Game Managers

I've been wondering for awhile now about the use of Game Managers, like Steam, Zodiac, Big Fish etc.

How safe are they for starters, security wise, and why do people want to put games onto Steam for instance? Is it because they're cheaper to purchase that way perhaps.

I must admit that I do have Zodiac and Big Fish Games on one of our computers and also recently downloaded Steam to buy Secret Files 3 which seemed cheaper there. However are games necessarily less expensive to buy that way or do these companies only put out a "special" to get people to download their Game Managers in the first place?

I sometimes want to put a game on more than one computer i.e. the Win 7 laptop as well as the old XP and notice that sometimes, even with buying a disc, there's a message saying that you can only install the game say 3 times or something similar. Can't for the life of me see why that's fair when you've already paid for the game, I suppose this has something to do with Digital Rights, but still.........

Anyway it was really only the security issue that I was wondering about with these Game Managers because I notice with Steam they seem to be there in the background on my new computer every time I turn it on - now I'm considering uninstalling it when I've finished playing Secret Files 3. What do people here think?

Jo.

I am moving this to glitches since this is more computer related rather than a game.

Ana

With Big Fish, you can install the game on as many of your computers as you want. Of course if you install it on 1000 computers they may start to wonder about you. I'm pretty sure Steam allows you to install your games as many times as you like also -- you just have to use Steam to install.
Some game companies, like Viva Media, have started making disc versions with limited activations, but they're not all like that.


The security issue with Steam is probably not so much from the client installed on your computer so much as your Steam account information being stolen if their servers are hacked. I don't know if there's anything particularly insecure about Steam, but it tends to be a target.

The thing about steam that I find I like the most is that I have all the games I own on Steam in a list and can easily install them when I want to play them. That and there are some sweet deals to be had.
Steam does work to minimize insecurity: if I go to a different PC and log onto my steam account for the first time I need to use a code that they will send to my email account to be able to log on. How secure is any data online? Just look at PSN.

You can change settings in Steam so it isn't always running in the background. Check in your startup items to make sure it isn't listed there to start up every time you boot up your computer.