Lack of P.C game shops.

Serendipity

Enthusiast
I went into Gamestation and GAME yesterday to get some games for my new P.C which is being built, wondering where the P.C game stacks are I was shown into a tiny stack in the middle of the shop. When questioning why there are a lack of P.C games they just replied its because everyone is buying through Direct to Drive.

I see the good points with that but I always feel I like getting something out of my £30/£40 worth other than data to my HDD, like a case with a manual or other guides and features that you can't get on the net.

Anyone feel the same?
 

DeadEyeDuk

Superhero Level Poster
Been that was for years now.

Each console gets a whole row of shelves, whilst our poor PC Gamer are always shoved on the end of a row/tagged onto the discount console bit.

Pick any retailer now, its the same. The person working in the shop isnt wrong however. The proliferation of digital DLs, be it Steam, D2D...Origin (bleh), has meant that many people dont even buy a box anymore, and anyone that does can simply fall back on that now ageing method of buying the box on the interwebs.

I think the reason lies in that "we can" do it, we can store all this data. By their (current) nature, consoles require the disc to play, so retailers still sell them (and as discussed many a time, the audience is a lot younger too).

All that is left in retailers now for PC Gamers are the new releases, usually at a higher price than online, and some bargains, which can actually be quite good sometimes :D
 

Serendipity

Enthusiast
Yeah, it amazes me that they still sell games like Theme Hospital, I remember playing that game.. god, more than 10 years ago. But that was a fantastic game, I'm not gonna lie. :D
 

Pete

Bright Spark
PC games tend to drop their price quickly too; you just know that a game costing £30 is going to be £17 within a fortnight. But in a shop it's still £34. That's why in the likes of GAME, you get the top 10 bestsellers and the bargain bucket. Don't think i've bought a game from a shop since i had my Amiga!
 

Frenchy

Prolific Poster
I dont think its as muchy to dow ith downloads though, because ps3 games and xbox games can also be downloaded. Its more to do with the shear number of people buying console games vs pc games.

The console industry is a lot bigger than the pc industry, thats really the only reason shops dont sell them. Downloading I dont see as mcuh of an issue, look at music, HMV hasnt got rid of cd isles because iTunes or others let you buy online.
 

UndeadJack

Master Poster
I dont think its as muchy to dow ith downloads though, because ps3 games and xbox games can also be downloaded. Its more to do with the shear number of people buying console games vs pc games.

The console industry is a lot bigger than the pc industry, thats really the only reason shops dont sell them. Downloading I dont see as mcuh of an issue, look at music, HMV hasnt got rid of cd isles because iTunes or others let you buy online.

My local HMV has only a fraction of space dedicated to music now. It is all DVDs and a little stand with Pop and another with Classical/Rock and its not even a small shop! It is all dedicated to Guitar hero and Call of duty (Especially seeing as GH is getting rebooted)

In my local Game we have a very nice PC section. At one stage this year Cataclysm was #1 for about 2 months on the top sellers
 

Frenchy

Prolific Poster
My local HMV has only a fraction of space dedicated to music now. It is all DVDs and a little stand with Pop and another with Classical/Rock and its not even a small shop! It is all dedicated to Guitar hero and Call of duty (Especially seeing as GH is getting rebooted)

In my local Game we have a very nice PC section. At one stage this year Cataclysm was #1 for about 2 months on the top sellers

Lol my HMV has tonnes of music
 

Wozza63

Biblical Poster
thought id share my opinion on this..

i prefer having a copy of a game rather than data, dunno why just always have

and also, i usually order games via amazon, and if i were to download it, it would take longer than 2nd class delivery from amazon
 

Dayve

Well-known member
I remember it being that way over a decade ago when I first started PC gaming. Walls of console games and a couple of shelves in the middle of the store with PC games on, most of them old games. Amazon is the way to go now. If I'm paying money for something, I want something.

It's still worth looking in the shops though. Sometimes they have a brand new copy of an old ass game for £1.99, and you can sell it on eBay for 50 quid.
 

Corfate

Author Level
I prefer to have a physical copy of a game, but in the case of Dead Island, it was £10 cheaper on Steam, so i went for that instead. Usually steam is more expensive, so i usually opt for Amazon.
 

Fear

Prolific Poster
Retail disc versions for me as i prefer being able to reinstall things straight away without waiting for it to D/L and i shop between amazon and game websites just depends who is selling cheaper or who has a limited/special edition of something i want.
 

Frenchy

Prolific Poster
Retail disc versions for me as i prefer being able to reinstall things straight away without waiting for it to D/L and i shop between amazon and game websites just depends who is selling cheaper or who has a limited/special edition of something i want.

I have a backup of all my steam games, same as having a cd/dvd really. When I need to wipe computer I then just copy the whole folder back in to steam, reinstall steam and voila all my games installed at once.
 

Fear

Prolific Poster
I have a backup of all my steam games, same as having a cd/dvd really. When I need to wipe computer I then just copy the whole folder back in to steam, reinstall steam and voila all my games installed at once.

Fair enough but you are missing out on the free beer mat (disc) if the game is rubbish and a plastic box to throw at someone :p
 

Frenchy

Prolific Poster
Fair enough but you are missing out on the free beer mat (disc) if the game is rubbish and a plastic box to throw at someone :p

Lol i got like 200+ games on dvd so got plenty to throw at people lol. I also have a brick in my room for some reason lol
 

Usukane

Gold Level Poster
Aren't HMV going out of business due to illegal downloads of music etc? I know earlier this year they closed over 60 stores & it was getting worse. The main HMV store in Nottingham where I live, which has been around for years has been sold sadly. Virgin Megastore etc in Nottingham has also closed. I know personally the only time I buy cds is christmas, as I get my own music via iTunes.
 

Frenchy

Prolific Poster
Aren't HMV going out of business due to illegal downloads of music etc? I know earlier this year they closed over 60 stores & it was getting worse. The main HMV store in Nottingham where I live, which has been around for years has been sold sadly. Virgin Megastore etc in Nottingham has also closed. I know personally the only time I buy cds is christmas, as I get my own music via iTunes.

Dont think its so much to do with illegal downloads as just the recession in general tbh.
 
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