[mohok]

Hi all! I'm a very long time, at least a couple of years, lurker of AG. Thought it was about time i stuck my head out of the bushes and said hello and started a meaniningful discussion!

I work in the retail side of the game industry in Australia and i was wondering if the state of adventure games from a retail point of view is the same else where in the world? In Australia it's like trying to locate a needle in the vaccum of a black hole...

So yeah, hello all and i hope you will welcome me into your fold!

[Melanie68]

Welcome to AG mohok! Glad you decided to join us.

There are adventure games in retail stores here in the US. But they are paltry compared to other genres. I have found them in GameStop, Walmart, electronics stores (when I lived in California, Fry's had the biggest selection I've ever seen).

[Ascovel]

In Poland there are lots of adventure games in retail stores, although other genres dominate over them to be sure. We also seem to get the adventure games usually quicker than the US. For example, So Blonde and Nostradamus are available here for a long time already (not to mention translated to Polish). On the other hand, Outrcry (which I'm impatiantly waiting for) is being constantly delayed for some reason.

[chapter11studios]

Here on the east coast of the US, my experience has been that it's hard to find newly released adventure games as soon as they come out (except at Microcenter, which usually has a great selection). Usually the store employees at EB Games, Best Buy, etc., have never even heard of them, either. Generally, I have better luck locating games on the shelves that are 6-12 months old.

Adventures, at least in the Best Buy and Target I go to, are usually grouped near the children's games, too, which is annoying.

[misslilo]

Welcome Mohok

Here in Denmark I hardly ever see Adventure Games on the shelves in retail stores - and if I do it's often a year after the official english release.

Also, it's often double the prize compared to online stores from abroad.
Even with shipping included

[Kazmajik]

It's getting harder just finding PC games, much less adventure games for the pc. (I'm talking about the San Francisco area) My local Gamestop has an unpredictable and surprising selection of pc adventure games at times, but I would never count on finding a particular title there. Some of their stores don't even have any PC games at all. Best Buy usually has a decent selection of pc adventures, and they tend to group them together which I appreciate. NewEgg is another store that does well by adventures, like Fry's Electronics, but it's definitely not like it used to be.

[bandidoquest]

In Brazil it's almost impossible to find any adventure games these days. In fact, it's pretty hard to find any kind of game, even the more high-profile ones, and usually at absurd prices, fortunately I can rely on the internet to buy games now.

It's a shame that it came to this, some years ago it was a lot easier to find some games here, even translated ones. I'll never forget the day that I bought Grim Fandango completely translated in portuguese, I was about 12yo and couldn't read english, and the game was my introduction to adventure games. Nowadays, having any adventure game released and translated here is merely a dream.

[Trunkyo]

In Canada, the biggest selection of new adventure games is usually at EBGames (six stores in my city!), followed by Wal-Mart (games are usually a bit cheaper than at EB), and Staples. Most new games sell for $19-40, but if I wait juuust long enough, prices on certain titles are usually reduced to $9.99 or less at both Staples and EB!

Electronics stores like Best Buy (the Canadian stores, anyway) and Future Shop carry way fewer adventures than before, focusing more on mainstream titles.

Older adventure titles can sometimes even be found alongside DVDs in bargain bins at large chain drugstores and supermarkets!

Most of the time we get the same releases (in terms of box art) as the US, but for certain titles, the British/European release is sold instead.

[Lucien21]

You can certainly find them in the UK, but it's much easier to find them online.

GAME the primary retail outlet in the UK has an ever shrinking PC section usually shoved in the back where if you hunt you can usually find the bigger releases. I certainly seen Lost Crown, So Blonde, Sherlock Holmes etc in there recently. They tend to move to the 2 for ÂŁ25 discount pretty quickly and then gravitate to the cheaper multibuys.

[DustyShinigami]

I sometimes see the odd new adventure game in GAME or GameStation, but mostly it's newer PC titles.

I remember that the town i went to, when i was at college, had quite a few adventure games in these two stores. At the time, a friend even introduced me to some of them. Like the LucasArts classics such as Full Throttle, The Dig, Sam & Max Hit the Road, Grim Fandango, Monkey Island etc. He even got me into Discworld Noir, which i bought brand new from GAME.

They even sold some in HMV and Blockbuster Video. Whenever i went in GameStation, i could find a lot of these classics pre-owned. Sadly now, there's hardly any.

Thank god i have the internet.

[cwapitm]

Originally Posted by chapter11studios

Here on the east coast of the US, my experience has been that it's hard to find newly released adventure games as soon as they come out (except at Microcenter, which usually has a great selection). Usually the store employees at EB Games, Best Buy, etc., have never even heard of them, either. Generally, I have better luck locating games on the shelves that are 6-12 months old.

Adventures, at least in the Best Buy and Target I go to, are usually grouped near the children's games, too, which is annoying.

Yeah, that seems to be how it is with those stores around here. If I hear of a newly released adventure game, I just assume it won't come out until at least a month or more later in stores.

Although lately at my closest Best Buy they've been stocking a bit more adventure games than they used to, which is nice.

[Kazmajik]

Just a side note, sometimes thrift stores here in the U.S. can be a treasure trove of older game titles. Places like Goodwill and Salvation Army once in awhile have some gems mixed in with bad music cds. The other day I saw The Dig in a jewel case for a buck.

[MystGirl]

There's a decent amount of adventure games at retail stores here in America but the overall number is still small compared to the games on the console game shelves. The console games, are hugely popular in the states. The more things you can shoot and kill, the more teenage boys over here want them.

However, there are adventure fans over here, especially with the younger ones like The Nancy Drew games which seem to be sold in many retail outlets. Due to their popularity, I was actually able to find Sam And Max and Paradise adventure games on the shelves of a Target over the weekend. (Target is a large super chain of stores throughout the US, like Wal-Mart) That surprised me.

Adventure games are not as popular with the teenagers over here as they used to be, like in the 80's and 90's, but there are still enough fans to keep them in the stores to a certain degree I guess. We find a lot of them online now, and a few adventure games over the years, have been turned into console versions like Syberia, Myst Revelation, Still Life, etc. So the adventure game is not quite dead in America yet. Too many of us, still love them.

[MystGirl]

Originally Posted by cwapitm

Yeah, that seems to be how it is with those stores around here. If I hear of a newly released adventure game, I just assume it won't come out until at least a month or more later in stores.

Although lately at my closest Best Buy they've been stocking a bit more adventure games than they used to, which is nice.

You should check out Target and even the Super Wal-Marts or Super K-Marts. They are carrying more adventure games lately as well, and I was surprised to find more there, then just places like Best Buy and Circuit City. Still a small selection overall compared to the X-Box, Wii, and Playstation game shelves, but still, we adventure gamers seem to take whatever crumbs we can get, so that we don't have to find all our games online. I know I'm always searching stores for adventure games every few months to see what new stuff they might have gotten. I just found a Sam And Max game at Target for example. Sam and Max at Target? Who knew?

[Trader]

Hey I live in Perth WA, I have found, after many years of frustration, that GAME has got imported games, so lots of japanese games and games they only release in the US. If you havent already check it out.

[Fantasysci5]

Oh gosh, don't get me started. I love to wander my way through a gaming store, if only there was something worthwhile to look at!!! There's hardly any PC games in the first place in the stores that I look at. And what little they have is World of Warcraft and Sims stuff. I think I did find "Dreamfall" on the shelf for a little while when it first came out, but not only is the gaming community bias towards adventure games, but so are the stores. lol Amazon is my best bet for finding the good adventure games I need.

[mosdl]

Originally Posted by Kazmajik

It's getting harder just finding PC games, much less adventure games for the pc. (I'm talking about the San Francisco area) My local Gamestop has an unpredictable and surprising selection of pc adventure games at times, but I would never count on finding a particular title there. Some of their stores don't even have any PC games at all. Best Buy usually has a decent selection of pc adventures, and they tend to group them together which I appreciate. NewEgg is another store that does well by adventures, like Fry's Electronics, but it's definitely not like it used to be.

The Fry's in the south bay usually have a decent selection. Usually newer ones only, lots of Nancy Drew ones (probably part of the reasons more adventure games are now available in the US) and several casual adventure games.

But why bother when amazon/etc has them for the same price with free shipping? And steam has several adventure games as well.

[Draiden]

Many Gamestops in NYC no longer carry PC Games - except for MMORPGs and throw away stuf for the 10 and under crowd..

[DustyShinigami]

I've just remembered what the last adventure game i bought from GAME was... the limited edition of Dreamfall. Bought that near the end of April - the week before GTA4 came out. Last i checked, which was a couple of weeks ago, there were still copies in stock.

[Kazmajik]

I've always wondered why bookstores, especially the chains like Borders and Barnes & Noble, don't carry a selection of adventure titles, particularly the more book-ish games. I don't think it's that far of a stretch to have a shelf in the bookstore that has the Agatha Christie or the Nancy Drew games, for starters. People who play adventure games are, in general, more inclined toward the literary anyway, and with the demographic of those who play adventures (or would like to if they only knew that they did) balanced against the pitiful selection one might see in a Gamestop-type store, it seems like it would be a good fit to me.