Maus

Howdy, I really like being able to buy a game online and download it, rather than having to go to the store (especially since the only game stores near me don't stock PC stuff). However, I only know of a few places that let you do this, and I'm wondering if there are good ones I've missed.

I know of: Steam, GoGamer.com's Go Loader, Direct2Drive.com, and something that seems to be tied to Gamespot. Are there any more worth looking into?

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2142: |TG-Irr| Silverfish
BF2: |TG-Irr| Maus

CingularDuality

EA has a download service, but I'm not sure that it has all of their games. The bad thing about it is that you only have a limited number of downloads (3?), so if you reformat annually, as recommended, then you'll only be able to enjoy the software for three years. That's not acceptable, IMO.

Are the other services you listed more like Steam? I love being able to purchase my games through Steam and then having them connected to my account forever. I can go to a friend's house, install Steam and play HL2 at his house for the evening. Your Steam account can only be logged in once, so there are no issues of sharing software. If I reformat, I just reinstall Steam and it installs all of my games for me.

Yes, although hated at first, I think Steam is the best thing to come to PC gaming in a long time...

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Magnum50

FYI: Direct2Drive (www.direct2drive.com) has just completely re-did there web site and now offering TV shows and movies for digital download.

Also, just in case you didn't know... not only do they sell the new and popular releases posted on the front page, but if you go into gender games sections, you'll find some hard to get classics, like Ghost Recon and Raven Shield for example.


Damn good service, that I've been using for a long time and very happy with. I always check for new releases at download sites first now-a-days.

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Magnum
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CingularDuality

Direct2Drive seems OK, but I don't like the fact that you can only have the games installed on one PC and that you have to have special patches. What happens when D2D decides that they're not going to support a game anymore? Where do you get your patch then?

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KillerTarget

If you reformat annually what you do is find where they download the files to on the computer and then grab those files. I did that for Euroforce and added to the patches I have to apply to BF2 when I install it after a reformat.

Also, an annual reformat? My computer gets slow about every 3 months and needs a reformat about ever 4, it could be due to all the demo and beta products I try out and they sometimes mess with files that are needed for windows.

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Maus

Could you not just copy your downloaded game file to a CD or (more likely) a DVD? I know when I bought from direct2drive I just had the game sitting on my HD in a 1.5Gb exe that I would have been able to back up if I wanted to.

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2142: |TG-Irr| Silverfish
BF2: |TG-Irr| Maus

Magnum50

yes... as long as they don't go out of businesses, but i only buy games that will be played a year or two... if it's a "classic" I buy hard copies.

BUT, if you go to my account at direct2drive you will see a list of all your games bought with the respected keys next to it, you can download as many times as you want.

Great service for games that you know you'll only play for a couple of years, because i too reformat and install fresh ever year, because of the betas and alphas I get to test alot.

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Magnum
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