PC gaming before Steam?
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I've played games on the PC since I was a kid, I always just had discs to run them from. I never got games through websites. Occasionally we got a ripped game from one of my dad's friends. But I still have all my old discs for Neverwinter Nights, Zoo Tycoon 1 and 2, Agw of Empires 1-3, Age of Mythology, Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force..... Shame a lot of them don't work anymore, or are annoying as heck to get to work on the newer Windows versions. I remember running old games on my grandparents first PC through DOS. Ah, Are You Afraid of the Dark. I miss that game...
Yea i remember when i purchased my first game on my PC which was DOOM. I got that on a disc. The only problem with disc-based games back then where if you damage the disks, You are Screwed! I rather prefer DRM based games such as Steam or Origin. I have the guarantee of getting the game back even when i delete it from my hard-drive.
Yea I remember that. Buying PC game boxes in store, installing the disc, putting in the CD key that was printed on a label on the CD case. Back then you didn't have many free to play games, nowadays you got a bunch of awesome free to play games. It was all demos, where you could only play a small section of the game for free. Steam made things a lot better, and then a lot of companies came along and tried to copy what Steam is doing because it had become such a great success. Now you look in stores and see the PC game section is tiny compared to what it was before 
There are benefits on each. Steam is cheaper and once you got the game you have it for life and don't have to worry about anything unless you delete the account.
Disc is always been there and I still buy disc version because I have crap internet that will cost me my home of downloading 80gb. So I have gtav on disc's even though I don't need to have it in to play. GTAIV doesn't work on windows 8 and 10. It does but the live sign in association doesn't work and
Disc is always been there and I still buy disc version because I have crap internet that will cost me my home of downloading 80gb. So I have gtav on disc's even though I don't need to have it in to play. GTAIV doesn't work on windows 8 and 10. It does but the live sign in association doesn't work and
Back in the day, before internet was in most homes, you couldn't just browse the web to find a fun game to pass the time. You actually had to go to the store, look through the shelves, and find a game worth buying. Easy enough to do because there was a pretty good selection. Age of Empires was definitely my favorite. I like strategy games and it was fun getting to build your own civilization. Before Steam, you actually had to have the disc or internet to play games. It wasn't difficult if you knew your way around a computer. Installing was the 'hardest' part.
I never had any PC game that was actually a game. I mainly had edutainment games like Reading Blaster, Math Blaster, and Jumpstart. Which I was like 4-9 when I played these games. (Though I've been wanting to play them for the sake of playing them, but I can't find them.) I also had a slew of Humongous Entertainment games. I had two Freddi Fish games, all the Putt Putt games, one Spy Fox game, two Pajama Sam games, and Backyard Baseball, which are all fun and I have fond memories of... well I have fond memories of all of them. One other that I remember was some Tonka game, but it was lack luster and didn't keep my attention. xD
The only other games I ever got were LEGO Racing and LEGO Rock Raiders, both being awesome.
Though my favorite, for whatever reason, was a game that I would replay so much that I think I could beat it without thinking about it, and that game is Where In Time Is Carmen Sandiego. I played and replayed the heck out of it. Mainly because I loved history when I was young, and I think all the clues were different every playthrough. Though, I know I played it every chance I got. There was one day I was home sick from school and I just played that the whole day. I think I beat it twice that day. Either way, that was one of my favorite PC games.
As for games I played that I didn't own, my cousin had Roller Coaster Tycoon 2, which I got to play a little bit of and it was pretty fun. I don't think I played enough to get the full experience though. And she had the Sims 2, which I just watched her play.
Then there's the PC games we had at school. I don't remember any of them, except for one, and I'm sure everyone knows what I'm talking about before I even type it. Oregon Trail II. You could also say the first one, but I've only played the second one. It was the only time you play video games in school and get away with it. Not only that, it was actually fun. In fact, for the past week, I've been wanting to play it just for the sake of playing it, but I don't own it and I think my computer is too powerful to run it.
Though, yeah. That was the most I've ever experienced in PC gaming. I didn't even know you could play powerful games on PC until a few years ago. I thought they could only run basic edutainment games. That's also because I never looked at PC games when I went video game shopping, I would always buy console games so that could've been my fault, but it was also a time when I could only get one game every 4 or 5 months and I didn't want to waste it.
The only other games I ever got were LEGO Racing and LEGO Rock Raiders, both being awesome.
Though my favorite, for whatever reason, was a game that I would replay so much that I think I could beat it without thinking about it, and that game is Where In Time Is Carmen Sandiego. I played and replayed the heck out of it. Mainly because I loved history when I was young, and I think all the clues were different every playthrough. Though, I know I played it every chance I got. There was one day I was home sick from school and I just played that the whole day. I think I beat it twice that day. Either way, that was one of my favorite PC games.
As for games I played that I didn't own, my cousin had Roller Coaster Tycoon 2, which I got to play a little bit of and it was pretty fun. I don't think I played enough to get the full experience though. And she had the Sims 2, which I just watched her play.
Then there's the PC games we had at school. I don't remember any of them, except for one, and I'm sure everyone knows what I'm talking about before I even type it. Oregon Trail II. You could also say the first one, but I've only played the second one. It was the only time you play video games in school and get away with it. Not only that, it was actually fun. In fact, for the past week, I've been wanting to play it just for the sake of playing it, but I don't own it and I think my computer is too powerful to run it.
Though, yeah. That was the most I've ever experienced in PC gaming. I didn't even know you could play powerful games on PC until a few years ago. I thought they could only run basic edutainment games. That's also because I never looked at PC games when I went video game shopping, I would always buy console games so that could've been my fault, but it was also a time when I could only get one game every 4 or 5 months and I didn't want to waste it.
Transferring small games on diskettes, oh yes I do remember that! Then later on we got CD's, and that was the future.
But really, PC gaming was well alive way before digital distribution, and while the available selection of great titles was quite small in my opinion, at least you had some quality titles. Maybe I have my rose-tinted glasses on, but that's how I remember it. Now you have to shift through a lot of shovelware to find anything worthwhile, but then again you can do that at home. Decisions, decisions...
But really, PC gaming was well alive way before digital distribution, and while the available selection of great titles was quite small in my opinion, at least you had some quality titles. Maybe I have my rose-tinted glasses on, but that's how I remember it. Now you have to shift through a lot of shovelware to find anything worthwhile, but then again you can do that at home. Decisions, decisions...
That's how I got into many of the games I liked and still do. Then, I had a really strange view of Steam (and was horribly misguided on what kind of game Team Fortress 2 was). But there weren't that many games that required the CD to be in the drive; I'd say about half were. It was convenient enough I didn't make much of it.
Edit: I should mention Steam was already a thing at this point, but I didn't 'discover' (find a use for, really) it until way after. So compared to people who really didn't have Steam because it didn't exist, I'm not so sure.
Edit: I should mention Steam was already a thing at this point, but I didn't 'discover' (find a use for, really) it until way after. So compared to people who really didn't have Steam because it didn't exist, I'm not so sure.
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shreddedbullet
Well-Known Member
When I got into PC gaming in 2008, steam was around, but I didn't install it until 2010.
And it was cool but I feel like it was less social. With steam being able to have a friends list and easily invite friends to game, gaming with steam is better in my opinion.
And it was cool but I feel like it was less social. With steam being able to have a friends list and easily invite friends to game, gaming with steam is better in my opinion.
Yeah that's the good old days back then, I also missed the known blockbuster video store that has options for people to walk in and hire an video game for two days, allot have finished in two days and went back. There are only 14 blockbuster store left in the world that still got the name
