Half-Life 2: Download or buy?

[Gregory DG]

Are you going to download HL2 through Steam or buy it in the store? Which is the better way to get the game?

[Inky]

Is the DL cheaper?

[xenomorpher]

Buy since I like the material things that come with it (box, booklet, etc)

[Inky]

I'm gonna get the CD.

 

I've also invested in a broadband connection at just the right time.

[Inky]

This sucks about HL2:

 

During initial installation of Half-Life 2 an internet connection is required to authenticate the game.  

[keilbaca]

Yeah, stops all the pirate keys. I already have it predownloaded the day that CS:Source beta got turned off, and you could purchase a key to get the released CS:Source. Just waiting for tuesday to roll around, I even took a day off for the release, so I can play it all night long.

[Invader_dag]

downloaded. I got an ATI card and it came with it, and if i didn`t download it, it would take about 4 weeks after the release for me to get it. No way i`m waiting that long. And this way, Valve gets more money, and less money for the demonic Vivendi

[Gregory DG]

Is the DL cheaper?

Amazingly, no, it's the same. (I'm supposing it'll be $50 in the store too.)

 

Shoot, they should offer it for $10 less for a download... They'll save boucoup bucks because of less packaging alone.

 

All things being equal, I think I'll buy the boxed copy. At least once I'm done with it, I can sell it on Ebay.

[liquid_sky]

Yes, but you get Half-Life Source and Counterstrike Source with the download.. you dont get that out of the box.

[+Sauron]

Yes, but you get Half-Life Source and Counterstrike Source with the download.. you dont get that out of the box.

 

Are you sure about that? I thought at least CS:Source was supposed to come with the boxed version...

[Albert]

All things being equal, I think I'll buy the boxed copy. At least once I'm done with it, I can sell it on Ebay.

 

I wouldn't be so sure of that. It'll have to be activated again via Steam and you may have problems attempting to activate the same retail copy a second time. I have no idea how Valve is handling that. I'm not happy about product activation for software, especially games. What happens if (when) Valve goes away and they are no longer running the Steam servers? Good luck installing Half Life 2 in the future! Sure, there will probably be cracks available by then, but what a pain in the ass that'll be.

 

I was going to buy a retail copy of Half-Life 2 until Valve pulled this stunt. Now I'm not sure if I'm going to buy it at all. I'd rather play games from companies that are more reasonable with their copy protection (which doesn't stop the pirates anyway--there will be cracks for HL2 on Wednesday, the day after Steam unlocks it).

 

..Al

[PuddWakkr]

I don't follow PC gaming so this is the first I've heard of this. People can download a whole game ( I'm assuming a DVD sized one at that ) but everytime you install it it will connect to a site for validation? Can this copy be burned to a disc for backup purposes? If not what happens if a file gets corrupted or deleted?

 

I don't game on a PC so I'm not really sure where cracks and such for them are located but just from "window shopping" I already see two or three cracks and keygens floating around. Seems like all this was a big waste of resources, as well as a way to cause problems in the future when servers crash or are no longer available.

[Fretwobbler]

I'll be buying the box version so that I can put it on the shelf next to HL1, and you get a tshirt with the collectors edition box as well

 

VU Games will also release a Half Life 2 Collector's Edition that will include Half-Life 2 in DVD-ROM format, Counter-Strike: Source, Half-Life: Source, a free limited edition t-shirt, and a Half-Life 2 Prima strategy guide book.

 

Source .. no pun intended

[Albert]

I don't follow PC gaming so this is the first I've heard of this. People can download a whole game ( I'm assuming a DVD sized one at that ) but everytime you install it it will connect to a site for validation? Can this copy be burned to a disc for backup purposes? If not what happens if a file gets corrupted or deleted?

 

For the retail version of Half-Life 2, it only needs to connect to Valve's servers when you install the game. So if you only install the game and play through while it's installed on that same machine, it will only need to connect once. I have no idea what happens if you try to later install that same copy of Half-Life 2 on another machine, or if you were to try and sell it. Presumably it will try activating the game again and you'll be denied since you already installed it once. Not sure what course of action you need to take then.

 

However, for the Steam-based version you can download, yes, it connects to the Steam servers every time you launch Steam (which is how you play the game--you basically see a list of all the games you are allowed to play and select the game you wish to start). You can backup games to disc media, but you still will not be able to start the games without connecting to the Steam server. If the Steam servers are taken down someday, you will no longer be able to play these games unless Valve releases some sort of patch that disables the Steam requirement (or, you download a crack).

 

..Al

[liveinabin]

The PC games industry is becoming the best advert to own a console!

This registration thing sucks badly.

[PuddWakkr]

Everything about this whole idea I think is bad. If my computer could run the game I'd like to try it out but there is no way I'd support this steam business. I was going to borrow my sisters PC just to try it out but since I have a different ISP than she does I guess that would cause problems when the game and PC go back to her house - I'm guessing they are going by your IP address and not your PC name. Guess I'll just hang out for the xbox version.

 

/me slaps Valve for being stupid.

[Fretwobbler]

I can understand people being annoyed with Valve for going the registration route, but lets face it, probably not the next console generation but the one after that will likely be nothing more than a thin-client kind of set up, dependant on games being distributed centrally and therefore suffering from the same problems that could possible affect HL2.

[NE146]

Halo Life 2? I'm confused with all these FPS's...

[goatdan]

All things being equal, I think I'll buy the boxed copy. At least once I'm done with it, I can sell it on Ebay.

 

I wouldn't be so sure of that. It'll have to be activated again via Steam and you may have problems attempting to activate the same retail copy a second time. I have no idea how Valve is handling that. I'm not happy about product activation for software, especially games. What happens if (when) Valve goes away and they are no longer running the Steam servers? Good luck installing Half Life 2 in the future! Sure, there will probably be cracks available by then, but what a pain in the ass that'll be.

 

I was going to buy a retail copy of Half-Life 2 until Valve pulled this stunt. Now I'm not sure if I'm going to buy it at all. I'd rather play games from companies that are more reasonable with their copy protection (which doesn't stop the pirates anyway--there will be cracks for HL2 on Wednesday, the day after Steam unlocks it).

 

Agreed. Valve's Steam servers have been such a fiasco that it isn't even funny. When we were putting together the Midwest Gaming Classic, the place that was doing the multiplayer LAN for us couldn't run a LAN of Half Life because you needed to be able to connect to the internet to authenticate for it. Valve has corrected this problem, but I have heard about so many more problems with Steam since then.

 

On top of that, what happens if you upgrade or change your system? My parent's processor just died, so I'm getting them a new one and I'll be installing it next week. I've had enough problems before this with other Web-verified codes (Norton, specifically) that I wouldn't want that happening with games too. I tend to reimage my own computer about once every six months to a year, so sitting on the phone with Valve even once a year is a BIG turn-off for me.

 

While I'm interested in HL2, the problems that Valve have had with it and the amount of time it took to arrive overshadow the game. If I get the game, it won't be until it is much, much cheaper in price.

[ClassicBoy]

After reading all this, I will definitely be picking this up for xbox and not bothering with the pc version.

 

It seems with the pc version, you are basically paying for the right to play the game and nothing more if they can prohibit you from actually owning your copy of the software and doing as you please with it when you are finished with the game.

 

Unbelievable. I hope that the console business never goes this route. However, it probably will with time...which would bite, big time. How would you like to be told that you can't buy old 2600 carts because they were registered to a sinle owner?

[ClassicBoy]

"...single owner?"

[Gregory DG]

After reading all this, I will definitely be picking this up for xbox and not bothering with the pc version.

Heheh... I wouldn't be surprised if Valve required Xbox Live to play.

[Mr.FoodMonster]

I'll be waiting outside the local Media Play tonight... er.. this morning to get it. I cant wait, I have been waiting 6 years. Its hard to imagine I was 10 playing this game. Its just so.... long ago.

[goatdan]

After reading all this, I will definitely be picking this up for xbox and not bothering with the pc version.

 

It seems with the pc version, you are basically paying for the right to play the game and nothing more if they can prohibit you from actually owning your copy of the software and doing as you please with it when you are finished with the game.  

 

Unbelievable.  I hope that the console business never goes this route.  However, it probably will with time...which would bite, big time.  How would you like to be told that you can't buy old 2600 carts because they were registered to a sinle owner?

 

I am not in any way attempting to make a flame war with these comments, but just stating a fact. Please everyone read it as that...

 

The underlying reason that Microsoft has said that it wanted to get into the home console business is that they believe that in the not-too-distant future, a console-like device will control all of the content that comes to your house -- it will decode cable, allow you to purchase and / or rent movies, play video games, talk to other people, check your email and browse the web.

 

That nifty little box that will do all of those things will be controlled from a company, or a few companies. Microsoft and Sony both definitely want a bite of that pie, if not the entire thing. That is why Microsoft has been willing to lose so much money on the Xbox this round -- If they spend the money now, they have a foothold so that in 2010 or whenever that this great new technology comes around, Microsoft will have another monopoly of control.

 

I'm not trying to make MS out to be the bad guys here, because it is actually a smart plan by them -- the way to stop it, of course, is for us as consumers to not accept that way. Consumers tossed the idea of DIVX out, and I'm not convinced that consumers are ready to give up their separate computer and TV set ups for a all-in-one entertainment device.

 

If this idea works though, both Sony and Microsoft are really on the leading edge of the technology... and then it won't be too long before _everything_ from games to movies to NFL games on TV will be delivered in such a way with licensing.

 

While I like my lil' Xbox, I hope that it only remains a game console for the rest of my life...

[Invader_dag]

you all have obvisouly not readthat much about steam. Yes, you must register one time. then t is tied to your account. you can unregister a computer at any time. And if you have to upgrade something on your pc, it won`t be a problem, you can just reinstall with your log in. and if Valve ever did go under, they would just release a patch to unlock it, like how the made the original HL playable with steam, it`s all meant to fixable on the fly.

So before you swear off buying HL2, do some research.