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How do you obtain your games?

Page 5 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Originally posted by: Vampirrella
Funny how no one is choosing the pirating option tho cmon, this is anand forum and the users here are shall we say, very savvy. I think 75%+ are prolly fibbing about buying the games but dont/cant admit to piracy since on here a topic like that is too controversial.

I'm very proud that I don't have any pirated games or go down that route,if I see a game I want then I go and buy it,at least I'm supporting the game companies and appreciate their deadlines/hard work involved.

I'm well aware how much pirating costs game software companies and the hard work/hours they put into their final product.

Besides PC games are cheap compared to console versions and downloading a pirated cracked game is not worth the risk with possible malware and other possible serious destructive issues.




 
Originally posted by: Vampirrella
Funny how no one is choosing the pirating option tho cmon, this is anand forum and the users here are shall we say, very savvy. I think 75%+ are prolly fibbing about buying the games but dont/cant admit to piracy since on here a topic like that is too controversial.

It's mainly because you aren't supposed to talk about it here for whatever reason.

I pirate games extremely rarely, and only if there is no demo. Basically I use it as a demo and then buy the game if it's good.
 
Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
i like to have the retail disc for something i paid money for. online music and video purchases? yeah right.

I'll buy music if the price is right and there is no DRM (or if my wife becomes obsessed with something...American Idol, DAMN YOU TO HELL!!!). Video is normally too compressed, priced too high, and riddled with DRM for me to consider buying a digital copy of anything.
 
Originally posted by: AyashiKaibutsu
I look at other people playing the game and rebuild it from scratch

LOL! Skillzzzz...

I pirate then buy if the game is worth it...too many shitty games with no demos nowadays...

And to those of you that will say "well read reviews instead of pirating!"...there are plenty of games that got shoddy reviews that were excellent games IMO.

To me pirating is my way of trying before buying.
 
I buy games once every 2-3 years. I only pirate appz, not games. I like to play online with the other legit people, only reason I buy them.
 
Steam
Impulse
Newegg

If its a small indie game not available through digital distribution channels like Impulse, I'll purchase straight from the developer's website.
 
Steam, if I really really want it, otherwise the sales (they are brilliant)
Pirating, if I dont really want it but want to see what others feel is so great about it, rarely its good enough for me to buy, and also if its not on steam (or impulse maybe) I'm not buying it.
 
Retail since 90% of the time it is cheaper than digital distribution then again I tend to avoid Steam games. I also won't buy anything that doesn't have a demo or trial.
 
Its funny what people will pirate (steal) and what they wont. Some would steal a song but not a game and some would steal a game but not money and vice versa. Self morals I guess. Not critisizing anyone. Just musing aloud.
 
Most games I try to get a demo or wait for many reviews. If I like it I will check STEAM first, since that seems to be getting easier and easier every year.
But very little of what I want is on STEAM, at least not right away. Mostly I purchase the disc from an online store like Amazon, Newegg and others. If its cheaper at walmart then I may get it there.

I will admit to pirating games back in 2003, but I have since purchased full versions of each of them and I havent pirated since early 2004. Makes me feel guilty. Also, most games today suck so its not like a huge dent in my budget when I purchase 2 per year. Last year it was Mass Effect and Fallout 3, both of which were overpiced at 50 bucks but still fun.
This year: Nothing. If we see Deus Ex 3 I will be one of the first people to buy it and review it. I may also check out any demos of Red Faction 3 I can find. If it doesnt suck I will buy it.

You know why I dont buy any new games? I still have working copies of Baldurs Gate 2 and Age of Mythology. Aside from those two I would much rather read or excercise.
 
Originally posted by: Skott
Its funny what people will pirate (steal) and what they wont. Some would steal a song but not a game and some would steal a game but not money and vice versa. Self morals I guess. Not critisizing anyone. Just musing aloud.

To be fair, there's a world of difference between stealing money and making a copy of a game/album.
 
What a freakin' joke!


Everyone on here complaining about Securom, install limits, pirate-resistant software, etc....

But 30% of posters here are pirating.
 
Originally posted by: tigersty1e
What a freakin' joke!

Everyone on here complaining about Securom, install limits, pirate-resistant software, etc....

But 30% of posters here are pirating.
No one complained about pirate resistant software, because there is no such thing.
And I'm not sure about the rest of the world, but the reason people HERE pirate is specifically to avoid all the security bullshit.

We have been over this a hundred times before.
DRM only punishes legitimate users.
Pirates play games easier and with fewer headaches. And they do it for free.
 
Originally posted by: Via
There's enough unopened boxes and jewel cases in my computer room to keep me busy for the rest of my PC gaming life and yet I keep on buying. Why is that?

It wasn't always like this for me. I used to buy full price games al the time. But I got burned once too often.

I have more games than I have time to play as well. The backlog just keeps getting longer. Also, I'm actually glad there's a drought of new games right now. I've got Call of Duty 5, Boom Blox Bash Party, Punch Out!!, Dawn of War 2, Lego Batman, and Riddick AODA all getting pieces of my gaming time. I'm trying to make it through Final Fantasy 5 and 8 too because I'm a completionist when it comes to Final Fantasy games.

I think a lot of the reason I don't buy games at full price, is because I play a lot of single player stuff and I have a backlog already. If it wasn't for my kids and wife, I wouldn't have U-Verse TV programming. My free time at night is spent with the wife or gaming. Sometimes both...read into that what you will 😉.
 
Originally posted by: shortylickens
Originally posted by: tigersty1e
What a freakin' joke!

Everyone on here complaining about Securom, install limits, pirate-resistant software, etc....

But 30% of posters here are pirating.
No one complained about pirate resistant software, because there is no such thing.
And I'm not sure about the rest of the world, but the reason people HERE pirate is specifically to avoid all the security bullshit.

We have been over this a hundred times before.
DRM only punishes legitimate users.
Pirates play games easier and with fewer headaches. And they do it for free.

Oh, I'm sure people pirate to avoid the drm... they don't want to save money because they buy the game and then pirate it. (No, I'm not talking about the .exe cracks that let you play without the cd because that's not the same thing as pirating/dling the whole game.)

Yes, we have been over this a hundred times. DRM does punish the legitimate users, but it also resists piracy (gasp! that's what its suppposed to do) If it prevents 1 person from pirating then it has resisted piracy.

If you do buy the game and then proceed to download the whole game illegally, then you are an idiot.
 
FS/FT forum, ebay, occasionally stores (WoW expansions). Only use steam for the Half-Life series and related, ie TF2.

Haven't pirated a game since high school.
 
mostly stores, although I rarely buy games (bro in contrast has loads of games 😵)...last one I bought was the WoW expansion Wrath of the Lich King.
 
I usually buy new games at a store wherever it's convenient for me, so that's usually Best Buy, Target, or WalMart. I refuse to go to the Gamestop near my house mostly due to the PC Game area going from a whole wall and rack to one measly side of a rack. For games that I can't pick up at a store or older games, I usually go to GoGamer or Amazon. As much as I support the Steam, I rarely buy games from there unless they are doing their weekend sale thing. I think I willing bought maybe three games off of Steam. I guess I prefer having a box, manual, and disc when I purchase a game.

Pirating is not worth the time or the effort... just purchase the damn game.
 
Stores mainly, occasionally from E-bay also, as not all the games are available in the Middle East(Clear Sky for instance)
 
Originally posted by: AndroidVageta
LOL! Skillzzzz...

I pirate then buy if the game is worth it...too many shitty games with no demos nowadays...

And to those of you that will say "well read reviews instead of pirating!"...there are plenty of games that got shoddy reviews that were excellent games IMO.

To me pirating is my way of trying before buying.

im with this guy
 
I used to pirate a bunch of games of questionable quality and buy only games thay I really wanted and had good online replay value. I got sick of waiting hours or days for a game to torrent only to end up playing the game for only a few minutes to an hour because the game sucked, so now I just stick with the latter. I buy them from wherever I can find them cheapest, be it steam, ebay, or some retailer.

Any single-player game that I want I buy for 360 and then resell when I finish.
 
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