Decline Decline: at a store near you

[Abelian]

Earlier today, I went to a big box store (which shall remain nameless to protect the guilty) that I only visited once in the past five years.
I figured I'd check the video game section to check out what newfangled video games them young whippersnappers are playing nowadays.

There were around four shelving units with console video games, one of them mostly filled with GTA titles.
There was a single shelving unit for PC games.

This is what I found there:

Spoiler

Diablo 3
Witcher 3
Sims 3 and a bunch of expansions
Sims 4 and a bunch of expansions
Stronghold Crusader 2
World of Warcraft
Dragon Age Inquisition
Space Engineers - this one kind of surprised me and was the only one that was not a sequel of some sorts

That's it. This is what somebody sees when looking to buy a PC video game or to check on the current state of mainstream gaming at a brick-and-mortar retailer. I guess it could have been worse: the shelves could have been full of Call of Duty titles.

There might have been Starcraft 2 and Skyrim there as well but I was too depressed to double-check.
Fortunately, I played UnderRail and Age of Decadence once I got home and snapped out of it.

 

[Nekot-The-Brave]

Spoiler

Earlier today, I went to a big box store (which shall remain nameless to protect the guilty) that I only visited once in the past five years.
I figured I'd check the video game section to check out what newfangled video games them young whippersnappers are playing nowadays.

There were around four shelving units with console video games, one of them mostly filled with GTA titles.
There was a single shelving unit for PC games.

This is what I found there:

Spoiler

Diablo 3
Witcher 3
Sims 3 and a bunch of expansions
Sims 4 and a bunch of expansions
Stronghold Crusader 2
World of Warcraft
Dragon Age Inquisition
Space Engineers - this one kind of surprised me and was the only one that was not a sequel of some sorts

That's it. This is what somebody sees when looking to buy a PC video game or to check on the current state of mainstream gaming at a brick-and-mortar retailer. I guess it could have been worse: the shelves could have been full of Call of Duty titles.

There might have been Starcraft 2 and Skyrim there as well but I was too depressed to double-check.
Fortunately, I played UnderRail and Age of Decadence once I got home and snapped out of it.

I didn't know that Space Engineers got a retail release.

 

[StrongBelwas]

Sounds like an amazing selection compared to what I usually see ; Sims,Blizzard, maaaaybe a Bioware game, that is it.

Honestly, what were you expecting? There is a reason why almost everyone went and threw their hat in with a borderline digital-only PC market, accepting all that comes with it. Anything but the most mainstream fare can't hope to fight console gaming for physical shelf space.

 

[Alienman]

The stores around here still have a pc section, with new games, and some older. They are expensive, compared to online prices. But they are stashed in a small corner of the store, always. When I go there to look I feel like one of those old men that check the backside of porno vids in the videostore

 

[Astral Rag]

Meanwhile in Germany:

 

[Campion]

Yet Euro Truck Simulator 2 isn't there. Sacrilege!

 

[Jarpie]

Yet Euro Truck Simulator 2 isn't there. Sacrilege!

Knowing germans, it was probably sold out.

 

[PeachPlumage]

My eyes!

 

[an Administrator]

Meanwhile in Germany:

Why they are so obsessed with simulators? !

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

 

[HotSnack]

Game stores have been in decline for years. Half the shelf space in my local chains are dedicated to skylander toys, and now they've started selling action figures of minecraft lp'ers. Also, they're staffed by clueless workers who don't know any game beyond CoD. All the game-savvy workers who are still in the biz seem to have taken up a tiny specialist market stalls now.

 

[Belegarsson]

Meanwhile in Germany:

Why they are so obsessed with simulators? !

Germany is obsessed with banning/censoring violent video games and limiting their popularity so only simulator games have their own places in retail stores, of course unless Cities Skylines allows player to drop a motherfuckin' zombie apocalypse into a beautiful civilized city and make it soaked in blood.

 

[an Administrator]

Meanwhile in Germany:

Why they are so obsessed with simulators? !

Germany is obsessed with banning/censoring violent video games and limiting their popularity so only simulator games have their own places in retail stores, of course unless Cities Skylines allows player to drop a motherfuckin' zombie apocalypse into a beautiful civilized city and make it soaked in blood.

They deserve Sharia Law

 

[Abelian]

Sounds like an amazing selection compared to what I usually see ; Sims,Blizzard, maaaaybe a Bioware game, that is it.

Honestly, what were you expecting? There is a reason why almost everyone went and threw their hat in with a borderline digital-only PC market, accepting all that comes with it. Anything but the most mainstream fare can't hope to fight console gaming for physical shelf space.

To be honest, I was rather surprised at finding Stronghold Crusader 2 and Space Engineers and also the lack of first-person shooters. It was more of a general shock due not having visited a video game section in a store during the past few years and decided to rant a little bit.

 

[Grimlorn]

Yeah I've noticed this as well at Walmart. They barely have any PC games on the shelf and many are several years old. I've also noticed many crappy puzzle type of games off to the side. Meanwhile there are huge displays for console games and even more shelving dedicated to xbox360 and ps3 games. But what do you expect when you soulless heathens decided to worship Gaben and Steam?

 

[Unkillable Cat]

But what do you expect when you soulless heathens decided to worship Gaben and Steam?

We didn't decide, that choice was taken without us being asked.

Of the handful of retail titles you do see in shops today, at least 90% of them require Steam anyway, which makes them even less relevant than they are. The last retail purchase I made of a full game was in 2011. Only "new" games I've bought since then are compilations/re-releases of older titles.

 

[Mustawd]

I've had better luck finding PC games at OfficeMax/Office Depot of all places. Picked up a copy of Mount and Blade as well as Din's Curse for like $5 each.

 

[sullynathan]

Tis a sign that consoles are where the games are at

 

[pippin]

There are no actual stores that sell (new) pc games in my city anymore. There's only a delivery service, you order you game online and they send it to you via real mail.
But yeah, sometimes you have to go to bookstores or things like that when you can't go to flea markets. I bought Civ3, Beyond Good and Evil and other games for like 3 bucks each.

 

[Akratus]

Well to be fair it's hard to sell any because the pc market has become mostly digital nowadays.

 

[Moink]

All my local stores have is The Sims 3/4 with expansions, it's a shame really I remember them having multiple rows of PC games (granted, most were older titles from the mid/late 90's)

 

[Angthoron]

Of the handful of retail titles you do see in shops today, at least 90% of them require Steam anyway, which makes them even less relevant than they are.

Yeah, pretty much this. I still buy those when they're cheaper to buy as a box than as a Steam release (though thanks to Kinguin et al it's almost never, now), but why buy a box with a DVD and a launch code for Steam when I might as well do the same and not waste space and planet's limited resources is beyond me otherwise.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

PC boxes be dead bro. PC stores have been dying since everyone buys everything on Steam these days (I think 70% of the market?). All Steam need to do is add some kind of integrated music so you can listen to your own playlist while you play and they'd probably take on Apple as well.

And those Germans sure do really like simulating things.

 

[pippin]

All Steam need to do is add some kind of integrated music so you can listen to your own playlist while you play

They already have a music service. If a game has its soundtrack as an extra (kind of what GOG does) you can play it in the background with the client. It also allows you to play your own music but I've never done it. The player seems to be designed to be left in the background as you play.

 

[Jarpie]

To be fair to Steam and digital distribution, it did really help resurrect dead genres as traditional publishing isn't really value for money. I don't think UnderRail or the like would've really been possible without Steam or GOG.

Ordering from online and buying games from digital distribution comes naturally to me as since very early days of my hobby I used postal orders as B&M stores were fucking shit or non-existant.