Re: Egghead (Re: Louis Castle, cofounder of Westwood Studios, long form interview...)

On Fri, 27 Dec 2024 18:28:52 +0000, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

In comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action Mike S. <Mike_S@nowhere.com> wrote:
...

Egghead software. Now there is a store I haven't thought of in some
time. I bought Sierra's Hero's Quest at that store. I don't know why I
have that one specific memory of them but I do. Maybe it was the
artwork on the box. I found it very striking at the time.

>
I remember some softwares: Fire Hawk (Thexder 2) for DOS, Champion
Loderunner, Stacker without its hardware addon for my IBM PS/2 model 30
286 PC's 30 MB HDD, Windows 3.1 upgrade (had to rip out a page from the
Windows 3.0 manual as a proof), etc. I think I bought a Kraft KC 3
joystick from there too. I remember playing on their demo computers too!
And then, I discovered its bigger competitor: CompUSA (did I ever tell
you my PC's 7th Guest game demo story? ;)). And then, even a bigger
competitor: Fry's Electronics. Also, Computer City but that wasn't
popular. RIP 2 all of em. Those old days. :(

Egghead remains a sore spot for me, thanks to several bad experiences
I had with the company

    [Most notably, when I purchased a game that had quite
     obviously been returned, resealed and resold as new... even
     though it didn't include all of the original contents. Like
     one of the disks and the manual. Also, there was a well-chewed
     half-pencil in the box that I'm pretty sure wasn't part of
     the original game. Then they had the gall to accuse me of
     trying to rip them off when I brought the game back to
     complain. Why, yes, I'm still grumpy about that. ;-)]

And even though I know it isn't fair to judge the entire chain based
on my experiences on a handful of stores I visited, still overall, of
all the software retailers, Egghead was always the one with the worst
selection and customer service. It was always the last option I chose
when looking for games.

I've more fondness for Software Etc., largely because there was one
shoppe a block away from an office where I worked, and I made a point
to visit it pretty much every day on my commute back home.I purchased
my first sound-card (a Thunderboard!) from them, and games like "Wing
Commander II" to take advantage of that card. Even after I got a new
job elsewhere, I still went out of my way to visit that particular
store just because of my good memories of it. I still can envision its
well-ordered shelves (with all those big-box games neatly stacked)
when I close my eyes.

I also have fond memories of that unnamed video-game store from the
early 80s where I used to buy games for my 8-bit. I've no idea if it
was part of a chain or individually owned (I suspect the latter). It
was an era before boxed games were common. A lot of the floor space, I
recall, was set up like a comic-book store, with games slotted
vertically into bins, like albums.

Back then, games were expensive and money was tighter, so buying
anything there was almost like getting a new fridge; you took your
time and made your purchases carefully. The owner had a very
stand-offish, almost snobbish attitude too (or, at least so it seemed
to me), judging you by your purchases. It wasn't a fun place to visit
but I loved it because whenever I went there (which wasn't that often;
it was off the beaten track) I ended up getting a new game. That made
the ordeal worth it. ;-)