Once I've bought a physical copy of a game and activated it on Steam, is there any way I can return/recycle/whatever it? I realise that should I want to re-install the game later the dvd would make it much easier/faster, but I don't think that potential gain balances the pain of having to carry around 20-30 game boxes every time I move (about once a year).
I don't expect there's a lot I can do, as I don't want to give away the games (i.e., I want to keep it on Steam), but just throwing them away seems wasteful, and I don't think anybody would actually pay for a dvd, even dirt cheap, just to make their own installation faster (if that would even work).
Any bright ideas? Anything I can do?
Best Answer
Some people point out that if Steam is ever disbanded, you lose access to all the games you bought from them. If you will still have the physical copies of the games, it wouldn't be an issue. Note that some games require Steam anyway, so with those games the physical media won't help.
If you aren't sentimental about the box, manuals etc., you can throw those away and just keep the DVDs in some designated disk holder - those are very efficiently packed together, I don't really see an issue with space or weight.
If you ever find yourself without Internet access for a prolonged period of time (for instance, if you join a shipping company), single-player games can still be installed from their boxes.
If you trust Steam, have permanent Internet and don't care about your game boxes, then no, there isn't anything good to do with them. If you already have an eBay account you can offer the game boxes there (just don't provide the serial numbers), other than that I wouldn't bother.
If you feel your game will become a classic later on you can hold on to the manuals and sell them again in 15 years for collectors :)