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Gersen: You will still need to install, register and start Steam to play the game.

No? It's a DVD (the first one on the list). You install it from the DVD, no Steam required (though I guess it will make you install Games for Windows).
EDIT: Nevermind. Had to look in the reviews on Amazon, but it does seem you need Steam. So forget what I said.
Post edited May 30, 2010 by Gixugif
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Gixugif:

It's a DVD yes and you can install the game from it... but you can't play the game without Steam; you need the Steam client to activate and start the game.
If you prefer it's similar to the Orange Box or retail version of Portal.
Post edited May 30, 2010 by Gersen
-snip quotes-
The problem with the "DD aren't dumb enough to stock Steamworks games" arguement is that, well, [url=http://www.direct2drive.co.uk/7560/product/Buy-Warhammer-40,000:-Dawn-of-War-II-Download]they[/url] [url=http://www.direct2drive.co.uk/177/7542/product/Buy-Empire:-Total-War-Download]do.[/url] Really, the whole "Not Stocking Steamworks Games" started with Modern Warfare 2. Direct 2 Drive threw a wobbler, and the rest is history.
And, honestly, I would imagine the people who sees Steam's DRM as a problem are currently in a minority, compared to the amount of people who don't, especially compared to UbiDRM and certain flavours of SecuROM. Microsoft really dropped the ball with the exacting requirements to use GfWL, Gamespy is aging and disliked, meaning that the other major out of the box multiplayer system, Steamworks, is increasing in popularity. How that will change once Impulse Reactor and Battle.net 2.0 (let's face it, it's not like Activision Blizzard to miss such an obvious money-making opportunity) becomes available to developers is another question entirely.
Post edited May 30, 2010 by DelusionsBeta
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Delixe: With GOG... WTF? Every game is tied to your account.

False. Once downloaded, the game is no longer tied to a account. Copy it on a disc, and you can use the game as you want: GOG games has no DRM.
Post edited May 30, 2010 by ERISS
Well, I thought he made some good points. He clearly stated that he believes they are not reality as of yet, but the potential is there for them to take place.
For me personally, Steam is a "No Go," due to the DRM that is Steam.
I support GOG, GamersGate, and Indie developers directly; that is about it for me spending money on games.
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Gersen: And the whole Steam cloud and Steam achievements is not innocent either, it's a good ploy to have Steamwork "embedded" deeper in the game code making it harder and time consuming to remove it. An editor who already spent money implementing Steamwork full "features" is less likely to spend more money making a version without it that can be sold on other DD, especially if Steam is already the leading digital platform.

I don't think you read anything about the Steamworks API to say that; it's very easy to add and work with as it is mostly only an external reference. You could strip it away by simply commenting the header files (and the bits of code that they tie in to if you write your code like crap).
More info on it can be found here.
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AndrewC: I don't think you read anything about the Steamworks API to say that; it's very easy to add and work with as it is mostly only an external reference. You could strip it away by simply commenting the header files (and the bits of code that they tie in to if you write your code like crap).

Commenting the header, commenting all the call to steamwork lib methods (and yes I know about preprocessor directives), etc....
But anyway I never said it was "impossible" I just said that is a company spend time creating said achievements (creating the logic in the game that unlock them), testing them, debugging them, they are not likely to spend even more time creating an alternate version without them just to be able to sell their games on smaller DD especially if the retail version is using Steamwork too.
Post edited May 30, 2010 by Gersen
I ilke Steam. There, I said it. Anyway, I trust it more than I trust most of the other digital distributors, especially D2D, since I like being able to download the games I have paid for whenever I want, and not risk losing the key etc.
I do also like Impulse by Stardock, and have games on both of them. I do try and support Impulse more when choosing which one to buy a game on, in order to avoid Steam from monopolising the distribution method, but I currently have alot more games on Steam than I do on Impulse to be honest.
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Blackrain: So who ever started this thread your a donkey mate why dont you just go back too the store and pay twice as much for the same program.

Did you even read the first post?
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Blackrain: What for the topic was stupid im answering the topic not the post..

I'm a donkey for linking to someone writing about Steam?