Amazon PCDD $12.49 Walking Dead ($7.49 after coupon)

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Amazon DVG Deals

Amazon DVG Deals

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Hi CAGs,



I'll be posting deals we're running on Digital Games (PC/Mac, Free to Play, Sony/Microsoft Points/Subs).

I'm also here to answer questions you might have, get you closer to the developers by hosting Q&As, setting up podcasts, live streaming gameplay etc. If I don't respond to a question you have in thread please send me a PM. These ping my email address and make it more likely that I will see your question and respond more quickly.

FYI. EA Games sold by Amazon will not activate on Steam.
Digital Holiday

1/5-1/12

The Walking Dead - $12.49 ($7.49 post coupon)

1/11-1/13:

Alice: Madness Returns: The Complete Collection - $11.99 pre coupon (6.99 after coupon) - not Steam
Dragon Age Pack PC - $12.99 pre-coupon ($7.99 after coupon) - not Steam

1/18-1/20:

Need for Speed: The Run - $8.99 ($3.99 after coupon) - not Steam
EA Sports Classic Pack - $8.99 ($3.99 after coupon) - not Steam
Syndicate - $9.99 ($4.99 after coupon) - not Steam
Crysis Maximum Maximum -$17.99 ($12.99 after coupon) - not Steam

1/13-1/19:

Tantalizing THQ Medley - $11.99 pre coupon ($6.99 after coupon) - Steam

1/11-1/12:

Darksiders Franchise Pack - $13.19 before coupon ($8.19 after coupon) - Steam
Saints Row The Third: The Full Package - $12.49 pre coupon ($7.49 after coupon) - Steam

1/29-1/31:

Burning Hot Bundle - $11.99 ($6.99 after coupon)

F.A.Q.S.:

1. Does the game I'm buying from Amazon Activate on Steam/Origin/Uplay? What DRM does the game use?

There are two places to identify DRM on a digital video game detail page:

At the top of the page, below the title:

16hm7a8.png


In the "Product Description" section:

r06ykl.jpg


2. Note on Electronic Arts Games - For the most part, EA games sold on Amazon do not activate on Steam. Most activate on Origin.

3. Note on DRM with limited activations:

Our Policy



4. Sometimes I'll do giveaways.

5. I work with developers and publishers to get fun (or at least what I think is fun) content to share with you all. Here are some examples:

a. Check out the Pax Gameplay videos here: Xcom: Enemy Unknown I played Xcom with Jake, the Creative Director for the game, a few months before the game came out Also, on this page, check out the Q&A, also a community driven event.

b. Check out the interview on this page: Borderlands 2 we did this interview at E3 with Randy Pitchford this year.

c. We've partnered with the ++GoodGames Podcast to feature many of the games we carry. They talk to the developers about the game development process, how the games are conceptualized and managed, all kinds of fun stuff. I'm working on putting together full link list and will update when I have it.

What else do we sell?

Xbox Live Points and Subscriptions:

1600 Microsoft Live Points
4000 Microsoft Live Points
12 Month XBOX Live Subscription
3 Month XBOX Live Subscription]
12 Month + 1 XBOX Live Subscription

PSN+ Subscriptions and PSN Points:

$20 PSN Points
$50 PSN Points
12 Month PSN+ Subscription
3 Month PSN+ Subscription

We also have a Free-2-Play store supported by our GameConnect technology. Gameconnect allows you to link your Amazon.com account with free-2-play and MMO accounts so that you can buy things like in game currency, premium game time/subscriptions, in game items, etc. on Amazon.com using your Amazon.com payment options and have this content delivered directly into your game.

To check out the Free-2-Play games we offer you can visit our storefront here:

Free-2-Play Store
 
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[quote name='MysterD']@TONY
So, does Amazon DVG got any big deals planned for NEXT WEEK? ;)[/QUOTE]

Aside from the $9.99 Square Enix bundle?
 
[quote name='sunasun']Throw in the Left 4 Dead series and I'm in.[/QUOTE]

That proposed Zombie bundle w/ the L4D games would be sick.
 
Did some research on Google an apparently Wargame comes with a variant of Starforce DRM and 5 machine activation limit. Can anybody confirm this? is that s the case then i won't be purchasing the game. It's a shame cause it looks really good.
 
[quote name='MC Kage']That proposed Zombie bundle w/ the L4D games would be sick.[/QUOTE]

I don't have a single Zombie game, so a massive Zombie bundle would be... killer.:drool:
 
[quote name='jrodri86']Did some research on Google an apparently Wargame comes with a variant of Starforce DRM and 5 machine activation limit. Can anybody confirm this? is that s the case then i won't be purchasing the game. It's a shame cause it looks really good.[/QUOTE]

If you know amazon gives replacement keys are you holding back because of principle? Amazon is the only place I'll look for the Batman games because of their drm and amazon's key policy puts the activation limit to rest.
 
[quote name='pantsattack']If you know amazon gives replacement keys are you holding back because of principle? Amazon is the only place I'll look for the Batman games because of their drm and amazon's key policy puts the activation limit to rest.[/QUOTE]


The problem is with Steam it's a pain in the ass to get them to remove a game from your account. So every time you get a new key from amazon you would have to ask Steam to remove the game from your account, wait the two weeks it takes for them to respond to CS and hope they do it.
 
[quote name='CheapLikeAFox']The problem is with Steam it's a pain in the ass to get them to remove a game from your account. So every time you get a new key from amazon you would have to ask Steam to remove the game from your account, wait the two weeks it takes for them to respond to CS and hope they do it.[/QUOTE]

I've always had steam support get back to me within 24 hours. Granted I've only dealt with them twice but it was always within 24 hours
 
[quote name='Drabelincoln']I've always had steam support get back to me within 24 hours. Granted I've only dealt with them twice but it was always within 24 hours[/QUOTE]


The only time I emailed them was at the beginning of the winter sale years ago. They didn't get back to me until the winter sale was over. It was a winter sale game question.
 
So can someone with the Batman bundle tell me if you can play whilst offline? What if I go out of town, where there is no interwebs? For about $4 each, I can stomach a one-time activation and three-fold DRM, but only if I don't have to be online just to play.
 
[quote name='CheapLikeAFox']The only time I emailed them was at the beginning of the winter sale years ago. They didn't get back to me until the winter sale was over. It was a winter sale game question.[/QUOTE]

Ah mine had to so with the invalid dead island keys people were getting from newegg. I had one activated on my account and another activated on a friends account. I was actually shocked at how easy it was. I'd imagine during a huge sale it could get like that.
 
i have a question about the batman bundle and steam. I brought the bundle and got the steam keys and put them in steam to download and install the games. I forgot to download the games from the amazon option. Can some one help me? Thanks
 
Hey Tony, not sure if you missed this question or thought it was a joke, so here it is again. :lol:

(Ooh, yellow name now.)


"And to change the subject and ask a legitimate question: Any update on the Call of Duty sale you mentioned, Tony? Can you please sell your soul to Activision the devil so that we can get a wicked good bundle deal on MW1-3, Black Ops, and WaW? I think we can agree that $19.99 sounds fair, yes? ;)"
 
[quote name='cheapgamer 23']i have a question about the batman bundle and steam. I brought the bundle and got the steam keys and put them in steam to download and install the games. I forgot to download the games from the amazon option. Can some one help me? Thanks[/QUOTE]

I don't understand what the problem is.

You shouldn't need to download the game from Amazon, you have a Steam key and can download from Steam. Regardless, you should still be able to go to your account settings and look at your downloaded games/software and find everything you're looking for, anyway.

I'm kind of perplexed as to what you're asking.
 
[quote name='MC Kage']That proposed Zombie bundle w/ the L4D games would be sick.[/QUOTE]

I don't think Amazon DVG has signed a deal to sell any Valve games...

EDIT:
[quote name='Idiotekque']Hey Tony, not sure if you missed this question or thought it was a joke, so here it is again. :lol:

(Ooh, yellow name now.)


"And to change the subject and ask a legitimate question: Any update on the Call of Duty sale you mentioned, Tony? Can you please sell your soul to Activision the devil so that we can get a wicked good bundle deal on MW1-3, Black Ops, and WaW? I think we can agree that $19.99 sounds fair, yes? ;)"[/QUOTE]

The completionist in me only needs these COD games -- COD: Black Ops and World At War.
 
[quote name='jrodri86']Did some research on Google an apparently Wargame comes with a variant of Starforce DRM and 5 machine activation limit. Can anybody confirm this? is that s the case then i won't be purchasing the game. It's a shame cause it looks really good.[/QUOTE]

There are a couple threads in the W:EE forum indicating that the DRM was removed a couple months ago. Linky
 
[quote name='pantsattack']If you know amazon gives replacement keys are you holding back because of principle? Amazon is the only place I'll look for the Batman games because of their drm and amazon's key policy puts the activation limit to rest.[/QUOTE]

Companies change their policies the way my wife changes clothes. I love Amazon for having this policy; but I wonder how it works on the back end. Does Amazon browbeat the publisher into making good on activation-depleted licenses for free? Or does Amazon pay the publisher for another license, and write that cost off as "customer service"?

If the key-replacement policy entails a quantifiable cost to Amazon, there will always be a danger of the policy being canceled at some future point. It's a perq, not a contractual obligation, and could cease to exist at any time.
 
[quote name='Mac the Geek']Companies change their policies the way my wife changes clothes. I love Amazon for having this policy; but I wonder how it works on the back end. Does Amazon browbeat the publisher into making good on activation-depleted licenses for free? Or does Amazon pay the publisher for another license, and write that cost off as "customer service"?

If the key-replacement policy entails a quantifiable cost to Amazon, there will always be a danger of the policy being canceled at some future point. It's a perq, not a contractual obligation, and could cease to exist at any time.[/QUOTE]

That's a great point. I've wondered how they do this, keys don't just magically pop out of the sky.
 
[quote name='Mac the Geek']There are a couple threads in the W:EE forum indicating that the DRM was removed a couple months ago. Linky[/QUOTE]

Thanks :). I'm gonna buy right now :D
 
Thanks for the price match on W: EE Tony! I just bought it now from Amazon :D

On Steam the Game of Thrones bundle is $17.49 which contains both A Game of Thrones - Genesis, Game of Thrones while on Amazon Game of Thrones alone cost $17.49 I guess I'll wait for a better deal from Amazon on this.
 
[quote name='Drabelincoln']I've always had steam support get back to me within 24 hours. Granted I've only dealt with them twice but it was always within 24 hours[/QUOTE]
Sure Steam gets back to you within 24 hours with an unhelpful automated reply. I've dealt with Steam support too many times to count, and it usually takes days to finally get things resolved. The first reply will be unhelpful automated bullshit. The second reply which comes a day or more later IF you reply to the first one will usually be an unhelpful, generic reply which is not automated. It's only in Steam's third reply after you reply to the second one that you will usually get some type of resolution a day or more later. Of course if the issue was a payment problem and the item was on sale but not any longer, then you won't get the sale price because Steam's customer service will not extend the sale price to you even when the problem was that Steam's website was unavailable due to inadequate capacity. And, if you get tired of waiting on Steam's support and call your credit card company to do a charge back on a Steam purchase, then per its policy Steam will permanently disable your entire Steam account and all of your previously purchased games. That would be like Amazon coming to your house and repossessing your past purchases because of a purchase dispute.

Steam's customer support and policies are absolute shit especially for a billion dollar company like Valve. There is simply no legitimate excuse for Steam not having immediate and responsive customer support and policies with telephone and chat support, and Steam's chargeback policy is absolutely horrendous.
 
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[quote name='cranky2']So can someone with the Batman bundle tell me if you can play whilst offline?[/QUOTE]
Yes, you can play offline. Once the SecuROM activation is performed for the game, it stays that way unless you erase the SecuROM activation files or make major changes to your PC's hardware like change the motherboard or several other components at once.
 
[quote name='pantsattack']Amazon is the only place I'll look for the Batman games because of their drm and amazon's key policy puts the activation limit to rest.[/QUOTE]
The angst over SecuROM activations especially by Steam lovers is really hypocritical as Steam's DRM is more restrictive in some ways. To revoke and reuse the activation of almost any SecuROM game, all you have to do is run the game with the "/revoke" command-line switch. It's that easy. You don't need to call anyone or get permission. You just do it. And, the nice thing about SecuROM is that unlike games which require Steam, you can share a game amongst multiple people in your household at the same time because you get multiple activations for a game. With Steam only one person can login to a Steam account at once, and sharing an account even amongst immediate family members is against the Steam Subscriber Agreement and can get the Steam account permanently banned.

If a SecuROM game only had one activation and it couldn't be revoked, then yes, I could understand the hesitation to buy games which use it, but no games from major publishers which use SecuROM activations have such a restriction.
 
[quote name='Idiotekque']Hey Tony, not sure if you missed this question or thought it was a joke, so here it is again. :lol:

(Ooh, yellow name now.)


"And to change the subject and ask a legitimate question: Any update on the Call of Duty sale you mentioned, Tony? Can you please sell your soul to Activision the devil so that we can get a wicked good bundle deal on MW1-3, Black Ops, and WaW? I think we can agree that $19.99 sounds fair, yes? ;)"[/QUOTE]

Hey dude,

Sorry I missed this. I'm working on a COD bundle but not sure exactly when it will drop. Stay tuned :).

Cheers,
Tony
 
[quote name='Amazon DVG Deals']Hey dude,

Sorry I missed this. I'm working on a COD bundle but not sure exactly when it will drop. Stay tuned :).

Cheers,
Tony[/QUOTE]
Thanks. Looking forward to seeing what you can pull off. ;)
 
[quote name='Mac the Geek']Companies change their policies the way my wife changes clothes. I love Amazon for having this policy; but I wonder how it works on the back end. Does Amazon browbeat the publisher into making good on activation-depleted licenses for free? Or does Amazon pay the publisher for another license, and write that cost off as "customer service"?

If the key-replacement policy entails a quantifiable cost to Amazon, there will always be a danger of the policy being canceled at some future point. It's a perq, not a contractual obligation, and could cease to exist at any time.[/QUOTE]

I think Amazon will continue to carry their KEY replacement policy; however if it is abused, I can easily seeing Amazon putting a reasonable limit on how many replacements you get: per game or per account.
 
[quote name='CheapLikeAFox']The problem is with Steam it's a pain in the ass to get them to remove a game from your account. So every time you get a new key from amazon you would have to ask Steam to remove the game from your account, wait the two weeks it takes for them to respond to CS and hope they do it.[/QUOTE]
Well they even do that? I thought that was the joke with Bad Rats, that you were stick with it forever. I would just open another account.
 
[quote name='N_B']Yes, you can play offline. Once the SecuROM activation is performed for the game, it stays that way unless you erase the SecuROM activation files or make major changes to your PC's hardware like change the motherboard or several other components at once.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the response. Like I've said, I really want the bundle - - - but the DRM stuff goes over my head and I got too much shit going on to invite more headaches.
PS OCTOFUN1 is dead, if no one else has noted it.
 
[quote name='pantsattack']Well they even do that? I thought that was the joke with Bad Rats, that you were stick with it forever. I would just open another account.[/QUOTE]


Nategator said they will remove a game from your account if you email them and ask them too. I've never tried it because I hoard all my games and have never had activation issues, but I think technically they can do it. I would just be very clear about what you ask for. Don't want them to mess with your account.
 
Speaking of sports games, it would be nice to see a repeat of the EA Classics bundle that ran not to long ago with Madden 08 and NHL 09 for $5 (or even cheaper?). I totally spaced and missed that one.
 
[quote name='Amazon DVG Deals']Hey dude,

Sorry I missed this. I'm working on a COD bundle but not sure exactly when it will drop. Stay tuned :).

Cheers,
Tony[/QUOTE]
I pretty excited for this. I really want to play Black Ops again. Hopefully this isn't a massive letdown price wise. As great as Tony and Amazon are, I have little faith in Activision
 
[quote name='Amazon DVG Deals']FYI guys if any of you are sports games/soccer fans you should check out our Fifa 13 deal tomorrow-Sunday we'll have it for $25.99.

Cheers,
Tony[/QUOTE]

What about FIFA 12? :p
 
[quote name='Amazon DVG Deals']FYI guys if any of you are sports games/soccer fans you should check out our Fifa 13 deal tomorrow-Sunday we'll have it for $25.99.

Cheers,
Tony[/QUOTE]

Me and at least 12 of my friends are soccer fans and since I already got Fifa 13 day one (been a fan since Fifa 98 lol), I will make sure to tell friends about that awesome deal :applause:
 
[quote name='Mac the Geek']Companies change their policies the way my wife changes clothes. I love Amazon for having this policy; but I wonder how it works on the back end. Does Amazon browbeat the publisher into making good on activation-depleted licenses for free? Or does Amazon pay the publisher for another license, and write that cost off as "customer service"?

If the key-replacement policy entails a quantifiable cost to Amazon, there will always be a danger of the policy being canceled at some future point. It's a perq, not a contractual obligation, and could cease to exist at any time.[/QUOTE]

[quote name='shaggyc']That's a great point. I've wondered how they do this, keys don't just magically pop out of the sky.[/QUOTE]
I imagine places like Amazon buy keys in massive bulk sales so as to bring the cost of the individual keys down thereby making a profit ( they ARE still making a profit selling both Batman games at $10, and all the other great deals they have).
............Most of the time awesome deals like that are only done to promote a service, and then hope to make up that cost by repeat business later down the line, or even what else is bought at the same time in that "shopping trip". In the business this is known as a "loss leader". Such as just recently when UbiSoft in an effort to promote their UPlay Service, had games for $1. Amazon however does this regularly, so they have to be making a profit. That and they can't be depending on what else is bought at the same time because their digital goods can't be added to a shopping cart and must be bought one at a time. So they have to be buying massive lots of the keys at a bulk discount either from Steam or the publisher themselves (most likely).
............It's also apparent that they are driving the traffic to justify those bulk sales from the publisher or they would not continue to do so. This is probably how they can have such a casual attitude about replacing a key. There's only going to ever be a small percentage of people who need that option. It isn't that Amazon buys another key, it's that that save a certain amount left over from the bulk sale for that purpose, again because the individual keys were so cheap to begin with, it allows this option at all. Of course over time, they will know exactly what percentage that is, and will adjust the policy (either not seeing any value in it anymore due to too many people asking for new keys killing the policy outright, or not offering deals on games with additional DRM until they have been patched out).
............I also imagine that the associated cost of selling a digital good is much cheaper than the psychical option (bandwidth/server cost Vs. warehouse/shipping cost). I can see Amazon looking at retail games going completely digital, as is the trend much like other media is (newspapers and magazine media is dieing off more every year in favor of their "kindle" brethren versions. Amazon is following Steam's lead. I will also state that if Amazon does create a client, then please at the very least make it auto-update a game like Steam. If your going to go to that effort Amazon, do it right. If you aren't interested in creating a client due to it's need to have certain features (due to the bar being raised by Steam and customers coming to "expect" those features as a base minimum) then simply keep doing what your doing with Steam key sales exactly like this latest Batman game deal. Why compete directly with Steam, when you can use them to promote YOUR sales.
............It's entirely possible that Amazon, due to the fact that they don't have the administrative cost (yet) in distributing these games like Steam, that they will be able to undercut Steam at their own game. It's possible that in a years time, we will all be buying as a matter of preferential choice, our games from Amazon sales, rather than Steam's, and simply activating our Amazon games on Steam's client. Why exactly does Amazon need to make a client, when they can use Steam as their client? Tony has already stated that there hasn't been any significant difference in sales between DRM Free versions and their Steam counterparts when both are offered at the same time for the same price. I also remember him saying at one time that this entire endeavor was something of an "experiment" by Amazon. I think at this point they've moved out of beta. :)

P.S. Tony, expect to be getting more tattoos, we now know what your willing to do to make a sale.
 
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[quote name='walkonshadows']
P.S. Tony, expect to be getting more tattoos, we now know what your willing to do to make a sale.[/QUOTE]



My Little Pony preorder Challenge. Call it "tony's ponies".

Everyone on this site would buy 3.

And since he'd probably chicken out for that.... I submit this as a proposed tatoo. Change the blue for black, to match amazon colors, of course:
28226095.jpg
 
[quote name='walkonshadows']
P.S. Tony, expect to be getting more tattoos, we now know what your willing to do to make a sale.[/QUOTE]



My Little Pony preorder Challenge. Call it "tony's ponies"
 
[quote name='walkonshadows'].It's entirely possible that Amazon, due to the fact that they don't have the administrative cost (yet) in distributing these games like Steam, that they will be able to undercut Steam at their own game. It's possible that in a years time, we will all be buying as a matter of preferential choice, our games from Amazon sales, rather than Steam's, and simply activating our Amazon games on Steam's client.[/quote]
It is much more possible that Valve will put a stop to giving developers and publishers unlimited "free" actiivation codes/keys for their games which they pass on to third-party sellers like Amazon. Right now Steam gives out these keys on request without additional charge or cut of sales because the developer/publisher has a distribution agreement for the game on Steam. Given how money grubbing Valve is, I see Valve putting an end to that practice once these third-party sales from Amazon and others begin to impact Steam's bottom line. When that happens, Amazon will not be able to compete with Steam on price during sales as it can now because Valve will be getting a cut of these third-party sales.

Why exactly does Amazon need to make a client, when they can use Steam as their client?
Click to expand...
Amazon doesn't need to make a client and shouldn't because its current web-based system works well for all but the most stupid and/or lazy customers. However what Amazon does need to do is start offering game developers and publishers incentives to use its superior bandwidth capacity and customer service to undercut Steam so that developers and publishers will offer non-Steam versions of their games on Amazon. The reason why this is important is the same reason why Amazon offers its own video on-demand and download service instead of simply reselling Netflix subscriptions. There is simply more money to be made by offering your own service than reselling someone else's service because you are no longer just the middleman. Right now Amazon is getting a free ride on Steam by being able to sell Steam games without incurring any of the associated costs. Valve is not going to let that continue forever, and PC game customers shouldn't be putting all of their gaming eggs in one basket even if Valve doesn't stop it. Amazon already has superior website/bandwidth availability and customer service to Steam, but both of those are essentially useless when reselling Steam games since customers get and use the games through Steam and Amazon has no control over Steam.

If you want one company like Valve to control your computer games, you should buy a game console instead. PC gaming has historically been about options, flexibility, and openness, not letting one company and one network dictate whether or not you can play your purchased games, keeping tabs on what you play and how long, and what games can be sold. Right now Steam is becoming a monopoly with exactly that power. PC game consumers need Amazon to be a real alternative to Steam not a Steam game reseller to prevent that monopoly.
 
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[quote name='N_B']Given how money grubbing Valve is,
[/quote]

I'm sorry, but what? What has Valve been doing to warrant that statement? They have tons of sales, they have now made games being dirt cheap and at significant savings a common thing where it was unheard of before. They pretty much created the digital games market and how we get the sales mentioned above. Oh, for their own developed games they support them for a long time and give out tons of content for them for free instead of charging for it like almost everyone else.

Money grubbing NOT found.
 
[quote name='walkonshadows']
I imagine places like Amazon buy keys in massive bulk sales so as to bring the cost of the individual keys down thereby making a profit ( they ARE still making a profit selling both Batman games at $10, and all the other great deals they have).
............Most of the time awesome deals like that are only done to promote a service, and then hope to make up that cost by repeat business later down the line, or even what else is bought at the same time in that "shopping trip". In the business this is known as a "loss leader". Such as just recently when UbiSoft in an effort to promote their UPlay Service, had games for $1. Amazon however does this regularly, so they have to be making a profit. That and they can't be depending on what else is bought at the same time because their digital goods can't be added to a shopping cart and must be bought one at a time. So they have to be buying massive lots of the keys at a bulk discount either from Steam or the publisher themselves (most likely).
............It's also apparent that they are driving the traffic to justify those bulk sales from the publisher or they would not continue to do so. This is probably how they can have such a casual attitude about replacing a key. There's only going to ever be a small percentage of people who need that option. It isn't that Amazon buys another key, it's that that save a certain amount left over from the bulk sale for that purpose, again because the individual keys were so cheap to begin with, it allows this option at all. Of course over time, they will know exactly what percentage that is, and will adjust the policy (either not seeing any value in it anymore due to too many people asking for new keys killing the policy outright, or not offering deals on games with additional DRM until they have been patched out).
............I also imagine that the associated cost of selling a digital good is much cheaper than the psychical option (bandwidth/server cost Vs. warehouse/shipping cost). I can see Amazon looking at retail games going completely digital, as is the trend much like other media is (newspapers and magazine media is dieing off more every year in favor of their "kindle" brethren versions. Amazon is following Steam's lead. I will also state that if Amazon does create a client, then please at the very least make it auto-update a game like Steam. If your going to go to that effort Amazon, do it right. If you aren't interested in creating a client due to it's need to have certain features (due to the bar being raised by Steam and customers coming to "expect" those features as a base minimum) then simply keep doing what your doing with Steam key sales exactly like this latest Batman game deal. Why compete directly with Steam, when you can use them to promote YOUR sales.
............It's entirely possible that Amazon, due to the fact that they don't have the administrative cost (yet) in distributing these games like Steam, that they will be able to undercut Steam at their own game. It's possible that in a years time, we will all be buying as a matter of preferential choice, our games from Amazon sales, rather than Steam's, and simply activating our Amazon games on Steam's client. Why exactly does Amazon need to make a client, when they can use Steam as their client? Tony has already stated that there hasn't been any significant difference in sales between DRM Free versions and their Steam counterparts when both are offered at the same time for the same price. I also remember him saying at one time that this entire endeavor was something of an "experiment" by Amazon. I think at this point they've moved out of beta. :)

P.S. Tony, expect to be getting more tattoos, we now know what your willing to do to make a sale.
[/QUOTE]
The enter button would like a word with you.
 
[quote name='KaOTiK']I'm sorry, but what? What has Valve been doing to warrant that statement?[/quote]
Valve has horrible customer service policies such as permanently disabling an entire Steam account and all of its games if a customer makes a chargeback on a single purchase. Valve also doesn't not offer real game refunds. It only gives store credit (Steam Wallet) which is not a real refund in that it simply keeps the customer's money and gives him something else instead. And, even those "refunds" are very rare and not policy. Valve also doesn't offer telephone customer support. Valve is a billion dollar company. It can afford to do much better than that, but Gabe prefers to sit his fat ass on all his billions instead of spending it on customer-friendly policies and support.

They have tons of sales
Click to expand...
Valve has these sales to make money. With a oversaturated games market (supply glut) and a poor economy Valve has to offer these sales to make money. Before the recession hit in late 2008, Valve didn't have sales on Steam like it does now. In addition Steam's games catalog has exploded in the past four years. There are simply too many games chasing too little disposable income. Plus you have competition from other platforms like cell phone games which either didn't exist or weren't significant before. That is why PC games are now so cheap and on sale so frequently. It's not generosity that is driving these price drops. It's good old-fashioned capitalism and greed.

They pretty much created the digital games market and how we get the sales mentioned above.
Click to expand...
LOL! I am sure you think that Apple created the digital music player too.

Oh, for their own developed games they support them for a long time and give out tons of content for them for free instead of charging for it like almost everyone else.
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First, Valve supports its games to generate continued sales. It doesn't do this because it wants to give you something. It does this because it wants to make money. Second, Valve tends to release its games with less content than many other games so that when it adds content later, users like you think they are getting something extra when in fact you are just finally getting a complete game. Take Team Fortress 2 for instance. When it was first released it had a grand total of five maps and not even all five of those maps could be played in all of the game's few multiplayer modes. In addition the game had no single-player component or bots whatsoever. It took over two years for the game to finally get a decent set of official maps and some of those "official" maps were made by users for free and not Valve's developers. Left 4 Dead is another example of an incomplete/short Valve game that took a while after release to get a decent amount of game content. And even then Valve never did deliver all of the promised free content for that game and sold Left 4 Dead 2 instead.

Money grubbing NOT found.
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It is found if you take your head out of Gabe's ass and look at Valve objectively.
 
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[quote name='N_B']Valve has horrible customer service policies such as permanently disabling an entire Steam account and all of its games if a customer makes a chargeback on a single purchase. Valve also doesn't not offer real game refunds. It only give store credit (Steam Wallet) which is not a real refund in that it simply keeps the customer's money and gives him something else instead. And, even those "refunds" are very rare. Valve also doesn't offer telephone customer support. Valve is a billion dollar company. It can afford to do much better than that, but Gabe prefers to sit his fat ass on all his billions instead of spending it on customer-friendly policies and support.


Valve has these sales to make money. With a oversaturated games market (supply glut) and a poor economy Valve has to have these sales to make money. Before the recession hit in late 2008, Valve didn't have sales on Steam like it does now. In addition Steam's games catalog has exploded in the past four years. There are simply too many games chasing too little disposable income. That is why PC games are now so cheap and on sale so frequently.


LOL! I am sure you think that Apple created the digital music player too.


First Valve supports its games to generate continued sales. It doesn't do this because it wants to give you something. It does this because it wants to make money. Second, Valve tends to ship its games with less content than many other games so that when it adds content later, users like you think they are getting something extra when in fact you are just finally getting a complete game. Take Team Fortress for instance. When it was first released it had a grand total of five maps and not even all five of those maps could be played in all of the game's few multiplayer modes. In addition the game had no single-player component or bots whatsoever. It took over two years for the game to finally get a decent set of official maps and some of those "official" maps were made by users and not valve's developers. Left 4 Dead is another example of an incomplete/short Valve game that took awhile after release to get a decent amount of game content. And even then Valve never did deliver on the promised free content for that game and instead sold Left 4 Dead 2 instead.


It is found if you take your head out of Gabe's ass and look around objectively.[/QUOTE]

It is obvious from your responses they would be damned if they do, damned if they don't.

Refunds, if you do a preorder and request a refund before the game comes out you will get one. Otherwise who gives refunds for games nowadays?

I'll give you the point on their CS. It is notoriously slow and poor and does need to be upgraded.

That have sales to make money, they don't have sales to make money, seems they are fucked either way in your sight.

I didn't say they created the digital market entirely, but they are responsible for it being the size it is now, regardless if you wish to believe it or not.

Supporting their games to get more sales, the horror. Seriously, what the hell did Valve do to you to make act like such a douche bag?


They aren't perfect, no company is, but here is a reality check about money, they are a business and that is a pretty damn high priority for any business out there, to make money. Valve is fucking everyone over left and right and just laughing about it like many others are.

I don't know what your problem is with them, they must of raped your dog and beat your sister or something because they could give away unicorns with every purchase and you would still bitch about something. They literally are damned if they do damned if they don't from the stuff you described.
 
I can't help but laugh at anyone who thinks for a second that any of these companies actually are on your side somehow. They're businesses. They want to make money, that's it. Is Amazon any different? No, the only difference is that we have the good fortune of having a sales guy who takes his job seriously and is a nice dude.

There's no reason for Steam to do anything differently. They are making a ridiculous amount of money, therefore there is no reason to change anything. Changes cost money, so why spend money on them if everyone is already buying your stuff? It's not that complicated. It would take a massive user boycott for anything to change (Steam strike, anyone?), and that's not going to happen.

That said, Steam offers a pretty good service regardless of their flaws. There's not much use in complaining about it, though I understand the negativity.
 
[quote name='Idiotekque']They want to make money, that's it. Is Amazon any different? [/quote]
Amazon is different in that it takes customer service more seriously because it has to work harder for its money since its overall margins are much smaller than Valve's. I remember years ago when Amazon wasn't profitable and had poor customer support. You had to do an Internet search just to find a working telephone number for its customer service.

There's no reason for Steam to do anything differently. They are making a ridiculous amount of money, therefore there is no reason to change anything. Changes cost money, so why spend money on them if everyone is already buying your stuff? It's not that complicated. It would take a massive user boycott for anything to change (Steam strike, anyone?), and that's not going to happen.
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You're stating the obvious. I'm not arguing what is. I am stating what should be. Steam has had these fundamental flaws for nine years. I don't expect Valve to change, but it's a damn shame that it doesn't.

That said, Steam offers a pretty good service regardless of their flaws.
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Actually it's a shit service, but most consumers are too stupid or lazy to understand that until it bites them in the ass. And, even when it does they are too complacent to do anything substantial about it.
 
[quote name='N_B']I don't expect Valve to change, but it's a damn shame that it doesn't.[/QUOTE]
Sure, I agree with that. I could say the same about 99% of life in general though.

[quote name='N_B']Actually it's a shit service, but most consumers are too stupid or lazy to understand that until it bites them in the ass. And, even when it does they are too complacent to do anything substantial about it.[/QUOTE]
That's subjective. It's easy, it allows you to mingle with your friends, and it works. Obviously you think it's terrible, and in some ways I'm sure I could pick it apart too and say the same thing, but it's for video games dude.

It's easy, it generally works. Diving into the technicalities is like arguing that that pig over there should put a little more effort into his oinks. Who really cares that much?

(For the record I like DRM-free just as much or more than I like Steam, so you're not talking to a Gabe-ite.)
 
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