Promoting Adventure Games

I have noticed that most boomers seem to live in the USA. Since a recent survey said that there are more homes with computors in Europe than in America that seems odd.

I noticed when I was in Canada that games shops had lots of adventure games on the shelves along side of RPG's and action games.

When I used to look in games stores in London, such as Virgin and HMV, I was hard pushed to find more than a couple of adventure games, they only seemed to have God games, like Civilisation, or RPG's or action games.

I bought my first game in a shop as I liked the desciption on the box and have been hooked ever since. Can it be that because children do not see adventure games in shops they are not aware of the gendre?

Hello I am from England Stoke-on -Trent and I am hard pushed to get adventure games to .My son moved to Pittsburgh 6 yrs ago and when I went to visit I used to come back with loads of games that never hit our shelves .When I tried to trade them in our PC shops they started refusing a lot of the games saying they did nt trade American games .There was one place in the market and it as closed now .The only games I see around here that would interest me are CSI ,Broken Sword ,I have seen the Agatha Christy ones .I went up our local store for the last Agatha Christy Evil under the sun and I was told how much it was but they had only a few in and they were gone .I buy or trade from gameboomers play .com Amazon and Dave from here .I would nt get to play most of the games else .I have been told there is nt a market for adventure games here but I have a feeling it all as to do with money .As you have said Old Lady if we don t see them or get the chance to play them we won t ever know .We have the internet now and you can get the games but always it seems there is more in the USA .May be we don t get the demand for adventure games I don t know but I know quite a few people who like them or would play them if they got the chance .Sorry to go on :holidays:

Hi Dragon, it just seems to be the chicken and the egg situation.


I get all my games from the internet as it's over an hour to Truro or Plymouth and when you get there there is no adventure games. I must admit that I have not bothered trying for a couple of years as it did not seem worth the effort.

The USA amazon has far more than the UK site but some they will not ship to Britian so I will keep using Dave. (excellant service) :christmas:

Here in Italy game shops stock just shooters and few others like Sims.
Very few shops on the Net are specialized in adventure games, good job I can play in english and buy from play.com or from our Dave,but lots of friends of mine who can't understand english are really upset about it.
:christmas:

I live in a small town out in the middle of nowhere, 150 miles away from any store that might sell computer games, except for WalMart, and the only adventure games they seem to carry are old ones. So I buy all of my games on-line, from Dave now that I have discovered his store...

Well I not on my own seems like there is more than me who would like to see more adventure games in our stores .It makes me mad when it is a UK game and you can get from every where but the UK LOL

Haven't really bothered with local retail shops as games here tend to be much more expensive and their price does not change even 1-2 years after the game has not been sold. I do all my shopping online and thus haven't had a problem in finding a game i wanted. The numbers in the survey are not that odd. The EU has a population of 500 million people i would say it is expected (in comparison to the US which has 300). For more representative numbers try to look for a ratio, how much of the population of EU has computers and how much of the US has computers. And let's face it, Adventure games are not that popular nowadays in comparison to FPS/RPG/online games. Shops will always prioritise those because that's where the money is.

Sorry Butcher, I should have said that better. The figures were a ratio per household, eg that preportionaly, per household, more people had a computer in the EU than the USA.

But my point was that it appears that if you can find adventure games in your local shop you will be more likely to be aware of them and then start playing. An option that only the USA seems to have.

Have you tried ebay. I get most of my games there.The latest is Runaway 2 cost with postage aroud £7.00.You have to plough your way through action games but there are quite a few new and second hand games there.

I can never find any adventure games in this area of New Mexico. I have to travel over 30 miles to the nearest city and Walmart and Target only carry the lastest Nancy Drew and Agatha Christie games, and the pc versions of console games. The Best Buy use to sell tons of Adverture company and Dreamcatcher games, thats where I bought my first game Dark Fall, but one day they held a clearing out sale and cleared out the adventure games. About 45 miles away at a Colorado Walmart, they use to sell adventure games there but in the smaller boxes. If a wanted a game, I would travel to that Walmart in colorado, but with car trouble...haven't dropped in to see what they have. I have to rely on trading sites.

I hope you all had a very good Christmas
I think what I am trying to say is not just that about the only way to get adventure games in Europe is on the internet - but - that they do not get any pulicity here. Many of them do not get reviews in newspapers or computor magazines in the way shootumups and the Sims do.

I know that one sees only shooters, at most of the stores, they think only the youth play the games, but many of the seniors I know have found adventure games, and I think it's about time, the game companies and stores found out that this is an ageing population and we want adventure, even if we can't get out and around like we used to do. Besides adventure games usually have a story and information of some kind to keep the mind busy. I need the Descover Channel to make another Byzantine type game.
Oophs, on my soapbox again. Without Dave I would be lost.

Hi, NMGameGuy!!

We've talked before about the lack of access to adventure games where we both live, but it isn't a problem for me any more--I've discovered Interact CD. There's a link up at the top of each forum page, and Dave (the owner) has great prices and service like you wouldn't believe...

Here in Kent, the situation is dire - our local Game store has only had 2 Adventure Games in stock in the past year - SH:The Awakened and Darkness Within. Even in Canterbury (the nearest city, there are hardly ever Adventure Games available) - it has a University,too.

old lady, I sympathise: I used to live near Tintagel (and relied on public transport to get around ). Thank God for Amazon..........

Bet you can't buy "Barrow Hill" at Game in Truro..........

Hi reikidave, I'm glad you mentioned Barrow Hill because that is a prime example - I saw a poster for it in my local library and went straight to the web site to order. Since then the posters are up in our local Post Office in the centre of Fore St. and have been for over a year. I have am sure it has been bought by both locals and tourist and could well have been a launch pad for adventure gaming for some of them.
Barrow Hill went from a very small town here in Cornwall to being a worldwide seller - and why? - because it was advertised not just on the internet but in a library and shop where people who had never seen a adventure game could come across it. QED.
I do my ordering through Dave and Amazon and very good they are too.