download or disc?

[finlay666]

Generally I prefer to buy a physical copy, but I do have a couple of games that I've bought online through Steam, got them online purely because it's quicker than waiting for the postman to arrive.

+1

I'll buy from steam if its cheaper, or I pre-order the day before release or I really want the game

Other than that physical copies

[Haiku32]

I like steam, as it means I can purchase games and I will always have them. It means I can go to a friends house, log onto my steam account and download the game there and play (only on my account of course). I like being able to uninstall a game and later if I want to play it again, just redownload and install easily. Don't get me wrong though, I still like having a physical copy of the game, but if I had to pick one option and one option only I would download all my games.

Also, prepurchasing them preloading games on steam is amazing. I bought l4d2 and had it downloaded a week before it came out. When it was finally released, all I had to do was wait for the files to decrypt (took all of 10 minutes) and play . Far better than going to a shop, coming home and installing, or waiting for the postman.

[wombar]

I prefer to download from Steam but it really depends on price and how much I want the game in question. Steam (and other download services) aren't necessarily cheaper so price is the real deciding factor for me.

For me downloading is a better option because I was away from home last month and I had forgotten to copy my games across to my new laptop. However, with Steam I was able to download any of the games I had in my account which was great for me

I tend to be an impulse gamer so I want it there and then. Post is too slow, and going to the shops usually works out more expensive than Steam once you've worked in petrol/parking costs. If I planned ahead, I could really buy my games from Play/Amazon and probably get a better price.

[Zoso]

(anyone remember when games where 500 MB?)

I remember when PC games were less than 360K, and Curse of the Azure Bonds took a massive 4 5.25" disks...

But yeah, 5GB+ removes the instant gratification part of downloads, and can put a hefty dent in your download allowance depending on your broadband package. Combine that with big new titles almost always being cheaper via mail order then I don't bother with those via Steam, but it often has cracking offers for older stuff that I've taken advantage of (a ten-pack of Indie games, Freedom Force, the XCom series etc.)

[PeteSmith]

Physical copy for me. I'm not a Steam fan, don't use it and don't see that changing.

What he said. I'm not too keen on pre-requisite software either, like games for windows live or rockstars social club etc..

[Growkin]

I prefer disc just because its nice to look at a collection such as final fantasy or another game series, download is good for moving around as it does take up less space and makes it alot easier. But I will be physical all the way

[Andy3536]

Physical copy for me, But would download as a last resort.
Race on was released about 4 weeks earlier to download on steam which pissed me off a bit, ridiculous having to wait all that extra time for a DVD.

[watforddude]

TBH i dont really care as long as it runs whenever i want it to..

[=assassin=]

I prefer a physical copy, particularly because my connection is not great, so downloading a huge game would take ages and stop me doing anything else. Also, it'd use up a huge amount of bandwidth, so I'd be limited in how many games I could get in a month. Until the internet gets a whole lot faster and more reliable, I'll stay with physical copies.

[TAKTAK]

With music, i'd go with a physical copy everytime, however, with games, i'm not at all bothered, the end result is always the same with a game... You just get a game... No quality difference, just the same either way...

[matty-hodgson]

Grid for £3.74 on Steam is definitely a reason to vote for "I go with the cheapest option"

[badass]

Grid for £3.74 on Steam is definitely a reason to vote for "I go with the cheapest option"

Oops 30 seconds after reading that post I have just bought Grid

So far the last 7 games I have bought were £3.74
Needless to say for me, downloads if they are cheaper.

[1stRaven]

Oops 30 seconds after reading that post I have just bought Grid

So far the last 7 games I have bought were £3.74
Needless to say for me, downloads if they are cheaper.

Ok, I'm blaming you two or me now owning Grid. lol

Downloading seems to work best for me these days although I do agree that you need a decent connection. Prototype took 2 hours to download the 7gb files which is ok for me.

[roorooroo]

I much prefer having the physical copy of a game..only buy download versions when they're much, much cheaper.

[Dave_07]

Have to say that it's usually a physical copy, however if i had a faster connection, then it would almost certainly be steam all the way. Game dvd's these days seem to be jam-packed with secure-rom stuff. Every single game i've bought within the last 6 months has had loading issues, especially anything by EA or Ubisoft. I know SR is on steam aswell, but i don't have nearly as many loading issue's under the steam platform.

[blueball]

The one thing I wish Steam would allow is the ability to transfer ownership of a game.