"GameStop Enters Sellout Talks"

[cybercylon]

I was at the second WalMart here the other day and the employees told me this store was on the "poor" side of town and has lower prices than the "rich guy" WalMart I usually shop at. The store is laid out completely differently but I swore it did seem to have (some) lower prices! The centrally located WalMart is about 4 or 5 miles from my house, but the other one (the so called poorer side of town) is more South and East and is probably 11 miles or so away...If they hadn't told me about this, I never would have thought there might be different prices in different WalMarts. I always thought they were all the same...

 

 

Back on topic to GameStop...Last time I was in there I saw they had Atari Flashbacks...Portable or SD...Same as WalMart. They had No variety whatsoever...I asked where is the Atari Flashback 8 Gold (HD)? Where's the Activision model? How about the deluxe model with paddles? Then I kept going...Do you have the Genesis Flashback HD? Extra controllers for a Nintendo Classic mini? I might as well have been speaking Chinese. If I wanted such things I'd have to find a Video Game Store...

 

I might go back when I need a coffee mug...

 

They have no room for variety of games, consoles, controllers, etc. They need that room to sell a variety useless gaming knick nacks and pop vinyl figures.

 

What is the flash point for those figures.....

[atarilovesyou]

There's a difference between fwar of the future, relectance to change and being a stick in the mud.

 

Gamestop's problem, IMO, was never te products or how it was delivered. It was their questionable sales tactics. But retail is in trouble, period. Future Shop (Canadian, and mildly ironic), Toys R Us (more irony: the Canadian locations are just fine) all went the same way.

 

The death of retail is something I don't lament, at all. Other than people losing their jobs, of course.

 

This is a retro forum, so of course the majority are going to take issue to the changing times. This doesn't mean I am a wooden shoe throwing Luddite...it just means that I have a different idea of what fun is, and I think it's valid. I like physical media in all forms. I also like modern multicarts that make it easier for me to game in my era of choice. These are just my preferences...and for somebody to tell me to get with the times, lol? On the Atariage forum? It's pretty rich.

 

Flo, you have a great atttude with the modern games. I give them an honest try every year or so, but the only thing that interests me now with new stuff is Nintendo games that I can play with my family. I saw the writing on the wall when Mariokart Wii lost online functionality, losing a big part of that game's fun. In the future, stuff like that is going to be generally expected. And that's too bad.

 

And for the record? I would loooove to drive on down to Big Al's, roll down the window and order a burger, fries and a shake, lol! But have zero interest in cowboy movies or musclecars...ok, the musclecars can stay, but...you get what I mean.

 

If we as a retrogaming community are anyhing, we are passionate about what we love. I'm glad in many ways that my tastes are just modern enough to allow me to fully enjoy this hobby, but not to the point of swallowing the bitter pill that is downloadable content and other things that, in my opinion, are a detriment to video game enjoyment.

[Flojomojo]

Flo, you have a great atttude with the modern games.

 

that must be a typo

[atarilovesyou]

 

that must be a typo

From the posts I've read, you seem to play and enjoy modern games...which is more than I can say for myself, lol. But I do try. I'm afraid it's like watching pro wrasslin...sadly, it's never going to be the way it was in the Attitude era, even though I try to find something worthwhile in it every couple years...just not gonna happen.

[Flojomojo]

I popped into a Gamestop today. There was a whole wall of toys near the entrance. We must be near the console end-stages again, like when it was just a Pokemon store for a while. PS4 and Xbone are SIX years old now, after all.

 

Gamestop selloff is rumored to be imminent. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/334173/Report_GameStop_ownership_to_change_hands_as_early_as_midFebruary.php

 

From WSJ https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-videogame-market-shifts-gamestop-struggles-to-boost-sales-11546561467?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=9

 

 

Videogame retailer GameStop Corp. GME -0.13% is working to restructure its business as it searches for its fifth chief executive in a little over a year. But some say that to stay in the game, the retailer might be better off selling itself.

The company said last year it was reviewing its strategic alternatives.

Sales have been stuck around $9 billion for the last few years as more consumers buy games digitally, and its shares have sunk about 29% over the past year. Its challenges prompted some analysts and former company executives to suggest that the company’s best option to remain viable is to find a buyer.

“They’ve lost the interest of investors, and being public causes them to do things they might not otherwise do, like try to diversify” revenue, said Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter. The best path forward for GameStop, he said, involves reducing debt, closing stores and going private.

GameStop had about $820 million in debt as of November, about half of which matures this year. Mr. Pachter also expects comparable sales to fall from the prior year, when GameStop releases its holiday-shopping season sales data later this month.

[Tanooki]

Well from what I understand talk is that Nintendo needs to get a pro version of the Switch out no later than next Christmas (not this year) or be backwater behind enough the fancy ports can't happen of the new stuff because the other guys will have something by that time. So yeah it's getting to the point where GS is going to start seeing known games pop up on the big end consoles just delays, not brought up anymore being held back for newer designs, or you get the kind of known game franchises that appear at the end of a cycle. If you start seeing that go down, it's over.

[cybercylon]

Our Gamestop has been wall to wall toys and other useless crap for about two years now.

[digdugnate]

the last two times we were in GameStop (yesterday and then about 3 weeks ago, before Christmas), i'd say that those two particular stores are more toys/merch than actual games and consoles. It's a bummer, too, because the games in these particular stores are also not organized very well in their respective console sections and it's hard to find exactly what you're looking for.

 

Both times we were there were kind of a headache as there's always long, slow-moving lines and very little actual customer service.

 

Everyone's mileage will vary per store, of course, but it just seems the overall *experience* from the store is different than ten years ago.

[Flojomojo]

The one near me is like a friendly, kid-themed pawn shop.

[blainelocklair]

My wife and I talked about this yesterday after I read the articles about the attempt to sell... again. I've also seen the trend here in the Charleston, SC and nearby areas where GameStop stores are turning into toy and collectible stores.

 

I think they are losing the battle of selling physical games to the digital download medium. No need to go to GameStop (or anywhere else) when you can just buy the game you want on your console or handheld and download it immediately. The saving grace for GameStop is that they take trade-ins for physical copies of games. I feel like they under-emphasize the value of this. Yeah, I know they constantly ask for trade-ins. I think they undersell the value of it to the player, though. Just not a strong enough statement that clearly says to the player, "If you buy a physical copy of the game from us instead of downloading it, you'll get monetary value back out of it when you're done with it. If you download it digitally, you get zilch when you're done with it. Buy physical, buy here, trade here." I keep thinking back to having bought my son a used 3DS when he was young so that if it broke my investment wouldn't be too high. Many were sold with games digitally downloaded from the Nintendo eShop included. He could have cared less about those games. Therefore, no value added to the resale process. I never buy downloadable content for consoles if there is a physical media copy available for this very reason. If GameStop can figure out how to pound this message into the minds of the gamers, they might get back to their core business: selling video games. If not, look for more and more trinkets to flood the shelves.

 

Great observation earlier about the customer service or lack thereof. I've told the Mrs. for years that there is no customer service there anymore, only cashiers. That's the other problem they're having: no connection with the gamers on a personal level. Seems to me they used to hold contests in-store and other means of connecting gamers to the business. Now, it's just a matter of picking out what you want and bringing it to the register. If they will reinvigorate their relationships with the gamers, I feel like they might have a chance to turn things around even more.

 

I like GameStop. As I've posted in the past, I was a store manager for Babbage's (now GameStop), so I want them to do well. I'm in their corner, and hope they do some great things that don't involve expensive niche collectibles in 2019 and get back to the gamers that want to love shopping with them again.

[+x=usr(1536)]

the last two times we were in GameStop (yesterday and then about 3 weeks ago, before Christmas), i'd say that those two particular stores are more toys/merch than actual games and consoles. It's a bummer, too, because the games in these particular stores are also not organized very well in their respective console sections and it's hard to find exactly what you're looking for.

 

Both times we were there were kind of a headache as there's always long, slow-moving lines and very little actual customer service.

 

Everyone's mileage will vary per store, of course, but it just seems the overall *experience* from the store is different than ten years ago.

 

This pretty much matches my experience the last time I was in a Gamestop, which, coincidentally, was also a couple of weeks before Christmas.

 

The merchandise puzzled me: a ton of PS4 / Xbone stuff (unsurprising), more PS3 and Xbox 360 games than I would have expected, a surprisingly large selection of DS and Wii games, and literally nothing for the Switch. Given that our current-gen console is a Switch, this wasn't terribly useful - and even the person who was working there that I asked about Switch games said that she didn't understand why they didn't carry them, either. Most of the rest of the stuff on sale looked like items that could potentially have been sold at the ThinkGeek store if they had decided to branch out into video games.

 

The one near me is like a friendly, kid-themed pawn shop.

 

That's probably the most accurate description of them that anyone could have come up with.

[cybercylon]

GS did buy out Think geek a few years ago, hence one reason for all of the knick nacks and toys.

 

There is some loss for sure due to people going more the digital route.

 

Of course, plenty of other places near me to buy physical games.

[DragonGrafx-16]

I don't even go to Game Stop anymore (well I do but rarely and that's just to check what games they have on clearance). I go to a local chain called Video Games Etc... they sell everything all the way down to Atari 2600 games. I even picked up some PC-Engine games there.

 

With Game Stop I find it silly... no one's going to pay $20 for a 8 year old Xbox 360 game...

[cybercylon]

With the Exchange around here, SAG within a reasonable driving distance, and other places to get newly released games, there isn't much if a point for me to go to GS except for clearance items (a mint copy of the Orange Box for the 360 for example).

 

Wonder when GS will be added to lists like these:

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/stores-that-dont-exist-anymore-2018-8?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=auddev-yahoo-00136

 

Of course, it is possible they might hang around for while like Barnes and Noble. There is a another store that is pretty much useless.

 

On that list though... Tower Records. I remember being in that big one in NYC way back when. That was overwhelming! That one is where I snagged a copy of A Kind of Magic (Queen) when the CD had been out of print in the US at the time.

[Flojomojo]

I loved Tower Records. I used to buy all kinds of culty fanzines for music, games, comic etc -- the kind of thing that is online nowadays. They closed in 2006.

[Tanooki]

I would think if games more or less failed for them, they'd just probably shut down 1/2 the stores, convert the rest to Think Geek shops to back up their website, yet probably diversify into even more toys, used games (like their killing of funcoland era), and perhaps movies and vinyl too. They'd find a way to survive polluting other interests.

[Major Havoc 2049]

My wife and I talked about this yesterday after I read the articles about the attempt to sell... again. I've also seen the trend here in the Charleston, SC and nearby areas where GameStop stores are turning into toy and collectible stores.

 

I think they are losing the battle of selling physical games to the digital download medium. No need to go to GameStop (or anywhere else) when you can just buy the game you want on your console or handheld and download it immediately. The saving grace for GameStop is that they take trade-ins for physical copies of games. I feel like they under-emphasize the value of this. Yeah, I know they constantly ask for trade-ins. I think they undersell the value of it to the player, though. Just not a strong enough statement that clearly says to the player, "If you buy a physical copy of the game from us instead of downloading it, you'll get monetary value back out of it when you're done with it. If you download it digitally, you get zilch when you're done with it. Buy physical, buy here, trade here." I keep thinking back to having bought my son a used 3DS when he was young so that if it broke my investment wouldn't be too high. Many were sold with games digitally downloaded from the Nintendo eShop included. He could have cared less about those games. Therefore, no value added to the resale process. I never buy downloadable content for consoles if there is a physical media copy available for this very reason. If GameStop can figure out how to pound this message into the minds of the gamers, they might get back to their core business: selling video games. If not, look for more and more trinkets to flood the shelves.

 

Great observation earlier about the customer service or lack thereof. I've told the Mrs. for years that there is no customer service there anymore, only cashiers. That's the other problem they're having: no connection with the gamers on a personal level. Seems to me they used to hold contests in-store and other means of connecting gamers to the business. Now, it's just a matter of picking out what you want and bringing it to the register. If they will reinvigorate their relationships with the gamers, I feel like they might have a chance to turn things around even more.

 

I like GameStop. As I've posted in the past, I was a store manager for Babbage's (now GameStop), so I want them to do well. I'm in their corner, and hope they do some great things that don't involve expensive niche collectibles in 2019 and get back to the gamers that want to love shopping with them again.

 

I still buy games at GameStop and my local GameStop had a Halo 4 tournament at the midnight release of Halo 5 and a Destiny tournament at the midnight release of Destiny 2.

 

I personally have no problem with the customer service at my local GameStop. I always preorder or know what I want to buy, so I'm never talking with or asking many questions of the employees anyways.

 

Regardless, their days are probably numbered. Outside of a few releases here and there, physical media in games these days sucks anyways. A disc in a flimsy plastic case with increasingly cheaper looking box art is what we are getting these days. It's not much better than buying a used game disc in an envelope. Next gen I'm going 100% digital, with the exception of maybe a few LE/Collector physical releases here and there. The last standard physical release that I was satisfied with was the PC version of The Witcher III, which went old school RPG and had a manual, map, some stickers and a soundtrack. All The Witcher physical releases on the PC have been pretty awesome.

[Andromeda Stardust]

I remember a thread titles "Is Sears the Next ToysRUs or RadioShack?"

 

Perhaps Gamestop is next. It would actually be a good thing IMO if Game Stop fell out of existence and let Mom 'n' Pop shops take over the redistribution of used physical games.

 

 

I still buy games at GameStop and my local GameStop had a Halo 4 tournament at the midnight release of Halo 5 and a Destiny tournament at the midnight release of Destiny 2.

 

I personally have no problem with the customer service at my local GameStop. I always preorder or know what I want to buy, so I'm never talking with or asking many questions of the employees anyways.

 

Regardless, their days are probably numbered. Outside of a few releases here and there, physical media in games these days sucks anyways. A disc in a flimsy plastic case with increasingly cheaper looking box art is what we are getting these days. It's not much better than buying a used game disc in an envelope. Next gen I'm going 100% digital, with the exception of maybe a few LE/Collector physical releases here and there. The last standard physical release that I was satisfied with was the PC version of The Witcher III, which went old school RPG and had a manual, map, some stickers and a soundtrack. All The Witcher physical releases on the PC have been pretty awesome.

 

I agree somewhat, physical is useless if you have to download an update to play the game. However, I will continue to support physical releases for as long as they are available.

 

Digital games becoming vaporware overnight is about as brilliant a concept as chucking film reels in the trash after it's run in the theaters during the silent film era. Maybe the top 2% of movies from that time period got saved.

 

Archivists interested in studying the evolution of video game history are going to discover a huge gap in available games between the cart/disc era and the DRM downloads only era.

 

Potentially this could also happen to Netflix originals and other streaming service exclusive content. Some day, Netflix will cease to exist and all of those films could get lost because digitally pristine physical or DRM free digital backups won't exist, except for inferior quality streams captured by pirates.

 

How much priceless data will get lost forever in our future if video game companies do not change the way data is distributed to consumers? The current 95-year copyright term is much longer than the lifespan of current video game systems. Any an all archiving outside of game company internal docs within that time period is the realm of pirates. And it has been suggested that without MAME / Emulation, most of those little arcade and console recreations we enjoy today wouldn't be here. Nintendo themselves downloaded ROMs off of the Internet to stock their Virtual Console store, and so did everyone else...

[Flojomojo]

Do you hoard newspapers, too? The vast majority of human creation is useless garbage. "Video game historians" are gonna be OK, trust me -- they know where to find the good stuff. All those streams on Netflix live on a hard drive somewhere. All those digital games do, too.

 

GameStop has some powerful national coverage, and probably better insight into trends and pricing than anyone outside the publishers themselves. How would "mom and pop" game shops do a better job of the meat-n-potatoes work of physical distribution, new or used? They'd have to compete with eBay and Amazon, so it's not like prices would fall and the consumer would win or anything.

[Tanooki]

While I agree watching gamestop fold would be nice in the theory that mom and pop shops would handle it, not everywhere has them so some would have to pop up which I'm sure would happen. But you do need to worry about the other growing beast, half price books, they seemingly each month open up a few more stores around the country and there are shops like them in more regional chains. They all make what gamestop gives out look almost generous, plus they find like the highest paid toolbox on ebay or pie in the sky amazon beggar to price their stickers by. They used to look stuff up online which did go better, but around 4 years ago now they went to this national bar code sticker label and they just have to use that if the item is in the system.

 

See unlike Gamestop they have books, print isn't going anywhere, and they diversified into games, video games, vhs to modern movies, vinyl 8track cassette and cds, kids toys and things, other stuff. They won't be easy to go away like gamestops narrow failing model.

Edited January 14, 2019 by Tanooki

[cybercylon]

I had a hard cover series of about 15-20 books or so of one of the more popular fantasy authors... Terry Brooks, and I tried to sell them at half price books. I wasn't expecting a fortune, but their offer was pretty insulting... $4. I left in disgust and saw that one of their employees was out in the back with carts full of books, ripping them in half and tossing them into the dumpster. That angered me more than the offer. Never going back there.

[pleaserecycle]

While I agree watching gamestop fold would be nice in the theory that mom and pop shops would handle it, not everywhere has them so some would have to pop up which I'm sure would happen. But you do need to worry about the other growing beast, half price books, they seemingly each month open up a few more stores around the country and there are shops like them in more regional chains. They all make what gamestop gives out look almost generous, plus they find like the highest paid toolbox on ebay or pie in the sky amazon beggar to price their stickers by. They used to look stuff up online which did go better, but around 4 years ago now they went to this national bar code sticker label and they just have to use that if the item is in the system.

 

See unlike Gamestop they have books, print isn't going anywhere, and they diversified into games, video games, vhs to modern movies, vinyl 8track cassette and cds, kids toys and things, other stuff. They won't be easy to go away like gamestops narrow failing model.

 

 

I used to love shopping at Half Price Books, but most of my local stores have closed down or have astronomically increased their prices. The occasional 50% one item coupons bring prices back into reasonable territory though. I agree that they have the advantage over GameStop through accepting multiple media types.

[blainelocklair]

There were two Play 'N' Trade stores here in the Charleston, SC area for about 4-5 years. I liked them. They had contests, open try for any used game, numerous TVs and classic console stations set up around the stores, very cool stuff. Then, seemingly one day out of the blue, they were just gone. I have no idea why they left. It's unfortunate; they were fun stores to visit and shop.

 

There was a "mom & pop" store in Summerville, SC (where I live) called Starlite Gaming. Bought a nice handful of things from them over their three years. The shopping center they were in went under renovation and jacked up their rent. They went to a "temp" location for a few months, then disappeared.

 

There's a new "mom & pop" store called "Gamers Only" in Summerville, owned by different folks. They have classic game stuff, but they also have tons of comic books and board game cards (Magic, Pokemon, that sort of thing). The employee normally there often refers to an owner that is never there, supposedly always out at storage unit auctions and whatnot. The employee that is there can't tell anyone how much a game costs without calling the owner, and is self-professed as interested in the card aspect of the business only. From the looks of things, not going to be there long.

 

I sure wish the "mom and pop" stores in this area could do well. I really like them, and I certainly support anyone's ambition to be an entrepreneur in the classic gaming arena. I guess time will tell.

[DragonGrafx-16]

Sounds like Game Stop is going out of business soon judging by the plummeting stock price.

[cybercylon]

They are no longer taking buyers. Maybe Chapter 11 is next.