im disappointed...

MNuTz · 20 Oct 2006 at 19:24

ive just come back from Telford, bought myself WoW from HMV for a tenner.

I also popped into both Game shops, the PC section had 3 wall units and one basket. Maybe 30-40 titles in total. Tucked away in the far back corner.

the rest of the shop was just console games.

Im very disappointed. When i was at EB it was mainly PC games, huge choice for games. It seems that the market is shifting and its a sad time.

XPE · 20 Oct 2006 at 19:46

Most PC gamers probably buy their games on line.

manveruppd · 20 Oct 2006 at 19:52

XPE said:

Not if they catch you in the back while you're reloading...

Smit · 20 Oct 2006 at 20:07

GAME is quite bad for PC games IMO Really don't have much of a selection the one down here.

Darkwave · 20 Oct 2006 at 20:11

XPE said:
Most PC gamers probably buy their games on line.

Console gamers buy online too. It's just an unfortunate fact of life that the industry seems to favour console gamers when it comes to street shops.

My local games shops just have a single wall of PC games in the back, most of them are pre-owned stuff too.

Gamestation is the worst for this where I live, GAME is almost as bad but not quite.

rayb74 · 20 Oct 2006 at 20:15

MNuTz said:
ive just come back from Telford, bought myself WoW from HMV for a tenner.

I also popped into both Game shops, the PC section had 3 wall units and one basket. Maybe 30-40 titles in total. Tucked away in the far back corner.

the rest of the shop was just console games.

Im very disappointed. When i was at EB it was mainly PC games, huge choice for games. It seems that the market is shifting and its a sad time.

I know what your saying but PC gaming is getting so expensive that even some hardcore Pcers are making the switch. I bought a 360 and am slowly starting to switch.

locutus12 · 20 Oct 2006 at 21:45

rayb74 said:
I know what your saying but PC gaming is getting so expensive that even some hardcore Pcers are making the switch. I bought a 360 and am slowly starting to switch.

i will never switch as untill a console can give me the same level of graphical detail and a keyboard and mouse to play my games with then im far happier with a pc.

KNiVES · 20 Oct 2006 at 21:58

It's partly to do with the fact that PC game developers can no longer be arsed to optimize their games to run well, so consumers have to spend ridiculous amounts of money on hardware changes.

PC gaming is going downhill, and it doesn't take a genius to think why that may be.

(recently gone from 10 years of PC gaming to console gaming)

deSade · 20 Oct 2006 at 22:02

locutus12 said:
i will never switch as untill a console can give me the same level of graphical detail and a keyboard and mouse to play my games with then im far happier with a pc.

That's pretty much here already though - next gen console with USB keyboard & mouse, and a HDTV.

XPE · 20 Oct 2006 at 22:07

manveruppd said:
Not if they catch you in the back while you're reloading...

Ulfhedjinn said:
Console gamers buy online too. It's just an unfortunate fact of life that the industry seems to favour console gamers when it comes to street shops.

Im not saying they dont, its just that platform its self makes it easier to get games by different means, for exapmle buying online or getting it off something like steam or direct to drive.

Biohazard · 20 Oct 2006 at 22:24

I've been saying this for years. PC games were in the majority years back, now I can go in look about for 5 minutes and out again....

SiriusB · 20 Oct 2006 at 22:25

Playstation 2, Xbox, Gay Cube, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii [smirk], Nintendo DS, PSP.

Thats a lot of consoles and handhelds for PC games to compete against.

SiriusB

Darkwave · 20 Oct 2006 at 22:36

deSade said:
That's pretty much here already though - next gen console with USB keyboard & mouse, and a HDTV.

Not really, take Oblivion for example: On the Xbox 360 you are missing higher levels of antialiasing (stuck on 2x), anisotropic filtering (stuck with 0x, and it looks absolutely bloody abysmal to put it nicely), the greater draw distance that the PC version offers, the more detailed textures and higher levels of mapping that the PC version offers, keyboard and mouse support, quick save/load, named saves, and the ability to mod the game to simply insane levels with very high quality mods made by the community and distributed for free.

I'm sorry to say it, but console gaming is still behind. If you're just interested in a lower cost machine that allows you to pop in a disc and play for a while, or a party machine to play against a group of friends on, then consoles are great but as a total gaming machine the console is severely lacking and until they improve (or until PC gaming declines, as it is doing) then I know where my money is going and it's worth every penny.

Kreeeee · 20 Oct 2006 at 22:41

Jabbs · 20 Oct 2006 at 23:32

deSade said:
That's pretty much here already though - next gen console with USB keyboard & mouse, and a HDTV.

You can't play games on the 360 with a keyboard and mouse though so no its not the same.

Oberon · 20 Oct 2006 at 23:35

Having used to work in one of the two GAME shops in central Milton Keynes i'd have to say i agree.

Console's are favoured because they can sell GAME brand controllers, memory cards and other accessories/pre-requisites cheaper than the official stuff but still create massive profit.

Basically i learnt that selling and xbox and 2 brand new games got the company nothing. So we were constantly under pressure to add to the sale, memory cards, controllers, pre-owned games etc etc.

With the PC they can't really do that as the third party accessories/pre-requisites etc are already well covered online and no one wants to pay £10 for a ball mouse with 2 buttons.

I think you get what i mean.

Essentially they can't make profit from PC games/hardware i found.

As for pre-owned PC games, the reason why game doesn't sell those is because of the CD-Key/account issues meaning we would have to lose a lot of man hours checking that they were still valid and could be re-sold.

And that's my 2 cents.

jimmyjimmyo · 20 Oct 2006 at 23:38

I work at game part-time at the moment and I used to be a manager there for 5 years or so but the main reason PC games have been axed for console is just down to 2 things.

1. Sales

Console games sell huge amounts in comparison to PC, the PC does have some massive sellers (WOW, Sims, Total War and a few other franchises) but the consoles shift software units so fast it is crazy tbh. as an example fifa on the consoles in my store sold 500 copies across the 3 main available formats (PS2, Xbox and GC) on the first day yet only 22 on the PC. even if we look at sims pets which is massive by Pc standards it sold 175 copies today now compare that to scarface on the PS2 only first day sales of 224 units .

2. support

It is a sad fact that the majority of consumers who come in to a shop to buy a game will when asked to check the specs look at you blankly and after 60 seconds or so say "windows xp" or "I got it last year so it must work" then you have the people who do not understand that every PC is a dif. spec and some games need to be patched etc. etc.

It sometimes takes as long to sell a pc game as it does to sell a ps2 console so shops go where the money is sadly.

Oh and PC piracy is getting crazy I have so many people who come in and ask "how do i copy games m8" but that can be said about any format tbh but PC's require no modification to run pirate games so it is a little easier for the darling little chavs.

Echo toxin · 21 Oct 2006 at 00:02

I went into Game for the first time in a very long time yesterday. I thought "Good God. Do people actually pay these prices for games when it's cheaper to buy online?" Gobsmacked I was to see Xbox 360 games at £50.

Kainz · 21 Oct 2006 at 00:13

I've long left the pc gaming scene but poped into a well known london based second hand games/hardware store. This place sells second hand console/pc and bits and bobs.

Not been there in a while, so I was shocked last week when I went there and found that there wasn't a pc section anymore. Upon asking why, the chap goes "people just download games now so theres no point stocking them". True to an extent.

Console games will always sell by the bucketload by comparison, and as mentioned above, trying to troubleshoot pc game problems for a customer is a foolhardy task.

SiriusB · 21 Oct 2006 at 01:34

Kreeeee said:
Someone's in an anti-nintendo fangirl mood today.

Telford stores have always been pathetic for choice despite there being 2 "GAME"s in one shopping centre.

I used to love nintendo back in the days of the NES and SNES, even had a Gameboy!

But after the N64 came out with its multitude of rubbish games I never went back. The Game Cube wasn't much better and I don't expect the Wii to be either.

But I haven't bought a console since the PS2 and haven't touched it for years. PC gamer now and therefore no real fanboy/girl-ism to be found. Just a bitter resentment towards a fallen hero

SiriusB