Comments on: What makes a good games shop?

By: ixobelle

ixobelle — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:50:45 +0000

WOULD HAVE

By: arbitrary

arbitrary — Mon, 18 May 2009 09:37:43 +0000

Bah, I would have cleaned up the header for ya ;p

By: Tesh

Tesh — Sun, 17 May 2009 05:57:18 +0000

Mmm… Galactrix. It’s not a perfect game, but neither was Warlords. I have the DS version, and I love it just as much as I do the original. The core gameplay, the hex puzzle, is brilliant, and while I’d make some changes to the “wrapper” game, I’m very happy with the hex game. It’s one of the few games I’ve purchased full retail, and I’m happy to have done so.

By: Stabs

Stabs — Sun, 17 May 2009 02:07:17 +0000

1) Availability. If I want to buy the newest shiniest thing I want to be pretty sure I won’t travel up to Oxford Street or wherever and find them sold out. Generally this means going to GAME except where specific promotions are advertised. (I went to HMV for the midnight Wotlk thing).

2) Price. GAME seems generally cheaper than the other high street chains.

I don’t really browse for games any more. I used to but I think at some point I realised that buying a game because the box looks nice or the title sounds familiar didn’t suit me.

Quite often I don’t go to a shop at all. My two most recent games are Vanguard and Eve and I just downloaded them for free in order to play.

By: KiwiRed

KiwiRed — Sat, 16 May 2009 13:13:04 +0000

While Puzzlequest was something special on both the PC and the DS, Galactrix has… issues. I’ve read complaints about the DS port (enough of them that I’m not going to risk buying a copy), combined with my own experiences with the PC version (which I pre-ordered – more fool me) have left me wary of the developers ability to put out a completed (and bug-free) game.

But to get back to your topic, I can relate surprisingly well. I used to do cross-stitch (until RSI brought my extended stitching sessions to a halt), and when I was visiting the local stitch supply stores my experiences parallel yours. As you may suspect, at these stores men in their mid-30s are an uncommon sight, and are usually (unwillingly) accompanying their spouses; my bearded and burly self stood out, just a little.

Anyway, it didn’t take many visits to become a regular, but until then there was often that little pause in their speech when they realised that I was shopping for myself.

On the subject of gaming stores, I’ve found my interest in them going down just as the amount of shelf space reserved for PC titles has diminished. I game primarily on my PC, with my DS usually kept for when I’m away from the house (although the retro goodness of Dark Spire has caught my interest) – with the growing opportunity to shop online (which is often cheaper than buying physical copies), I’m spending less and less in brick and mortar stores.

On top of that, the increasing difficulty in getting a refund if the game is a lemon (Hellgate London springs to mind in this case), often thanks to online activation and similar annoyances, means there’s even less reason to leave the house to buy my games.

By: Tarsus

Tarsus — Sat, 16 May 2009 13:09:14 +0000

We don’t have GAME in this area (in fact, I don’t think I’ve seen one outside the EU), but we do have GameStop/EA Games. Personally, I’ve never had a problem there, but the accounts of corporate ass-baggery at them are legendary.

It’s probably irony that the best service I’ve gotten in relating to a video game purchase was at Target. Though I wished the local comic/rpg/anime store sold video games, I like them.