You’d be hardpressed to find a gamer who hasn’t sat through the agonising wait as a game’s download percentage seemingly takes an eternity to progress. And with modern games now being truly massive in terms of file size, downloads can sometimes take weeks. Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls Ultimate Evil Edition, for instance, is a whopping 58 GB. With numerous games also coming with additional downloadable content (DLC), should gamers consider using a download manager?
Download managers are programs dedicated to the task of downloading, and can often be used to accelerate download speeds. The best programs split files into manageable blocks and let you pause and resume whenever you want. They also sometimes convert media files automatically so that users don’t have to recode anything themselves. Anyone who downloads media from the internet, including films and music, should consider using a download manager, as it slashes the amount of time spent waiting for the process to complete. And there are plenty of free programs available to those who don’t want to splash the cash.
A few of the best free download managers include Ninja Download Manager, which claims to speed up downloads by up to ten times; but is recommended more for use with music, films and TV. For gamers, JDownloader could be a better option, as it supports over 300 decryption plugins, has automatic RAR extraction, and also comes with password list searching. Another free program is iGetter, which allows you to schedule downloads for specific times, and comes with a site explorer for discovering content. Being able to schedule downloads can be particularly useful if certain content is subject to multiple downloads at peak times.
A download manager isn’t necessary for every situation, though, as some sites come with their own software which makes downloading fast and easy. There is a huge number of poker players around the world – approximately 6.8% of the populations of North America and Europe – and a lot of them play online. For this reason, poker sites know that not only do they have to offer many variants, bonuses and promotions, they also need to get their services to customers quickly. In these circumstances a download manager isn’t required, as sites use their own software to speed up the process – a software that must be safe and easy to install, and allow players to start enjoying poker in a matter of minutes after clicking the download button.
However, for gamers who download a lot of large games, a download manager seems to be almost essential. And for these folks, another great idea would be to also install a game manager. Game Manager 4.15 is a tool for Windows that allows players to sort and organise their games collections. It uses a media-centre-style interface, and finding your desired game is simple. The game can then be launched in a matter of seconds.
It all depends on the type of games and how many different games you play, but seeing as some great download managers are free, it makes sense to have one installed in case you need it.
