You’re not going to believe what I saw at the store the other day. A crowd of people around the PC games, were they lost? What did they think they were looking at? Didn’t they know they can buy PC games from the comfort of their own homes? Seriously, with services like Steam, Direct2Drive, and Impulse why would you buy a disc at a store?
It’s not like the disc has any advantage. You don’t get a demo, like you can on direct download services. You can’t watch a trailer for the game or read articles about it. Most PC games have some sort of Internet component to it, whether it is online leaderboards or online multiplayer. Why would ever go to a store to buy a PC game, when everything you need to make a wise choice is already on the machine you are going to play the game on?
Are you one of those people who think having the disc is some sort of safeguard? That doesn’t make much sense either. Discs get lost, discs get scratched, and CD-Keys get misplaced, or can only be used once. Services like Steam give you an account and that account remembers every game you have purchased. You are free to install, uninstall, rinse, and repeat as often as you like. Some games even store your save files to a server, so even if you uninstall a game, when you reinstall it, you will pick up right where you left off. You can even log into your account on any computer and download the game again, even if it’s not the computer you originally bought and installed the game on. This is perfect for people who travel a lot and/or use a laptop and desktop.
Do you enjoy paying full price for everything? Digital copies of games are stored on servers, the overhead is very low. So Direct2Drive and Steam have sales on games almost every week. During the holidays I bought a handful of PC games I hadn’t gotten around to for fewer than 20 dollars. Even if you play casual PC games you can find Bejeweled for 10 bucks or both Peggle games for $15.
So why waste time going to the store to look for the latest PC games, or even older games when they are available to you now, as in right now on the PC you are already going to play them on. Not only will you save money, but you can make an educated decision about the games based on things people who make educated decisions about games have to say, instead of some flashy box. We all know the box is a liar. So please, I don’t want to see you in the PC game aisle ever again, ok?