PC game sales and budget titles before Steam

[Anonymous No.8055771]

I thought I'd ask this board as well.

How were older PC games sold in your country before Steam? Pic related is Hungary's "Buy This One" series, published by a local game retail chain. Beyond the games you see in the image, they published everything from Heroes of Might and Magic and Deus Ex to PC ports of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and The House of The Dead. Notable is the fact that every single game in this lineup cost only 2000 HUF - less than 7 dollars or 5 pounds - of course there were lots of shitty games, too. Next to bonus games that came with PC gaming magazines, this was the way of getting older PC titles prior to everyone switching to Steam

What was the market for PC games like prior to Steam where you lived?

[Anonymous No.8055789]

Third world. Piracy out the ass.

[Anonymous No.8055859]

>>8055771
We had Dinamic. They published all their games under the same price, roughly 20€ of today. Not big names but lots of graphic adventures and budget strategy. They also developed some stuff themselves, most rememberd their once million-seller football manager.
After Dinamic died we had FX, they published tons of games for similar prices, also they still cared about physical editions and included beautiful manuals and goodies. I think they even published Starcraft at some point for some weird reason. They somehow still exist but they are a ghost company at this point.

[Anonymous No.8055952]

>>8055771
Some time after their original big box release, publishers would re-release games as part of their own discount ranges. Games stores would have racks of these titles in jewel cases, usually sold in a "£4.99 each, or 3 for a tenner" offer, and then reduced to next to nothing when the store just wanted to get rid of them.
Then Sold Out Software cropped up in the late 90s and offered a massive range of discount titles with the same price point.

[Anonymous No.8055962]

>>8055952
>Sold Out Software
THAT'S IT! That was the same line in Hungary, just re-branded! At least I think so, they had their own kind of install menus made in Flash, right?

[Anonymous No.8055965]

>>8055771
eXtra Klasyka
Published by CDPRojekt back before they became devs and online store managers. This is basically the reason GOG exist.
Absolutely god-teir selection. Baldur's Gates/Fallouts, Might and Magic 7 and 8, both Freespaces, a whole bunch of city builders and point and clicks, weird stuff like Giants: Citizen Kabuto and Sacrifice.
20PLN (~5usd) each.

[Anonymous No.8055980]

>>8055771
I remember there used to be physical locations, where you'd take the bus to the rich places away from all the gun violence. They would have shelves of games stacked from your knees to the ceiling. Places like Fry's, Software Etc., Best Buy, Babagges, Electronic's Boutique, Circuit City, etc. would have aisles, like your grocers, of software in a well lit and air conditioned location. It was very nice, but the danger was getting back via bus if you'd make such and expensive purchase, as the risk of getting robbed at gunpoint was very high.

[Anonymous No.8055989]

Australia had the THAT'S HOT which actually continued well into the late 2000s. Pic related was the way I first played Thief 2 & 3.

[Anonymous No.8055994]

we had this shit in the uk, usually 5-10 pounds depending on how old the game was

[Anonymous No.8056000]

>>8055965
Yep, we had these releases in Hungary too (and they were probably there in every eastern country).

[Anonymous No.8056014]

>>8055980
Sounds pretty magical. Glad to know you're doing fine.

[Anonymous No.8056046]

https://www.pcgamesn.com/time-steam-ode-budget-boxed-pc-game