Theb only reason I can think of is the sp aspect of steam. Mainly the offline mode (you have to be online to get offline working.
Since I have no internet for 7 weeks now (finally I am connected, they haven't sent the router yet...) I experienced this aspect a lot.
I never experienced any issues with steam regarding to memory or performance, not more than winamp or something.
But when you have internet I don't know any reason not to go through steam.
- Friends (chat/server/community groups etc.)
- Autoupdates, dlc download, mod download, graphic (ATI) drivers, all in the same place
- redownload (I can show a friend a game, I bought, on his own pc
)
- Sales, especially free weekends and midweek madnesses (GTAIV for 7 euros a few months after release... just as one example of al the sales I bought)
- Download at 00:01. Also not all games reach retail stores everywhere.
- Indie game support; hordes of (also bad) indie games, but love to buy a 1 euro game which suddenly appears to be much more fun than a 50euro game (kuchCODkuch).
- Add non-steam game; just to mention, also non-steam games work fine through steam (even in-game overlay)
- in-game overlay.
blablabla.. (jeez must look a bit like a fanboy thread
)
So when you have a stable internet connection, why not?