I have some games I bought on DVD ( Half Life Orange Box ) for instance ...That still required to be activated on steam...Even though they are boxed editions..



Now I want to just give them to my son..... Is there a way to just Get rid of it on my account so he can install it as if it was new ?

Any info appreciated

Unfortunately, no. Can't you just give him access to your account?

If you have the serials for them, you can just register them with Steam. You can register most boxed games on Steam as long as you have a genuine serial.

I realise this might come across as though I am saying that you don't have the genuine serial. That is not my intention. I am NOT calling you a pirate. I just sometimes struggle to explain things in text.

Cheers

Jay.

No probs I understand.... One I gave him was the boxed version of AVP ... once the key is entered it says it has already been activated by another steam account ( which was me ) but of course I deleted the game from my account assuming he could install it fresh....



Bit annoyed as I didn't even buy them from steam I bought boxed versions from a store ( Ones I have bought from steam then fair enough )

I tried deleting it from my account assuming a boxed retail version could be re- installed....

So now I have boxed retail games like AVP, Half-Life Orange Box, and many others that are pretty useless....



This means we don't actually own any games bought in a shop anymore.....Steam own them .... They call it progress.....

In my day we called it Renting !!



Perhaps im out of touch but I haven't played many games in years..... Im pretty old school and assumed boxed games were as they always were ..

Yeah you describe a methode the developers want to stop. Each person who want to play the game should buy it himself! That is hard for your son, but I understand the developer which want to have a high security. With this aspekt I find steam is the best security methode ever. I feel sorry for your son, because these are great games! But I have a solution: you can give your account to your son with family options, where you can hide the games, your son should not play

So, to understand a bit more, can you not just install these games on your PC without Steam being involved?

I installed Spore from a disc. I borrowed it from a friend and installed it on my machine. I have steam running and it didn't kick in saying anything.

Cheers

Jay.

some games you can install without steam and such yes but generally now all games require some sort of online verification which is meant to help tackle piracy but also means you can only install the game on 1 account, also why 2nd hand pc games pretty much don't exist anymore (for modern titles at least)

Correct it only used to be the odd few and it was clearly stated as I remember "You must have an internet connection and Steam account to play this game" ...Now nothing..

It would appear I have been buying boxed games for some time and not realising it.......Ok call me stupid
Like I said...If I bought a game through my account on steam then that's fine.... I was aware of that but I never realised as smallg states pretty much all boxed games are really now owned by steam or someone else...

For me being old school its like buying a Vauxhall car and having to activate it through them and only I can drive it and "never" sell it.....
However if I rent it from Vauxhall then its understandable..... How long before we let things like that happen..

As for stopping Piracy....I paid good money for boxed games I feel I own........ Am I tempted to patch them so they work for him....You bet !!

Rant Over

Might be a good idea to actually send someone an email and get their take on things. If it were me, I would be emailing Steam themselves, and I would be contacting the developers or the label that produced the game. I would be getting in contact with a whole bunch of people.

You never know, if you make enough noise, they might just give you the games on Steam (your sons account). Just make sure to stay calm and be as descriptive as you can. Make sure to not leave any details out.

Hope you get it sorted mate. I can't understand why companies would let this happen!

Cheers

Jay.

if you have a receipt and can prove you have access to both steam accounts i can't see them arguing the case but it'll likely take some time, i've had similar issues but with a brand new game (someone had my serial code via one of those keygens) but after showing the recipt and key they were happy to give me a new one.

One of the reasons they do this is to stop people from selling second hand games (greedy publishers don't make any money from second hand sales, so they've come up with a way to scupper the second hand market). Most games you buy nowadays are linked to similar systems (Origin, Uplay etc). There's nothing you can do about it. I bought the Orange Box a few years ago second hand (without realising what it entailed) and I was mightily annoyed to find I couldn't install it because it was registered to another account. As was mentioned above, you do not own the games you buy any more - you buy a licence that allows you to play the game. With Steam you can install the game on as many computers as you like, as long as they are all linked to the same account.

That's exactly it !!

From what I have read ( dunno if its true or not ) when you buy an xbox now you don't actually own it....It logs the unit to your Microsoft account so like a game you can never sell it.... And apparently Sony heading that way as well .... Songs you buy on your Iphone etc aren't yours.... They belong to iTunes...
What a rip off ...
Don't get me wrong.....I use steam but I understand if I buy from them then its fair enough.. My problem is with store bought games..

Here ya go guys...... I use this site often.... If your gonna rent games do it as cheap as possible and get one up on steam as well...Its all legit

http://www.bundlestars.com/

New bundles almost every day..... Buy the product and your given the steam key ...Activate and the game goes in your account..... you really can save hundreds of pounds .... This is the good side of buying online I guess ..

I just got a bundle from there,not all great games but good to get ideas from playing the games on the cheap .

Dave

Its a case of keep checking there...... The other week I purchased the complete Team 17 Alien Breed Trilogy for stupid money ...
And even this deal is back ..
http://www.bundlestars.com/all-bundles/game-factory-bundle/

Ok for playing with but I wasn't overly impressed ...fps zombie pack felt like fps classic and you need unity really for your final game.... But for the price its a good deal