Steam launches European beta; UK's read

[DuVeL]

Something interesting happening at Steam, you guys in the UK might want to check it out;
LINK

[Lexander]

Thats something how it should work. When buying and downloading a game it should be cheaper because there are no middle hands to feed.

[DuVeL]

Well, due to the low Dollar we could get a few games through Steam also cheap.
Although they do add customtaxes though.

[Lexander]

Yeah taxes :ranting2:
  If we think it like, a games costs 70 dollars in a shop it shouldn't cost more than 50 on steam with taxes included. But no it is 70 in steam and still I have to pay the taxes, and those are 22% here(kind of loosing the low dollar gain). Steam would be nice place to buy games and keep them there if it was a little cheaper. Not nice to pay almost the same amount and can't even get anything "real". Let's hope those news are right and the prices are going down.

[Anonymous]

and with a game I buy in the shops I can sell it on or give it to a friend. With a Steam game you have nothing

[T-Bag]

I personally love steam, and this beta has sorted out one of my biggest problems with it. Since the pound crashed games have been costing nearly 50% more than the disk version. However the prices in this beta are far more reasonable. For example GTA4, £26 on steam, compared to £25 online. Whereas I pre-ordered it on the old system and it cost £32. Things like Fallout 3 and Farcry 2 were $50 each, which with tax worked out at over £38 a game. Now £27. Which is less than the highstreet.
And if my brother is right the prices shown include VAT now.

[Whitey]

I've just bought GTA4 using it and the prices include VAT.  I like the auto updating and the fact you don't need a DVD in the drive or all the extra "security" that comes with buying the boxed version of the game.  
It definitely has it's issues but on the whole I like buying games through Steam.

[smilodon]

I've looked at buying a few games recently and with the £ to $ exchange Steam has been completely rubbish for prices. The beta seems to address that issue.

Two points though.

1. When you buy through Steam dMw earns nothing. When you buy through Amazon we earn money (we being all of us)

2. I bought Medieval II Kingdoms through Steam and it didn't work. The game developers, Creative Assembly couldn't help. They said "You bought it through Steam, so we have no idea what state it is in on your hard drive. We cannot offer you any help at all. Go speak to Steam"
Steam on the other hand said "We are not the makers of this game, just the retailer. We do not offer support for this game as we didn't make it and have no idea about the code base. You need to speak to the game developer."

In the end it was Creative Assembly who actually helped me. All they could suggest was a complete un install and re install of both the original game and the Kingdoms expansion, which worked. Steam (Valve) couldn't care less and never offered a single piece of useful advice. I'll buy Steam games through Steam, like HL2, Team Fortress 2 etc. But anything they simply retail I won't touch with a barge pole. They're great when the game works but if you have a problem and Valve will drop you on your head!

Also checked a few prices

Total War Empires - Steam £39.99. Amazon.co.uk £26.46 pre order

Left 4 Dead - Steam £26.99 Amazon £26.42

Fallout 3 Steam £26.99 Amazon £28.04

Seems very little in the prices and as BB says I'd rather have a boxed game with a manual than some code on my hard drive.

[T-Bag]

Seems very little in the prices and as BB says I'd rather have a boxed game with a manual than some code on my hard drive.

I'm the other way round. I'd prefer to be able to go to anyones house log in and play any of the games I own. Without worrying about patching it up to the latest version, or having to put the disk in etc. It would be nice if it would have a pdf file with the manual in though.
It's a good way of buying a game without having to be reminded about how they think all their legitamate customers are going to pirate it.
Before Steam came along (with a wide range of games) I used to buy a few games and play others through other means. Now I buy all my games, and the ones I'd played in the past that are available I've bought on Steam to show support.

[sulky_uk]

Left 4 Dead - Steam £26.99 .

COST ME ABOUT £35 ON STEAM:crying:

[Anonymous]

COST ME ABOUT £35 ON STEAM:crying:

Cost me £19.99 on Amazon

[Doorman]

Cost me £19.99 on Amazon

You were robbed! £19.98 mate. I've got a mate 'oo works at Amazon enni?

[smilodon]

I can buy a game in a box, L4D for instance, and still authenticate it with Steam, getting the best of both worlds (although there is no manual with L4D on purpose

I agree none Valve games may not be as easy to port about onto other computers and being able to use the Steam cloud is a nice concept.

I'm only concerned about the very poor service I got from Valve when something went wrong i.e. we have your money and frankly we're not even interested. Here's a cut and paste reply. Now sod off and leave us alone. Doesn't really foster good customer loyalty.

[Jabbs]

Two points though.

1. When you buy through Steam dMw earns nothing. When you buy through Amazon we earn money (we being all of us)

I like to buy games through Steam (although short of cash these last months).

The answer Smilo is to click the 'Donate' link and put a couple of quid in that way if you buy through Steam - everyones happy

[KKND]

I like to buy games through Steam (although short of cash these last months).

The answer Smilo is to click the 'Donate' link and put a couple of quid in that way if you buy through Steam - everyones happy

:withstupid: