Where do you prefer to download your games?

[oldmanwinters]

A 1st world problem if there has ever been one...

Since I got a capable laptop this year, I've been more willing to buy some games off Steam since I've got confidence my PC should be able to run most games at a decent performance. My old collection of PC gamepads was insufficient to play most modern stuff, so I started hunting for deals on Xbox 360 wired controllers. Today I ended up buying a used 20GB Xbox 360 that came with a wired Madcatz controller and a wireless official controller.

I've also got my Wii U, which I adore and even bought an external hard drive for all the various Virtual Console and eShop games. I primarily buy stuff for the Wii U when it's an exclusive or it's on sale (I got three or four of the Wayforward games when they held a digital sale last year, and I might go for the Humble Bundle deal currently going on).

So my question for the forum is... if you have an abundance of options for digital download, which service do you prefer overall or does it vary from game to game?

There are a number of titles which I'm debating whether to buy on Steam or Xbox Arcade. To me, the advantages of Steam include a better sense of permanence as my games are tied to my online account which means I can keep playing them even if I replace my PC hardware in a few years. Plus, it can be more convenient as I use my laptop far more often than I expect I'll use my Xbox360. And I notice that Steam holds sales fairly often, so there's a good possibility I can buy stuff cheaper there than on Xbox Arcade, where I get the impression prices remain fairly fixed.

One major disadvantage for the PC is that I don't have much idea how well the game might run on my system until I play it. I really want to play the newest Rocket Knight Adventures, but Steam has problems even getting the Demo to load. Even the new Sega Genesis Hub features some serious emulation problems when you try to use the brand new graphical interface (which does look cool)

Where the 360 is concerned, I'm not sure it's the sort of thing I'll always keep plugged in, as it will have to fight for space next to my other classic systems on the TV deck. So I might just keep it in storage until I want to play a particular game or something. But I have confidence it will run everything I buy so long as I don't fill up its small hard drive. Rocket Knight and the NiGHTS into Dreams HD demos look fantastic... especially on a widescreen television. I don't expect to buy a Xbox One or its successor system unless I just find one for a really good deal someday, so having my games tied to the Xbox Live account isn't a big deal for me. I think whatever I buy on Xbox will be forever confined to my 360 console.

So... I'm kinda torn. I was curious to see if you folks had any experience in this area.