# Anyone else considering buying some Steam games? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 23, 2009, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-considering-buying-some-steam-games/522389 "2009-12-23T23:29:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-considering-buying-some-steam-games/522389/21 "2009-12-27T17:58:27Z")
I just got Left 4 Dead (the original) for 7.99. It’s fun and you can play online with other cheep/broke people. I got Star Trek DAC and it sucks. Big time. AND I still don’t have sound, even though I’ve reported the problem to the their “support” weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-considering-buying-some-steam-games/522389/22 "2009-12-27T20:39:55Z")
Today’s specials on Steam include Hearts of Iron III at 75% off. For $7.50, there is no good reason to say no. 😛 So I said yes. \ Another game in the computer for later… ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2009, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-considering-buying-some-steam-games/522389/23 "2009-12-28T02:02:47Z")
Last weekend I bought Torchlight for $9.99, 50% off regular price. I just bought The Witcher Enhanced Edition (with all the Collector’s Edition goodies), Ghostbusters: The Video Game, and KOTOR, all for under $26. Not a bad deal. Merry Christmas to me! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![XanderCrews](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ee59a6/32.png) [@XanderCrews](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XanderCrews)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2009, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-considering-buying-some-steam-games/522389/24 "2009-12-28T02:09:33Z")
I know exactly what you mean. Steam has won me over, I won’t purchase a videogame from anywhere else if it is available on Steam. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2009, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-considering-buying-some-steam-games/522389/25 "2009-12-28T02:36:08Z")
Soon enough you’ll experience Steam Rage, where the game you just bought goes 90% off in the next sale. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2009, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-considering-buying-some-steam-games/522389/26 "2009-12-28T03:19:17Z")
> [@Palooka](#): > > Soon enough you’ll experience Steam Rage, where the game you just bought goes 90% off in the next sale. Like tochlight which is 5 bucks now 😛 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2009, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-considering-buying-some-steam-games/522389/27 "2009-12-28T03:51:43Z")
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey, kiss him goodbye. ---
**Author:** ![bugme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc79bd/32.png) [@bugme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bugme)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2009, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-considering-buying-some-steam-games/522389/28 "2009-12-28T05:58:41Z")
> [@HoboStew](#): > > If I may be permitted to shamelessly shill for a moment, Steam is currently offering my company’s (Telltale Games) entire catalog for a mere $50, which IMHO is a fantastic deal that normally goes for at least twice that. If you like old school adventure games like Space Quest & Monkey Island (yes, we did the new MI series), you should check it out: [Welcome to Steam](http://store.steampowered.com/sub/2683/) I just bought the pack and none of the games work properly on vista, though they claim it will work on vista. Steam support and telltale games support have been useless the games will download but will not start after steam does its “preparing to launch” thing. Every non telltale game I have with steam works except for this giant pack of unplayable games from telltale. I had high hopes for you telltale. Please read your support forums. I’ve been twisting in the wind over this for a loong time ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2009, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-considering-buying-some-steam-games/522389/29 "2009-12-28T06:14:00Z")
One guy I know had a problem launching games with steam because one of his malware detection programs detected one program trying to launch another and silently put a stop to it. Double check that’s not the case for you. ---
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2009, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-considering-buying-some-steam-games/522389/30 "2009-12-28T17:55:42Z")
> [@ReticulatingSplines](#): > > Wow, that’s awesome. I have Sam and Max Season 1 and I’m glad that someone out there is still making adventure games. Just curious…why the commitment to episodic gaming? I think S&M would have worked better as one single game… Well I am not an official spokesman for the company on that subject, but personally I think episodic is a great model for the type of games we make. Our games are more like TV shows than any other game, so the episodic metaphor comes pretty naturally. [QUOTE=bugme] I just bought the pack and none of the games work properly on vista, though they claim it will work on vista. [/QUOTE] The studio is essentially closed until after new years so support forums might be a little slow to respond. I don’t know offhand of any specific Vista issues but I will check around. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-considering-buying-some-steam-games/522389/31 "2009-12-28T18:06:53Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > I just got Left 4 Dead (the original) for 7.99. It’s fun and you can play online with other cheep/broke people. I got that during the last sale. I did try the L4D2 demo but couldn’t stay alive long enough to really get anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-considering-buying-some-steam-games/522389/32 "2009-12-29T01:07:27Z")
> [@Apocalypso](#): > > There’s a game on Steam called **Gratuitous Space Battles** , the name and description of which made me laugh. “Who needs backstory? Who needs resource-gathering? Diplomacy is so last year. Gratuitous Space Battles cuts right to the chase of sci-fi strategy games, and deals with large, completely unjustified space battles between huge opposing space fleets.” That game was actually developed by a one-guy-indie-team, and has gotten some pretty decent reviews from people who have played it over at one of the gaming boards I frequent. I picked it up at the $10/sale price point, who knows when I’ll get to it though - Steam has been killing me the past week or two, I’ve spent $65 so far and gotten about 15-20 games out of it. The only one I’ve even touched so far is Torchlight. Steam Daily Sales \> Christmas Morning! Incidentally, I bought Bioshock today at $5, making me officially the Last One to that particular party. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-considering-buying-some-steam-games/522389/33 "2009-12-29T02:36:13Z")
> [@Kiros](#): > > That game was actually developed by a one-guy-indie-team, and has gotten some pretty decent reviews from people who have played it over at one of the gaming boards I frequent. I picked it up at the $10/sale price point, who knows when I’ll get to it though - Steam has been killing me the past week or two, I’ve spent $65 so far and gotten about 15-20 games out of it. The only one I’ve even touched so far is Torchlight. Steam Daily Sales \> Christmas Morning! GSB should be neat…but it isn’t. The problem is there’s no way to give your ships orders before the fight, and there is minimal orders before. You can’t say “this group swing left and do this”, it’s just “give frigates this much priority, give crusiers this much”, etc. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![badlyburnttoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@badlyburnttoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badlyburnttoast)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-considering-buying-some-steam-games/522389/34 "2009-12-29T03:19:46Z")
> [@HoboStew](#): > > If I may be permitted to shamelessly shill for a moment, Steam is currently offering my company’s (Telltale Games) entire catalog for a mere $50, which IMHO is a fantastic deal that normally goes for at least twice that. If you like old school adventure games like Space Quest & Monkey Island (yes, we did the new MI series), you should check it out: [Welcome to Steam](http://store.steampowered.com/sub/2683/) :eek: The new Sam and Max games were absolutely amazing, I’m not normally an adventure game fan but I loved every hilarious moment of every single one of them. Those alone are _EASILY_ worth $50, even without all the other stuff you get, I highly recommend them for any adventure game fan or anyone who likes to laugh. They are really, really great. On an unrelated note, Evil Genius is OK but incredibly slow paced and has a lot of questionable design decisions. If you liked dungeon keeper then I’m sure you can get at least two bucks worth of fun out of it but be prepared for some frustrating moments and spending just a little too much time staring at the screen waiting for things to happen. It’s a shame because with a few tweaks and a little bit of polish this game could have been really amazing. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-considering-buying-some-steam-games/522389/35 "2009-12-29T03:27:53Z")
Oh, you mean it’s The Sims of dungeon games. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-considering-buying-some-steam-games/522389/36 "2009-12-29T04:25:59Z")
I have already gotten: - Audiosurf - Medieval Total War II - Plants vs. Zombies - Defense Grid (addictive!) - Zombie Shooter 2 (it’s just average, avoid it if you can) Oh, anyone wants Total War II for Christmas? It isn’t my type of game after playing through it (heh, the sins of impulsive buying!). Just send me a PM and I will arrange for it to be gifted to you. Meanwhile I am considering - Hinterlands - King’s Bounty ---
**Author:** ![Bbusyb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bbusyb/32/4580_2.png) [@Bbusyb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bbusyb)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-considering-buying-some-steam-games/522389/37 "2009-12-29T09:59:53Z")
Yup, Steam’s a little addictive. Over the last few days since I setup a steam account, I’ve constantly stop myself from buying new games as the prices are so reasonable (Even though I’ve not been much of a gamer recently). I’ve found Myself Checking the site daily to see which games are on sale to see if something I’ve been wanting to try is available at a discount. My only issue is that I have to switch to My bootcamp portion to play, and am seriously considering getting Crossover Games just for this. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-considering-buying-some-steam-games/522389/38 "2009-12-29T16:38:24Z")
Did anyone else notice they sold out of Prey CD keys and had to pull it from today’s deals? I repeat, a digital distribution, therefore no printing necessary, RAN OUT OF CD KEYS! That’s crazy to think that even the publishers didn’t anticipate selling so many copies of their game. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-considering-buying-some-steam-games/522389/39 "2009-12-29T16:42:50Z")
It makes sense, though - CD keys are used for online authentication and probably sold in batches. They need to have a registered list of valid keys (you can’t just generate them procedurally otherwise a keygen would do the same thing and you wouldn’t know what’s legit), so they probably just had a set number of keys available from the publisher. Bad planning, but not strange. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-considering-buying-some-steam-games/522389/40 "2009-12-29T16:45:37Z")
Incidentally, in case you haven’t noticed, we have more discussion of the Steam sale (along with other digital distribution sales) in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=544389) here. I keep hemming and hawing on whether or not to buy the Burnout Paradise Complete pack for $7.50. Oh, I’m sure it’s worth the $7.50… it’s a matter of… is it worth whatever great other $7.50 games they’re going to have as part of the sale? I’ve already spent like $150 on games (and got like…40 games in the process) and I don’t have much more to spend on this sale. My fear is that I’ll use it all up and then on the last day or two games I very much want will be half off and I won’t be able to afford them. Edit: Ah screw it, if something else pops up I’ll find the money. Incidentally, for everyone complaining that the downloads are slow because steam is so swamped, I’m getting the game at a healthy 1.5MB/s, which is a little higher than I got during peak times yesterday, but it never dropped below 900K/s or so. I don’t know if it’s because the Los Angeles server is great or what, but you could try manually switching your download region to it under the options. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-considering-buying-some-steam-games/522389.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-considering-buying-some-steam-games/522389.md?page=3)