Why are our bargain bins dissapearing?

[Vesayen]

Well a partial answer is obvious... Gamestop bought EB and Gamestop thinks that PC games are a poor investment, so have slowly changed their stories to sell far more consoles then PC games.

Remember the things of beauty in the past when you walked into an EB and it was covered wall to wall in PC games?

Lower numbers of PC games on the shelves means less games which don't get sold and thus less go into the bargain bin.

That makes me sad! I like our bargain bin...

[Nostromo]

- Huge boxes are on the way out and DVD-style boxes are on the way in. So that may explain, in part, why there seems to be less PC titles. Not that I'm denying that there are in fact less PC titles, but maybe the new DVD packaging make things look worse than they are.

- EB makes a lot more money with used titles than with new titles. Maybe they're phasing out the bargain bin in favor of used titles. Not to mention its getting replaced by that huge bargain bin that is the internet.

[DrSpike]

The last point is the most important.

[Vesayen]

That makes sense, yes.

They are selling way more console games then PC games now though.

[El_Cid]

I think the internet+pc could be where the shift is happening? If i want a game cheap, that isn't stocked in my local 'Game' store(like EB) then chances are i can find it on amazon or a site like it. A case in point is my recent purchase of Morrowind GOTY - £8 brand new from amazon, i havent seen the pc version in any shop for years now.

The mainstream publishers can make bigger profits with consoles and has less piracy to worry about. So the whole publishing effort and access to stores for a game is weighted heavily in favour of console games.

In a way i think its an ok thing(although i do miss shuffleing through the good ol bargin bin too!) - the internet will become the home of PC games, good for developers(no need for nasty eViL publishers to get into the shops), and good for gamers not 100% satisfied with games designed for consoles.

So its a win situation...........except for the poor bargin bin, maybe they should put them in a museum of something - so we can go and give wistful glances and remember the good ol days

[Adagio]

Originally posted by Vesayen
That makes me sad! I like our bargain bin...

I don't know how it is elsewhere, but here where I live, bargain bins has only had unknown games. In the many years I have searched through the bargain bins, only 3-4 times I have found games I have heard of, only once it was actually a good game

I wouldn't miss them, when they're gone...

[Dis]

$

[lord of the mark]

we're talking two different things, and vesayen needs to clarify what hes talking about. Well actually three different things.

1.There are "true bargain bin" titles. Games that the retailer failed to sell, and marks down to clear out.

2. Shovelware - Old games, released in Jewelcase, sold for typically $10 US. Also collections of related games, etc.

3. Used games.

one and two are still around, but AFAICT no longer rate a seperate section at EB. Remember, EB stores are typically small (electronics boutique, get it) and with about three quarters or more of the store devoted to console games, consoles, and now CD music and DVD movies, ALL the non used PC games are in generally in one section. This is a direction theyve been heading in even before the gamestop merger.

Larger stores, like circuit city, compusa, best buy, microcenter, seem to have a better selection, not only of current games, but of "bargain bin games"

The real loss is the used PC game section (esp as the big chains generally dont carry used PC games at all) EB historically made lots of money off the used games, but has been under a lot of pressure from the publishers to drop them. With the Gamestop merger they seem to have caved, and dropped the sections. Theyre not buying use PC games anymore, although many of the EBs near me have not yet sold out there existing stock. As ive mentioned elsewhere.

It looks like to buy used PC games youre going to have to go to the internet in one way or another. Either buy through a place like EB, or, if you dont like the mail, go to a place like Craigs List where local folks offer items for sale. (ive never done either - the only games ive bought online have been unused games)

[Quillan]

I've got an EB about 3 miles from where I live. I've bought quite a lot of computer games there over the last 7 years. At first, the PC game section was 5 shelf sections, each 4 feet wide and going from roughly floor level to about 6 feet up. There were another shelf section or two for used games and marked down items. Usually 3 of those sections were displayed facing out; this was the newer titles, but that display takes up more space. The other sections were like book displays, only showing the end of the boxes. That has shrunk. The last year or two, it's been down to 3 shelf sections total, with two being newer titles and one being older stuff with all the marked downs mixed in. I was in there last week, and now all the PC games are on a single floor display, roughly 4 feet by 4 feet with two sides.

[Leirosa]

I noticed pretty much the same thing as Quillan in my own area and it was kind of depressing. Not even a point in going into one of those stores anymore since I don't have any recent console.

[Nostromo]

Also, talking about PC versus consoles is a bit misleading, IMO. Its a bit like complaining a grocer has more fruits to sell than carrots. Its not PC versus consoles: its PC versus PS2; PC versus Xbox; PC versus Gamecube... They are all different platforms. Based on my experience, for example, my local stores - including EB - carry usually more PC titles than Xbox titles. I would even say that they carry more PC titles than PS2 titles. There's just more competition nowadays.

[snoopy369]

really? my experience has been more of any one console than PC ...

[Imran Siddiqui]

I have the same experience as snoopy. The big 3 have far more space than PC games, which gets one small shelf (both sides) while each of the big 3 consoles gets tons of space on wall shelves.

[Nikolai]

Where I live, there certainly has been less space for PC games the last years. But still some shops has the same space or even slightly more space for PC games than for one of the consoles. It's the consoles(and handhelds) together that dwarfs the PC section.

[DrSpike]

Bargain bins are overrated anyway. They are usually full of crap, and when they aren't they are full of games I already own.