As I've said in the past the only real draw to a retail game was getting all the doo-dads and the manual. Once they stopped doing that there is no justification for going to a retail store with a much more inferior selection and draconian return policies as opposed to just clicking 'Buy now' and watching the magic happen.Pains me to hear you saying that Bubba. Of all people.
Don't get me wrong I miss opening my new games. But the thrill of opening a new game that either does not have a manual or is completely missing the DVD cover art (Tropico 3 DVD has no cover art - the sleeve acts as the cover) is one I can do without.
Also, I've noticed that if I buy the games in the store that store may or may not carry it's expansion pack and I can't download the pack from online sellers b/c they require their specific version of the game. So I would be ripping myself off if I bought the game in a store.
Another component of this is I've been avoiding Ubisoft games like the plague. However if I buy from Steam which already has a connection going (except in offline mode) then I might be able to justify it mentally that Ubi's DRM may be no more intrusive than Steam's connection. I know it is far more instrusive but I'm justifying here so I can get my hands on AS2. One major piece of information stopping me from buying Ubi games is that their sales are way way down and no one but gamers seems to understand why. So perhaps if I hold off a bit longer they will remove their ridiculous DRM. Contrary to other products software publisher/developer boycotts actually do work at times.
