So, I've been watching a Hitman Absolution Let's Play on YouTube and it looks like fun.

However when I look into downloads, I am under the impression that it requires the Steam client to play? Like you can't just download and play?

Maybe another game where I have to wait till it pops up on gog.com.

I haven't owned a console since I owned a NES and Game Gear.

Maybe next year or the year after, I'll buy a console for playing more new games. It has just become so Byzantine to play new games on PC.

The worst part is that it has become Byzantine by design, as it pretty much all relates to increasingly elaborate modes of copy protection, basically.

I used to spend lots of time trying to figure out how to make really old abandonware run on my XP machine. I was OK with having to think about it and work for it because there were legitimate technical reasons why you needed to put the time and effort in.

I really don't like how I have to put time and effort into figuring out how to be able to play things because it's difficult by design because the person who wants my business regards me as a potential criminal.

Actually, maybe I shouldn't buy any new games ever and instead only do retro games, if I see it that way...

It's funny that you mention that, because currently, I have no desire to purchase a new console when most of the titles I want will likely see a multi platform release that includes PC, as they all use x86 architecture now. Plus the new consoles won't let me play my old games on them, so screw that.

Having personally never had much issue with Steam, I'm curious as to what, specifically, makes it so difficult for some people...

In my particular case, the entire region of the world I'm living in has pretty slow internet speeds. Trying to digital download a giant modern game doesn't seem very feasible.

I did use Steam in the US and it was very nice in some ways, but their customer service was pretty poor if you ever had a problem. I'm not a complainer when it comes to customer service, but I remember them being distinctively dismissive and kurt. I guess they're probably just overworked and underpaid. Plus I've long since forgotten my login details since I haven't used Steam in a long time...which is just a pain in the butt.

This is a big reason why I've been using GOG a lot lately...smaller file sizes and more modest system requirements.

Depending on how big of a download Steam itself is, I suppose I could try and download and install it and see if I can recover my username/PW before concluding it's a no-go. Not sure if it only works in certain countries; I have noticed amazon.com won't let you stream videos or digital game downloads if you're not Stateside. But I've been pretty busy of late and it's just a lot easier to work with DRM free stuff where I just install and play and that's it. I feel like I don't have the mental energy right now to jump through extra hoops even if they're pretty jumpable and I've jumped through them before. The truth is I barely have time for games so I have to honestly ask myself if it's even worth it using my free time to do this when I know I will barely be able to play anyway.

Then again I'm not sure what their policy is on account deletion. Maybe I should log in via their website or something just to maintain my account.