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stylecrime:
Thanks, wraith, a nice little article!

Just to give my own perspective:

I am a customer of three of these sites: Steam, GOG and Big Fish.
For me, Steam wins the day, for several reasons.

Firstly, it has the widest range of games.  GOG and BFG are somewhat limited in the games offered: GOG only has older games and BFG specialises in casual games, whereas Steam has both of these as well as the latest releases.

Second, Steam has good prices, particularly its weekly specials.  I generally do not buy full-price new releases.  I generally buy slightly older games that have come down in price (I only bought Valve's Orange Box a few months ago, for example), some indie games and some casual games.  The specials that Steam have on their games are usually good - sometimes 50%-75%, which allows me to get a decent game for a good price.  It also means that I can sometimes get a fairly recent game for less than the cost of an older game from GOG.  The specials at GOG tend not to be as generous - usually 10%-25%.

Third up is Steam's usage policy, which allows me to install any or all of my Steam games on as many of our computers as I want (we have four in the house).  I have no strong opinions either way on DRM or copy protection: as long as I'm not overly inconvenienced, I don't mind.  Steam is great in that I don't have to keep original discs handy, nor do I need to keep lists of CD keys - it all just installs and works without any hassle.

Fourth, my ISP has its own Steam content server, which means that as long as my Steam installation uses that server to get its content from, it doesn't count against my monthly download quota.  This is a big plus for me!  It means that I can install a 4GB game on two computers and not lose the 8GB of download.  So not only do I have the convenience of not having to buy/use physical media, I don't even have to pay for the downloads.  Sweet!

There are good things to say about the other sites as well.

Big Fish changed their policies a few months ago and now allow unlimited installations of all games purchased (you do need the BFG installation manager installed on each PC, but that's no real hassle).  They recently dropped their prices to a standard US$6.99 per game, which is a big improvement.  They are also currently running a series of specials whereby they sell a different game each day for US$2.99.  At these prices, I don't mind so much that their games are typically not as deeply involving as most.  BFG's casual games range is somewhat limited in breadth (seriously, how many different ways are there to do a hidden object game?) but there are some real gems.  These games a great for the kids, too - quite simple to learn and control.

GOG I have the least experience with.  I've only bought one game from them so far.  I'm often tempted, but I just feel that considering the age of the games, they should be a bit cheaper.  And I know that sounds dumb, considering they're only US$5-10 but, as I said, I can often get games from BFG or Steam for less than that.

One more thing I like about Steam is the achivements.  Not ever game has them (most don't) but they are fun to try and complete.  I'm down to my last half dozen in Defense Grid and, unfortunately, when it comes to a choice between trying to knock another one of those off, or tidying the house, the housework comes in a sad second place!

Cheers,
Peter.

lanux128:
nice write-up, wraith808. it is very useful and will definitely come in handy. :up: hopefully you can continue with other distributors when you have the time. btw, GoG.com is run by CD Projekt, known for their recent hit, The Witcherw.

iphigenie:
I have bought games on the top 5 on your list, as well as from trygames which you dont list. I love digital distribution, was on steam from day 1 and on Impulse when it was still called the Drengin Network. But I have noticed some areas where it falls far short from what it could be, and some of these issues are crippling:

* geographical limitations - a total absurdity left over from a 1980s model of publishing and distribution. They apply when you buy, but keep applying over time for reinstalls etc. - so if you move countries in the future you might suddenly be unable to reinstall your game (happened to me on steam, impulse and trygames), and if a platform loses a publisher for a country you might again not be able to install a game again (happened to me on trygames!). D2D is one of the worst for the geographical restrictions, you can forget about buying a game while you travel...

* price - at least in the UK many games can be found cheaper at retail, because the retailers have the option to change their price whenever they want. Steam, Impulse etc. cannot discount without publisher approval. For example right now steam has a well advertised sale, but even with 40 to 60% off most games can be found cheaper elsewhere

* no interoperability - most of these platforms are quite locked down, if you buy a game on steam you have to buy the expansions on steam, and if you want an expansion you must have the game on the same platform. And obviously if you want your friends to know you are playing a game you didnt buy on steam, you're out of luck. Stardock's partner matching system currently only works for Impulse game, although they intend to open it wider later.

* lockup and DRM - steam especially is very annoying with that - you have to be online to launch most games (offline mode is supposed to work but for me many games dont start in offline mode). Steam Downloads take forever but forget about having steam downloading a large game on one of your PCs while you play on another, not allowed. Impulse, GOG and gamersgate are more flexible on that front

wraith808:
nice write-up, wraith808. it is very useful and will definitely come in handy. :up: hopefully you can continue with other distributors when you have the time. btw, GoG.com is run by CD Projekt, known for their recent hit, The Witcherw.
-lanux128 (December 29, 2009, 06:39 AM)
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Thanks for the kind words, everyone!  If someone wants to take on one of these, feel free, and I'll link in the article to the post.  Right now, I just moved interstate, and started a new job, so I have my hands full just getting my NANY entry done!  I didn't know that about CD Projekt- I updated the entry.  Interesting that the Witcher is available on every platform but GoG...

lanux128:
Right now, I just moved interstate, and started a new job, so I have my hands full just getting my NANY entry done!  I didn't know that about CD Projekt- I updated the entry.  Interesting that the Witcher is available on every platform but GoG.-wraith808 (December 29, 2009, 11:38 AM)
--- End quote ---

good luck on the new job! incidentally Steam is the only digital distribution system that i am using actively. i looked through GoG's catalogue as well and found some oldies that i'd love to replay if and when i have the time.

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