Funny how people who are fans of Steam often think anyone that doesn't is simply wrong. Yes, negative labels, name calling, and all other manner of basic dickery do wonders for making your side of the argument seem all the better.
I really like what Sarge034 had to say, find most of it pretty much on par with my own feelings.
I dislike the concept of Digital Distribution, with exception to GOG, since it's DRM free and encourages backing up your purchases locally if you like. Their approach trounces Steam roundly in nearly ever possible way. This isn't about GOG though, so I'll leave it there...
I remember a big brouhaha over BioShock. If I recall it straight, people that purchased the game via Steam were forced to wait as Steam needed to sort out activation issues, activation being a concept I hate immensely, and were thus for about a week or so deprived of enjoying what hard copy purchasers enjoyed from day 1. Like Sarge pointed out the mangled concept of what ownership really means has shifted considerably in the gaming landscape, more so since Digital Distribution became more and more popular. It is a slippery slope we've seen rear it's head before; that fellow that EA blocked from playing his own new copy of Dragon Age because he said something they didn't like on their forum. That was later rectified, but it demonstrated clearly the power companies wield to literally take a purchased item from a consumer at will. Another example I know all too personally is with Amazon's App Store, and how games released by a considerable number of companies, including PopCap, simply vanished, no warning, no refunds, screw the customer. Doesn't happen with physical copies, I've got games going back to 8bit era I an still play because I paid for them and I OWN THEM.
One final point, a digital copy is often priced the same as a physical copy and are often slower to decrease in price. I realize distribution has it's costs, but if a physical copy, preferably one that cannot be blocked by it's publishers for any reason ever, means I get a physical manual, disc, other things for the same price as an all digital copy, physical will win every time. Call me old school, but digital ownership feels far less substantive and much too abstract by comparison.
Incidentally, I have a sizable Steam collection, many of which I'd gotten via Humble, which is a superb organization. I've touched maybe two of my two dozen or more games. My DRM free games on the other hand tend to get a lot of attention and a lot more of my time, right along with my console games, which also don't require activation.
I really like what Sarge034 had to say, find most of it pretty much on par with my own feelings.
I dislike the concept of Digital Distribution, with exception to GOG, since it's DRM free and encourages backing up your purchases locally if you like. Their approach trounces Steam roundly in nearly ever possible way. This isn't about GOG though, so I'll leave it there...
I remember a big brouhaha over BioShock. If I recall it straight, people that purchased the game via Steam were forced to wait as Steam needed to sort out activation issues, activation being a concept I hate immensely, and were thus for about a week or so deprived of enjoying what hard copy purchasers enjoyed from day 1. Like Sarge pointed out the mangled concept of what ownership really means has shifted considerably in the gaming landscape, more so since Digital Distribution became more and more popular. It is a slippery slope we've seen rear it's head before; that fellow that EA blocked from playing his own new copy of Dragon Age because he said something they didn't like on their forum. That was later rectified, but it demonstrated clearly the power companies wield to literally take a purchased item from a consumer at will. Another example I know all too personally is with Amazon's App Store, and how games released by a considerable number of companies, including PopCap, simply vanished, no warning, no refunds, screw the customer. Doesn't happen with physical copies, I've got games going back to 8bit era I an still play because I paid for them and I OWN THEM.
One final point, a digital copy is often priced the same as a physical copy and are often slower to decrease in price. I realize distribution has it's costs, but if a physical copy, preferably one that cannot be blocked by it's publishers for any reason ever, means I get a physical manual, disc, other things for the same price as an all digital copy, physical will win every time. Call me old school, but digital ownership feels far less substantive and much too abstract by comparison.
Incidentally, I have a sizable Steam collection, many of which I'd gotten via Humble, which is a superb organization. I've touched maybe two of my two dozen or more games. My DRM free games on the other hand tend to get a lot of attention and a lot more of my time, right along with my console games, which also don't require activation.