What better game to push Steam than the perfect steampunk, plasmid-shooting, FPS amazingness that is Bioshock.

I'm sure this has been talked about, but I figured I'd give it a thread to let everyone know.

In case there are still those that don't know about Steam, it's a PC game download service that allows you to buy games, download them directly from Steam, and play them without having to keep track of discs or what computer it's on, since you can access your games from anywhere with an internet connection.

http://www.steampowered.com/v/index.php

There is indeed a countdown clock to when Bioshock will be playable on the main Steam client, too. Apparently you won't be able to play it until 2 pm on Tuesday, but that should be fine for most people I assume.

So download it now...buy it when you're ready, and you'll be able to play it Tuesday!

But what about the box! Oh, and the manual! I have to have the manual! Oh, we're talking about Bioshock and not the Civ:4 collector's edition? Nevermind. Were you one of the people glued to your monitor at midnight the day HL2 came out? I sure was! Remember how the authentication server got bombarded and you couldn't play until like 12:15? Worst 15 minutes of my life!

Haha, yeah. Steam is much better now though...much more reliable. Plus, it's not a multiplayer game or anything, so there's no reason for any delay.

You will be missing out on the box and manual I suppose, but that's not too important to me. Unless I feel like getting the Collector's Edition, which I'm sure many people will, otherwise Steam's the best option, in my opinion.

The best part of steam is for me, that there is no "copy right protection" that screws up my PC or tells me to uninstall 80% of my software! All you need is a connection to the net. Even if you buy the box, the cd is not needed after installation, no switching disks.

I personally love that about Steam.

Absolutely. Steam is the future of PC gaming. Online distribution FTW.

If only they let me download faster than 600 KB/s. I can do twice that on local servers.

This thread got me all excited because I thought steam through up a demo....

?

Steam IS the copyright protection mechanism! Sure it doesn't screw up your PC anything like StarForce, for instance, but try playing Half-Life2 without it.

Any news on a demo for PC? I want to see if my laptop can play it on medium. I could barely move in the lost planet demo, but Dirt ran ok. This was when I had 1 GB ram.


Intel Duo 1.83 Ghz
2 GB ram
Window XP
ATI x1400 256mb video

And I'm pretty sure a demo will be on Steam or direct download later this week...dunno when though.

It's not about copy protection, it's about the online. There were two times when I was furious at Steam, and they both involved my inability to connect online for verification.

My ISP had a habit of using unreliable NEC modems that would conk out every 4 months or so in the tremendous Hong Kong heat and humidity (they are using another brand now). During those stints I was left two weeks at a time without Internet, hence Steam, hence my games.

Bummer. Apart form that, I love Steam because I can, if I want, buy a game at 11pm, wait an hour and start playing without having to leave home.

Bioshock and the Orange Box seem to be must-haves. Also Steam, for those who don't have it yet - get it, it's an outstanding online game delivery service. Hell, if id is putting their games on Steam, Valve must be doing something right!