ThoughtFactory.CreateThought() A random collection of thoughts from an easily bored developer

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I love buying PC games on Steam, so much so that I haven't bought a physical copy of a PC game since Battlefield 2 came out. However, I still prefer to purchase DVDs, CDs and books from brick and mortar stores. Why the discrepancy?

It's simple: I can still enjoy shopping for DVDs, CDs and books in a physical store. I can easily lose an hour browsing in Boffins, and don't get me started on JB-HiFi or even 78 Records (back in it's heyday, at least). To paraphrase Barney Gumble, If they didn't close, I'd never leave.

The online equivalents just don't hold the same appeal. Sure, I like looking through Amazon, but it's nowhere near as fun as visiting a real book store. iTunes is the same. I like the idea of flipping through a large range of stock and happening upon a rare gem that I wouldn't normally think of buying. I also value having the physical copy, as I can rip the songs at a much higher bit rate than iTunes offers, but that's just me.

Games are a totally different story. In Perth the vast majority of games stores are Electronics Boutique franchises, and walking into one of these stores is an assault on the senses.  Idiotic self promotion bombards your eyes and ears at every turn, which, when combined with the crowds and a sales approach that is geared towards pre-sales and trade-ins, makes for a terrible user experience.

Compared to that, shopping on Steam is bliss. No sales push, and no requirement to pre-order before you can buy anything released in the last year. There are obviously down sides, with bandwidth and the lack of a physical copy to on-sell being two that immediately come to mind, but the convenience combined with the currently insane AUD-USD Exchange rate more than makes up  for any shortcomings. Besides, I tend to be a hoarder, so I never trade-in anyway.

The bandwidth issue is the only major downside. I am still hoping that iinet will team up with Valve to offer free Steam traffic much like they do with iTunes, but I won't hold my breath. My tiny 10/10 cap can cope with at least one Steam purchase a month, so that's enough for me to get a regular gaming fix.

There is potential for me to change my shopping habits. I'm not totally against the idea of buying physical copies of games, it's just that I've found the experience to be somewhat lacking. I have been hearing good things about Game Traders, so I'll have to give them a trial run to see if I can be weaned off of Steam. You have to love a place that stocks retro consoles/games, and even goes so far as to devote a significant amount of shelf space to the display of their retro stock. Perhaps an improved UX in a brick and mortar games store will be able to convince me to ditch the online purchases?