Availibility of PC Games

BeVonk!

BeVonk!

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I've been hunting for Hitman (Blood Money) for the last four days - without any luck. I've been to every PC game shop in Centurion that I could find - including TopCD where I usually find what I want (but not this time). I've also been at the Look&Listen megastore in Atterbury Rd. But what really struck me in this endeavour is the general scarcity of PC games. Console games are in abundance. Shops stock a few of the latest PC titles (STALKER and C&C 3 typically) - but there is no real variety as it used to be. And of those games they do have on the shelves they have one or two copies in stock only.

I'm frustrated. My very precious long weekend was planned around Hitman 3 ... but now I'm doing re-runs :mad:

Online, only Take 2 lists this Hitman title - but delivery is 7 working days - provided they can get hold of it.

To date I've only played games I legally bought - but the piracy option is now becoming more attractive - also considering that the formal second-hand trading of original (legal) games is "complex" (damaged disks, registration issues, etc).

What's going on - or is it just me hitting the shops at a bad time?
 
I think it comes to 'good business practices'. The older the title gets, the harder it gets for a shop to sell it. So they have to decide, do they rather buy a copy of a brand new game that they know will sell well? Or do they buy that copy of an older game that might be sitting there for 3 months?
 
Consoles are taking over! I myself was a hardcore PC gamer till i got a 360. Cant think of going back, especially when i see the pc versions of xbox games chugging along at low res on friends' pcs.
 
Place an order with Take2 and then download the warez version while waiting for it to arrive. SA shops keep minimum stock of most products anyhow.
 
WeaponX said:
Consoles are taking over! I myself was a hardcore PC gamer till i got a 360. Cant think of going back, especially when i see the pc versions of xbox games chugging along at low res on friends' pcs.
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It depends on what you play. If you play J-RPGs then you can only go with Console, although the PS2/3 is the better option there, as even Trusty Bell is going PS3. If you're into strategy games - eg Cossacks, AOE3, Warcraft etc, then PC (or Mac) is the better option obviously. So PC gaming isn't dead, by a long shot.
 
Well I'm not much of a gamer so there are plenty of games that I have missed out on. So of course when I decide to get one of the older ones there is no stock :(

So what I am doing is buying them on ebay and having them shipped to my sister in London. Then when she has collected a few she sends the whole batch to me. :cool:

In fact I almost bought Blood Money and Silent Assassin for around R94 plus the cost of sending it here.
 
PeterCH said:
It depends on what you play. If you play J-RPGs then you can only go with Console, although the PS2/3 is the better option there, as even Trusty Bell is going PS3. If you're into strategy games - eg Cossacks, AOE3, Warcraft etc, then PC (or Mac) is the better option obviously. So PC gaming isn't dead, by a long shot.
Click to expand...

Disagree about rpg's. the pc has some great rpg's coming up this year. The witcher, hell gate londen,Dragon age,Sacred 2.

And on the comment on games looking better on the xbox 360 compared to the pc go and look at dx10 screenshots of upcoming games and then come back to me.
 
stefan9 said:
Disagree about rpg's. the pc has some great rpg's coming up this year. The witcher, hell gate londen,Dragon age,Sacred 2.

And on the comment on games looking better on the xbox 360 compared to the pc go and look at dx10 screenshots of upcoming games and then come back to me.
Click to expand...

Unless the RPGs you quote are J-RPGs (Japanese RPGs) I stand that my point is still correct.

DX10 - well promo screen shots always look different from actual
achievable graphics and MS would be stupid to kill their Xbox360
off so soon anyhow.
 
dabouncer said:
:confused: Dont you have a life? :confused:
Click to expand...

:D I do yes - but the thing is the other things in my life keep me so occupied that I must make time for gaming - so when I set time aside for it (like this weekend) I want things to fall in place fast :D
 
PeterCH said:
Unless the RPGs you quote are J-RPGs (Japanese RPGs) I stand that my point is still correct.

DX10 - well promo screen shots always look different from actual
achievable graphics and MS would be stupid to kill their Xbox360
off so soon anyhow.
Click to expand...

Ok my mistake. I thought the j was just a typo.

I still prefer the pc rpgs to the japanese ones.

MS won't kill of the xbox 360. since not everyone can afford a gaming pc which is required to reach that level of dx10 but if you can afford a gaming pc with dx10 you will have better graphics then compared to a xb0x 360.

Some people will stick with 360 since they like how easy it is to setup the console and no upgrading etc. Others like the pc and having one system for all tasks and like upgrading and personalizing their system. While others like to have both.
 
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stefan9 said:
Ok my mistake. I thought the j was just a typo.

I still prefer the pc rpgs to the japanese ones.

MS won't kill of the xbox 360. since not everyone can afford a gaming pc which is required to reach that level of dx10 but if you can afford a gaming pc with dx10 you will have better graphics then compared to a xb0x 360.

Some people will stick with 360 since they like how easy it is to setup the console and no upgrading etc. Others like the pc and having one system for all tasks and like upgrading and personalizing their system. While others like to have both.
Click to expand...

DX10 cards will be about R1-2000 within 6-8 months. If you already have a PC, chances are it is fast already and adding that extra expense won't be so expensive. It's only early adopter stuff which is so expensive :).

The bonus of consoles I think is the huge number of titles you can play.
People who like JRPGS for example, can't do PC. :)
 
I have a PS2 gathering dust because I just cannot get used to playing my type of games (GRAW/R6/SC etc) using that controller. Maybe I'm just too old a dog to learn new tricks - but the mouse+keyboard works way better for me.
 
PeterCH said:
DX10 cards will be about R1-2000 within 6-8 months. If you already have a PC, chances are it is fast already and adding that extra expense won't be so expensive. It's only early adopter stuff which is so expensive :).

The bonus of consoles I think is the huge number of titles you can play.
People who like JRPGS for example, can't do PC. :)
Click to expand...

Yes but those midrange gfx cards aren't capable of maxxing out all the settings and still being playable. The high end cards are capable of max all settings and still being playable.

I have tried j rpg's in the past just never liked it. Doesn't compare to the pc rpg's like baldur's gate for me. But each to his own.
 
PeterCH said:
Place an order with Take2 and then download the warez version while waiting for it to arrive. SA shops keep minimum stock of most products anyhow.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't even know where to start dowloading a warez version - and with my MyMeg 500 3G account over its monthly limit already I can't even contemplate the idea - and downloading a game like this must be a few Gig ... :(
 
dakeyras said:
I think it comes to 'good business practices'. The older the title gets, the harder it gets for a shop to sell it. So they have to decide, do they rather buy a copy of a brand new game that they know will sell well? Or do they buy that copy of an older game that might be sitting there for 3 months?
Click to expand...

I understand this yes - but there is still a demand for a game like Hitman. The owner of one of the shops I visited said to me that I'm one of many looking for this game - and that she cannot get hold of more copies to sell herself. A shop's owner and staff that knows their stuff will know which "older" games sell well - and which don't. But what irked me at most shops was the total lack of games knowledge.
 
stefan9 said:
Ok my mistake. I thought the j was just a typo.

I still prefer the pc rpgs to the japanese ones.

MS won't kill of the xbox 360. since not everyone can afford a gaming pc which is required to reach that level of dx10 but if you can afford a gaming pc with dx10 you will have better graphics then compared to a xb0x 360.

Some people will stick with 360 since they like how easy it is to setup the console and no upgrading etc. Others like the pc and having one system for all tasks and like upgrading and personalizing their system. While others like to have both.
Click to expand...

The other thing is "most" video/dvd rental shops, like Video Den, rents PS2 and xbox 360 games, so you don't have to buy -
 
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