Steam integration in physical copies.

[aaron]

buying an imported copy of a PC game can fix this problem, sometimes.

[Krejlooc]

not quite what you're asking, OP, but, as a fellow semi-paranoid collector of physical collections, I frequently back up my entire steam collection onto a couple of spare harddrives, pre-activated. Which is to mean, I go through and ensure every game in my library is activated, set my steam client into offline mode, then mirror the entire harddrive, OS and all. That way, if need ever comes, I can restore my HDD image and have my entire library accessible, without the need to reactivate each game.

It is, in essence, a permanent, offline backup. Still requires one online activation, though, initially.

[CRTGAMER]

not quite what you're asking, OP, but, as a fellow semi-paranoid collector of physical collections, I frequently back up my entire steam collection onto a couple of spare harddrives, pre-activated. Which is to mean, I go through and ensure every game in my library is activated, set my steam client into offline mode, then mirror the entire harddrive, OS and all. That way, if need ever comes, I can restore my HDD image and have my entire library accessible, without the need to reactivate each game.

It is, in essence, a permanent, offline backup. Still requires one online activation, though, initially.

J.T. ran into issues resulting in ALL of his games shutdown when he refused to sign an add on clause from Steam. Proof that Steam can kill any games you have downloaded at any time.

For me I get more then enough PC gaming by just buying older games. Soooo many at the Thrift store for a couple bucks each. No they are not the newest must have game, but plenty to keep me busy. Same with consoles, stuck with now officially last gen; Wii and recently starting to explore PS3 and 360 games.

[casterofdreams]

Eh. I've learn to accept.

It isn't too much of an issue on the Xbox 360 because I'm offline and the licences are stored locally for the digital content assuming the HDD or console itself doesn't die anytime soon.

As for Steam I really don't care too much. I buy the game, play the game, and in most cases forget about the game when I'm done. I pay the prices that the sales spit out and I'm cool with it. Yeah I can't share them, sell them, trade them, shelf them but I kinda knew this before I committed. One would argue that you pay for the license and not ownership but the other would argue you are paying for the experience.

I feel at its core it really becomes "game player" vs "game collector" or a hybrid of both who accepts all forms of distribution.

Last part is probably complete nonsense. Ehh...

[Fragems]

One way you can check if a product needs steam is by going on amazon to the PC Download page for the product. For whatever reason they almost never put "steam required" in the product description for physical copies of games that require it but the download pages almost always list it at the bottom of the description.

[J T]

Here are some useful related threads:
DRM Free Retailers


DRM Free games on Steam

[Krejlooc]

not quite what you're asking, OP, but, as a fellow semi-paranoid collector of physical collections, I frequently back up my entire steam collection onto a couple of spare harddrives, pre-activated. Which is to mean, I go through and ensure every game in my library is activated, set my steam client into offline mode, then mirror the entire harddrive, OS and all. That way, if need ever comes, I can restore my HDD image and have my entire library accessible, without the need to reactivate each game.

It is, in essence, a permanent, offline backup. Still requires one online activation, though, initially.

J.T. ran into issues resulting in ALL of his games shutdown when he refused to sign an add on clause from Steam. Proof that Steam can kill any games you have downloaded at any time.

Er, in the situation I described, Steam cannot "kill any games you have downloaded" because you don't need to be connected to the internet at all in my scenario. My scenario is getting your entire system set up and able to launch any game, then unplugging from the internet and making a clone of your harddrive. So long as the games launched before, they'll launch again. No internet means valve can't get any add-on clauses to you. You isolate yourself entirely.

[KalessinDB]

Er, in the situation I described, Steam cannot "kill any games you have downloaded" because you don't need to be connected to the internet at all in my scenario. My scenario is getting your entire system set up and able to launch any game, then unplugging from the internet and making a clone of your harddrive. So long as the games launched before, they'll launch again. No internet means valve can't get any add-on clauses to you. You isolate yourself entirely.

I kind of love that idea. It's going to require some up-front work for sure, but I love it.

I haven't been a PC gamer in a long time, so my Steam collection is next to nothing, but with the Steam Box knocking on the door, I've started looking into dipping my toes in the water. Granted, with your plan they wouldn't be useable on the Steam Box, but it would at least make sure I do have a backup of my games.

Meh, we'll see if I actually DO get one when they become more widely available.

[GigaPepsiMan]

Pretty sure retail games with steam still do most of the install off the disk, so it's still quicker than downloading.

[Krejlooc]

Er, in the situation I described, Steam cannot "kill any games you have downloaded" because you don't need to be connected to the internet at all in my scenario. My scenario is getting your entire system set up and able to launch any game, then unplugging from the internet and making a clone of your harddrive. So long as the games launched before, they'll launch again. No internet means valve can't get any add-on clauses to you. You isolate yourself entirely.

I kind of love that idea. It's going to require some up-front work for sure, but I love it.

I haven't been a PC gamer in a long time, so my Steam collection is next to nothing, but with the Steam Box knocking on the door, I've started looking into dipping my toes in the water. Granted, with your plan they wouldn't be useable on the Steam Box, but it would at least make sure I do have a backup of my games.

Meh, we'll see if I actually DO get one when they become more widely available.

I have a steam machine, and I did this on it just earlier this week.