Wal-mart and games

[Gabriel]

Today at Wal-Mart they were rearranging things. One big change is that they're moving the videogames and enlarging the section dedicated to them. They had the old glass cabinet (8 sections plus an endcap) the games used to be kept in and they had another one of the same size. They doubled the amount of game storage space.

 

Personally, I'd have much preferred it if they got rid of the cases altogether and put the games out so you didn't have to bother with assistance. It's retarded that they keep $80 DVD box sets out where they're easy to pick up, yet a $20 game is locked up in a case.

 

I guess this might actually allow them to put the games available on display rather than simply hiding all the newer ones at the bottom of the case.

[xenomorpher]

I hate shopping at Wal-Mart for that very reason, asking to get the game out of the case. I think the best place to go is FYE. Their used games are cheaper than EB's, they are in MINT condition, and there aren't eight stickers on the case.

[Hyper_Eye]

Wal-Mart is for the gamer sitting around at 2AM with a sudden craving for a new game. I have gone to Wal-Mart in the middle of the night (not to mention my first XBox a 1AM) a few times.

[AtariJr]

I hate shopping at Wal-Mart for that very reason, asking to get the game out of the case. I think the best place to go is FYE. Their used games are cheaper than EB's, they are in MINT condition, and there aren't eight stickers on the case.

 

the fye near us is insane with its prices. im sorry, but 24 dollars for dead or alive volleyball is a rip off.

[rustblackend]

My Wal-mart still has PS1 and N64 games on the shelf. Crappy ones at that!

[Scumdogg]

Only 3 years ago or so i bought Samurai Shodown and Silpheed for the Sega CD at Wal-Mart. It makes me laugh a little bit to see how hard they're trying to push GBA and Gamecube games out of the way now... i mean, those Sega CD games had what, 7 or 8 years of waiting to get sold?

[AtariJr]

Only 3 years ago or so i bought Samurai Shodown and Silpheed for the Sega CD at Wal-Mart. It makes me laugh a little bit to see how hard they're trying to push GBA and Gamecube games out of the way now... i mean, those Sega CD games had what, 7 or 8 years of waiting to get sold?

how much where they.. my samurai shodown only cose like 10 bucks, but it was because its in a dvd case not the old large cases. still, do get them new even on silpheed must have been nice, even though its common silpheeds a good shooter.

[Scumdogg]

Only 3 years ago or so i bought Samurai Shodown and Silpheed for the Sega CD at Wal-Mart. It makes me laugh a little bit to see how hard they're trying to push GBA and Gamecube games out of the way now... i mean, those Sega CD games had what, 7 or 8 years of waiting to get sold?

how much where they.. my samurai shodown only cose like 10 bucks, but it was because its in a dvd case not the old large cases. still, do get them new even on silpheed must have been nice, even though its common silpheeds a good shooter.

 

 

If i remember correctly they were just under $5 each, whatever odd price point Wal-Mart was using at the time. The shrinkwrap was still on them, but only in the loosest sense. Seven years in a Wal-Mart can decay even the most durable of materials. It was cool, too, because they each had probably a dozen price tags on them from years of discounts.

[rustblackend]

The N64 games they still have at my walmart are like 14.99, and the sports ps1 titles are 29.99 and syphon filter 3 is $14.

[Gregory DG]

I hate getting games at Wal*Mart... I wish they'd just put them out in the racks. Unfortunately, I'm trapped getting games there, at TRU, or KMart which all require an employee to get you the game. (I could to to EB or Gamestop, but they're out of the way.)

 

I really wish there was a Best Buy close by.

[BigO]

I suspect that Wal-Mart puts things in glass cases that are highly likely to be stolen.

 

I've asked the question at thrift stores about why they leave more valuable items available on a shelf while locking away a $2.00 crappy old video game cartridge and eating up a significant amount of staff labor just to let me see what's in the cardboard box full of cartridges. Each store I've asked gives me the same answer. They say that they know what people steal.

[Rockin' Kat]

I hate shopping at Wal-Mart for that very reason, asking to get the game out of the case. I think the best place to go is FYE. Their used games are cheaper than EB's, they are in MINT condition, and there aren't eight stickers on the case.

 

the fye near us is insane with its prices. im sorry, but 24 dollars for dead or alive volleyball is a rip off.

 

Hrmm... I got a gift card for FYE last christmas... went in to find out that they were getting ready to move to a different lcation in the mall... and that once they moved they were not going to be carrying video games at all.. oh well... I bought some games from them that one time... first time I'd ever even been into it... apparently it was probably the last time too.

[rockman_x_2002]

Only 3 years ago or so i bought Samurai Shodown and Silpheed for the Sega CD at Wal-Mart. It makes me laugh a little bit to see how hard they're trying to push GBA and Gamecube games out of the way now... i mean, those Sega CD games had what, 7 or 8 years of waiting to get sold?

 

Even better. Back in 2003, I actually bought an Atari Jaguar game at one of the local Wal-Marts in this area. Ultra Vortek for $2.99 (+ tax).

[Crimefighter]

There's a good reason why VGs aren't put on open racks....shoplifting. $50 a pop for a new release...

[Gregory DG]

There's a good reason why VGs aren't put on open racks....shoplifting. $50 a pop for a new release...

Best Buy doesn't seem to have a problem with having games on open racks...

Edited March 22, 2007 by Gregory DG

[Crimefighter]

That's because they have that electronic alarm sensor in them.

[Gregory DG]

That's because they have that electronic alarm sensor in them.

Right. Why can't Wal*Mart do that too?

[Gabriel]

That's because they have that electronic alarm sensor in them.

Right. Why can't Wal*Mart do that too?

 

They do. I've triggered the shoplifting alarm a few times at the door because the electronics employee didn't run it over the turn-off-alarm-pad. And then I have to be pulled aside and show my receipt to some tiny, nearsighted old lady and confirm that the game in my sack is the same game as on the receipt.

[Gregory DG]

They do. I've triggered the shoplifting alarm a few times at the door because the electronics employee didn't run it over the turn-off-alarm-pad. And then I have to be pulled aside and show my receipt to some tiny, nearsighted old lady and confirm that the game in my sack is the same game as on the receipt.

So if Wal*Mart has the electronic sensor, why not put the games out instead of locking them in the cases? (I know the answer, they're just lazy. )

[BigO]

So if Wal*Mart has the electronic sensor, why not put the games out instead of locking them in the cases? (I know the answer, they're just lazy. )

 

Eh? So it's laziness that drives them to put in the extra effort of locking them in retrieving them from the cases? Seems like more work and a whole lot more disruption to me so I would have expected the opposite comment. It's not the individual employee that gets to determine that, so work ethic probably doesn't play into it all that much.

 

On the other hand, re-merchandising the area is probably a whole lot less time consuming than it would be for areas of open shelves, so you might have a point there.

 

I don't know for a fact, but I'd expect an absolute machine like Wal-Mart to have analyzed the cost/benefits of this to death.

 

Regarding the shoplifting alarm, maybe they could (somehow or other) start installing some of those detectors much closer to the register (like maybe in the platform where they bag stuff) so the offending clerk is left to correct their own error or to at least report the equipment malfunction in a timely manner.

 

I guess since it only inconveniences and potentially embarrases the customer and doesn't really cost the store anything immediately, they probably wouldn't be interested in remedying the situation.

Edited March 22, 2007 by BigO

[rustblackend]

I hate having to find someone to open a case, usually if I am on the edge about buying something I usually pass just because having someone open a case is a pain.

[ewing92]

bypassing the alarm thing isnt that hard truthfully. if, of course you dont care whether you have the case or not and just want to play it, you canslip it into a hoodie, and take it to the bathroom, go into a stall, take the wrapping and everything off of it, and then leave the case(wait a minute....they could figure that out if someone found it, and then they could get the last person in there on camera, maybe), conceal the disk in your jacket/hoodie, and leave. No, i am not saying i did this, or will ever do it, just know how to, and it probably can be done. my friend used to get free gum this way, still not supporting this and still wouldnt do it myself, just for the record.

[rockman_x_2002]

bypassing the alarm thing isnt that hard truthfully. if, of course you dont care whether you have the case or not and just want to play it, you canslip it into a hoodie, and take it to the bathroom, go into a stall, take the wrapping and everything off of it, and then leave the case(wait a minute....they could figure that out if someone found it, and then they could get the last person in there on camera, maybe), conceal the disk in your jacket/hoodie, and leave. No, i am not saying i did this, or will ever do it, just know how to, and it probably can be done. my friend used to get free gum this way, still not supporting this and still wouldnt do it myself, just for the record.

 

Nupe. First off, that would be stealing, which is bad (you and I both agree to that point). But second, CC cameras are on you at all times in places like Wal-Mart stores. Someone would likely spot you trying to conceal the case. You might get out of the store with it, but you'd still ultimately be caught.

[shadow460]

By law, they cannot capture you on camera in the bathroom. Still, you gotta get into the bathroom with the case.

 

Those tags are in the same spots inside the cases, though. I imagine they aren't difficult to deactivate at all. Some stores hide them under promotional stickers. Target does this, and they do have some games sitting out on the shelves.

The only reason I know the tags are almost always under the bar code is that I remove them when I get home.

 

Our local Wal Marts have some games sitting out nowdays.

 

I've never had the urge to shoplift at all, though, so I hate having to deal with the extra BS of getting the cases unlocked.

 

Get this, though: One time, I was accused of shoplifting from Wal Mart. I was stopped at the door and asked for a receipt. I had used the auto checkout and refused both receipt and bag since I had only a couple of things. I had to go find a manager to get my receipt printed out before I could leave! I also had to go back to the exact same auto checkout I'd used--what a pain in the neck.

You'd think they'd try to stop someone who was trying to steal something if value like a video game or a flash card, but noooooooo. They gotta stop me, trying desperately to believe I'm shoplifting four dollars' worth of groceries.

[Student Driver]

bypassing the alarm thing isnt that hard truthfully. if, of course you dont care whether you have the case or not and just want to play it, you canslip it into a hoodie, and take it to the bathroom, go into a stall, take the wrapping and everything off of it, and then leave the case(wait a minute....they could figure that out if someone found it, and then they could get the last person in there on camera, maybe), conceal the disk in your jacket/hoodie, and leave. No, i am not saying i did this, or will ever do it, just know how to, and it probably can be done. my friend used to get free gum this way, still not supporting this and still wouldnt do it myself, just for the record.

 

Nupe. First off, that would be stealing, which is bad (you and I both agree to that point). But second, CC cameras are on you at all times in places like Wal-Mart stores. Someone would likely spot you trying to conceal the case. You might get out of the store with it, but you'd still ultimately be caught.

 

Naah. I work at a Wal-Mart. We lose dozens of CDs, DVDs, and video games a day precisely through the mechanism ewing92 states. (And even more by people who are more blatant, simply opening games in the electronics department.) Just because there are cameras doesn't mean many people are caught, and the rules are so restrictive that even someone who's seen you pocket something is probably not going to be able to do more than try to make you feel nervous.

 

We do put some games out in the open in my store, by the way. We have dump bins of $30 games, and 8 feet of $20 games out in the open. The cases are primarily for the more expensive games, with any leftover space going towards whatever stock is onhand...