PC Games Getting Squeezed off the Shelves

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Has anyone noticed a change in the way shops are stocking games?

I was looking for a few to pass time during the rainy period and noticed that the shelves seem to be dominated by XBOX and PS2 games. The PC titles seem to be shoved into a little corner somewhere. Also the selections are quite pityful. Makro used to have good selection, but now they are selling 3-yr-old games for up to R200. They also never seem to have much of the top titles or even the classics.

Also the difference in prices between Look & Listen and Incredible Con can be R100.

I saw Quake4 today for R399. Now that's at least 2 yrs old!! (Standard edition DVD version)

I can now see how piracy develops. Probably out of frustration at not being able to get hold of it and the wacky prices ...
 
I think you're not far off. I attribute the console dominance to the fact that the margins on console games are better, and they probably generate more sales because of PC piracy.

There's also marketing moola from MS and Sony to make sure their games are well represented.
 
i payed R460 (shipping + import tax) for the q4 collectors edition.

but yes. those old games still priced at todays prices are just silly ;)
 
Well... Thats the problem. You see, PC games are starting to fade away, and I feel like the PC upgrade I'm gonna perform maybe the last for a long time as consoles are becoming more and more popular. but the thing is that Microsoft are starting to panic because PC gaming is where consoles get there power from (graphics cards, cpu's, ram etc) so once PC gaming is over, there won't be much development for those parts, and consoles will be less profitable cos then the console makers(Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo) will have to plunge more cash into making the consoles.

But over the next year, We gonna see more games then every before, as now Microsoft is pushing PC gaming development to the extreme. So the best way to be safe is to own a PC and a high def console.

I'm Dreading to think what would happen when there's no pc games, and then consoles take 10 years till update, and the upgraded consoles (eg: the ps4) are simple upgrades.
But then again PC gaming is one of the most influential factors to computer development and once thats gone, life will become every boring...

Oh well, there's plenty games out to far, so i guess it will take a while to run out
 
PC games will not disappear. MS is pumping billions into their live for windows online game play service along with dx10.

You can still get most of the pc games from the online retailer, so I am not worried. I will stick to the pc till the end.
 
scotty777 said:
Microsoft are starting to panic because PC gaming is where consoles get there power from (graphics cards, cpu's, ram etc) so once PC gaming is over, there won't be much development for those parts, and consoles will be less profitable cos then the console makers(Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo) will have to plunge more cash into making the consoles.
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Are games really the only things that drive R&D into new processors and memory? Were the processors in the 360 or PS3 developed so people could play games?

The main thing that put me off playing on a PC was the hassles. And of course the need to keep buying new hardware to play newer games.
 
doobiwan said:
I think you're not far off. I attribute the console dominance to the fact that the margins on console games are better, and they probably generate more sales because of PC piracy.

There's also marketing moola from MS and Sony to make sure their games are well represented.
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Isn't there a buyer subsidy on console games. Consoles are sold at a loss or at cost and the companies make their money purely on the games?
 
It always happens. In a year or so midrange PC hardware will surpass the consoles (currently only the high end stuff is better) and development will start to shift back to PC, it happens every cycle. At least the 360 can still piggy back on that development ;)
 
ROFL btgames/Zaps/Take2/Kalahari/Bidorbuy* is your freind :D I don't realy like going to stores to buy games as thier prices are just insane! Oh another thing, S.A's population is not all that jacked up for "technology" AKA PC's it just seems easier to plug in a console into a TV and pay R400-R700 for a game :rolleyes:

With the release of DX10 PC is getting a advantage over Consoles, Cept' the Wii they are jsut plain fun!! What is better then swinging your arms around like a spaz to play bowling! YAY!

BTW Wii is killing PS3/Xbox360 but we still don't have it! and I would rather get a Wii or Xbox360 than a POS3 ;)

*can pick up some great games for realy REALY cheap! got a perfect second hand copy of Quake 4 for about R90! 100% working :)
 
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Go have a looky @ rage 2007 in september then try and tell me that again.That pc games is fading away.
 
We seem to be importing all the old 'classic' games for quite a few customers. There is definately an appetite for PC games, however in SA its just tough to stock over 4000 games without having an online store.
 
“PC games not dead yet” – Nvidia
Games and Entertainment

By Humphrey Cheung
Monday, July 30, 2007 17:56
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Santa Clara (CA) – Sharper monitors and special versions of games will reinvigorate PC gaming, according to Nvidia representatives. These days it seems that millions of gamers have switched to playing games on their game consoles, but Roy Taylor, Nvidia’s Vice President of Content Relations, recently told us that PC games aren’t dead by a “longshot”.

Taylor predicts that the next big jump in computer monitor resolutions will be screens with 3800 by 2400 pixel or approximately nine megapixels. “They’ll need to be at most 30-inches wide with a finer dot pitch,” he said, adding that larger monitors would probably break an average desk.

Of course those monitors will be expensive at first and the refresh rate probably won’t be that great, but just like all technology they will get faster and cheaper. Manufacturing LCD screens is similar economically to making DRAM because the columns of pixels in a monitor screen resemble the rows of memory cells in your typical DRAM chip.

According to Taylor, economies of scale and efficiency take over and large computer monitors should become affordable – something that we’ve seen in memory capacities and prices.

It’s obvious that without better games, sharper monitors and more powerful graphics cards would be useless. Taylor told us that he would like game developers to make director’s cut versions – with more scenes, levels and better graphics – of popular games. He adds that every bit of eye candy would be added, even if it was impossible to render smoothly on a regular machine.

Developers often want to make the best possible game, but business realities mean that games must often be scaled-down graphically to work on many machines. “I would like a version of the game that doesn’t pander to the businessmen. Something with the very very best in graphics,” Taylor said, adding that if it takes a $20,000 PC to run the game, “then so be it”.

Taylor told us that he’s already talked to several developers who have been receptive to the director’s cut idea.
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http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/33143/98/
 
I love this.

The whole "PC games are dying" story has gone on for years now. Don't be silly people! It is still probably the most used platform to play games on.

More people play Counterstrike on a PC than Halo on a 360!
 
EtienneK said:
I love this.

The whole "PC games are dying" story has gone on for years now. Don't be silly people! It is still probably the most used platform to play games on.

More people play Counterstrike on a PC than Halo on a 360!
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Heck, you can't even buy Counterstrike in the shops in Cape Town. Hence my point.. :cool:
 
I must say i'm quite disappointed in a certain store that specializes in the sale of games. They have perhaps 20 - 40 PC titles on their shelves, and that includes their 14 or so pre-order units. And ... what you see on the shelves is not necessarily in stock.

You go to a store that specilises in DVD's and Music, and they have a heck of a lot of PC games. I'm like huh?

I expect a shop that specializes in games to stock 400 or so PC games. That should cover perhaps 2% of what is available out there?

Dismal.
 
The problem with games is that they are very expensive and don't hold their value. You may have a huge run on something for 3 days, then nobody wants it any more because everyone's either pirated it, or moved onto the next big thing.
 
Online stores are definately the way to go when buying PC games, great for comparing prices. You'll often find good but old games for a bargain, I saw Thief Deadly Shadows somewhere for about R50 and Splinter Cell Chaos Theory for about R70, LOTR BFME2 for R80.

Microsoft is not helping the PC game industry, it's far to busy trying to tighten it's grip on it with DX, making DX10 & DX10.1 for Vista only shows this, and Vista has so much DRM it's insane. Check this site to get an idea of how wonderfull Vista is, it's long but it's well worth reading. http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.html

The devs should really start pushing for OpenGL, it works on just about anything from some cellphone to linux and can do anything DX10 can.
 
This is a stocking issue and it peeved me off yesterday how big retailers can have such a limited range of games of ANY kind. CNA Menlyn is a disgrace! Top CD whipped them hands down! I'd recommend Top CD's gaming section to anybody! Brilliant range and you can find classic titles now for R109... FEAR and the likes...

They even have WoW broadgames and stuff. I was impressed. Top CD FTW! :)

Look and Listen's PS3 and Xbox 360 range is also impressive. Funnily enough it is Incredible Connection that has the best specials (not general pricing) from time to time. You could scoop up 2 x classic 360 games for R200 a while ago. There were a few games, but they were there at least.
 
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