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Half Life 2 Steam or Retail?

B

Black Deatha

Member
Well, it's less than a week away and I still cant decide which to get, I was planning on getting the retail version, becuase I want the physicly box and retail copy of the game, but I wouldent mind playing CS:S now. I was planning on getting the Collectors Edition of the game, but I am now wondering does the Gold Steam version have anything the CE doesnt? Does anyone know? I ask because someone linked me to a articly on IGN recantly saying the the CE version only had the game CS:S and HL:S or soething, and that the Gold Steam version had DOD:S as well.

I also dont mind the idea of all the cash going to Valve rather than the publisher. I would lie no know soon too, becuase if I decide to get it on Steam I can order it now and play CS:S

~Black Deatha
 
E

epmode

Member
i like collector's editions, but the retail LE is a piece of shit. soooo, gold for me. it's hideously overpriced, but has some cool stuff, i guess. wish they included that "making of" book instead of the strat guide..
 
X

XMonkey

lacks enthusiasm.
Shamelessly ripped from CSNation: http://www.csnation.net/viewnews.php/7535/

Half-Life 2 Offers

RETAIL BOX:

1. Standard Edition:

* Half-Life 2
* Counter-Strike: Source

Note: Ships on six CDs. Three different box designs will be made available at launch (cover characters change on the different designs: one is Gordon, one is Alyx, and the third is the Gman).

2. Collector's Edition:

* Half-Life 2
* Counter-Strike: Source
* Half-Life 1: Source
* Half-Life 2 T-shirt
* Prima book sampler

Note: This version will contain the games on a DVD.

STEAM OFFERINGS

1. "Bronze"

* Half-Life 2*
* Counter-Strike: Source

* (To be made available upon product's release.)

2. "Silver"

* Half-Life 2*
* Counter-Strike: Source
* Half-Life 1: Source*
* Day of Defeat: Source*
* Valve's back catalog currently available on Steam

*(To be made available upon products' release.)

3. "Gold"

* Half-Life 2*
* Counter-Strike: Source
* Half-Life 1: Source*
* Day of Defeat: Source*
* Valve's back catalog currently available on Steam
* Complete Strategy Guide from Prima Games
* 3 different Half-Life 2 posters
* Half-Life 2 hat
* Half-Life 2 postcard
* Half-Life 2 stickers
* Half-Life 2 Soundtrack CD
* Chance to win a trip to Valve! (1 trip offered for every 5000 Gold packages purchased).
 
B

BlueLegs

Member
I got the Steam version as soon as they started selling the silver package. $60 for HL2, HL:S, CS:S and DOS:S was too good to pass up.
 
T

Tenguman

Member
retail

honestly, do you really wanna have to download 1-2gb of data all over again whenever you reformat? What happens if steam fails? What if you want to delve into HL-2 single player 10 years from now but can't since steam isn't around or offers HL-2 as a download?
 
C

Crazymoogle

Member
Tenguman said:
retail

honestly, do you really wanna have to download 1-2gb of data all over again whenever you reformat? What happens if steam fails? What if you want to delve into HL-2 single player 10 years from now but can't since steam isn't around or offers HL-2 as a download?
Click to expand...

I'm pretty confused which way to go on this now; if HL2 DVD still requires online steam authentication (as mentioned in a previous thread), then anybody with a DVD burner can get a better deal through steam for a one time download.

The bigger looming issue, I guess, is EBgames Canada charging way too much for the collector's edition. I'm hoping there may be a looking price drop, because last time I looked it was set at $120 CDN.
 
E

epmode

Member
Coin Return said:
The newest steam release has a "backup game file" option, so you wont have to re-download if you dont want to.
Click to expand...
and since you have to validate the game over the internet, even if you bought the retail version, there's essentially no difference between the steam delivery & retail. aside from having the official discs, of course.
 
D

Deleted member 284

Unconfirmed Member
I will probably be getting it next week, but will Steam it just to support Valve directly.
 
H

Hitokage

Setec Astronomer
Need to make your own HL2 install cds? Put the steam installer and the .gcf(or whatever) files in Steam\SteamApps compressed on a cd or two. When you want to reinstall make an empty folder named "Steam", copy SteamApps into it, then install Steam into the folder you made. Or you can install Steam first then copy the files in afterward, it doesn't really matter.

In short: Steam Silver is your best option unless you don't have a cdr drive.
 
A

Andy787

Banned
I went with Gold over Steam. You get all of the games and the best physical extras. It costs the most, but if any game is worth $90, I'm betting this is it.
 
S

SKluck

Banned
Steam gold, bitches! Been playing CSS since HL2 was available to preorder. Wonder when my shit is going to come in the mail though.
 
C

Crazymoogle

Member
Black Deatha said:
Damnit :( Now I want the Gold Steam version AND the CE retail one :(

How much does Gold Steam version work out to in CAD?

~Black Deatha
Click to expand...

All of the physical extras will incur shipping + customs charges, so there's no easy way to predict those costs beforehand, but the core Gold version cost would be 108 CDN before you factor in weird stuff like what kind of cut your credit card company will take on the currency conversion.
 
T

The Shadow

Member
Coin Return said:
The newest steam release has a "backup game file" option, so you wont have to re-download if you dont want to.
Click to expand...

I just found out that the backup option stinks. I reformatted my system HDD earlier tonight to rid myself of a virus and used that backup option. It basically compressed (or combined) all the game files into a single .exe file. When I reinstalled the system, I ran that .exe file and it wanted me to reinstall Steam which I did. When I tried to run the .exe again, it crashed. I restarted my PC and it crashed again. I'm currently re-pre-loading.

All my pre-loading and games were lost. I would have been better off just copying the steam directory over to another drive or DVD-R instead of using that backup option. :(
 
H

Hitokage

Setec Astronomer
The only difference between Gold and Silver is "collectable" crap and a $30 price hike. :p

Oh, and again, the SteamApps folder is the one that actually holds the game resource files. Back them up.
 
T

The Shadow

Member
Hitokage said:
Oh, and again, the SteamApps folder is the one that actually holds the game resource files. Back them up.
Click to expand...

I'm speaking of the "Backup game files" option that you get when you right click a game, in case that was aimed at me.
 
M

Mooreberg

is sharpening a shovel and digging a ditch
Steam Silver. $10 extra for HL Source and DoD Source is a pretty good deal, I've been playing CS Source for weeks, and I'll be able to play HL2 at 9:00 monday night. There is now an individual backup option for all the games that have been activated so I'll probably just back up the necessary HL2 files onto a DVD-R next week. If I had to download CSS again for some reason it would not take long.
 
H

Hooker

Member
Tenguman said:
retail

honestly, do you really wanna have to download 1-2gb of data all over again whenever you reformat? What happens if steam fails? What if you want to delve into HL-2 single player 10 years from now but can't since steam isn't around or offers HL-2 as a download?
Click to expand...
You are a bit misinformed here dude. The re-downloading is just a matter of making backups. But I guess you are right about the re-downloading. With broadband nowadays that shouldn't be a problem though.


And if Steam fails, you won't be able to play with the original discs either. Half-Life2 == Steam, Steam == HL2 (plus other games). The only thing those discs are good for is installing the game without downloading the 3.5+ gigs. You need to create an account which you need to enter your CD-Key into. After that, the CD-Key is useless as well, your SteamID (the steam account) is all you're going to use from that point on.

So in your words, if Steam fails we both aren't going to be able to play anymore. But Steam isn't going to fail. It's been going strong for what, 2/3 years now and it's only getting better. The files you otherwise download through Steam can also be downloaded through other sources (same way the backup works)

Hmm, after reading this post I may sound a bit negative towards Valve and Steam, on the contrary, I LOVE it!
 
S

Screenboy

Member
Vieo said:
What do they mean by "Source"? Not the source code, do they? :lol
Click to expand...

ketchup.jpg



-SB
 
X

XMonkey

lacks enthusiasm.
Vieo said:
What do they mean by "Source"? Not the source code, do they? :lol
Click to expand...

Source is the game engine Valve developed that powers HL2, CS:S, HL:S (to a lesser extent, sadly), DoD:S, Bloodlines Vampire, etc.
 
Forsete

Forsete

Member
Both, we'll be getting a new computer in some four weeks, so it would be nice if both me and my brother could play online at the same time.

So I'll get it from Steam for this computer and buy a copy so I can play the game on the newer computer. I think at least two computers should be allowed to share the same cd-key if the computers share the same IP. But oh well, 2x the money for VALVe, it will be worht it though.
 
D

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
epmode said:
and since you have to validate the game over the internet, even if you bought the retail version, there's essentially no difference between the steam delivery & retail. aside from having the official discs, of course.
Click to expand...

What are we supposed to do years down the road when Steam is defunct? Is Half-Life 2 going to become unplayable at that point?
 
B

Bregor

Member
dark10x said:
What are we supposed to do years down the road when Steam is defunct? Is Half-Life 2 going to become unplayable at that point?
Click to expand...

Steam is required to validate HL2 the first time you install / play it. After that you can set Steam to 'Offline' mode and play without needing to contact Valve servers.

The chance that Valve would go totally under seems pretty small to me anyway.
 
D

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
Bregor said:
Steam is required to validate HL2 the first time you install / play it. After that you can set Steam to 'Offline' mode and play without needing to contact Valve servers.

The chance that Valve would go totally under seems pretty small to me anyway.
Click to expand...

I'm talking like 10 years later or something. Ya know, sometimes it's fun to bust out older games in your collection for another go round. What if Steam, as we know it, does not exist at that time and the game can't be installed at all...

It kinda seems like digging up an old game that you own and being unable to play due to the fact that you lost the code wheel. :p
 
F

fausty

Member
dark10x said:
I'm talking like 10 years later or something. Ya know, sometimes it's fun to bust out older games in your collection for another go round. What if Steam, as we know it, does not exist at that time and the game can't be installed at all...

It kinda seems like digging up an old game that you own and being unable to play due to the fact that you lost the code wheel. :p
Click to expand...
If Steam was ever to go down, there's a good chance Valve would make some sort of "unlocking" program availible on their website or something that removes the need to use Steam to start the game for the first time.

The thing is, in ten years there's a good chance you'll be able to buy every game through a Steam-like program, so this is a problem that will have to be addressed sooner or later anyways...
 
B

Bregor

Member
fausty said:
The thing is, in ten years there's a good chance you'll be able to buy every game through a Steam-like program, so this is a problem that will have to be addressed sooner or later anyways...
Click to expand...

Actually, I think that in ten years games may be distributed over the internet by an entirely different method, but that's a subject for another thread.
 
V

vg260

Member
What I'd like to know is if you buy the retail version, will the game require you to have the cd in the drive when starting the game. If so, I'll go with the steam version cause it has no CD thus no hassle.
 
B

Bregor

Member
2&2 said:
What I'd like to know is if you buy the retail version, will the game require you to have the cd in the drive when starting the game. If so, I'll go with the steam version cause it has no CD thus no hassle.
Click to expand...

Since the retail version uses steam to verify your copy, it probably doesn't require a CD in the drive when playing- but I cannot say for certain.
 
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