Steam+ Deals Mega Thread (All PC Gaming Deals)

[Neuro5i5]

This thread will attempt to provide a place to discuss past/present/future PC gaming deals. While mainly focusing on Steam games, any standout sales may also be presented. I will not be updating every Daily/Weekly/etc. sale. The tools to help individuals become a smarter shopper will be provided below.

See this POST for links to store sale pages, threads of interest and other tools to help you become a more informed PC game shopper.

 

[Nothing-]

But doesn't a lot of those ME2 DLC's actually needed to effect how certain things/events can pan out or even happen at all in ME3?

DA2 is not sold as a Complete Re-Package either, as its DLC's only recently got a DA2: DLC Bundle on Origin.

At least DAO and DAI had Complete Editions later.

You're not hearing me. I'm saying that everybody got their $60-worth of content if they bought ME2. It's one of the best RPGs of all-time. I'm not talking about story-related loose ends.

You seem to have this thing where not having the DLC strangely affects you, but then you never buy it anyways.

 

[CheapLikeAFox]

Look bros, here's the deal, if a game is good enough, people will follow it to where it's at.  Games surviving off of Steam is nothing new.  You have a slew of devs sticking to Itch.io and doing well.  Escape from Tarkov is non-steam and doing well.  I got COD on Battle.net and don't regret it.  I get all my Ubi games from them directly.  

What I don't like is buying something somewhere and then having it show up on Steam later.  So devs trying the timed-exclusive thing will probably find that won't work.  But if a game is good enough or something I really want to play and they promise no Steam never - I'll still get it from Epic.  

I agree that trying to put a "pro-consumer" twist on it is a bit foolish, but they aren't half wrong.  How many of you complain about the 1000s of games releasing on Steam?  Everything gets lost in that trash and I wait for Humble or Fanatic to curate games and bring them to my attention.  I never browse the Steam store.   

Steam just isn't the mecca for indie devs like it used to be.  You get on there and you get your game tossed in with 100s of trash titles and shit shows and it's even harder than before for an indie dev to get their game in front of the right consumers.  That's Steam's fault not these devs you guys are raging against.  Be mad at them for letting Steam go to shit for card money.  If you want to talk greed, that's the issue.  I think you guys are just throwing little baby fits because the game you want may not be on Steam and are trying to blame the wrong people when the fault all goes back to Steam.  If Steam was a good marketplace indie devs wouldn't be looking for another. 

 

[Syntax Error]

I agree that trying to put a "pro-consumer" twist on it is a bit foolish, but they aren't half wrong.

They are at least 80% wrong. Fight me.

 

[nny]

So many ridiculous statements in this thread. My favorite is this one from Mooby: I DON'T WANT TO BE TOLD WHERE I CAN BUY A GAME

For every thing ever (not just games), you have been "told" where you can buy it. I can't buy a car at McDonald's. If you want to get less absurd, I can't buy Rebel Galaxy at GMG or Itch.io and yet you were perfectly happy to support that "exclusive" game.

Also, the absolutely most pro-consumer thing a company can do imo is provide good products for consumers. I don't think any of you realize how big a deal the 88/12 split. That will 100% be the difference between some developers being able to stay in business or not. For more successful companies, that will be the difference between whether they make a safe game that they know will sell x amount of copies or try something new and potentially special instead.

Also, the whole wanting to have everything in one place would be nice in a perfect world, but that has never existed in this world (Steam has never had even close to the majority of games in the world on it), so I'm fine continuing to have games in multiple places.

 

[waabulo]

if a game is good enough, people will follow it to where it's at. Games surviving off of Steam is nothing new.

I agree that trying to put a "pro-consumer" twist on it is a bit foolish,

Everything gets lost in that trash and I wait for Humble or Fanatic to curate games and bring them to my attention. I never browse the Steam store.

Steam just isn't the mecca for indie devs like it used to be. If Steam was a good marketplace indie devs wouldn't be looking for another.

Hit many good points there Fox! I would add though that even bigger devs are looking outside of Steam.

I will also say that your point of bringing a good non AAA game to my attention is outside of Steam for me as well. Humble and Fanatic are good choices to look at. Some curators on Steam are good if you find a curator that fits your style per se. I think Fox hit one of the main frustrations on the head with pointing out that Steam opened the flood gates with allowing basically everything. If you go to Origin, their selection outside their own titles is limited and more focused.

 

[Syntax Error]

Rebel Galaxy is available from multiple outlets.  There's an obvious and distinct difference between "I can't buy this game from anyone except this one source" and "Herp derp y i no by gaemz frum berger kyngz?11??"  Note that not wanting to add on additional launchers and clients is nothing new to Epic and people have disliked it for Capsule or Impulse or Twitch, etc.  It's not as though this is a new epiphany.  Some people deal with it from EA or Blizzard because they put out strong enough titles for players to suck it up.

 

[MysterD]

You're not hearing me. I'm saying that everybody got their $60-worth of content if they bought ME2. It's one of the best RPGs of all-time. I'm not talking about story-related loose ends.

You seem to have this thing where not having the DLC strangely affects you, but then you never buy it anyways.

ME2 (base-game) is a great game and one of the best of its generation, IMHO.

Incomplete or not - if I feel the DLC's ain't worth the price-tag $ it normally is at in terms of content offered, why buy it? [shrug]

Companies love to put a Premium on DLC's & Season Passes also - especially punishing those who bought early at likely higher prices, more or less.

It's not like I got ME2 for free. I got it for $30, not too long after release.

I also am not one to replay games very often - so I won't get as much mileage out of "replayable" games that have multiple paths, endings, permutations, etc...while some others might.

 

[DarkSageRK]

No reason to go on Epic's store if they don't have anime tiddies.

 

[DD83]

Can we all agree on one thing...

MysterD needs to stop swapping around his percentage splits.

He does dev's side on the left for Epic and dev's side on the right for Valve.

It's really confusing.

 

[MysterD]

Can we all agree on one thing...

MysterD needs to stop swapping around his percentage splits.

He does dev's side on the left for Epic and dev's side on the right for Valve.

It's really confusing.

High # = dev's / pub's cut

Low # = digital distribution service's cut

 

[eulogywerd21]

Ok, so here's the thing:

Spoiler

But, in all seriousness, if Epic launcher has an exclusive "must have" game, though I can't really remember the last time I thought in those terms, I'll begrudgingly get it. If devs whose games I enjoy decide to abandon Steam, what choice is there, really?

 

[Mooby]

Look bros, here's the deal, if a game is good enough, people will follow it to where it's at. Games surviving off of Steam is nothing new. You have a slew of devs sticking to Itch.io and doing well. Escape from Tarkov is non-steam and doing well. I got COD on Battle.net and don't regret it. I get all my Ubi games from them directly.

What I don't like is buying something somewhere and then having it show up on Steam later. So devs trying the timed-exclusive thing will probably find that won't work. But if a game is good enough or something I really want to play and they promise no Steam never - I'll still get it from Epic.

I agree that trying to put a "pro-consumer" twist on it is a bit foolish, but they aren't half wrong. How many of you complain about the 1000s of games releasing on Steam? Everything gets lost in that trash and I wait for Humble or Fanatic to curate games and bring them to my attention. I never browse the Steam store.

Steam just isn't the mecca for indie devs like it used to be. You get on there and you get your game tossed in with 100s of trash titles and shit shows and it's even harder than before for an indie dev to get their game in front of the right consumers. That's Steam's fault not these devs you guys are raging against. Be mad at them for letting Steam go to shit for card money. If you want to talk greed, that's the issue. I think you guys are just throwing little baby fits because the game you want may not be on Steam and are trying to blame the wrong people when the fault all goes back to Steam. If Steam was a good marketplace indie devs wouldn't be looking for another.

Oh, you bet, I'm pissed. If Travis were next to me I'd punch him in his face. Get me hyped for this great game then pull a ing Bethesda/Microsoft move. And, yes, I can guaran-damn-tee when this is getting 50% off or more sales on Epic we'll still have to pay the 'release' price on Steam or GOG despite the fact the game will be a year old. Which is just bullshit on top of bullshit.

This is a power-play, pure and simple. I don't mince words or hide my thoughts as you all well know. I hope these guys lose money big time over their thinly-veiled attempt at leverage and I'll see them in a 75% off sale/bundle.

 

[Mooby]

So many ridiculous statements in this thread. My favorite is this one from Mooby: I DON'T WANT TO BE TOLD WHERE I CAN BUY A GAME

For every thing ever (not just games), you have been "told" where you can buy it. I can't buy a car at McDonald's.

Stopped reading at this moronic analogy.

 

[fastitocalon]

And, yes, I can guaran-damn-tee when this is getting 50% off or more sales on Epic we'll still have to pay the 'release' price on Steam or GOG despite the fact the game will be a year old. Which is just bullshit on top of bullshit.

Of course it will be launch price. It will be the "definitive/GOTY" edition lol.

 

[Syntax Error]

But, in all seriousness, if Epic launcher has an exclusive "must have" game, though I can't really remember the last time I thought in those terms, I'll begrudgingly get it.

That's realistically true and I only really have an opinion in that it's the current thread topic. Once I switch tabs, it's not as though I'm still deeply invested in the whole thing...

Spoiler

When I switch tabs, it's to read up on this half-orc paladin I'm working on because we're starting another Tier 1 adventure since God forbid anyone run a Tier 2 adventure and I'd apparently rather just stockpile level 5's like cord wood forever. Although I made this point (more politely, of course) last week and someone else at the table agreed since she also just leveled out and her husband would also be coming along so I think they're going to try and set up some Tier 2's come January. But for next week I'm back to a new level 1.

...I'm honestly more of a "guy who plays games" than a "gamer" in that I don't have a ton of emotional investment, don't really get hyped for new games on the horizon and certainly don't bother with things like "respect for the devs". They make a product I hopefully want, I pay them money and hopefully derive appropriate satisfaction from it. Having "respect" for them makes about as much sense to me as having respect for the guys who engineered my vacuum cleaner. But ultimately I'm not in this to take a stand or change the culture or whatever. That said, I'll still happily call out bullshit press statements when I hear them because bullshit deserves to get called out. The whole "This is so pro-consumer!" angle for the Epic store and exclusive agreements, etc qualifies.

 

[Foxhack]

Oh, you bet, I'm pissed. If Travis were next to me I'd punch him in his face. Get me hyped for this great game then pull a ing Bethesda/Microsoft move. And, yes, I can guaran-damn-tee when this is getting 50% off or more sales on Epic we'll still have to pay the 'release' price on Steam or GOG despite the fact the game will be a year old. Which is just bullshit on top of bullshit.

This is a power-play, pure and simple. I don't mince words or hide my thoughts as you all well know. I hope these guys lose money big time over their thinly-veiled attempt at leverage and I'll see them in a 75% off sale/bundle.

... shit, man. Log off the internet.

 

[Modest Package]

... shit, man. Log off the internet.

Just think of it as a NeoGeo port

 

[Foxhack]

Just think of it as a NeoGeo port

I mean, when even I'm going "You need to go outside" then you REALLY need to go outside.

 

[Mooby]

... shit, man. Log off the internet.

BUT WHERE WOULD I GO!?!?!

Let me tell you something... if Travis Baldree's son were dying of thirst in the desert... of course I would give him water, what kind of monster do you think I am?

But, naturally, he would have to wait for a one-year period of exclusivity. I mean, come on, now.

 

[pasports31]

if you want a game and it's not on your preferred store front but the launcher is free to download i really don't understand the big deal about having to spend the 2.8 seconds it takes to boot up a different launcher to play it

maybe also exclusives and crap for a different store front will create competition and force steam to give a crap about things like its sales, timely customer service, and figuring out a better way to gate shitty games from getting launched on steam by the hundreds each day

 

[MysterD]

BUT WHERE WOULD I GO!?!?!

Let me tell you something... if Travis Baldree's son were dying of thirst in the desert... of course I would give him water, what kind of monster do you think I am?

But, naturally, he would have to wait for a one-year period of exclusivity. I mean, come on, now.

 

[MysterD]

Of course it will be launch price. It will be the "definitive/GOTY" edition lol.

That might be the benefit of the game going to Epic first (as a base-game), then to Steam later....as long as you don't buy the game early: b/c you might not have to play the "DLC/Expansion collection" game later, as it'll be Complete on Steam (or flat-out package way more content).

Sometimes, it's just best to wait for the Re-Release as a Complete Edition.

 

[JSweeney]

Stopped reading at this moronic analogy.

Not for nothing, but I know I've bought/sold cars at McDonalds before.
They're safe, well lit, and there's witnesses when the cash/check changes hands as well as when the title gets signed over.

 

[Syntax Error]

maybe also exclusives and crap for a different store front will create competition and force steam to give a crap about things like its sales

Sure, it worked for Uplay and Origin and GOG and Twitch and all the places who put Steam keys on sale for less than Steam itself.

This likely will have zero positive effect for the customer side. Which is why extra launchers, etc are annoying because there's no upside for me in it, just extra bother. Not world-ending or life-altering bother but enough bother to bitch about it on a video game themed internet thread.

 

[Mooby]

if you want a game and it's not on your preferred store front but the launcher is free to download i really don't understand the big deal about having to spend the 2.8 seconds it takes to boot up a different launcher to play it

maybe also exclusives and crap for a different store front will create competition and force steam to give a crap about things like its sales, timely customer service, and figuring out a better way to gate shitty games from getting launched on steam by the hundreds each day

No water for you, either. On a more serious note, if I knew I'd get a Steam or maybe GOG key if I bought it from Epic, great. But I doubt that would happen.

 

[spoderman]

Epic already tried the whole exclusive + free game thing, although it was with a remaster of a much older title. They did it with Shadow Complex, and no one gave a shit. Maybe it'll be a bit differen't now that new indie releases will become timed exclusive, but as stated before.. the client isn't gonna take off until it gets exclusive AAA titles on the platform.

Discord is doing the same timed exclusive shit with games like Last Year, and I believe the only thing that might keep that game alive is coverage from streamers. If you don't have streamers to promote your game, and you don't have an AAA marketing campaign, then you're already ed because there aren't enough people using the client to give a damn.

Oh, and you know who else tried to do timed exclusives that I bet everyone forgot about? Ouya. Ouya promised to fund indie games if the devs agreed to make their games timed exclusives to the Ouya platform. That fell through when Razer bought out Ouya. Razer then promised to cover the remaining funding if the devs gave away thousands of keys on Cortex. I do remember getting some shitty free games from Cortex but I'm not sure if much came from that as a result.

 

[Nothing-]

if you want a game and it's not on your preferred store front but the launcher is free to download i really don't understand the big deal about having to spend the 2.8 seconds it takes to boot up a different launcher to play it

maybe also exclusives and crap for a different store front will create competition and force steam to give a crap about things like its sales, timely customer service, and figuring out a better way to gate shitty games from getting launched on steam by the hundreds each day

People were tired of all the special snowflakes needing to have their own launchers 3 years ago. More e-mails, more "news from the devs", more logins and accounts with personal info to get compromised, more bullshit in general. It's not a huge deal, it's just annoying. I'm definitely tired of giving my identity out to new assholes on the internet. I watch the national news every night. A few of the richest, and most secretive corporations in our country deal solely in selling, trading, and marketing our personal information. It gets old, and we're all contributing to the problem. It's similar to pollution.

 

[Wa1terSobchak]

I watch the national news every night. A few of the richest, and most secretive corporations in our country deal solely in selling, trading, and marketing our personal information. It gets old, and we're all contributing to the problem. It's similar to pollution.

 

[Mooby]

I really need to get into this Twitch shtick.  Unfortunately I'm not a hot girl with considerable assets so I guess I'll have to do the wacky nickname/kooky voice thing and waive my hands a lot and get excited over nothing.  Then it's free keys from every platform raining from the sky because of my huge outreach to 100 subs!

 

[CheapLikeAFox]

Here's the thing everybody's missing, there are literally millions of younger PC gamers who might not have a Steam account at all if all they do is play Fork Knife and chat with their friends over Discord.  That's a big market and I don't blame Discord or Epic for trying to capitalize on that.  It's the best chance they have.  Sure, other stores have tried but none have ever had such a huge built in market.  If you start PC gaming for Fork Knife and all you know is Epic Launcher and Discord then what incentive do you have to go to Steam if either/or both are offering you games right there?  

A few years ago I thought iTunes was never going to be unseated as the king of digital music.  Then Spotify came along and now Apple is copying them.  It's honestly a little silly to think Steam, or Steam as we have known it, is going to be around forever.  

 

[Mooby]

The kind of people who play 'Fork Knife' are probably not the kind of people who would play RG: Outlaw.

 

[inm8num2]

The Epic vs. Steam thing is a reminder that everyone should have followed in Motoki's footsteps and stuck with Big Fish Games.

Multiple PC and mobile platforms. Thousands of games. No nonsense. Just granny gaming paradise.

 

[elessar123]

maybe also exclusives and crap for a different store front will create competition and force steam to give a crap about things like its sales, timely customer service, and figuring out a better way to gate shitty games from getting launched on steam by the hundreds each day

Or it has the opposite effect and Gabe says screw this, and leaves the space altogether.

 

[pasports31]

Or it has the opposite effect and Gabe says screw this, and leaves the space altogether.

or to counter they release half life 3 as a steam exclusive

trollololol

 

[DrR0Ck]

Here is where I come down: I have never trusted that M$, Ubisoft, EA, etc. would be around indefinitely.  Or at least that they would support their launchers/storefronts forever.  How many times has M$ gone unsuccessfully down this path?  With Steam, I feel relatively secure in the feeling that they aren't going anywhere - as secure as I can with digital purchases.  My concern with digital distribution is that if a company goes under or stops supporting the storefront/launcher, I lose access to my games.  Do you really think EA will maintain Origin past the minute it stops being a cash cow for them?  I don't want to spend good money in the trust that these folks will keep this stuff up and running indefinitely.  Epic is not Valve; right now, their game is the hotness, but how long will that last?  A few years?  Then what?  And we all know they are only doing this because their current game is making them tons of cash.  But the marketplace is fickle.  

I'm all for competition generally as I think that can be a benefit to consumers, but the whole thought of games as a service makes me uncomfortable.  It favors publishers and not consumers and seems like just another way to keep the rich getting richer.

 

[elessar123]

It'd be extremely nice if games had a Movies Anywhere-esque alliance.

 

[MysterD]

Here is where I come down: I have never trusted that M$, Ubisoft, EA, etc. would be around indefinitely. Or at least that they would support their launchers/storefronts forever. How many times has M$ gone unsuccessfully down this path? With Steam, I feel relatively secure in the feeling that they aren't going anywhere - as secure as I can with digital purchases. My concern with digital distribution is that if a company goes under or stops supporting the storefront/launcher, I lose access to my games. Do you really think EA will maintain Origin past the minute it stops being a cash cow for them? I don't want to spend good money in the trust that these folks will keep this stuff up and running indefinitely. Epic is not Valve; right now, their game is the hotness, but how long will that last? A few years? Then what? And we all know they are only doing this because their current game is making them tons of cash. But the marketplace is fickle.

I'm all for competition generally as I think that can be a benefit to consumers, but the whole thought of games as a service makes me uncomfortable. It favors publishers and not consumers and seems like just another way to keep the rich getting richer.

Only one I can really trust w/ digital distribution entirely is GOG b/c all of the games on their service are DRM-Free. Don't have to worry about their games depending on game-clients or anything else to run. As long a you have either the game-installer files or the game-folder itself - eh, shouldn't be an issue to get a game going b/c there's no DRM bullcrap involved.

Other than GOG, when it comes to the other services - eh, I don't see Valve going anywhere anytime and Steam leaving anytime soon. At least for now, I see Valve as the one sticking around for PC gaming. Valve could've sold to EA numerous times...and Gabe said "no."

I do wish there were more games on Steam that were listed as being DRM-FREE out in the open and on the actual Steam-game's store page - as there are a fair deal of games that can work without Steam running and don't have DRM-wrapped around them (i.e. Wizardy 8, Gone Home, a lot of DosBox supported games, etc), which technically make the game DRM-Free. If Steam ever went under, I still wouldn't have to worry about those games in particular, at least.

 

[Syntax Error]

A few years ago I thought iTunes was never going to be unseated as the king of digital music. Then Spotify came along and now Apple is copying them. It's honestly a little silly to think Steam, or Steam as we have known it, is going to be around forever.

Maybe, but Epic doesn't seem to be doing anything substantially different. Certainly not as different as Spotify vs iTunes or Netflix vs Blockbuster, etc. It's just yet another digital game store/client.

 

[BrownDerby]

The Epic vs. Steam thing is a reminder that everyone should have followed in Motoki's footsteps and stuck with Big Fish Games.

Multiple PC and mobile platforms. Thousands of games. No nonsense. Just granny gaming paradise.

Too bad he got run over by a reindeer

 

[weretable]

I have all of my launchers pinned and grouped on my start bar and adding another would mess up the symmetry.  This alone is reason to burn Epic to the ground.

 

[DD83]

The real question is...

Does Epic's client have cards?

 

[MysterD]

I have all of my launchers pinned and grouped on my start bar and adding another would mess up the symmetry. This alone is reason to burn Epic to the ground.

Then just add PlayNite - https://playnite.link/

Can always open that app; link your accounts; scan your game-folders for games; manually add games (not attached to a game-client service); and even boot game-clients and/or games up from that.

 

[JCAll]

The Epic vs. Steam thing is a reminder that everyone should have followed in Motoki's footsteps and stuck with Big Fish Games.

Multiple PC and mobile platforms. Thousands of games. No nonsense. Just granny gaming paradise.

Oh man, I forgot Big Fish was a thing. I had a bunch of games on there, I should try to find my old passwords and download those.

 

[weretable]

Then just add PlayNite - https://playnite.link/

Can always open that app; link your accounts; scan your game-folders for games; manually add games (not attached to a game-client service); and even boot game-clients and/or games up from that.

Huh it even tracks emulators. I'll look into it. Might be a bit much when say launching a Ubisoft game from Steam since that already involves multiple steps but might be handy for keeping track of other stuff. I'll investigate it a bit.

 

[CheapLikeAFox]

Here is where I come down: I have never trusted that M$, Ubisoft, EA, etc. would be around indefinitely. Or at least that they would support their launchers/storefronts forever. How many times has M$ gone unsuccessfully down this path? With Steam, I feel relatively secure in the feeling that they aren't going anywhere - as secure as I can with digital purchases. My concern with digital distribution is that if a company goes under or stops supporting the storefront/launcher, I lose access to my games. Do you really think EA will maintain Origin past the minute it stops being a cash cow for them? I don't want to spend good money in the trust that these folks will keep this stuff up and running indefinitely. Epic is not Valve; right now, their game is the hotness, but how long will that last? A few years? Then what? And we all know they are only doing this because their current game is making them tons of cash. But the marketplace is fickle.

I'm all for competition generally as I think that can be a benefit to consumers, but the whole thought of games as a service makes me uncomfortable. It favors publishers and not consumers and seems like just another way to keep the rich getting richer.

Epic Games has been around longer than Valve. And they make an engine used for more games than Valve's. IJS.

I think games as a service isn't necessarily a bad thing. I like the idea of buying a game and being able to play it years down the line instead of it being abandoned the next year for a new, slightly altered iteration.

And you have to admit Spotify and Netflix are way more consumer friendly than buying 1 CD or 1 DVD was beforehand. Food for thought.

 

[warreni]

Man, I thought I had a lot of free time on weekends.

 

[MysterD]

And you have to admit Spotify and Netflix are way more consumer friendly than buying 1 CD or 1 DVD was beforehand. Food for thought.

At least a CD and DVD can work offline, as long as you have the disc.

As nice as services like Spotify and Netflix are - that still requires you to be online to utilize.

 

[JSweeney]

Epic Games has been around longer than Valve. And they make an engine used for more games than Valve's. IJS.

I think games as a service isn't necessarily a bad thing. I like the idea of buying a game and being able to play it years down the line instead of it being abandoned the next year for a new, slightly altered iteration.

And you have to admit Spotify and Netflix are way more consumer friendly than buying 1 CD or 1 DVD was beforehand. Food for thought.

I dislike "Games as a Service" unless it's a persistent digital world or there's a compelling reason for it to be delivered as a service.

In what you've said, I disagree with this in particular: "I like the idea of buying a game and being able to play it years down the line". This is exactly what doesn't end up happening with "Games as a service". As soon as the game releases, it end up with a posted notice that gives the game creator or service provided to end service after a set date.

"Games as a service" is significantly less customer friendly, and depending on your typical use-case may be completely ill suited to you.

Spotify and Netflix are great if you want content but not specific content. If I go buy a DVD or a CD, I know that I'll be able to go back and consume that specific content whenever I want... and with a little work, I can continue to transfer it to other formats. I can also prepare and be able to use my media in situations where I don't have a network connection.

You can't do that with Spotify and Netflix. (You can in part- with Spotify you can download 3,333 files to 3 different devices to use in Offline mode, and Netflix particular allows it, limited mostly to the content they own.)

However, this doesn't mean you'll always have access to this content. They may rotate the content out because they license isn't worth it to them or because some other service grabs the rights to a particularly catalog.

The "As-a-Service" model has a lot going for it. It can do a lot of amazing things and enable use-cases that aren't possible in other models. But to say they're the most consumer friendly is folly. In a "As-a-Service" Model, you own nothing, and as soon as you allow your service agreement to lapse, you're left with nothing.

 

[DonaldBlank]

At least a CD and DVD can work offline, as long as you have the disc.

As nice as services like Spotify and Netflix are - that still requires you to be online to utilize.

Spotify let's you download songs.

Netflix let's you download certain videos, i think only if it's a netflix-owned property

 

[MysterD]

Spotify let's you download songs.

Netflix let's you download certain videos, i think only if it's a netflix-owned property

But, what about when you're not a member of that service anymore?

Do the filed still work, in offline mode?

Can they be ran w/ other 3rd party app's - i.e. music in say WinAmp? Or Netflix's movies on Windows Media Player?