PC Games - Where have they gone??

[MrBozack]

....Hey Guys.......

Sorry to troll, but you've only just noticed? I think this problem started to get bad around year 2000. It was around the time that PC games became more interactive online. Single-player games seem to be extinct now. Gone are the days of retail boxes with serial numbers. No more pausing the mission when your boss comes in. It's all "Game Experience May Change During Online Play" and "electronic software distribution".

Perhaps we're just getting old? Let's burn a few more Sim discs and reflect further.

[kalniel]

Sorry to troll, but you've only just noticed? I think this problem started to get bad around year 2000. It was around the time that PC games became more interactive online. Single-player games seem to be extinct now. Gone are the days of retail boxes with serial numbers. No more pausing the mission when your boss comes in. It's all "Game Experience May Change During Online Play" and "electronic software distribution".

Perhaps we're just getting old? Let's burn a few more Sim discs and reflect further.

You might be getting old - I'll carry on playing my excellent single player PC games like Legends of Grimrock, Torchlight, Skyrim, The Witcher 2 etc.
And this is what you got in just the standard edition box:

[Zadock]

I would also suggest playing the Witcher 1 as well, one of two quality single player PC games.

I just bought my first hard copy of a game in a long time, diablo 3. I didn't want to pay £15 more for a digital copy from Blizzard

I can see the OPs point though, even those stores that do sell pc games don't seem to be able to keep up with the current chart either. I popped into a well known supermarket the other day to see what they had and their chart for pc games was about two years old! Fallout: New Vegas (not ultimate I hasten to add) was number 1, followed by a bunch of other titles over a year old and all at premium price to (£29.99-£39.99)

[Rookie1986]

Sorry to troll, but you've only just noticed? I think this problem started to get bad around year 2000. It was around the time that PC games became more interactive online. Single-player games seem to be extinct now. Gone are the days of retail boxes with serial numbers. No more pausing the mission when your boss comes in. It's all "Game Experience May Change During Online Play" and "electronic software distribution".

Perhaps we're just getting old? Let's burn a few more Sim discs and reflect further.

Yeah, strange that but for the last few years I've mainly been playing Asian mmo's which have either been sent to me on disk by friends or I've downloaded from the games site. Its only since I built my new computer that can actually run todays games that I thought I would try the high street stores to see if I could pick up something on the cheap but that wasn't the case. I've ended up going back on steam and have downloaded a few things on there to keep me busy for the next few weeks//months

Rookie

[Kryloch]

I also get marginally agitated by high street shops not stocking pc games. I've never owned a consol, and only reason I may ever consider buying one is to develop games for XBLIG, I personally don't see a point in the things when you can have a perfectly decent PC.

With this, I've never personally resold a game I have bought for 2nd hand trade in. If I buy a game I make sure I want to keep it.

Though I guess I could say the agitation is more down to nostalgia then any true convience. I just like the feeling of having a hard copy of the game to carry home from town with anticipation of installing it when I get in, waiting for the postman of for steam to finish a download is not quite the same thing. Another thing that is nice about the high street having pc games in it, something to do in town when you just have to go there.

On the upside of not having the pc games on the highstreet is that you don't have to pay the over the top prices, though I did go buy Skyrim from a highstreet shop for about £16 cheaper then Steam strangely. I had Steam for ages but never used it seriously then I just caught a bit of a wake up when I built my new PC, and wanted somethign to play but could not find anything worthwhile on the highstreet. Happy that I caught the wake up.

Overall I want to have a hard copy of the disk/game/box/stuff. Even though it does take up space, but it looks pretty -_- but if I need to pay stupidly over the odds to get that I'll take the digital route that is provided and be pleased that I've saved a couple £££s.

[Rookie1986]

Just to add to this, but why does every PC game these days now require me to install some 3rd party or extra software when I want to install the game (Crysis and BF3 to name but two).

[Sacred]

Just to add to this, but why does every PC game these days now require me to install some 3rd party or extra software when I want to install the game (Crysis and BF3 to name but two).

Its all a conspiracy for them to spy on you, your computer and your PC usage.


I hear they can even turn your webcam on and watch you while you're sleeping......

[Rookie1986]

It gets even better, I'm trying to install BF3, first it makes me install some other ****ty program (Origin.... wtf?). Then when I try to make an account every and I mean EVERY name is taken, I've even tried just random mashes of the keyboard to get the..... "Sorry, this Origin ID is already taken." message every time. So I go to the EA website to get help/support and guess what, I need to log in to my account to get help but I need help to make an account

TBH they can get fked, BF3 will be going back tomorrow.

[Lucio]

I'm unsurprised at the lack of physical PC games in stores; they're simply not necessary for the majority of PC users. Let's face it, you can pretty much guarentee that any PC gamer is technically literate and has the best internet connection that they can afford, as such it makes sense that a digital distribution method wins out.

After all, we might all go "oh but I liked going to a store", but honestly, we just wanted the best price and the quickest availability.

The only shame about losing out on the stores is it's totally destroyed compeition in the market, there's nothing to help keep the prices down because 99% of the time, all digital editions are priced the same...

[Moonglum]

Its the old question of 'Should the lack of physical medium mean the game is cheaper'? The running costs of digital download (infrastructure) would have to be covered, but the savings in media, packaging, shipping, etc should lead to some reduction in digital purchases.

[kalniel]

Its the old question of 'Should the lack of physical medium mean the game is cheaper'?

Not really - we're talking store vs online retailer (eg Amazon) really. Both are selling the same physical medium.

[Mini_Me]

I think its just that the console market is simply huge and for normal people its just easier to get a console instead of getting a high end gaming rig. Retailers are finding it hard to make money with the current economics out there and stocking more console games than PC games would be the logical solution I think.

[dipzy]

I think its just that the console market is simply huge and for normal people its just easier to get a console instead of getting a high end gaming rig. Retailers are finding it hard to make money with the current economics out there and stocking more console games than PC games would be the logical solution I think.

Yup i agree, its cheaper for many to buy a console and games for it instead of spending a large amount on a gaming pc to get decent graphics and gameplay.

When buying pc games, i still prefer them on a disk rather than download.

[raspute]

pc gaming is an enthusiast hobby. you don't get into it unless you have specific wants and needs. say you bought a ps3 in 2007, a pc that would output equivalent graphics of then would have cost more than the ps3 because pc's are not as optimised for gaming as consoles. you'd then need to upgrade parts every 2 years to keep a good buy/sell ratio and to make your investment worthwhile. on top of that, while console games are more expensive, you can at least rent or sell off old games. you can't do that with pc games. finally game devs develop games for consoles, and don't put the pc as a priority. apart from a few exceptions like the upcoming planetside 2, or mmos (which cost loads in monthly fees), pcs don't get too many exclusives. partly why indie games are making a comeback. i personally love pc gaming but you have to know the drawbacks before you get into it.

[Deadeth]

It's a shame PC gamers can't easily walk into a lot of stores and find a wide selection of PC games anymore, but a lot of the stores revenue comes from re-trading in second hand copies of games, which is limited on the PC due to DRM and other such non-sense so they generally have smaller sections (with a few exceptions).

[maddielean]

Well, I guess because of the rapid development of electronic devices PC games started to shut down. Since other devices are more handy.