EB Games...

I can't speak for the States, but in Ontario, we basically have only EB Games as a dedicated gaming retailer. Lately they don't put PC games on the wall, they're hidden on an ominous rack next to gamecube games and such.

I went in today to grab Red Alert 3 and the Expansion. They had 1 copy of Red Alert 3. They were not even carrying the expansion. Apparently it wasn't worth the shelf space.

I'm at the point where I want to boycott EB. If PC games are dead, and no one is buying them, why am I standing in the frigging store looking to buy PC games?

It's a goddamn embarassment that a store that sells nothing but games would shelf brand new titles next to pre-playedGamecube games.

Im in Canada also, but in Québec. the same things happening over here, I remember a few years ago they had as many shelves of pc games as their was for consoles, but now its changed alot! The pc shelves were replaced with the wii games, all we have is half a shelf of pc game, another half with french pc games, and then a load just stacked on top of each other. shame really. I guess with all the digital distribuation (steam, etc) things just changed.

I can't speak for the States, but in Ontario, we basically have only EB Games as a dedicated gaming retailer. Lately they don't put PC games on the wall, they're hidden on an ominous rack next to gamecube games and such.

I went in today to grab Red Alert 3 and the Expansion. They had 1 copy of Red Alert 3. They were not even carrying the expansion. Apparently it wasn't worth the shelf space.

I'm at the point where I want to boycott EB. If PC games are dead, and no one is buying them, why am I standing in the frigging store looking to buy PC games?

It's a goddamn embarassment that a store that sells nothing but games would shelf brand new titles next to pre-playedGamecube games.

Deinbeck

The last one I went to in London had a pretty crappy selection, but what can you expect, PC is the only gaming platform where you can go all digital if you want.

Im in Canada also, but in Québec. the same things happening over here, I remember a few years ago they had as many shelves of pc games as their was for consoles, but now its changed alot! The pc shelves were replaced with the wii games, all we have is half a shelf of pc game, another half with french pc games, and then a load just stacked on top of each other. shame really. I guess with all the digital distribuation (steam, etc) things just changed.

morpheus077

The funny thing is EB Games was once Electronics Boutique which started as a PC software store (that also carried PC games). Nowadays these stores have consolidated down into Gamestop in the US (all the EB stores got eaten) and they catera almost exclusively to consoles. New PC titles will still show up on the wall behind the counter but what you describe for PC games (a single rack or shelf in the basement of the store where the stairs had gone out behind a sign saying "beware of tiger"). These days it's all about the digital distro.

-Byshop

I really like Steam myself.

It's still nice to own your discs though. I'm all for every PC dev using Steam, but I'd still like to buy a game in a box.

...off-topic, but I still haveKings Quest 6, Leisure Suit Larry 5 and 6, Red Baron, etc etc in the boxes with all the stuff. Remember the cool-ass manuals? Red Baron had the most extensive and awesome manual I've ever seen!

Why retail buy games? Always cheaper online, digital or hard copy.

I really like Steam myself.

It's still nice to own your discs though. I'm all for every PC dev using Steam, but I'd still like to buy a game in a box.

...off-topic, but I still haveKings Quest 6, Leisure Suit Larry 5 and 6, Red Baron, etc etc in the boxes with all the stuff. Remember the cool-ass manuals? Red Baron had the most extensive and awesome manual I've ever seen!

Deinbeck

That's a good point. I miss all the schwag you used to get with older games (Infocom props that were actually clues to the game, Ultima moonstones, ahnks and cloth maps, etc). Even just a paper manual is nice to hold in your hand, especially for more complicated games like the D&D titles.

I don't miss copy protection wheels and black on red "photocopy-proof" key sheets.

-Byshop

same thing happened to cds once itunes got popular, shelf space for cds in regular stores is tiny. Check out stores that sell alot of pcs and pc parts like best buy.

same thing happened to cds once itunes got popular, shelf space for cds in regular stores is tiny. Check out stores that sell alot of pcs and pc parts like best buy.

TerroRizing

There will always be a niche for an actual physical copy of PC games, but that's all that it will be, a niche. I love looking at my physical collection of games build, but at the same time I realize that many of the games that I own (I'd venture to guess 60-70%) are for sale online in some digital format from a handful of different companies: Steam, gog.com, direct2drive.com, EA's online download thing....

It's cheaper for PC gaming to head this route instead of paying money to manufacture packing and CDs/DVDs....

Right now as I sit and type this, I have about 45 games (give or take a few) stacked to the right of my monitor that I've beaten and to the left of my monitor I have about 50-60 games that I haven't beaten or even opened up to play yet. Not to mention the other 35-40 games or so that I have in a box in a closest that I've beat. I love my collection.....

It'll be a sad, sad day when physical copies of games become obsolete and digital copies becomes the norm.

The GameStops around me (I've got 5 that I can easily travel to in under 20 minutes) used to all have a wall dedicated to PC games. Now they all have a wire rack-cart that sits towards a back corner - some of these racks house PC games on both sides and other stores only house PC games on one side. I can still find a great deal on PC games from time to time, but the selection has drastically dropped over the past 5 years.

Best Buy has even lowered their selection of PC games to basically 1 single aisle - whereas in the past, PC games used to utilize a full 2 aisles of shelf space. Sometimes an alright deal can be found at Best Buy - they're mostly best for when you want to buy a new game and you want it now.

I like Steam and what they offer, I just don't like how they offer it. According to their "Agreement" clause, they can basically shut you out of any game you paid for; for whatever reason they feel fits. Sad thing is, you can't do anything about it. If they deny you access....you're pretty much screwed. I'd much rather have a physical copy of a game then to trust a company that I've spent money on to allow me access to games that I paid for. I think I've put a good $150 into Steam for games they offer....if they all of a sudden, for some reason that I might not even be the culprit for, close my account....well, I'm screwed and I'll never see those games again. This is the main reason why I haven't purchased anything on Steam in the past 12-16 months and I won't anytime in the near future. Now I'm babbling....I'll stop here and head to bed.

Sam Goody; for example - I can remember almost every single mall in the Twin Cities area (St. Paul & Minneapolis, MN) had a Sam Goody store that sold music and movies.....Last Sam Goody I recall seeing closed up in the Eden Prairie Mall about 3 (maybe even 4) years ago.

There will always be a niche for an actual physical copy of PC games, but that's all that it will be, a niche. I love looking at my physical collection of games build, but at the same time I realize that many of the games that I own (I'd venture to guess 60-70%) are for sale online in some digital format from a handful of different companies: Steam, gog.com, direct2drive.com, EA's online download thing....

It's cheaper for PC gaming to head this route instead of paying money to manufacture packing and CDs/DVDs....

Right now as I sit and type this, I have about 45 games (give or take a few) stacked to the right of my monitor that I've beaten and to the left of my monitor I have about 50-60 games that I haven't beaten or even opened up to play yet. Not to mention the other 35-40 games or so that I have in a box in a closest that I've beat. I love my collection.....

It'll be a sad, sad day when physical copies of games become obsolete and digital copies becomes the norm.

The GameStops around me (I've got 5 that I can easily travel to in under 20 minutes) used to all have a wall dedicated to PC games. Now they all have a wire rack-cart that sits towards a back corner - some of these racks house PC games on both sides and other stores only house PC games on one side. I can still find a great deal on PC games from time to time, but the selection has drastically dropped over the past 5 years.

Best Buy has even lowered their selection of PC games to basically 1 single aisle - whereas in the past, PC games used to utilize a full 2 aisles of shelf space. Sometimes an alright deal can be found at Best Buy - they're mostly best for when you want to buy a new game and you want it now.

I like Steam and what they offer, I just don't like how they offer it. According to their "Agreement" clause, they can basically shut you out of any game you paid for; for whatever reason they feel fits. Sad thing is, you can't do anything about it. If they deny you access....you're pretty much screwed. I'd much rather have a physical copy of a game then to trust a company that I've spent money on to allow me access to games that I paid for. I think I've put a good $150 into Steam for games they offer....if they all of a sudden, for some reason that I might not even be the culprit for, close my account....well, I'm screwed and I'll never see those games again. This is the main reason why I haven't purchased anything on Steam in the past 12-16 months and I won't anytime in the near future. Now I'm babbling....I'll stop here and head to bed.

neatfeatguy

Steam can shut you out of downloading games from their service should you do something silly like act like a smacktard on their forums (someone had a thread about this a few weeks back on here) but they can't deny you access to already downloaded games. Any steam account can be run offline and you have the option of making a Steam backup install of any game you download, which I do just so I don't waste bandwidth when I shuffle my games between my various rigs.

This is great news for games like Psychonauts, X3, etc but crappy news for games like Counterstrike Source and L4D. Still, I prefer this to Direct2Drive's installers that only work a limited number of times. Stay civil on the Steam forums and don't cheat in online games and you should be fine.

-Byshop

yeah.. well Gamestop and EB Games we're always known for not being too PC Gaming friendly. It's just a fact.. I just go to futureshop or bestbuy to buy my new pc games since I live in Quebec. Or.. STEAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yeah.. well Gamestop and EB Games we're always known for not being too PC Gaming friendly. It's just a fact.. I just go to futureshop or bestbuy to buy my new pc games since I live in Quebec. Or.. STEAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Origin-

...This all sort of leads to why consoles are killing PC gaming, but I guess that's for another topic.

They were not even carrying the expansion. Deinbeck

There's a Gamestop near me, their PC shelf is pretty bad and small... Their pre-owned PS2 section is almost twice as large. I almost never buy from there, but sometimes you can get cheap games from there, like Penumbra Collection which was only 10€.

[QUOTE="morpheus077"]

Im in Canada also, but in Québec. the same things happening over here, I remember a few years ago they had as many shelves of pc games as their was for consoles, but now its changed alot! The pc shelves were replaced with the wii games, all we have is half a shelf of pc game, another half with french pc games, and then a load just stacked on top of each other. shame really. I guess with all the digital distribuation (steam, etc) things just changed.

Dr_Brocoli

ya im fairly close to longeuil, im in laval, but I noticed this is happening in quite a few places (montreal, laval, terrebonne, etc). Its a shame really, I remember the good old days (2002-2004 era) when they had amazing pc games coming out and shelves full of them.

I stopped going to EB at Heartland Mississauga for numerous reasons.

1, Price, Bestbuy & Futureshop are 5 bucks cheaper for almost every single game, and Amazon.ca can be up to 15 bucks cheaper and Amazon is free shipping.

2, Service, That store has gone downhill the last few years sinse all the management changes,

3, Pre Ordering isn't as critical as it used to be anymore. Most stores get dozens of copies of games and they are available everywhere and If I can get a new release at another store for 5-15 bucks cheaper, why wouldn't I? By the end of the year it can save you a couple hundred bucks if your a really avid gamer.