On The Future Of PC Games At Retail

Thanks to GameSpot for their article debunking rumors that EBgames and GameStop would entirely remove PC titles from their stores in the New Year, but still painting a somewhat bleak picture regarding the PC game's strength at retail. The article cites recent GameStop SEC filings showing "...just seven percent of its total sales were PC games, compared to 64 percent of revenues coming from console games." A games analyst also commented that, while a complete denuding of PC racks was probably out of the question: "It wouldn't surprise me if there was a pretty serious cutback in shelf space though, as that demographic is really only served by a handful of games." Although EBgames' top policy-maker clearly states: "PC games are and will continue to be a very important part of our business", with such a relatively small market share, where does the PC gaming market go from here at retail?

Comments

Console Computer

[The-Bus]

Let's see, a quick run-down...

1. Consoles are cheaper over the long-run. A new PS2 or Xbox is cheaper than most bleeding-edge video cards.

2. You can rent and borrow console games. $5 gets you a couple of days to try/beat a game.

3. Console games are more social. You play with friends along side you. Outside LAN parties, it doesn't happen often with PC games.

That said, PC games still have some definite advantages (internet, mods) and strengths in certain games (RTS, RPGs, FPSs), but that's slipping all the time.

My $0.02.

PC Games bought elsewhere

[Zathrus]

I suspect that most people simply don't buy PC Games from EB or GameStop, but instead from CompUSA, BestBuy, or similar.

Why? Because they're cheaper. Almost every game will come out at one of the mall stores for $50 and be available at CompUSA, etc. the same day or a few days later for $40. And they rapidly fall to $30-35 (except for the hottest titles), while the mall stores keep them at $50.

I don't question that console gaming is more popular than PC gaming, but I don't think that's the whole picture here.

Wow

[gasaraki]

I had no idea the market share for PC games was so weak. I guess I understand it, but I still don't like the sounds of it. I own consoles now, and probably always will, but there are just some games that work best on a PC... and it'd suck to have those sort of games die out. I suppose with all the recent controversy about bad "console to PC conversions" (e.g. Insible War) it should have been more obvious. In the olden days it was all about crappy PC-to-console conversions, now it's starting to go the other way around.

Bargain Bin

[Anonymous Coward]

I buy plenty of PC games, but most of them at discount prices a year or two after they are released. I went into EB the other day and picked up Civ 3 (with full manuals) and Civ 3 Conquests for AU$60 (about US$40).

I also got Deus Ex for AU$10, Thief 2 for AU$5 and Return To Castle Wolfenstein for AU$20.

The full-price PC games sit on the shelves for ages, but as soon as they hit the bargain bin, they sell like crazy.

I haven't paid more than AU$40 for a game in a long time, and I know a lot of people who do exactly the same thing. The games may be older, but the value for money is a lot higher.

Surprise surprise.

[Anonymous Coward]

EB, Gamestop, and Babbages have filled their stores with console games, joysticks, movies, action figures, magazines, and loads of other crap.

Whereas PC games used to take up 95% of the shelf space, they now take up maybe 10% of the space in the store if you're lucky.

So is it any wonder that PC games make up only 7% of total sales? People re still buying PC games, they're just not going to EB or Gamestop to GET them, because the selection is so poor.

agree 100% and more.

[*weasel]

your missed points are:

4. Stability. You don't buy a console game on its release day, and then go home and download a 1.1 patch.

5. Ease of Use. Consoles require you to merely pop in the game and go. there are never patches, drivers, installs, video/sound configs, or any of that stuff PC gamers put up with.

6. Glitz. Console games are optimized to their fixed hardware. Halo on my xbox looks just like Halo on your xbox. I never have a friend tell me how awesome a ps2 game is, but find out my ps2 isn't fast enough to play it well.

7. Integrity. in online console gaming, it is possible to guarantee that no-one is cheating. Add to that the consistant matchmaking interface and features across a console, and it's no wonder that MS can successfully charge for their online service. It's miles above the average quality level of PC internet gaming.

8. Return Policy. Should a console game be found to be buggy, or even just not what it was advertised to be -- you can return it. This can not be downplayed. PC games cannot be returned in almost any case, yet console games can. Regardless of why (and we all know why) the point is that consumers will always gravitate toward the solution that is the most friendly. being able to rent, borrow, and return games is a gigantic benefit.

At the core though, consoles and their games are intentionally refined for the mass market. Very smart people spend alot of time making sure they are as refined as possible. they are more like appliances than tools. It just shouldn't be surprising to anyone that consoles are the preferred mechanism for gaming for the mass market.

PC games seem to have a market despite themselves. the hoops that fans jump through, the costs they deal with, the hassles of the menus and setup options, the limitations on the product the paying customer faces (in the name of 'copy protection') -- it shocks me daily to see how PC game fans put up with it.

Re:agree 100% and more.

[Zathrus]

4. Stability. You don't buy a console game on its release day, and then go home and download a 1.1 patch.

And you damn well better hope that it's stable and bug free. Because if it isn't -- well, too bad. You can't patch. Xbox changes this for Live games, but not for the majority of games.

6. Glitz. Console games are optimized to their fixed hardware. Halo on my xbox looks just like Halo on your xbox. I never have a friend tell me how awesome a ps2 game is, but find out my ps2 isn't fast enough to play it well.

And it still looks far, far worse than a PC game. You don't have the resolution, you don't have the polygon draw, or the fill rate of even a cheap PC video card. Resolution is a huge issue -- even HDTV resolutions aren't as good as PC resolutions (although ATSC realistically provides good enough resolution, it's still possible to do better on PC). Color depth sucks deeply too (NTSC just plain bites; ATSC is good though).

Playing on a big screen is nice, but you can do that with a PC too. Works best if the TV has VGA or DVI inputs, obviously.

7. Integrity. in online console gaming, it is possible to guarantee that no-one is cheating.

No it's not. SOCOM2 on the PS2 is a perfect example of this. Xbox Live isn't hacked yet, but if you think it won't ever be then you're living in a dream world. Punkbuster, Steam, and other anti-cheat measures have made significant inroads on the PC as well.

8. Return Policy. Should a console game be found to be buggy, or even just not what it was advertised to be -- you can return it.

Really? That's certainly not the policy that was given to me the last few times I bought a console game -- from EB, GameStop, or BestBuy.

the limitations on the product the paying customer faces (in the name of 'copy protection')

Oh that's a laugh. Yes, there are annoying limitations put on games in the name of copy protection. Are you even trying to tell me that it's better in the console world? Last time I checked, all the console makers made it pretty damn well impossible to backup your media without going through some amazing contortions. Sure, it's the same thing in the PC world, but to try and list this as an "advantage" is complete and utter BS.

the costs they deal with

The much discussed costs are BS. My previous PC (Athlon 750 w/ GF2) cost me around $1000 and lasted for nearly 3 years. Every game I bought was $35 or less, and the system was used for far more than just playing games.

If you buy a console when it's brand new then it's about $500 with a memory card and second controller. Each game is $40 or $50 and doesn't drop in price for months or years. Used games are often no more than $5 cheaper than new. It'll last you about 4 years, but since you need a $500 PC as well (if you want to surf the net, do taxes, balance your checkbook, or anything else a PC can do that a console can't) then you're going to come out about even once you factor in game prices. If you're smart, you'll sell games once you're done with them and come out ahead -- but that's about the only way the numbers come better for the consoles once you look at the whole picture.

Oh, and the games probably won't be playable on the next generation console -- the PS2 and Gameboy Advance are the only ones that have broken that mold, but the next generation consoles aren't currently looking compatible (the Xbox2 almost certainly won't be). That's rarely an issue on PCs (yeah, there's ancient DOS games that have problems running under Windows, but there are workarounds available; and that PC can also run the ancient arcade and console ROMs too via emulation).

I'm both a console and a PC gamer. People who try to spouse bullshit about one platform or the other just show how little they know. There are a lot of positives to the console experience, but there's a lot of negatives too -- particularly in the lack of configurability and controls. Certain game genres, like F

Cheating on consoles

[raygundan]

Actually, cheating on consoles is a bit of a mixed bag. If someone DOES find a cheat, the unchangeable hardware and software make the cheat unstoppable. SOCOM for the PS2 is a prime example of this-- the game has been ruined for online play by rampant cheating. And there's no way to issue a patch to fix it.

That "fixed platform" is both a blessing and a curse-- if the software/hardware isn't perfect, you've got cheats set in stone.

Maybe it's a "Catch-22"

[g051051]

My local game stores (EB Games, GameStop, etc) have a small PC section, in the back, with the games lined up like books so you just see the edge. They aren't sorted by name, developer, or genre. They're just shoved up there randomly. On any slightly busy day, you can't even get back to them to browse because of the crowds.

The console games take up the front, well lit areas. They are laid out facing the customer, with decent spacing between the titles. Each console has more wall space than the PC games. Until relatively recently, even the Dreamcast had more space in some of the stores.

Even in the larger stores (Best Buy and CompUSA), the PC game section has been shrinking while the console section has been growing.

So, it's been getting much more difficult to buy PC games at these stores. So what does that do to sales? Sales go down, the stores stock less PC games, leading to lower sales, etc.

On the other hand, these stores are very tiny. PC games are in large, non-uniform boxes (this has been changing in recent years, but not enough) compared to the standard size of console game packaging. They can store more product more efficiently with console games vs. PC games.

boy i can smell the hickery sent already ;)

[vanillacoke]

9. Lack of options. There's one thing that everyone loves/hates its options. I like how the option of playing a game at 1600x1200 at a very high refresh rate with eye candy set to max. Standard TV's, while big are still outdated. My monitor is bright, large and less eye damaging then your average 24 in TV. (To be fair the xbox does theroticly support 1080i but you could not seriously play a game like halo on that setting. the reality is its can handle 720p)

10. Controllers. They aren't the best input devices for every game. Have you tried playing a FPS on console?

11. half-decade self life's. Face it. Consoles are going to die out ever 3-5 years. That's a 300-400 dollar investment in one shot. Some systems are slowly letting you play older games, but that may or may not catch on. Current unsubstantiated rumors of the xbox2 all indicate that Microsoft's going towards a largely proprietary system then glorified pc.

12. Different systems. Hell you don't know what's going to be around in a year or so. Sega, 3DO Atari all died out leaving everyone high and dry... Plus now that games are shipped to all 3 systems which one do you get? The game cube get systematically jew'd with options that the Xbox and ps2 get (example: XIII. Of the 3 systems Xbox got xbox live support and downloadable content, ps2 got a lot of multiplayer features, and gamecube got nothing).

13. Content lockout. I don't know about you. But I know I can buy a game from Europe and know it will play on my PC here in America. Not so with consoles. Either physical or software lockouts inhibits us from buying from other regions (say Europe or Asia) in attempt to preserve profits. The only modern system i know that doesn't lock people out is the gameboy...