[–] Enigmius1 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
I buy most of mine from Steam. I didn't actually use Steam until I decided to buy Skyrim very shortly after it launched and none of the local game retailers had it. It's not so much that they were out of stock, it's that they had simply stopped carrying PC games. I spent two hours after a long day at work going around to different retailers and they were all like, "Sky-wha?" or "Nope, we didn't bring any in."
So I bought it off Steam and have been buying my games there ever since. (fwiw, I do have a number of Gamestop/EB Games locations nearby, but they're focused on console stuff to the extent that if you don't pre-order the PC game you want, you probably won't be able to get it.)
I don't find any benefit from having a box, disc(s) and manual. Manuals aren't what they used to be, especially given the dynamic nature of PC games. It's just more dead trees and dinosaurs to ship across the country. Physical media is a dying distribution method. It won't be long before buying a collectorr's edition gives you all the collector's goodies and a voucher to register your game and gain access to the download.
[–] Dammit_Jeff 0 points 6 points 6 points (+6|-0) ago
I used to go all the time to /r/gamedeals to find where to buy my games, thankfully they have a spot for that here in /v/gamedeals
[–] LeftySolara 0 points 6 points 6 points (+6|-0) ago
I get most of my PC stuff on Steam. For everything else I just compare prices between Amazon and GameStop. If the price difference isn't a lot, I'll usually just buy from GameStop for the membership points and (sometimes) discounts.