Gaming on a pc

ussjtrunks

I've never had a pc cabable of running games but I'm getting a new pc during the week and was wondering whats the best way to play games on it.
I see some of the big games are available on disk and cheaper than steam is it better to get the disk version (are they identical)?

simon360

Steam is often cheaper and is better due to flash sales etc and the community feature.

Shiminay

Bricks and Mortar generally sell games slightly cheaper than Steam might have them on launch day, but quite often, they've just sold you a Steam (or Origin if it's an EA game) Key as well as the disc anyway so it's convenient.

Steam Sales are a thing of legend and will do appalling damage to your wallet when you see the madness that gets offered

Headshot

http://www.g2play.net/store/home.php

Sarn

Firstly, never pay full price for Steam games. Their sales are pretty good though. There are many different online retailers offering digital copies of games. It becomes a matter of shopping around and keeping an eye open for bargains.

Here are a few alternatives:
http://www.greenmangaming.com/
http://www.gog.com/
http://www.g2play.net/store/
http://www.dlcompare.com/

For game deals:
http://www.reddit.com/r/GameDeals/
http://digitalgamedeals.com/

degrassinoel

you should install origin too, it's rare that it happens, but from time to time they have much better prices than steam for full price titles.

Defiance is on there for a tenner cheaper than steam atm.

ussjtrunks

Was thinking of getting bioshock infinate I could get the DVD for 32 on amazon but steam is 50 how long would a steam sale take and would it just be better to get the DVD?

Headshot

Did you not open the above links?

ussjtrunks

I can buy on steam with their vouchers though I'm a tad reluctant to use my credit card with sites I've never heard of can ye vouch for any of the above?

Headshot

Yes the site I mention is superb, no trouble what so ever

They also have the best prices around too

Im sure more posters will back me up there

ussjtrunks

I heard bioshock is a massive download though anyone get the DVD version would like to know how long it takes to install

simon360

Bioshock is 14gb or so not that big in comparison to other games such as BF3 at a whopping 19gb

cherryghost

simon360 wrote: »

Bioshock is 14gb or so not that big in comparison to other games such as BF3 at a whopping 19gb

BF3 is 34GB including expansions but when its installed its just under 20GB.

degrassinoel

buy terraria, it's 50 meg and it'll last you way longer than any triple A title, cost less than a fiver too

Skerries

Sarn wrote: »

Firstly, never pay full price for Steam games. Their sales are pretty good though. There are many different online retailers offering digital copies of games. It becomes a matter of shopping around and keeping an eye open for bargains.

Here are a few alternatives:
http://www.greenmangaming.com/
http://www.gog.com/
http://www.g2play.net/store/
http://www.dlcompare.com/

For game deals:
http://www.reddit.com/r/GameDeals/
http://digitalgamedeals.com/

all highly recommended above
g2play and dlcompare are sites that sell game keys for Steam usually at a discounted price because they buy them in other territories and then email you the code from the box, this usually isn't a problem but there is always the possibility that Steam deny the codes. Also watch out for which langyage you buy
The big Steam sales are at Christmas and in June with smaller sales throughout the year and a weekly deal on the site

other good sites to look at are

Gamefly - like greenmangaming
Gamersgate - like greenmangaming and gamefly
Amazon US - they will have great sales on normally not on the UK site so you can set up an account with a fake US address and then just download the games

cheap game search sites
Steam Game Sales - tracks all the bargains in Steam
Allkeyshop - like dlcompare
Gamestracker - for finding cheap boxed games
Billy Bargain - like gamestracker
find-games - like gamestracker
Cheapshark - finds the latest deals from most of the big sites above but can be a bit slow in updating
Savygamer - updates with all the latest deals

Bundle Sites

these are sites that advertise multiple games together that you pay for what you want to, usually either Steam or Desura keys

Humble Bundle
Indie Gala
Bundlestars
Groupees
Indie Royale
Indie Bundle

with all these bargains why would you ever go back to consoles

Anyone

Apologies for the semi thread hijack, just picked up Defiance from g2play.net. They sent me the key, but its not a steam key, where do I download the game from?

ScumLord

I never buy anything on steam, I'll be damned if I'm going to wait for a sale. I don't buy all that many games though and don't get as much time to play them so I wouldn't buy more than 3 or 4 games in a year. I like the service and would love if all games came with steam support but outside of that I don't use it.

G2play is much better in my opinion, they sell you the keys at a discount and you just download them from official sources after that. It's not just steam keys they sell, many companies don't use steam.

I would buy online and download though. the hardcopies don't always link up with steam and if you lose your hard copy it's just gone. Whereas you can uninstall a downloaded copy and reinstall it later because it's linked to your account.

Just make sure you always have access to the email you signed up with. I changed mine since the first time I signed up with steam and no matter how many times I contacted steam and sent them pictures they just ignored all my emails and I had to make a second account.

ScumLord

Anyone wrote: »

Apologies for the semi thread hijack, just picked up Defiance from g2play.net. They sent me the key, but its not a steam key, where do I download the game from?

It'll say on the games sales page, when you're logged in the page should have a download link. It can be confusing at first. If you still can't find it just email them and they'll send you the download link.

Anyone

ScumLord wrote: »

It'll say on the games sales page, when you're logged in the page should have a download link. It can be confusing at first. If you still can't find it just email them and they'll send you the download link.

Thanks, found it after a bit of searching...confusing is right!

ScumLord

Anyone wrote: »

Thanks, found it after a bit of searching...confusing is right!

Thats why I know if you email them they send you the code. I couldn't find it either and it was my second purchase.

ussjtrunks

Is there any games ye'd recommend that are pc exclusive since I have most ps3/xbox360 titles also I've yet to buy mass effect if I get the trilogy set for pc do you need origin?

ancapailldorcha

The first 2 games are available on Steam but you will need Origin for the third title. Be aware that though there is a trilogy pack available it won't come with most of the DLC.

MadYaker

I don't think you need origin for the mass effect series.

For PC exclusives buy The Orange Box. It should be cheap now because its been out for years. It's a collection of brilliant games made by valve. Other good PC exclusives id recommend are the Dayz mod for Arma 2, I'm sure you've heard of it. Also Planetside 2 which is a really good online FPS, it was free when I got it, not sure if it still is.

degrassinoel

MadYaker wrote: »

I don't think you need origin for the mass effect series.

For PC exclusives buy The Orange Box. It should be cheap now because its been out for years. It's a collection of brilliant games made by valve. Other good PC exclusives id recommend are the Dayz mod for Arma 2, I'm sure you've heard of it. Also Planetside 2 which is a really good online FPS, it was free when I got it, not sure if it still is.

ye do for me3

simon360

Counter strikes most definitely! Actually all of the valve games are a good bit of craic, you need steam for them but its worth it if you have a few friend who want to play. They go cheap as chips in the sales also. Saving for the Summer sale already!

MadYaker

Yeah beware of steam sales. A lot of the deals on offer are very hard to resist. I've spent hundreds in the last 3 steam sales and the only game I've put any major time into over the last year is feckin dayz!

simon360

The exact same with me! spent about 70 euro on the Christmas sale and I don't play much of the games, Dayz is too addicting!

ScumLord

ussjtrunks wrote: »

Is there any games ye'd recommend that are pc exclusive since I have most ps3/xbox360 titles also I've yet to buy mass effect if I get the trilogy set for pc do you need origin?

There's ARMA, or if you're into racing games then you might want to try some of the sims, they're nothing like what you'll find on the consoles though, much tougher.

Snowie

picked up metro 2033 for 4.99 on steam i didnt complain. Im a new pc gamer

smileyj1987

Team Fortess 2 is a great game to play on pc and it will cost you nothing .

ussjtrunks

If I want to get the ubisoft games and Ea games are there clients any good or should I only use them when I have to steam doesnt seem to have many drm restrictions some games even have cloud saving which is cool