For starters, download steam... Then buy the orange box, l4d and bioshock. that will keep you going for a while :)
also, with steam, you can add any game to it, and all your friends will see that "you are playing a non-steam game... and then whatever you say the game is called". So yes you can play any game through steam. I think if you buy hard copies of VALVe games, then it makes you install steam, because as far as i know its only possible to play tf2 and l4d online through steam.
I was like you, in that i like having hard copies of the game... but steam really is awesome its just so much easier
Bet With routsounmanman: By the end of Q1 2008 Capcom WONT have announced a RE5 Wii Edition OR a new RE (classic gameplay) for the Wii (WON)







