Fast enough broadband Internet connections to download multiple GB files in a reasonable amount of time are not available everywhere.

Also I want to be able to still play my games in 15 or 20 years if I have the desire to do so. Independently if steam does still exist.

I disagree. Broadband is already fast enough to stream movies in most urban areas of major nations. The media for any game can still be ordered if you dont have access to that. And if you have a requirement to play your games 15 or 20 years after you bought them I think you are unique in the market. 5 years is a long time for any game to survive; 15-20 years is 3+ generations of OS and new OS generally makes older apps and games obselete. 15 years ago we were running MS DOS, Windows 3.1 and playing Chuck Yeager's Air Combat!:)

Not everybody lives in urban areas. I live in a rural area, just 50 km away from Frankfurt. The max. download speed available here is just 400 kbit/s (48 kbyte /s). At that rate it takes nearly 6 hours to download a single GB.

If I pay for game I demand the right to use it indefinitely and not only as long as anybody can make enough profit with it. Emulators like DOSbox or scumvm are quite popular, so I guess I am not the only one who wants to play his old games from time to time.

Many sims become obsolete with time, but only if there is any replacement available. If I want to fly an Eurofighter or Tornado in combat I have not much choice.

Other games are just timeless, either because of their unique gameplay or good story. Maniac Mansion, Tie Fighter or the Wing Commander series for example.

If i may. All i want is collectors or special edition with A PRINTED manual. Explaining bob background, explaining basic flight maneuers, advanced ones, ac handling, aircraft specifications etc. That's all that i want :) God, where are the times of falcon 4 anyone?

Antoninus:: True!!! Would that apply to Red Baron sim?

Zuti:: Ever wonder why games stay the same price for 15 years?

Cereal boxes often stay the same price, but get smaller. I think that's what happened to classical giant printed game manuals. Monetary/Credit inflation causes rising prices OR less product for a given price. We are getting less cereal in our game boxes. :grin:

I second that. About 30% of communities in Canada don't have access. There are also a lot of people who simply can't afford high speed connections (40% of the population).

Better read this thread guys. No idea if it is valid for IL-2/SoW though.

Actually you're quite wrong. My roommate played BF2 and BF2142 with pirated copies. Also, EA is a crappy company that ruins game franchises.

That's why i wrote collectors or special edition :D I know that you're right, though.