THQ opens online store
THQ has opened an online store, called ShopTHQ, to sell PC titles directly.
A number of discounts have been announced as part of the launch, with 40 per cent slashed off many titles and exclusive pre-order incentives announced for upcoming action game Saints Row: The Third.
Worth looking at because of discounts are titles such as Metro 2033 (£11.99) and Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War (£5.99).
Those who pre-order Saints Row: The Third will automatically be upgraded to get three unannounced future DLC, plus a Professor Genki pre-order pack for free.
It's worth noting though that digital titles bought through ShopTHQ have an 'Extended Download Service' added to the basket automatically for a cost of £3.73. This allows multiple downloads of the game for up to two-years.
Let us know your thoughts in the forums and be sure to check out the Saints Row: The Third trailer below.
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Discuss in the forums ReplyWhat does that mean? You can download it as many times onto as many computers DRM free? Or does it mean you can purchase something and download it only during 2 years. Effectively meaning that if 1 day after your 2 years is up your computer screws up and you have to format it you would have to pay for it again.
One is awesome the other is rubbish!
Unless, of course, the games are 100% DRM free, and you don't need the ShopTHQ software running to play the game, or an internet connection (that'll just mean keeping good backups of your games).
However, I doubt that will happen.
I give it a few years before each major publisher has their own digital download service, requires the use thereof to play their games, pulls the ones already available on other distribution systems and the PC gaming market fragments terribly.
Interestingly, Space Marine is no longer on Steam it appears - or is this due to THQ's slightly odd no-Steam-for-the-first-month thing?
ShopTHQ fail
I noticed this too. May be heading to THQ site for this...
Hate on Origin all you want but at least EA had the sense to scrap the extended download service payment, and the decency to add the games you downloaded without the extended service to your origin account!
EA are doing the same with origin. BF3 is 40 FECKING QUID! In comparison its £35 on D2D and £30 on amazon. The hell is going on?
For the first time in over a year I will be buying a disc version *throws up in mouth a little* and I don't even have a cd drive! I can borrow an external one to install it.
I assume once I link the serial from the Amazon bought version with origin I won't need the disc to play? Anyone know if that's the case?
You'll need a Activision Webawesome Store login, a Steam Login, D2D, Ubisoft, Origin and god knows how many more, the futures dark, the futures more bloody passwords to remember.
It would have been more useful if BT had flagged what sort of DRM THQ's shop is using - the website is so fantastically broken it won't let you look at the T&C's unless you have cookies enabled.
Steam is ok, origins and all the rest,
bandwagon , jumping, and TOO LATE.
Steam will stop selling games that are on other download formats.
Steam becomes less and less THE place to down load as it dosn't have the new games
Downloading will then be less and less peoples first choice ( well them that do right now any way).
Dont they see in thier efforts to drive Digital down loads forward , they are getting futher from thier goal.
Even without 'Extended Download Service's' lol
Ive had my optical drive disconnected for about 6 months. Discs are a hassle.
Depends on your connection speed.
lots of the UK still on 2 meg or less, now thats a hassle.
But not all of the UK, I've had 50 meg for ages but before that I still preferred digital distribution on my 10meg connection.
Simply less hassle and easier to keep track of games in my steam account, I've already got 350+ CDs and 250+ DVDs/Bluerays and 50+ game disk boxes taking up shelf space, I've literally got 2 fairly large bookshelfs full of games/DVD's/Bluerays/Music I'm just glad that I'm not adding to the collection in terms of music or games anymore as digital distribution is easy and convenient enough through my chosen vendors.
Finding room for physical belongings, alphabetical ordering, and actually finding the thing your looking for on a whim and not losing anything is a much bigger hassle for some.
You can redeem BF3 by entering the product serial into Origin so you don't even need the CD drive.
What I don't want is another Origin/Steam, especially if it only features their own products.
Isn't it crazy how you can save a tenner buying the physical version from a 3rd party retailer when the publisher has their own digital store? I understand there is a backend cost but they really look like they are taking the piss. If they want people to use their new service they should do a good deal! This goes for both the EA and THQ stores.
Such a shame at least one idiot will buy it from origin.
Except that these days if you buy a physical copy you end up having to sign up for some online service anyway, be it GFWL, Rockstar Social, Need for Speed series has some weirdo Account thing too, then many games require a permanent internet connection anyway, plus there is the issue of release day patches, which often result in you downloading several 100MB of data to play anyway, so might as well go the digital download route to start with.
All night to download Dirt 3 :(, but I shouldn't complain google was kind enough to give me the Steam code for free, shhhhhhhhh !
shame on you, sir. shame on you.
They'll wake up eventually.
Also, this "new" store is exactly the same as the old one. Even the layout is similar. The only thing that has changed is the branding. The "extended download service" crap has been there for years.
As for Space Marine being gone from Steam, as far as I know it was never released on Steam in the UK for some reason or other. I've heard other Relic games have faced similar issues, possibly due to backroom deals with brick and mortar stores.
What are you asking for? Everyone stop competing with steam? It's called competition - look it up.
It was never available for UK users of Steam, so I bought a physical copy from Game, entered the code into Steam and installed it that way. How does that help Steam? They are getting no money from me, but I'm downloading from their servers? Something wrong there.
- Games that demand constant online connections will still demand them (best way to deal with them is to simply not buy them).
- Patches still have to be downloaded - and because they're managed by the digital download system (and possibly even customised to your install) you probably won't be able to make a backup copy which means redownloading when you reinstall.
- Systems that patch automatically mean you lose control over your game (and even system) configuration - the result can be games being rendered unplayable due to buggy updates or using incompatible mods. Doing things manually gives you the choice to avoid problem updates ("if it ain't broke...").
- Most digital download stores tie your purchases to an account - if that account is disabled your games no longer function (Steam is particularly noteworthy for this - some examples here, here, here, here and here).
- Systems that patch automatically could be used to transmit malware if the store's security is ever cracked (the Playstation Network security breach being an example - user data was compromised but it could have been used to turn PS3s into a global botnet).
- Digital download systems that involve constant (or near-constant, like Steam) Internet access can track and record your gaming activity. Most users seem to see this as a benefit ("I can see what my friends are playing - w00t!") but such data can also be mined (to identify favourite game genres and offer a "special discount" for similar games - that discount actually being a higher price) or sold onto others.
Now there are digital distributors that don't have the downsides listed above - DRM-free stores like GOG and independent stores like Shrapnel's GamersFront, but they're very much in the minority.