Is there such a thing as a terrific PC gaming retailer now?

I was in Best Buy today and very disappointed at the PC gaming selection. 75% of the games were either family games (board games, card games, fluff tycoon, game shows, etc.) or eternal best-selling classics like the Blizzard games, Age of Empires or The Sims. If you wanted a game that was released more than a year ago, forget about it! Even the $10 value game selection sucked. I used to be able to find some gems, but I think Painkiller, Axis & Allies and Prince of Persia Sands of Time were the best games. Everything else was Soduku, Mahjong and more of the 'family games.' Last week, I was at Gamestop and they didn't even dedicate more than a small shelf to PC gaming. It felt like they were selling games they couldn't get rid of rather than try and provide some type of wide assortment. I can't find a single retailer anymore that really specializes in PC gaming. The big electronics, video gamesand computers chains don't seem to offer much more than the general retailers like Wal-Mart and Target. The best selection these days is at an online retailer like Amazon.Com.

I remember when there were stores in the mall solely dedicated to PC gaming. I remember when Gamespot had a huge wall for PC gaming and Best Buy had a lot more shelf space and variety of great games in the PC gaming section. Does such a retailer exist anymore?

It sucks. There was nothing better than bringing a full wallet to the local retailer and going through over a hundred PC games to find a great new one to install on my system. Is the end of PC gaming nye? :(

Target!

Huge selection since nobody goes there to get video games, and they keep their older games on the shelf. They always have great deals too, much better than bestbuy.

Also, I am fairly happy with the gamestop in my town.

In the UK most retailers stock PC games, usually the top 10 chart (which can be good or bad)

Even my local Tesco has PC games, good ones too.

I was in Best Buy today and very disappointed at the PC gaming selection. 75% of the games were either family games (board games, card games, fluff tycoon, game shows, etc.) or eternal best-selling classics like the Blizzard games, Age of Empires or The Sims. If you wanted a game that was released more than a year ago, forget about it! Even the $10 value game selection sucked. I used to be able to find some gems, but I think Painkiller, Axis & Allies and Prince of Persia Sands of Time were the best games. Everything else was Soduku, Mahjong and more of the 'family games.' Last week, I was at Gamestop and they didn't even dedicate more than a small shelf to PC gaming. It felt like they were selling games they couldn't get rid of rather than try and provide some type of wide assortment. I can't find a single retailer anymore that really specializes in PC gaming. The big electronics, video gamesand computers chains don't seem to offer much more than the general retailers like Wal-Mart and Target. The best selection these days is at an online retailer like Amazon.Com.

I remember when there were stores in the mall solely dedicated to PC gaming. I remember when Gamespot had a huge wall for PC gaming and Best Buy had a lot more shelf space and variety of great games in the PC gaming section. Does such a retailer exist anymore?

It sucks. There was nothing better than bringing a full wallet to the local retailer and going through over a hundred PC games to find a great new one to install on my system. Is the end of PC gaming nye? :(

The__MCP

I usually get my games from download services but I recently went to Circuit City for a PC game and they did not have it. The one shelf was filled with board / card games and a few of the main stream titles like Battlefield, Sims and WOW. I then went to target and I saw the same thing. Moved on to gamestop and they had one small lonely corner dedicated to PC games but I did find what I wanted.

My local Best Buy is fairly decent also, that is where I buy nearly all my games unless it's a new one coming out and the Sunday ad-section in the paper has it for a better price at Circuit City (luckily my local Best Buy is almost directly across the street from my local Circuit City, pretty convenient.) However, if BB or CC would be unlikely to have a game I'm looking for (for example, like you mentioned if it's a year or more old and not a "classic"), I'll go to CompUSA (I'd use it instead of BB for normal purchases if only it were closer.) There's also an independent small (think EB/GS-sized) Computer gaming only store near me that has an excellent selection for harder to find stuff, but their prices are higher so I avoid when possible.

Obviously, buying online provides the greatest selection, but I don't like buying online - not because I'm afraid to give my payment information over the internet or anything like that, but because I don't want to have to wait a few days to get it. Plus, the price savings online (if any) gets its value cancelled out by the shipping price and/or the time I have to wait to get the product. That's how I see it, anyway.

My local EB has a wall dedicated to PC gaming, and they are all new(ish) PC games. Thats down under, though :wink:.linkthewindow

Fry's Electronics, if you have one in your area. Their PC games section is about 2/3 the size of all of the console sections put together. They stock pretty much everything. And for the first week of most games' release, they discount it ~20-25%. STALKER $28, SupCom $37, etc.Makari

Oh ya, about two years ago they put a new Fry's store in about 5 mins up the freeway from me. I was so excited, I got almost all my components there for building my P4 rig.

Games are an amazing deal as well. New games are often 40-45 dollars, and I found the tandem Fallout 1+ Fallout 2 combo for 7 dollars!

im sorry to say but most retailers have decided only to stock new games or the family ones, reason behind this is that pc games are easily pirated and they figure that there is only money in new games, or something that a family can play together

I still remember when i could walk into an EB and find a whole wall dedictaed to pc games new and old, hell sometimes i would wait until the game dropped in price to bout $ 15 and be able to pick it up not used or damaged in any way cheap. now all i could find is the used which are cheap (but scratched) or the the new games also the limited edition boxes which seem to stick around for ever.

These stores are really disheartening me when i wonder will i only be able to buy games of the net for pc that are decent. I remember looking for Space Ranger 2, when it came out it was no where to be found in my city, i ended up buying it of D2D for bout $20 but i didnt get to try SP1 which i would have gotten if i could find a boxed version

Games are an amazing deal as well. New games are often 40-45 dollars, and I found the tandem Fallout 1+ Fallout 2 combo for 7 dollars!

mrbojangles25

If i could find F 1 or 2 i would buy them in a second, but now the wait is on for F3

In the UK most retailers stock PC games, usually the top 10 chart (which can be good or bad)

Even my local Tesco has PC games, good ones too.

Snagal123

TESCO rocks...

Yea definately Frys and Target if they are in your area. Also eBay is a great place.

Last time I went to gamestop They had like a tiny rack for pc games and the games were stacked with the spine showing. It was all cluttered and bunched together...quite pathetic. Meanwhile all the console games were displayed on the walls as if they were wallpaper.

I agree that the console market is more profitable because they are more accessable and easier to get into for casual consumer.

I stopped going to high street retailers a long time ago. I don't blame them for stocking mostly console titles because they probably get more of a return on them, and they are in business to make money after all. I think the other issue is that PC gamers have become more savvy over the years, trying out demos and reading lots of reviews before purchasing a game, so we're less likely to just pick up a game off the shelf and try it out and shoulder the cost if it sucks. That means some games simply won't shift and that means lost business.

I buy all my games from online retailers (and a few via Steam), because the price is usually lower and I don't have the hassle of browsing through a few high street stores and still coming up empty.