordering is for fools so I have nothing to contribute to this conversation.

 

[grumpymooselion]

You forgot to mention that PC used games were barely ever a thing even prior to digital services like Steam. Back in the day, you'd see Console used games, but maybe - maybe - a tiny used PC gaming section with literal garbage in it, half of which wouldn't work. PC games in the used gaming market were so tiny, barely present, that when we saw something like Steam and it didn't allow resale of those digital games - we didn't notice a difference, because for all intents and purposes there was none. We'd never really had a PC used game market of any note prior, to the extent that in most stores it wasn't there at all. Steam changed nothing in regard to used games.

 

[Smokescreen]

As someone who has never gamed on a PC, I do appreciate this dollop of knowledge. Thanks.

 

[Lizardon]

I don't really post on The Escapist, but can I just say that Steam is an absolute rip off when it comes to new games. In fact over in Ireland Gamestop can undercut Steam with a physical retail copy of a PC game by ?20 euro. I never understood the myth about Steam being this bastion of excellence and the main reason to own a PC.

Sure, it has those great sales and they are great, but if I want a game upon release I would have to wait up to a year before it becomes anyway affordable on Steam.

Honestly, with Steam. I really just don't get it. Someone enlighten me, please.

Unfortunately like others have said it's a region thing most of the times. The publishers get to set their prices depending on the users location. Here in Australia the price of a new game on Steam will still cost the $80-$90 of the retail copy, although the price does tend to fall quicker. And some games have ridiculous price differences compared to the US. COD: Modern Warfare 2 is $89.99 (US price $19.99), Dead Space 2 is $69.99 (US price $19.99) and Medal of Honor is $69.99 (US price $19.99).

I recommend having a look at www.steamprices.com, which lets you compare the pricing in different regions, whenever the prices seem suspiciously high.

 

[grumpymooselion]

i new a video store that rented computer games

Sona video...
It 3 shelfs worth.. and... mostly no one used it lol. (great store .. they have a neo geo section.. a 3d0.. a turbo graphics.. you should saw it.. sigh).

Back in the days before stores started axing their PC gaming sections entirely eh?

I've seen used PC game racks (tiny things that were always a mess) rarely over the years prior to Steam, but never enough to be of note. Now a rental service for PC games? That's about unheard of, and it's amazing you came across it at all, and given how some of the PC games worked back then I'm surprised it worked at all . . . though, given you said no one used it, it may not have worked at all, or not very well.

Sounds like it would have been a neat place to see though.

 

[LaochEire]

I don't really post on The Escapist, but can I just say that Steam is an absolute rip off when it comes to new games. In fact over in Ireland Gamestop can undercut Steam with a physical retail copy of a PC game by ?20 euro. I never understood the myth about Steam being this bastion of excellence and the main reason to own a PC.

Sure, it has those great sales and they are great, but if I want a game upon release I would have to wait up to a year before it becomes anyway affordable on Steam.

Honestly, with Steam. I really just don't get it. Someone enlighten me, please.

Here man I live in Ireland too and your a bit wide of the mark really. I have seen copies of terraria go for ?25 quid in GS while it's standard price on steam is ?9.99 also GS matches the price for most new releases.......except COD which is ?10 cheaper than steam for some reason. GS Ireland really can't give a fuck about PC games and as an ex employee I can attest to that I mean there is literally a 1x1 foot spinning shelf thing in my local GS for PC games and most other stores the PC games are hidden away from view while the Steam vouchers are right in your face as you walk in.

I understand so just an update on a few titles. Don't forget I'm talking about pre-order or brand new releases.

Company of Heroes 2
Steam 49.99
GS 39.97

Rome Total War 2
Steam 54.99
GS 44.97

Skyrim Legendary Edition
Steam 39.99
GS 29.97

Bioshock Infinite
Steam 49.99
GS 34.97

Total savings from shopping at GS over Steam ?45.08. That's a massive difference.


I swear as soon as I go and try to get more examples the bloody site goes down.

Edit to say I will update the post with more when GS website decides to co-operate.

No offense but cherry picking a few examples does not mean it is a global example.

Also steam is the referenced used most often but they have huge steam sales which trounce retailers a few times a year (summer, spring, fall, winter sales). Otherwise it is usually steam's competition that have the better deals such as GoG, GMG, and amazon.

The key to shopping correctly with PC is using all the competition to find good deals. When you are mutually exclusive to retailers who all agree on a set price you don't have to compete with much so the prices never vary drastically.

I got Bioshock Infinite for 34 bucks ON RELEASE from GMG which matches the deal you just posted today, several months later.

Edit: disregard my post I didn't know you were talking about pre-ordering. Pre-ordering is for fools so I have nothing to contribute to this conversation.

I don't think you read that correctly. I'm referencing Steam, not PC digital distribution as a whole. Secondly, I'm referring to my situation and why I hardly buy from steam.

 

[lacktheknack]

I don't really post on The Escapist, but can I just say that Steam is an absolute rip off when it comes to new games. In fact over in Ireland Gamestop can undercut Steam with a physical retail copy of a PC game by ?20 euro. I never understood the myth about Steam being this bastion of excellence and the main reason to own a PC.

Sure, it has those great sales and they are great, but if I want a game upon release I would have to wait up to a year before it becomes anyway affordable on Steam.

Honestly, with Steam. I really just don't get it. Someone enlighten me, please.

Come over here, then. Steam undercuts retail by $10-$20, and prices fall fast.

You're living in the wrong place.

EDIT: Your above post says "GS Skyrim LE: 29.97"

Here, EBGames sells Skyrim (standard edition) for $60 still.

 

[Amir Kondori]

So, basically, "PC is an open platform that needs the added security. Consoles are closed platforms that do not deserve any more security."

I'm still mad that retail PC games just come with Steam codes now. I remember being able to install... hell. Even Fallout 3 on multiple people's computers at once, and now everything is bolted to a single account instead. Fair enough, I guess, there's a demand for Steampowered games, but... yeah. I'm still annoyed about that.

I guess people like me installing Fallout 3 on multiple people's computers at once are sort of what justified that. Again, the openness of the PC platform dictates that gates have to be closed somewhere. The fact that you can just literally copy the files of old PC games over with absolutely no hassle at all really does make DRM a necessity, and since it is all circumvented eventually anyway, it makes making that DRM appealing in some way to buy into even more of a necessity. Steam's greatest achievement is that it has made people WANT games to use Steam; it has made people WANT a DRM-flavoured copy of their games. Huh.

To be fair you CAN still do that. You just have to trust your account to those people. You have to sign in to Steam on that machine, have it remember your credentials, then download and install the game. Then put Steam in offline mode and there you go.
In fact, you could even change your password right after that and tell them "if you ever go out of offline mode then the games won't work but otherwise you're golden."

 

[GAunderrated]

I don't really post on The Escapist, but can I just say that Steam is an absolute rip off when it comes to new games. In fact over in Ireland Gamestop can undercut Steam with a physical retail copy of a PC game by ?20 euro. I never understood the myth about Steam being this bastion of excellence and the main reason to own a PC.

Sure, it has those great sales and they are great, but if I want a game upon release I would have to wait up to a year before it becomes anyway affordable on Steam.

Honestly, with Steam. I really just don't get it. Someone enlighten me, please.

Here man I live in Ireland too and your a bit wide of the mark really. I have seen copies of terraria go for ?25 quid in GS while it's standard price on steam is ?9.99 also GS matches the price for most new releases.......except COD which is ?10 cheaper than steam for some reason. GS Ireland really can't give a fuck about PC games and as an ex employee I can attest to that I mean there is literally a 1x1 foot spinning shelf thing in my local GS for PC games and most other stores the PC games are hidden away from view while the Steam vouchers are right in your face as you walk in.

I understand so just an update on a few titles. Don't forget I'm talking about pre-order or brand new releases.

Company of Heroes 2
Steam 49.99
GS 39.97

Rome Total War 2
Steam 54.99
GS 44.97

Skyrim Legendary Edition
Steam 39.99
GS 29.97

Bioshock Infinite
Steam 49.99
GS 34.97

Total savings from shopping at GS over Steam ?45.08. That's a massive difference.


I swear as soon as I go and try to get more examples the bloody site goes down.

Edit to say I will update the post with more when GS website decides to co-operate.

No offense but cherry picking a few examples does not mean it is a global example.

Also steam is the referenced used most often but they have huge steam sales which trounce retailers a few times a year (summer, spring, fall, winter sales). Otherwise it is usually steam's competition that have the better deals such as GoG, GMG, and amazon.

The key to shopping correctly with PC is using all the competition to find good deals. When you are mutually exclusive to retailers who all agree on a set price you don't have to compete with much so the prices never vary drastically.

I got Bioshock Infinite for 34 bucks ON RELEASE from GMG which matches the deal you just posted today, several months later.

Edit: disregard my post I didn't know you were talking about pre-ordering. Pre-ordering is for fools so I have nothing to contribute to this conversation.

I don't think you read that correctly. I'm referencing Steam, not PC digital distribution as a whole. Secondly, I'm referring to my situation and why I hardly buy from steam.

Fair enough but if you just are looking for sales only on steam and not using the entire PC market, you are missing out on some great deals. Nothing wrong with it I just think its a waste