# Why is it so hard to purchase PC games?



## Myr (May 8, 2006)

I've been getting more and more annoyed with this with every new release game that comes out. It keeps getting worse and worse each release. Why is it I can't find a decent retailer to buy the game "Rise of Nations:Rise of Legends" from? Don't answer that because I already know, having taken business courses myself. PC game-buying is just becomming awful.

As a consumer, it's really frustrating to go around to all these sites, look it up, and see 6 different dates. Some companies are expecting it to take weeks after release to get the product out and others (like EBGames and Gamestop) falsify their shipping dates and send your package through a delivery system that loses it. You're lucky if your cd is completely flat and in one piece when and if it arrives.

Also, I was at a very huge and one of the top Walmarts in the USA today. Their PC game section consisted of a few boxes on a single endcap of an aisle on a SINGLE shelf. It used to be an entire side of one aisle, but now all that has become Xbox360 garbage and the PC games section keeps shrinking. The employees even state it's going to get removed. How is that possible at one of the top 5 Walmarts in the USA?

I guess I'll just have to wait a week or two and hope Newegg starts selling the game, or hope that Staples gets it in stock since I refuse to buy from EBGames or Best Buy. Circuit City is an option, but it's too far away. Too bad FYE and Sears don't sell PC games.

Is it just me or are games, PC games in specific, getting harder and harder to buy? From the photoshopped renders to the CGI cutscenes suggested as actual gameplay (which has become something to make me hate all next-gen consoles (XBox360, PS3, Wii)); it's just gotten way out of hand. Call me crazy, but I get really upset when they try to tell me that the game they're trying to shove down my throat looks like this http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/773/773087/img_3519449.html when in reality it actually looks like this http://www.biagame.com/images/wallpapers/corrion_wall_1280x960.jpg . Anyone else feel the same way?

It's probably a good time to note that if I were to exist in my trueform in this world I would avoid the use of all forms of technology and perhaps outright destroy it when it gets close to me. I'm not a technology-friendly dragon, but the human me is technology-friendly.


EDIT: Oh yeah, the power went out earlier. It just came back on an hour ago. It scared the shit out of me since I was in a closet downstairs and had a bunch of halogen lights around me that flickered and dimmed before going out. And there's also a big smoke detector in the basement (since we have a wood pellet stove) and it gets really pissy for a few seconds when the power goes out. I guess I wouldn't had been so scared had I not been watching that ghost hunters (TAPS) show earlier on Sci Fi....meep....humans get scared too easily.


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## Mr Cullen (May 8, 2006)

I've rarely been bothered about the release of any types of games. As long as I know they'll be out eventually I'm perfectly happy. I'm not however, happy about having a shitty graphics card that I can't change myself because if I do I'll void the warranty and I insist on not paying even more money for dell to come install it for me.


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## Thaily (May 8, 2006)

Gaming is becoming more and more popular, I think stores can make more money by pandering to the "jock" class of people who are only now starting to play games.  In my experience breezerheads mostly play on Playstations/X-box' etc. so they stock more of those games than PC games.

I'm more of a retrogamer so it doesn't affect me that much, but I do have trouble buying gamecards for EQ. But that's more to blame on marketing.


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## Mr Cullen (May 8, 2006)

"Jocks" always go for the ps2 I've noticed anyways. Same with the ned/chav types over here in the UK. The geeks like myself tend to go for the PC and X-box.


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## noitaroproc (May 8, 2006)

Your problem is that you're shopping at fucking Wal*Mart.


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## Silver R. Wolfe (May 8, 2006)

Mr Cullen said:
			
		

> "Jocks" always go for the ps2 I've noticed anyways. Same with the ned/chav types over here in the UK. The geeks like myself tend to go for the PC and X-box.



No, most people in the world go for the PS2.  Tis why it outsells everything.

I never have any problem getting games for my computer, if I look hard enough online, it'll be there.


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## Suule (May 8, 2006)

Being a retrogamer I find it hard to buy old games. The re-releases may be nice, but there is catch - most of them come out localised... >.> So I can't get original English versions.


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## dave hyena (May 8, 2006)

DragonMyr said:
			
		

> when in reality it actually looks like this http://www.biagame.com/images/wallpapers/corrion_wall_1280x960.jpg . Anyone else feel the same way?



Those are astonishingly good graphics for a computer game.

I remember playing elite on the Acorn A3000 with filled polygons.

No longer need one endure models which appear to be made of glass.


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## Dragoneer (May 8, 2006)

I buy games from Amazon (I refuse to shop Gamestop/EB games) and buy them direct online from Direct2Drive.com. That's how I bought Oblivion.

I <3 it.

Instant gaming love. No store. No bullshit. It lets me put my dual GeForce 7900 GTXs to work. UNF UNF.


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## Silver R. Wolfe (May 8, 2006)

Dragoneer said:
			
		

> I buy games from Amazon (I refuse to shop Gamestop/EB games) and buy them direct online from Direct2Drive.com. That's how I bought Oblivion.
> 
> I <3 it.
> 
> Instant gaming love. No store. No bullshit. It lets me put my dual GeForce 7900 GTXs to work. UNF UNF.



Oblivion is alright though I got bored of it quickly...  Like I said in an earlier thread somewhere on the forums...  It just felt too deja vu.

Now Black & White 2?  That game is the shiznet. =3

Btw, why would you ever buy a PC game unless it was an online one (which required a unique cd-key?)


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## Dragoneer (May 8, 2006)

silverwolfe said:
			
		

> Btw, why would you ever buy a PC game unless it was an online one (which required a unique cd-key?)


I buy games to support the development of new games I want to play, mostly. I buy games, pay the money. I usually buy games unless it looks like a stinker. I've got nothing against paying for quality product so long as, y'know, it's quality.

One reason I stay away from most EA games. Besides, I have a job, no reason NOT to buy games. I'm tired of seeing my favorite dev companies go under because of lack of money. =/ Piracy has killed off some of the best companies there are. That, or EA. LOL.


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## Silver R. Wolfe (May 8, 2006)

Dragoneer said:
			
		

> silverwolfe said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I only grab old games using piracy (usually easier to find them that way) and I like to try games out first before I buy them, but in the end if I want to actually own the game and play it, I'll go dish out the money for it. =3

The whole piracy thingy was more of a joke than me bein' serious..  I just forgot the smiley. :3


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## cesarin (May 8, 2006)

they want to secretely force users to trow all their products into a simple way of distributing stuff for the cheap, IE, STEAM.


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## Captain Oz (May 8, 2006)

DragonMyr said:
			
		

> Is it just me or are games, PC games in specific, getting harder and harder to buy?



I believe the simple truth of the matter is that PC gaming is almost dead.  Games are being dominated by consoles and with Microsoft having its own console, more gaming companies that used to produce for PCs are being encouraged to make console games (mainly X-Box).  Then on top of that PC games rarely look as good as their console brothers, it isn't usually until the end of a console generation's life that PC games start to out do console games, such as now as the PS2 and GameCube near their end and the X-Box 360 is in its infancy.  Because of this retailers are not profiting as much off of PC games and replace PC games with faster selling, and now more expensive console games.



			
				cesarin said:
			
		

> they want to secretely force users to trow all their products into a simple way of distributing stuff for the cheap, IE, STEAM.



Steam makes me cry :cry:  It is a sad fact that piracy has forced companies to do such things... that and Gary Newell is a dick.


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## benanderson (May 8, 2006)

Because everybody has a video games console and new Computers that have at least the minimum specs to run new games are very expensive! The minimum processor power required for the new tomb raider game is 3GHz! (I wanted that, but sadly I only have a 2.6GHz processor.)

So retailers don't buy in PC games because they know that they will make more money off console games.

I must admit, I go to the PC section of any shop and all they have is "Sold Out Software" or "Xplosive". Re-releases of old games for cheap. Theme Hospital and Sonic 3, just to name two...


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## Grave (May 8, 2006)

Try downloading it, if not im sure there is a store online _somewhere_ that has it.

If you are like me and hate buying stuff online and not seeing anything for your hard earned cash for weeks, then just keep huntin' in those stores. I dont see the big deal with going to EB or Gamestop though...

I only shop at Gamestation here in the UK, we dont have EB instead we have a place called "Game" that bought out all EB stores and changed them to "Game" stores. I stopped shopping there when the quality of service decreased, the clerks all become a bunch of snotty-nosed know-it-all's, and prices skyrocketed. At least Gamestation has (kinda)cheap titles and decent offers, fucking Game likes to charge full price for USED games! Its an outrage!

Ultimately though, games are WAAAAAY too expensive, regardless of quality or what platform they are on. Give me new PS2 top titles for £20 and i will take away that statement, but thats never likely to happen and games are only gonna get *even more* expensive now that consoles like the Lamebox360 are out. £50 for a fucking game is just too expensive!

I will even bitch when i have to pay that much for a PS3 game, which we all know will be the god almighty of *ALL* home consoles to come in the next 7 or 8 years, so it'll be worth it...kinda...but still an outrage! 

I dont see "piracy" as a bad thing niether. 
Personally i think whatever "problem" there may be with game piracy is *entirely* the fault of the game developers/publishers. Who ever the hell decides on a final price for the game, is at fault for the level of piracy there is out there. The prices they charge for their games are a total rip off and you cant blame people for trying to download and play the game first before they potentially go out and waste £50 on some brand new game that ends up being a load of shit.

If they lowered their prices then i bet there wouldnt be half as much piracy "troubles" out there, but that will never happen so i will continue to download before i splash out the outrageous amount these companies are asking for their games.


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## Litre (May 8, 2006)

I be the few that thinks Steam is useful. *shrug*


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## Silver R. Wolfe (May 8, 2006)

*RE:  Why is it so hard to purchase PC games?*



			
				Litre said:
			
		

> I be the few that thinks Steam is useful. *shrug*



Never used it, so I have no opinion.


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## Mr Cullen (May 9, 2006)

*RE:  Why is it so hard to purchase PC games?*



			
				Litre said:
			
		

> I be the few that thinks Steam is useful. *shrug*



Personally I can't stand using steam, it takes ages to update even with a decent connection and it causes all sorts of errors.


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## Trevorbluesquirrel (Jul 5, 2020)

How well have these fine comments aged, eh!?

Also, does anyone else still collect physical Disc PC Games!?


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## Good Boy Avery (Jul 5, 2020)

Trevorbluesquirrel said:


> How well have these fine comments aged, eh!?
> 
> Also, does anyone else still collect physical Disc PC Games!?



Yeah, physical collections are becoming less popular in favor of online libraries. That's pretty much why it's so hard to find hardcopies these days.


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## MainHammond (Jul 5, 2020)

I usually just but Physical copies of indies I really like, like Freedom Planet or Transistor.
For big games or tripluh A games I usually bought them digitally because I know sooner than later they will release some kind of microtransaction or DLC .


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## Starbeak (Jul 5, 2020)

Yeah stores usually treat PC Games pretty badly. Now you got to go through hoops just to buy a physical copy of something you are looking for. 

Credit Cards and Pay-palls are the new way to purchase PC Games, everything else is becoming obsolete.

I remember when Sims 4 expansion packs were released in the stores, it took over 3 months before I gave up looking and bought a game card and bought it digitally.

Digital PC games are becoming the new normal, and have been for a decade. 

Most PC's today even have no DVD slots anymore (like my new PC for instance). I can officially assume in 10 years time, Physical PC Game Disks will become an ancient relic.


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## zeroPony (Jul 5, 2020)

Trevorbluesquirrel said:


> Also, does anyone else still collect physical Disc PC Games!?





Starbeak said:


> Most PC's today even have no DVD slots anymore


I gifted to friends most of my collection years ago. But still have some games on CDs, like Serious Sam, MDK2, GTA3, Warctaft 3, Nitro Family and so on. This winter I wanted to replay Warcraft 3 campaign, but it seems a little bit hard to install game from scratched CD and properly update game. After that I detach DVD drive and put in on shelf


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## Sharg (Jul 6, 2020)

Trevorbluesquirrel said:


> How well have these fine comments aged, eh!?
> 
> Also, does anyone else still collect physical Disc PC Games!?



I do, I prefer physical media to everything else. With physical media, I feel that I own something, but even there they've started to just pack a Steam code in the box 

With digital games, I don't feel like you are really buying anything, it feels like renting. Steam controls all your games, you don't control them. If they decide one day to bar you access from your games, you're screwed.
I hate the drive towards digital and don't understand why the majority of people appear to be in favor of it. Its nice to collect things and have something that you own. I've never personally lost a game or had a disc break/get scratched up because I always keep my games neat and on the shelf. I guess I can understand it if you live with others or have children, but really digital is a step backward for the consumer. If anything, we should've been paying less to buy a digital copy.


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## zeroPony (Jul 7, 2020)

Sharg said:


> I've never personally lost a game or had a disc break/get scratched up


Funny thing that discs can be scratched by drive itself. My Warcraft 3 TFT CDs was almost always in drive tray, but was scratched. But more often discs damaged when I exchanged with friends...
Oh, and I remember when friend's disc with Nox cracked in CD tray


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## Sharg (Jul 7, 2020)

zeroPony said:


> Funny thing that discs can be scratched by drive itself. My Warcraft 3 TFT CDs was almost always in drive tray, but was scratched. But more often discs damaged when I exchanged with friends...
> Oh, and I remember when friend's disc with Nox cracked in CD tray



Oh that's crazy, never had that experience, guess I've been very lucky in that regard.
Nox was a good game too


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## TyraWadman (Jul 7, 2020)

zeroPony said:


> Funny thing that discs can be scratched by drive itself. My Warcraft 3 TFT CDs was almost always in drive tray, but was scratched. But more often discs damaged when I exchanged with friends...
> Oh, and I remember when friend's disc with Nox cracked in CD tray



I have had this happen to be and others! 
Friend bought a brand new DVD and we watched it. When it came out, it looked like someone had their cat walk all over it. 
Just CD's in general... I'm kinda glad Nintendo went back to cartridges, since they don't get ruined as easily.


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## hara-surya (Jul 7, 2020)

Starbeak said:


> I can officially assume _in 10 years time_, Physical PC Game Disks will become an ancient relic.



That's a funny way of spelling "10 years ago."

They really just plain don't make physical PC games anymore. They don't mint them in factories because it costs too much give the fact they'll just sit on store shelves and rot while people buy their games online. Stores have better uses for the shelf space so they devoted less and less to PC games, based on the falling sales, until it became zero.



Sharg said:


> I hate the drive towards digital and don't understand why the majority of people appear to be in favor of it. Its nice to collect things and have something that you own. I've never personally lost a game or had a disc break/get scratched up because I always keep my games neat and on the shelf. I guess I can understand it if you live with others or have children, but really digital is a step backward for the consumer. If anything, we should've been paying less to buy a digital copy.



I frequently lost discs or had them scratched. Not everyone is careful, and as other said above, sometimes faulty drives would damage them. I miss the nice, thick pack-in manuals, but then again the games that tended to have them now have dictionary-length manuals where a tablet makes more sense anyway.

But the arguments for download games are similar to the ones I have for ebooks. You don't have to worry about damaging the media, or figuring out where you put it, or having to keep it on your or in the drive. (In the case of ebook, you don't have to worry about other people knowing you're reading about reading naughty/subversive/weird material.) If I lose it I can just download it again. I can install it on multiple devices and switch between them at-will. I can play any game I want without having to switch disks. And, with my fast Internet, I can download a game about 2-3 times faster than I could install it off a DVD. (Do that math on the throughput of SATA 16X DVD vs. high speed cable or fiber Internet and realize how thoroughly obsolete physical media is in that regard.)

There's still plenty of physical collectables for games, if you want them, just not a circle of shiny plastic with data on it.

And, for what it's worth, even expensive games are cheaper now than they used to be. "Back in the day" it wasn't uncommon for a video game to cost $50-60+ in early 1990s money (heaven forbid you be a console gamer where top-end cartridge games with special chips could cost $80-90+) which is well over $100 in 2020 money. Part of the reason is that with digital distribution (which is a dumb way to describe it, even software stored on audio cassette in the 1970s and 80s were technically "digital") means the game company gets a much, much larger percentage of the sale price. Again, "back in the day" of physical games it wasn't unheard of for the game company to only get 10-15% of the cover price, with tons of middle men picking at the rest of the price.

For that matter, with the Steam Summer Sale going on, you can see how low PC games prices can get with the low overhead of downloads.

Ironically, for consoles, data-only cartridges are probably cheaper and orders of magnitude faster than discs and easier to manage for portable systems like the Switch. (Either way, the data just gets installed and you play off of internal storage.)


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## zeroPony (Jul 7, 2020)

hara-surya said:


> But the arguments for download games are similar to the ones I have for ebooks.


Oh, I'm fan of ebooks too. But my wife don't. So she keeps whole shelf of books and... Almost don't read them. So they just occupy space.

One of cons of online game distribution is they can remove game from store anytime. First Mafia, for example (because of music).


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## Jaredthefox92 (Jul 7, 2020)

For an old game like Warcraft 3, piratebay is your friend. Heck, the original is way better than the remastered.


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## Skittles (Jul 7, 2020)

GoG.com cheap old games with no DRM. Nuff said.


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## zeroPony (Jul 7, 2020)

Skittles said:


> GoG.com cheap old games with no DRM. Nuff said.


Yep. But you should read comments first. Mafia delivers without music, for example.


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## Skittles (Jul 7, 2020)

zeroPony said:


> Yep. But you should read comments first. Mafia delivers without music, for example.


Huh, that sucks. Never had an issue there myself.


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## Deleted member 82554 (Jul 7, 2020)

Trevorbluesquirrel said:


> How well have these fine comments aged, eh!?
> 
> Also, does anyone else still collect physical Disc PC Games!?


About as well as bringing back to life threads from 14 years ago. Let's not anymore.

And no, I don't.


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## hara-surya (Jul 8, 2020)

Mr. Fox said:


> About as well as bringing back to life threads from 14 years ago. Let's not anymore.
> 
> And no, I don't.



Necromancers are still romancers...

* Poses sexy in Baron Samedi makeup and top hat * 

Edit: Generally I'm against thread necro, but this one is interesting. It should probably have been a new thread, but still interesting.


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