bargain bins slowly bite the dust

[lord of the mark]

An update as part of my attempt to keep Poly informed of the steady decline of the bricks and mortar commercial bargain bin.

While being dragged on a shopping errand today, i dropped by the Pentagon City Mall EB games (or EB express, I forget). No more used PC games. Section is gone. Still plenty of used console games, and a modest selection of new PC games. My guess is that the its taking longer to clean out the bins in the suburbs, and will check when i get a chance.

OTOH, theres a new venue selling game. Thats right, theres now an Apple store in Pentagon City Mall, and they had a fairly decent collection of games. Which arent technically PC games I suppose, but its still interesting.

Right next door theres a Sony store. Which oddly enough, had no PC games - though the laptops had some kind of video from Everquest II running in a window.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Most stores are severly cutting down their PC game sections (one EB near me has their PC section as being a stack next to a pillar.. and where the PC section used to be is a new console game section), so I'm not surprised the bargain bin for PC games is eliminated.

[DarkCloud]

Hmm... in my area, the PC game prices just seem to have dropped- I see semi-new games on sale for 25-35 dollars at Best Buy and Wal-Mart. In several discount bookstores in my area they appear for even less.

[Jonny]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Most stores are severly cutting down their PC game sections (one EB near me has their PC section as being a stack next to a pillar.. and where the PC section used to be is a new console game section), so I'm not surprised the bargain bin for PC games is eliminated.

Yep. Both my local EB and Best Buy have severely cut down their game sections. Though EB still has a decent selection, it's just all crammed together. (Of course, that store is also in a dying mall, so for all I know it could close tomorrow.) Circuit City has only reduced their section/selection a little bit.

And I haven't noticed much in the way of prices dropping...

[Imran Siddiqui]

It seems game stores have decided that PC gaming is dead. I guess it'll be more ordering online for me (depending on how long PC gaming survives as a viable method) and buying XBox 360 games (when I actually get the console ) from the stores.

[Spaced Cowboy]

Yes, sadly shelf space is shrinking, but so is the size of the boxes.

I have noticed that the amount of space increases towards Xmas and the decreases afterwards. I've noticed fewer and fewer bargain bins. I do not buy as many games as I used to though.

[Pythagoras]

I don't think PC gaming is dead, its just moving underground. There's so many innovative FLOSS games around that don't have the "wizz-bang" factor of commercial PC games. Let PC gaming stay innovative and underground, and let the console games take all the great graphics and "wow" factor for all I care.

The new cheapo bin is online, floss stuff.

I particularly suggest

https://www.wesnoth.org

[hexagonian]

Two of the local EBs in the area I am from (west suburbs Chicago) still have a selection of used bin games (and I would guess that each of those 2 stores has approx 200-250 jewel case games each - no boxes though), but it appears that they are getting phased out - there are no recent titles in the batch. I did get a used Disciples II from an EB last weekend.

Replacing the vacant floor space are used DVDs.

What is also interesting to note is new PC games in both EB and Gamestop seem to get less shelf exposure and a lot less prominence in the stores compared to console games, compared to a couple of years ago - and there appears to be a lot less titles too.

This also appears to be the case at BestBuy, where games now have a shelf life of a year (other than blockbusters like the Sims and some of the shooters), and then they disappear for good.

Gamestop does have discounted unopened old games (I just got a discounted new Crusader Kings for $10 - a game that I was eventually hoping to get on discount), but that is really hit-or-miss.

The greatest selection of new PC games is at MicroCenter or CompUSA, stores whose primary focus is the computer market.

[DrSpike]

I don't really buy from high street stores any more.

Maybe you can find electronic bargain bins.

[Dis]

thank god for Fry's. Best Buy's PC game section is getting pathetic. They didn't even have Civ4 the first couple of days it came out.

[Dis]

and they closed the EB at the Boulevard Mall in my city . Not that I shopped there very much. We have several other malls, but they are a bit more of a drive. EB's really are hurtin'. I don't see them lasting much longer.

[lord of the mark]

got to the EB on Main Street, Vienna. Their PC game bargain bin is getting skimpy, but its still there. Only games there I had any interest in were Half Life (Pack with all expansions) and Shogun TW. Passed on both. Their new PC game section was not bad however.

[duke o' york]

It's not that bad at all in the UK. I got Civ 3, SMAC and Morrowind for £15 total, and there are other tempting games out there too. The size of the stands varies in shops, but I agree that there seem to be fewer copies of brand-new games, and far more budget (re-)releases than there used to be. But that's great for me!
Mind you, I did just get Spartan on eBay for £8 - compared to £30 in Game. I mean, you can buy it directly from Slitherine's website for £20, or even download it for the same, so who Game are kidding is beyond me.

[DrSpike]

Usually they are quite reasonable too.

[duke o' york]

I know, that's where I got my £15 treble whammy of time-killing from.