Steam staying resident after closing your game was my experience with HL2 too. That was when HL2 first came out though. I recal having installed something within the last 8 months that used steam and was not intrusive.
I don't really like online downloads or steam, mostly because I like boxes, media, manuals and what have you. Want to feel like I actually got something physical for my money.
Besides which, if I don't get all the physical goodies I would want at least $10 off of the boxed version of the game. I think thats the only thing that would make me consider purchasing 4gb+ downloadable games. I don't see why publishers should get extra money when they didn't produce anything, and I doubt that the developer gets much if any extra income from downloaded games. I guess Valve probably did since they published themselves and own steam.
I don't really like online downloads or steam, mostly because I like boxes, media, manuals and what have you. Want to feel like I actually got something physical for my money.
Besides which, if I don't get all the physical goodies I would want at least $10 off of the boxed version of the game. I think thats the only thing that would make me consider purchasing 4gb+ downloadable games. I don't see why publishers should get extra money when they didn't produce anything, and I doubt that the developer gets much if any extra income from downloaded games. I guess Valve probably did since they published themselves and own steam.