PC Gamers: Steam vs GoG vs Origin vs Amazon DD

I'm going to ask all PC gamers a simple question; even though I know (and expect, honestly) one of these three to far and away take the votes, I still want to hear some compelling arguments for all sides.

So PC gamers, I want to know: Steam, GoG, Amazon DD, or Origin? Which download service do you find the best?

STEAM:

+ Largest catalog of games
+ Cheap prices
+ Community features like Screenshot sharing, user profiles, friend feeds, messaging, chat, and more
+ Periodic Steam sales that offer some of the best games available at throwaway prices
+ Supports non Steam Games too
+ Showcase for indie games
+ Buy a game once and it runs on any OS you may own
- Steam is a form of DRM and may support additional DRM on top of that.
- Games are only licensed to the end user, and if Steam ever goes bust, you may lose access to all your games.

GoG:

+ Some old games found nowhere else are found on GoG
+ Incredibly cheap prices, and GoG sells you the full package necessary to run a particularly old game (like emulators, compatibility patches etc.) as part of the package if you buy some ridiculously old game
+ NO DRM
+ Periodic sales across their catalog that give away games at throwaway prices
+ Buy a game once and you gain access to it on any OS you may own
+ Games come with bonus content, like manuals, collectors items available digitally as PDFs, wallpapers, and more.
- Limited catalog compared to Steam
- No community features at all; GoG exists as a storefront on the web, and as a download client, but it offers nothing else

ORIGIN:

+ Nice catalog of EA games as well as several third party games
+ Future EA games can only be had on Origin digitally
+ Existence of community features; although not as full fledged as Steam's, they still outdo any other competing service on the market
+ Origin gives you a unified account across games on any and all systems that Origin supports
+ Pleasing user interface on the client
- Windows only
- Heavy form of DRM restrictions, as well as a restrictive ToU
- Catalog is limited; many notable third parties do not support Origin yet
- Generally, there are no sales

AMAZON DD:

+ Huge catalog
+ Frequent sales that often sell bundles of games at throaway prices
+ All third parties support it
+ Not locked to Amazon's DRM; therefore, games bought from Amazon DD can be added to Origin or Steam if you want
- No community features at all. Amazon DD exists just as a download client
- A single game sold on Amazon DD may have multiple forms of DRM
- Game sales are not OS unified; therefore, if a game was bought for PC on Amazon DD, you have to buy it separately to gain access to it on Mac.

So PC gamers... which one do you like the best, and why? And can you come up with compelling arguments for all of them?

Please let's have an intelligent discussion. No 'lol Origin sucks because EA,' please; try and assess each of these rationally, fairly, objectively.

Go.

Origin because of free games :P

Seriously though I'd say Steam.

Steam obviously, but it's bed time so I'm too tired to write more. :P

Will probably come back tomorrow for another post.

You already know which one is gonna dominate the poll.

You already know which one is gonna dominate the poll.

Master_ShakeXXX

I'm going to ask all PC gamers a simple question; even though I know (and expect, honestly) one of these to far and away take the votes, I still want to hear some compelling arguments for all sides.

charizard1605

[QUOTE="Master_ShakeXXX"]

You already know which one is gonna dominate the poll.

charizard1605

I'm going to ask all PC gamers a simple question; even though I know (and expect, honestly) one of these to far and away take the votes, I still want to hear some compelling arguments for all sides.

charizard1605

I just don't even see the point of the poll.

I use Steam the most, however I do prefer using GoG. No DRM>DRM.

I really don't care about Steam having DRM, it's the best in all other areas. And getting better. Big Picture Mode, though it's a little rough right now, is pretty awesome.

Steam and GoG. Amazon is okay, though.

No GFWL? I am dissapoint Charizard.

[spoiler] :P [/spoiler]

Steam and GOG simply because of Fallout.

Steam because of community features but also GoG because of no DRM.

Luckily we don't have to actually choose

Origin because of free games :P

Seriously though I'd say Steam.

PhazonBlazer

I'm currently enjoying Crysis Warhead, thanks to Origin. Got 9 more games on deck.:lol:

And, now that I've actually used Origin for the first time, I have a legitimate opinion on it.

It sucks.

The interface is ugly, compared to Steam, in my opinion.

The selection of games is next to nothing. Just EA games, 90% of which I'm not the least bit interested in. I actually had to do some serious digging last weekend to even find 10 games I'd be willing to take from them for free.

And finally, the worst part of it, I think: Download and install are separate. I don't have a particularly big harddrive, and I've almost always got less than 20gb available. I'm constantly moving things around, finishing games so that I can uninstall them to make room for more. Several years ago, a friend of mine introduced me to pirating games, and the very first thing I pointed out as a negative to that (aside from the moral dilemma), is the HDD space requirements. Using the most common piracy methods, you have to have twice as much space available as the game actually needs. Example: if you're pirating a 6gb game, you need 6gb available to download the disc image, PLUS 6gb to install the game. Even if you delete the image after the fact, leaving only the 6gb game, you still had to have 12 available to complete the process of downloading and installing.

With Steam, the download and install are the same process, so you don't need extra space. This game is going to take up 10 gb on your HDD, so you only need 10 gb, as Steam just downloads the game files directly to the install directory, in one move. Origin downloads the game, then installs it, much like you'd have to do if you pirated it. I decided to finally try it out by installing Crysis Warhead. had like 13 gigs available, figured it would be plenty. Origin tells me it'll take 16gb available to install, even though the game is only going to take up 8 in the end. Seriously, origin?

Voted Amazon obviously i use Steam alot with chat and launching games from it. But Amazon has ALOT better sales and that's what matters to me.

Is there anythign that carries Mechwarrior 2, Mercenaries and Ghost Bear Legacy?

GreenMan Gaming deserves some kudos here. Being an Australian and having to deal with inflated prices, GMG often offers its games for half or even less off Steam prices, always delivers its keys in a prompt manner and even accepts digital trade in's for some of its games. It has its own client, which is a bad thing, but for buying steamworks games, its my number one store.

[QUOTE="PhazonBlazer"]

Origin because of free games :P

Seriously though I'd say Steam.

the_bi99man

I'm currently enjoying Crysis Warhead, thanks to Origin. Got 9 more games on deck.:lol:

And, now that I've actually used Origin for the first time, I have a legitimate opinion on it.

It sucks.

The interface is ugly, compared to Steam, in my opinion.

The selection of games is next to nothing. Just EA games, 90% of which I'm not the least bit interested in. I actually had to do some serious digging last weekend to even find 10 games I'd be willing to take from them for free.

And finally, the worst part of it, I think: Download and install are separate. I don't have a particularly big harddrive, and I've almost always got less than 20gb available. I'm constantly moving things around, finishing games so that I can uninstall them to make room for more. Several years ago, a friend of mine introduced me to pirating games, and the very first thing I pointed out as a negative to that (aside from the moral dilemma), is the HDD space requirements. Using the most common piracy methods, you have to have twice as much space available as the game actually needs. Example: if you're pirating a 6gb game, you need 6gb available to download the disc image, PLUS 6gb to install the game. Even if you delete the image after the fact, leaving only the 6gb game, you still had to have 12 available to complete the process of downloading and installing.

With Steam, the download and install are the same process, so you don't need extra space. This game is going to take up 10 gb on your HDD, so you only need 10 gb, as Steam just downloads the game files directly to the install directory, in one move. Origin downloads the game, then installs it, much like you'd have to do if you pirated it. I decided to finally try it out by installing Crysis Warhead. had like 13 gigs available, figured it would be plenty. Origin tells me it'll take 16gb available to install, even though the game is only going to take up 8 in the end. Seriously, origin?

You're lucky that at least ONE of your games on Origin is working. For some reason Origin fvcked me over with BF:BC2 and now I can't play it at all. I can't even redeem it for some odd reason and I think it had something to do with me updating my Origin account; when I did that it apparently erased my free games like BF:BC2 and Mass Effect 2 from the list of games. I mean...really? You just...wipe my free games off my list even though they were legitament? And then there's this BS?

I'm sorry....but anyone who says Origin is better than Steam needs to go to the hospital and get a surgery for their head that is apparently shoved up their god damn @$$.

You're lucky that at least ONE of your games on Origin is working. For some reason Origin fvcked me over with BF:BC2 and now I can't play it at all. I can't even redeem it for some odd reason and I think it had something to do with me updating my Origin account; when I did that it apparently erased my free games like BF:BC2 and Mass Effect 2 from the list of games. I mean...really? You just...wipe my free games off my list even though they were legitament? And then there's this BS?

I'm sorry....but anyone who says Origin is better than Steam needs to go to the hospital and get a surgery for their head that is apparently shoved up their god damn @$$.

Goyoshi12

Thats dicks. I don't have much experience with origin. I only just made an account last weekend to take advantage of the "sale". Got 10 free games, and they're all still in my library, although Crysis Warhead is the only one I've tried installing so far.

[QUOTE="the_bi99man"]

[QUOTE="PhazonBlazer"]

Origin because of free games :P

Seriously though I'd say Steam.

Goyoshi12

I'm currently enjoying Crysis Warhead, thanks to Origin. Got 9 more games on deck.:lol:

And, now that I've actually used Origin for the first time, I have a legitimate opinion on it.

It sucks.

The interface is ugly, compared to Steam, in my opinion.

The selection of games is next to nothing. Just EA games, 90% of which I'm not the least bit interested in. I actually had to do some serious digging last weekend to even find 10 games I'd be willing to take from them for free.

And finally, the worst part of it, I think: Download and install are separate. I don't have a particularly big harddrive, and I've almost always got less than 20gb available. I'm constantly moving things around, finishing games so that I can uninstall them to make room for more. Several years ago, a friend of mine introduced me to pirating games, and the very first thing I pointed out as a negative to that (aside from the moral dilemma), is the HDD space requirements. Using the most common piracy methods, you have to have twice as much space available as the game actually needs. Example: if you're pirating a 6gb game, you need 6gb available to download the disc image, PLUS 6gb to install the game. Even if you delete the image after the fact, leaving only the 6gb game, you still had to have 12 available to complete the process of downloading and installing.

With Steam, the download and install are the same process, so you don't need extra space. This game is going to take up 10 gb on your HDD, so you only need 10 gb, as Steam just downloads the game files directly to the install directory, in one move. Origin downloads the game, then installs it, much like you'd have to do if you pirated it. I decided to finally try it out by installing Crysis Warhead. had like 13 gigs available, figured it would be plenty. Origin tells me it'll take 16gb available to install, even though the game is only going to take up 8 in the end. Seriously, origin?

You're lucky that at least ONE of your games on Origin is working. For some reason Origin fvcked me over with BF:BC2 and now I can't play it at all. I can't even redeem it for some odd reason and I think it had something to do with me updating my Origin account; when I did that it apparently erased my free games like BF:BC2 and Mass Effect 2 from the list of games. I mean...really? You just...wipe my free games off my list even though they were legitament? And then there's this BS?

I'm sorry....but anyone who says Origin is better than Steam needs to go to the hospital and get a surgery for their head that is apparently shoved up their god damn @$$.

Steam ofc but I REALLY want Green Man Gaming to get bigger. They offer fantastic deals for games not even released and their resell option is fantastic. I'm really hoping they get big enough that they force Steam to add a selling option.tagyhag

[QUOTE="tagyhag"]Steam ofc but I REALLY want Green Man Gaming to get bigger. They offer fantastic deals for games not even released and their resell option is fantastic. I'm really hoping they get big enough that they force Steam to add a selling option.funsohng

Steam because it comes with an entire community. Followed by Amazon DD for amazing sales.

Steam + Amazon DD + Green Man Gaming is a winning formula.

I'll jump on whichever site/distributor has the best price though.

Steam > GoG > Amazong DD >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Origin.

Though at the moment they're charging more for the normal edition of ACIII than the Deluxe Edition. :?DarkLink77

Naw, they just put the wrong prices under each box shot because they're idiots. The regular version is cheaper.

As someone who has a very crappy internet connection with abnormally high latency, I'm going to go with Origin. Only Origin downloads manage to give me the maximum possible speed. Steam only gives like half of what I can get. Probably something to do with the mess that my connection is, but nevertheless, Origin manages to work with it.starjet905

If you haven't yet, you could try changing where your downloads come from on Steam. Just open up Steam, and in the top left corner go to:

Steam > Settings > Downloads > Download Region

And stick it on the closest server to where you live.

Anyways as for me Steam is the best.

Personally I prefer GOG with it's no-drm policy, all the bundled goodies, and such, but it just doesn't have the community aspect that Steam has. Whenever I'm PC gaming I have Steam running for what it offers.

I wish GOG would expand on their download client to include friends list, chatting, screenshots, etc. Only then could I truly say GoG is the best overall service.

Of course until GOG supports all new titles I'll still be using Steam for every day PC gaming.

I'm a bit of a Steam man, myself, but GOG has some nice things going for it, like the inclusion of things like art books and the like. Shame Steam doesn't do that.

Honestly it dephens on their use.

Steam is a good service, but a pretty lousy store for us europeans.
Origin gives free games :D
Never used Amazon's service
Gog gives good old games and treats us fairly, but given the nature of the store, it does not always have the games I want ;)

Anyway Gog>GMG>Steam>Origin

Greenmangaming does not pretend that 1 dollar is 1 euro. I also get considerably better deals on Greenmangaming than I get on Steam. Also, you can resell games on GMG, which is another plus.

Honestly it dephens on their use.

Steam is a good service, but a pretty lousy store for us europeans.
Origin gives free games :D
Never used Amazon's service
Gog gives good old games and treats us fairly, but given the nature of the store, it does not always have the games I want ;)

Anyway Gog>GMG>Steam>Origin

Greenmangaming does not pretend that 1 dollar is 1 euro. I also get considerably better deals on Greenmangaming than I get on Steam. Also, you can resell games on GMG, which is another plus.

Maroxad

[QUOTE="Maroxad"]

Honestly it dephens on their use.

Steam is a good service, but a pretty lousy store for us europeans.
Origin gives free games :D
Never used Amazon's service
Gog gives good old games and treats us fairly, but given the nature of the store, it does not always have the games I want ;)

Anyway Gog>GMG>Steam>Origin

Greenmangaming does not pretend that 1 dollar is 1 euro. I also get considerably better deals on Greenmangaming than I get on Steam. Also, you can resell games on GMG, which is another plus.

DarkLink77

I havent used capsule yet (their downloader), but I do know that I product key I obtained from them has been usable on my steam account to register my game.

That said, I am pretty sure that games that require steam will be linked to your steam account.

steam, but gog is giving great service lately, hope they grow and keep the quality service.

origin, welll... it can burn for all i care

[QUOTE="Maroxad"]

Honestly it dephens on their use.

Steam is a good service, but a pretty lousy store for us europeans.
Origin gives free games :D
Never used Amazon's service
Gog gives good old games and treats us fairly, but given the nature of the store, it does not always have the games I want ;)

Anyway Gog>GMG>Steam>Origin

Greenmangaming does not pretend that 1 dollar is 1 euro. I also get considerably better deals on Greenmangaming than I get on Steam. Also, you can resell games on GMG, which is another plus.

DarkLink77

[QUOTE="DarkLink77"][QUOTE="Maroxad"]

Honestly it dephens on their use.

Steam is a good service, but a pretty lousy store for us europeans.
Origin gives free games :D
Never used Amazon's service
Gog gives good old games and treats us fairly, but given the nature of the store, it does not always have the games I want ;)

Anyway Gog>GMG>Steam>Origin

Greenmangaming does not pretend that 1 dollar is 1 euro. I also get considerably better deals on Greenmangaming than I get on Steam. Also, you can resell games on GMG, which is another plus.

Maroxad

I havent used capsule yet (their downloader), but I do know that I product key I obtained from them has been usable on my steam account to register my game.

Steam is just so feature rich and has a great store with amazing deals. I love GoG for the classics, the additional content that comes with them, and the sure to run on modern day OS aspect. Origin just pisses me off and I only use it for ME3 and BF3 so far. Amazon has great deals every now and then.

But again, Steam with its deals, community, Workshop, tradding/inventory, Greenlight, etc... is just so good.