[TEFSADDERFISA]

game stores in the UK have absolutely fook all PC games...

[grubnismarl]

Gamestop in the US seems to be the same. I went into one store in El Paso last week and all the PC games seemed to be from 2005! It was like a time warp they were selling Ultima Online 8 as a 'new' game! The other games were things like Day of Defeat: Source.

[Kamendoriks]

I wish I would have taken a picture of the PC game store here in 2000 vs. how it looks today. The difference is HUGE!! It's all console games now.

Still remember seeing that 3dfx Voodoo5 AGP for sale at the local EBGames for like $599. That was craaazy back then.

[frequensearules]

About 3 stores around where I live have closed down over the last few years and they almost exclusively sold PC games.

The only ones left are Gamestation, HMV and PC world and they only sell new PC games, the other stores that closed all traded in pre-owned games or new, but no one buys pre-owned PC games any more, allegedly because of Piracy, well that's what I've been told anyway.

Their prices for pre-owned games were crap too, you could buy a brand new game for £30, take it back a week later and get less than £10 in cash for it, maybe up to £15 if you traded it in against some other game.

Probably for this very reason, I've bought one new game in the last year and that's it.
And that was COD MW2.

Maybe when my funds get a little better I might buy a few more new games.

Would really like to get Bioshock 2, AVP, OP flashpoint 2.

Might try and get the Stalker "call of pripyat" in the next month or so, though, would really like to get that since I've played Stalker SOC to death.

[TEFSADDERFISA]

see thing is surely if pc games are less available people will be more likely to d/l pirated games...

good thing with online though is the games tend to be cheaper but you just cant go out and pick one up and play it 10 min later...

[mymnarorump]

Steam.

/end thread.

[JorgiOLusinio]

its sad really, i remember buying my voodoo3 3000 there way back in the day , they are severely lacking on the pc front, it boggles the mind

[frequensearules]

Steam.

/end thread.

Personally I dislike steam.

For one, since I got rid of my home broadband to save cash, I can't download any games through steam on my mobile broadband dongle since the speed is crap, 170kb at most in work, 40kb at most at home, and I only have a 5gb download per month.

Also unless you have the space to backup your entire steam folder (mine was 67gb at one stage), you risk losing the lot if your install of windows ever needs re-installing for some reason, and then having to re-download everything from steam again.

Steams fine if you have shed loads of HD space for regular backups and a fast internet connection, if you don't well, that's where stores that sell pre-owned PC games come in handy.

[TEFSADDERFISA]

Personally I dislike steam.

For one, since I got rid of my home broadband to save cash, I can't download any games through steam on my mobile broadband dongle since the speed is crap, 170kb at most in work, 40kb at most at home, and I only have a 5gb download per month.

Also unless you have the space to backup your entire steam folder (mine was 67gb at one stage), you risk losing the lot if your install of windows ever needs re-installing for some reason, and then having to re-download everything from steam again.

Steams fine if you have shed loads of HD space for regular backups and a fast internet connection, if you don't well, that's where stores that sell pre-owned PC games come in handy.

steam games are expensive too....

for example

re 5 pc is 24.99 on there and you can get it on amazon for 14 quid

same as left 4 dead its about 24 quid too where as amazon is 13

and left 4 dead 2 is 29.99 and you once again can get it on amazon for 14 quid

[mymnarorump]

Personally I dislike steam.

For one, since I got rid of my home broadband to save cash, I can't download any games through steam on my mobile broadband dongle since the speed is crap, 170kb at most in work, 40kb at most at home, and I only have a 5gb download per month.

Also unless you have the space to backup your entire steam folder (mine was 67gb at one stage), you risk losing the lot if your install of windows ever needs re-installing for some reason, and then having to re-download everything from steam again.

Steams fine if you have shed loads of HD space for regular backups and a fast internet connection, if you don't well, that's where stores that sell pre-owned PC games come in handy.

I'm not saying its great. I'm just saying that's pretty much the reason. More and more people have turned to downloadable content, and it really doesn't make sense in the developer's point of view to waste money of packaging and discs if they are not going to be sold in high volume through retailers.

[golozhopik]

its sad really, i remember buying my voodoo3 3000 there way back in the day , they are severely lacking on the pc front, it boggles the mind

I got my first ever 3d card from game.

Went in on my birthday to get 2x voodoo 2s but they had sold out (I was new to the scene then) but they told me to come back next week as they were getting in the new voodoo 3 3000s.

The next weekend I took a voodoo3 3000 AGP 16mb home with me.

I was quite young at the time, so when I walked in and asked to see the card (they were not the same people as the week before) they gave me a look, then I placed the cash on the counter and they started moving

[frequensearules]

I'm not saying its great. I'm just saying that's pretty much the reason. More and more people have turned to downloadable content, and it really doesn't make sense in the developer's point of view to waste money of packaging and discs if they are not going to be sold in high volume through retailers.

Yeah! Times certainly have changed.

I remember when games came in huge cardboard boxes, but these days you get a single dvd box and a small manual, maybe more if your lucky.

Depending on how fast your connection is though, Steam can be great, but if your connection isn't perfect or "half the world is on the internet", then Steam can be annoying, especially if all you want to do is activate a game over steam, like MW2.

I had to ditch my O2 dongle and get a 3G one, just to activate MW2, because the download rate on the O2 dongle was barely dialup speeds whereas the 3G dongle is 5 times that speed even at its slowest.

If you have a 20mb broadband connection and loads of space then Steam is perfect, if not, then you either take your chances and risk Steam grinding to a halt, or get the game some other way.

[everlastinge]

I'm guessing Steam and Direct2Drive etc. being the main culprits.
Also, I no longer play PC games though I always used to but I just can't afford a decent PC, console gaming is so much cheaper

I would be playing PC games if I had a student loan to waste on hardware. Sadly I'm no longer a student

[adesseridopaw]

steam games are expensive too....

for example

re 5 pc is 24.99 on there and you can get it on amazon for 14 quid

same as left 4 dead its about 24 quid too where as amazon is 13

and left 4 dead 2 is 29.99 and you once again can get it on amazon for 14 quid

Get from Play.com nice and cheap usally, don't like amazon, or though ebay is good to if your just buying, some good deals can be found.

[Shiplyopidomi]

steam games are expensive too.... You're a bit of a mug if you don't buy them when they're discounted.