I just went into EB here in Australia during my lunch break. This will come as no shock to 99.99% of you, but the number of PC games in there is getting really sad. Sure they had some great specials, but, there were so few games. I'm not one of the "PC games are dying" crowd, but it's so sad to see, mostly because that makes it harder for me to buy PC games, therefore perpetuating the rumour that PC games are dying. Good one, EB.

Quote: Original post by BLiTZWiNG
I just went into EB here in Australia during my lunch break. This will come as no shock to 99.99% of you, but the number of PC games in there is getting really sad. Sure they had some great specials, but, there were so few games.

Are there still people buying physical boxed PC games in this day and age ?

Since Steam & co I haven't even touched a boxed game. And my only excursions into a real-world video game store were out of boredom while waiting for GF to complete her whatever-shopping, with no actual intention to buy anything.

You walked into an EB expecting to find games? Ha! They don't sell games, silly. I've actually been outright laughed at (more than once) by EB employees for trying to find games in their store. Games which have been out for months.

That store needs to die a horrible, horrible death. Just use Steam like the rest of sane PC gamers.

Quote: Original post by LockePick
You walked into an EB expecting to find games? Ha! They don't sell games, silly. I've actually been outright laughed at (more than once) by EB employees for trying to find games in their store. Games which have been out for months.

That store needs to die a horrible, horrible death. Just use Steam like the rest of sane PC gamers.

Wow? really? My local EB Games has great staff, and if a game isn't in stock, they can 99% of the time tell me if someone else in the city has it in stock and be right about it.


I LIKE boxed games, as I happen to enjoy collecting Box Art. Most of my games are steam games, but not all publishers are admitting that Steam might have the best method for selling and protecting games currently. And even for games that are steam, I still enjoy buying them in store with a box if I can.

Australia still generally has pretty weedy internet services, so I still see the merit in getting hard copy media. I recently got the Orange Box, Psychonauts and the X-COM game pack and it took me nearly a week to download them all (off-peak).

That said, most of the PC games I get now are through downlaods because I've shifted to getting indie games or getting those old classics which are only available through Steam or Good Old Games. My PC rig is pretty long in the tooth and I don't particularly see much reason in upgrading, what with the overlap with the Xbox 360 for many games.

There's also not much choice when it comes to retail game stores, at least in Australia. There's only three chains that I know of that have a somewhat decent game selection:

1. EB: fair range of the latest games, typical Aussie prices, always seems a bit disorganised and hard to find anything. 50% of the time they're clearing stock, which is the only time other than when I'm bored that I really want to check them out. Staff are mostly nice though, at least at my local stores.
   
2. Game: Newer chain I think, not quite as good range IMO, rather bright and somewhat clinical feel. I've never really spent much time at a Game store; it never seemed to offer me anything. Plus they have the single most generic name for a store I've ever seen.
   
3. JB Hi-Fi: Sells music, DVDs, electronics and computers too, but their game selection is actually very good and have better prices than EB and Game. It's usually nigh impossible to get customer service, but that's not bad if you know what you're looking for.

I also buy a few physical copies of games on-line from a place called Gamehead.com.au which someone referred me to, which has been pretty good. Back when I was living in Canberra it was an easy way to get my hands on Gamecube titles.

But, rambling aside, I agree that PC is going toward downloads. I'd lean more towards getting physical copies if they came with decent manuals or other nice toys, but if all you're getting is a data disc then there's not much point save for saving download time and having a nice box on your bookshelf to admire (or for the offchance the verification servers will be killed in the future... although even that's moot if there's online activation for the physical media).

Trapper Zoid hit the nail on the head. Internet in Australia pretty much sucks.

I went in to EB because I felt like buying something that might take advantage of my new GTX275, for which I was thinking mostly Far Cry 2, and depending on how I felt, Mass Effect and/or Bioshock. I have Crysis, Warhead, Oblivion and GRAW2, so I'm not completely without games to play, I was just ... in the mood.

EB put me out of that mood. They didn't even have Far Cry 2, Mass Effect, Quake 4 or pretty much any recent games. It was quite bizarre.

I do agree though that JB Hi-Fi have been getting a lot better in recent times too. I would have gone there had there been one nearby. I also agree with the assesment of "Game". I'd like to use Steam but my measily 10Gb download limit and puny 1500 kbit internet does not help me.

To give this post some context and for those who do not know:

In Australia most internet services charge by data limits, not download speeds and internet here like most products and services is expensive. At the best for reasonable ADSL2+ it can cost you $50 USD for a 25gig a month download limit.

Digital downloading in Australia is still behind the times in this regard. So saying 'Just use steam ya noob!" isn't something we can rely upon. Especially when the average game is 5gig now.


EB games sells games that make money. PC games, excluding the Sims and World of Warcraft are generally bad sells. Add to the fact that most PC games are now turning up on consoles without any bullshit copy protection or even worse the PC game is a port of the console version. Ever tried playing overlord with a mouse and keyboard? It's pretty arse.

And the last blow to Australians is lag. For most online multiplayer games Australians can only play with other Australians. The average ping to the USA ranging to about 250-400 makes sure that unless the game has a large Australian user base most people will discard it. Being a country of 20 million also means the user base is usually very low.

Digital downloading is the future of PC gaming. However Australia isn't even near the same luxury of accessibility as our northern hemisphere comrades have.

Quote: Original post by Trapper Zoid
Australia still generally has pretty weedy internet services

May I ask why that is? Australia is modern and wealthy nation with large urban agglomerations, I would expect it to have a decent network infrastructure.

Quote: Original post by WanMaster

Quote: Original post by Trapper Zoid
Australia still generally has pretty weedy internet services

May I ask why that is? Australia is modern and wealthy nation with large urban agglomerations, I would expect it to have a decent network infrastructure.

Modern, fast returning to the dark ages. It's our suck-arse government. It doesn't matter which side gains power, neither are tech-savvy, nor do they want to be. That stuff is for nerds, it has no bearing on society, in fact, they don't think too many people use that interweb thing, it's just a fad that will pass.

Quote: Original post by BLiTZWiNG
It doesn't matter which side gains power, neither are tech-savvy

If it makes you feel any better, I don't think there's a tech-savvy government anywhere in the world. Except of course that all MPs have Twitter accounts nowadays, 'cause that's what all the cool kids are doing. [wink]

Is the lack of wiring or a lack of good service providers? I can't imagine that cities like Sydney or Melbourne don't have the proper infrastructure. And if it's the providers doing a poor job, I can't believe nobody has jumped into that giant gap in the market yet. Looks like a good business opportunity.

Sorry to dwell on it, I'm just a little curious. [smile]