There are a couple of things I have against Steam, but they're mostly to do with my internet situation:

1. I do not have a reliable internet service. I'm in a location where DSL and cable are unavailable, so I am stuck with satellite, which is not only impossible to use for online gaming, but has severely limited download limits (200MB/day). Therefore downloading anything from Steam is impossible.

2. Steam requires you to be logged in to their service in order to play any game you purchase from them (at least as far as I've seen). Even if you're in offline mode you have to have logged into Steam while online to get into offline mode.

If I had a reliable, fast internet connection with a high download limit these two things wouldn't be much of an issue for me. However, I'm not the only one who is in this situation. A great number of people in North America still can't get DSL or cable. The good thing is I heard AT&T was extending DSL out my way in the next few months, so maybe things will change.

Steam is amazing. Usually better direct prices, better selection than most retail stores, and bundle deals (such as game A = $10 and game B = $10 but if you buy both together, it's only $15). There's no driving, no putting up with obnoxious people while waiting in line, no finding an empty parking space, and no shipping costs.

Now toss into the mix that Steam's store has different games on sale pretty much every day, and a lot of the games have free demos you can download so you lower your chances of getting stuck with a game you don't like.

Personally, I think Steam is one of the biggest reasons PC gaming doesn't have a headstone.

I hate buying games on steam, I only have bought 2 games, STALKER SOC becuase I couldn't buy it retail and Garrys mod. They take forever to download (I only get a max of 180kb/s (STALKER took like 12 hours), and I prefer to have the game for my shelf.

I prefer retail over steam in most cases (special offers on steam are great) beacuse they cost exactly the same and retail I get a DVD and maybe some extras as well.

Awww... Waa waa!!

depends...physical retail or physical games
for my part i only buy online and compare prices between steam and online retailers...some games you get screwed when buying on steam..