I went to my local PC parts shop today to put in another order for an LG 8164 and the guy there told me they are discontinued??

Can anyone verify this??
If so, Is there an alternative if I want a brand new drive for xbox??

They have been discontinued for a long time now. You might be able to find old stock at an online retailer or somewhere like divineo.

you can still find 8164's going on ebay but the prices are sky high because the drives are somehow used to copy wii games

Here is one:
Divineo