What's the Best Video Game Download Service? [Slashdot]

[DP ServBot]

ThinSkin writes "Who needs a brick-and-mortar game shop when you have the world wide web of video game download services? Joel Durham Jr. over at ExtremeTech examines some game download services to decide once and for all which virtual storefront has the best deal for gamers. Among the services reviewed are: Steam, Impulse, Direct2Drive, Good Old Games, and WildTangent Orb. The most popular site in the roundup, Steam, was also the most favored because of its wide selection of popular titles, while Direct2Drive also scored top marks because it has 'just about every title in the universe.'" Which service(s) do you like the most, and what have your experiences with them been?http://games.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&op=image&style=h0&sid=08/09/24/0138252 (http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/09/24/0138252&from=rss)
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[skaar]

I've been playing with Steam lately and actually quite enjoy it. I'll have to check out the alternatives now :)

[Clownzilla]

Steam is pretty slick. Server arguments aside, I have enjoyed the games I have purchased from them. They also occasionally run some pretty good pricing specials:)

[gum_drops]

My personal favorite is utorr . . .

um I mean Steam also.

[darkwingduck13]

The best to me is by far Good Old Games (http://www.gog.com). You actually own the stuff you buy from them, no strings attached. I bought Freespace 2 and promptly installed it on all 6 of my PCs, secure in the knowledge that I own the game and can do what I want with it. :D

[roushimsx]

Due to its immense catalog, fair pricing, and surprisingly acceptable DRM, I'm going to have to side with Steam for now. The older games are DRM free and the DRM attached to the Valve games is very fair (download to any computer you want but you can only play it on one PC at a time).

Good Old Games will completely overtake it if they continue to flesh out their catalog, though. Good lord do they have an awesome strategy and extremely good support. Redneck Rampage just went up a week or so ago and they've already responded to and fixed the problems that people had noticed with it in addition to offering a nice amount of extra material (soundtracks, wallpaper, manual, avatars, etc) and unlimited DRM free downloads.

GameTap in third for its all-you-can-eat buffet approach and respectable library. It was better when they were partnered with EA, but at least they're still in cahoots with Interplay and Ubisoft, giving them more than enough material to justify the paltry subscription fee. Bummer that you can't use patches and mods with the games, though.

Everything else falls well below those three.