To Steam or Not to Steam

[Hunterly]

It seems like most of the games are on steam. I checked out steam a long time ago but didn't like it much it seems to have some good points and some not so good points.
So is Steam the way to go and how do I find games that work on a laptop computer. I was told that most games are for Xbox and the other like that.
Like I said its been 8 or 9 yrs sense I have played games and it looks like a learning experience all over again and I think I need a lot of help.

 

[Brian Boru]

how do I find games that work on a laptop computer

Welcome to the forum

Laptop or desktop, it depends on the specs the game needs, compared to whatever machine you have. Specs are on each game's sales page.

This should be a quicker way to find out:

Requirements Test

Check your system requirements. Can I Run it? Test your specs and rate your gamimg PC.

www.systemrequirementslab.com

is Steam the way to go

It's the biggest in terms of number of games and number of customers, which also means more ratings and reviews. Probably the best place to start out.

I was told that most games are for Xbox and the other like that

There are tens of thousands more games for PC than for consoles. Of course, most of those extras are from indie companies, so if you're only a fan of AAA titles, then console could work for you. Find games you like, and then choose the platform where most of them are.

 

[Sarafan]

So is Steam the way to go and how do I find games that work on a laptop computer.

There are also alternatives for Steam like GOG and Epic Games Store. The first is quite niche, but it's my favorite. It offers games which are DRM free. There's also a lot of older titles there which were adjusted to work properly on modern hardware. As for EGS, it's a direct competitor of Steam. Personally I like Steam more because it has more to offer when it comes to social elements. EGS has declared that it'll be improving this part of their service though, but I guess we'll have to wait for that to happen.

 

[ZedClampet]

It seems like most of the games are on steam. I checked out steam a long time ago but didn't like it much it seems to have some good points and some not so good points.
So is Steam the way to go and how do I find games that work on a laptop computer. I was told that most games are for Xbox and the other like that.
Like I said its been 8 or 9 yrs sense I have played games and it looks like a learning experience all over again and I think I need a lot of help.

Steam is the biggest and the best. It's the way to go. Most games by Xbox are on Steam now, as are EA games and tens of thousands of others. Even Playstation is starting to put their games on Steam. All games on Steam are for your computer (PC), but you may need to check your specifications on your laptop to see which games it can actually handle.

I'll be glad to help you with anything you need. You can either post it in this thread or send me a PM.

 

[ZedClampet]

Actually, it would help a lot if we knew what types of games you were interested in playing.

One more thing, there is a Microsoft service called Xbox Game Pass for PC that is very inexpensive and is kind of like Netflix for games. You can even stream games to your laptop if your specifications aren't great.

 

[Brian Boru]

GOG … it's my favorite … a lot of older titles there which were adjusted to work properly on modern hardware

GOG is my favorite too, I truly appreciate what they've done for old games to make them work on newer Windows. I use Steam to manage my wishlist, but if I'm thinking of buying, I'll check GOG and buy there if their price matches.

I like Epic too, especially how they pay the pubs/devs more for the games, their weekly free game(s), and their intention of becoming a viable competitor for Steam in the second half of this decade.

@Hunterly Most retailers have a section for free games. That might be a good place to start if you're not sure what genres or titles you want to play.

 

[Sarafan]

GOG is my favorite too, I truly appreciate what they've done for old games to make them work on newer Windows. I use Steam to manage my wishlist, but if I'm thinking of buying, I'll check GOG and buy there if their price matches.

The paradox in the whole situation is that I value the DRM-free aspect and still use Galaxy client to manage my library (even for GOG games). I was a fan of offline installers before Galaxy 2.0 was introduced, but the client convinced me to use it. I hardly imagine managing my whole library of games without it. It's so convenient to have everything in one place...

 

[Brian Boru]

I value the DRM-free aspect and still use Galaxy

Me too on both counts. I never let DRM stop me from a game I wanted tho. If it was a known malware implementation, I'd image my disk, install & play the game, and restore the image.

There are others besides Galaxy, if you're interested:

Game Launchers—combine your Libraries

Many seem unaware you can combine many different retailers' Libraries into one Launcher—no more having to launch individual Launchers for each different retailer where you have games. I use either GOG Galaxy or Playnite… there are others like LaunchBox and Photon, which I haven't tested—if you...

forums.pcgamer.com

 

[Sarafan]

Me too on both counts. I never let DRM stop me from a game I wanted tho.

Same here. If I really want a game, even Denuvo isn't a big enough obstacle. But if there's a choice, I pick DRM-free games.

There are others besides Galaxy, if you're interested:

Game Launchers—combine your Libraries

Many seem unaware you can combine many different retailers' Libraries into one Launcher—no more having to launch individual Launchers for each different retailer where you have games. I use either GOG Galaxy or Playnite… there are others like LaunchBox and Photon, which I haven't tested—if you...

forums.pcgamer.com

I heard about some of them, but nah... I'll stick with Galaxy. I'm fully satisfied with it.

 

[Hunterly]

RP first person mostly just wander around collect things and or sell fight fight things not to much search to find items.
I guess.

HP LAPTOP-R9CUF5OQ
AMD Ryzen 5 5500U with Radeon Graphicsct name : HP Laptop 15-ef2xxx
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 8.00 GB
Total Physical Memory 7.34 GB
Available Physical Memory 2.53 GB
Total Virtual Memory 16.8 GB
Available Virtual Memory 9.23 GB
BIOS : F.15-08/17/2021

 

[ZedClampet]

RP first person mostly just wander around collect things and or sell fight fight things not to much search to find items.
I guess.

HP LAPTOP-R9CUF5OQ
AMD Ryzen 5 5500U with Radeon Graphicsct name : HP Laptop 15-ef2xxx
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 8.00 GB
Total Physical Memory 7.34 GB
Available Physical Memory 2.53 GB
Total Virtual Memory 16.8 GB
Available Virtual Memory 9.23 GB
BIOS : F.15-08/17/2021

Doesn't appear you have a dedicated graphics card, just what is included with the Ryzen. You'll probably want to stick to newer games with simplified graphics or older games, like Morrowind. Might want to take a look at the GoG store in addition to Steam. They have many older games there that will work on your system.

If you decide you are going to be playing a lot and get tired of the older games, you could look at something like this, which is about $850:

MSI's $850 RTX 3060 machine is smart penny-saver Black Friday gaming laptop purchase

It has the latest GPU from Nvidia in there, but it's not going to break the bank.

www.pcgamer.com