GameStop to Offer Classic Consoles and Games

[Austin]

That's an awfully shaky business model. Hoping there are enough people out there who fit this description to make this a profitable venture is not a solid foundation for this. There sure as hell won't be many collectors hocking their stuff there. The small time, independent retro shops usually have to comb eBay for lots, trade or make deals with other collectors, or pay market rate and hope they can flip at slightly higher than they paid. I can't conceive GameStop doing any of that (except MAYBE the last thing, only they'll mark it up god-knows %).

 

My guess is GS starts buying/selling retro for a little while...and then stops after a couple years of making zero money on it.

 

I'm not sure if you interpreted my statement correctly. What I meant is, people like you and I will never trade anything classic into GameStop. People however that don't know any better (or care, for that matter), will, and there's a *lot* of that type of customer out there, far more than the niche collector market that you and I inhabit. My local independent game store gets a lot of old stuff from the NES and SNES days from local customers that simply don't know any better.. boxes full of the stuff once occupying space in attics, garages, closets. And the reason they get the stuff a lot of the time? Because GameStop doesn't take them and the folks there are kind enough guide them to the independent shop. I don't see that happening as much anymore once GS starts carrying this stuff again.

 

You know what the funny thing about this is? GameStop is bound to get some of that collector market that once shunned them (like myself) back through their doors. It's one more place for people to try when they are on the hunt locally for classic games.

 

Is this business model shaky? Maybe about as shaky as still offering trades and selling original DS and Wii items at this point in time. It's not something that is likely to make or break their business, but with the current digital trends likely eating into their overall profit, I'm sure anything will help them at this point. I also don't doubt that GameStop already has an inventory of this stuff in their main warehouses ready to go out on a whim, and I don't doubt they are using whatever method they can to obtain product behind the scenes.

[cybercylon]

Oh God I can see it now, yellow GameStop pre-owned stickers on all the classic games carts and boxes.

The yellow stickers will clash on the yellowed SNES consoles they will sell for $80.

Edited April 17, 2015 by cybercylon

[+Cobra Kai]

It still won't be worth going into Gamestop looking for classic items, because the managers and other employees will just cherry pick all the quality items if they actually get some schmuck to sell them a decent collection. Then with what's left, they will toss any manuals and boxes into the trash, and then trash the cartridges with their disgustingly large price stickers with permanent adhesive, and preferrably for them, directly on top of the cart label too.

 

I really hate GS. As a gamer/collector that values the preservation of our hobby, that company has done untold damage to millions of games, and literally thrown away millions of valuable items like instruction manuals and game boxes. Their bankruptcy can't come fast enough, especially now that they've decided to get back into the classic game destruction business once again!

[cybercylon]

It still won't be worth going into Gamestop looking for classic items, because the managers and other employees will just cherry pick all the quality items if they actually get some schmuck to sell them a decent collection. Then with what's left, they will toss any manuals and boxes into the trash, and then trash the cartridges with their disgustingly large price stickers with permanent adhesive, and preferrably for them, directly on top of the cart label too.

 

I really hate GS. As a gamer/collector that values the preservation of our hobby, that company has done untold damage to millions of games, and literally thrown away millions of valuable items like instruction manuals and game boxes. Their bankruptcy can't come fast enough, especially now that they've decided to get back into the classic game destruction business once again!

It is not a matter of if their days are numbered, but when....

 

I really miss the days when there were multiple chains and some competition

[Reaperman]

So a company the size of gamestop, wanting to make a legitimate change and not just distract shareholders, would certainly run this through a focus group of their target market first. I don't think they did, since I'm picking up on some anecdotal evidence that it might not be as warmly received as it could be.

 

Hollywood video actually did a very solid job with gamecrazy and it still failed. It failed before the video rental portion of the store, so what's that saying? Play n' Trades, the closest there is to a nation-wide classic gaming chain, are closing left and right. The three franchises in my city all closed within a few years of opening.

 

IMO, classic games aren't a stellar business plan from the start. A chain that has spent decades earning their terrible reputation with that specific segment of gaming doesn't somehow make it better. What I hear is "Dear investors, please don't bail on us for a few more quarters--look, we're trying 'stuff'." Maybe gamestop should focus on something easier--like being a nicer place to buy modern games.

Edited April 18, 2015 by Reaperman

[Torr]

I remember back around 2004 when a new (and the FIRST in our area) EBGames opened up on the west coast of Newfoundland; it had Current Gen systems (PS2, GCN, XBox) along with stuff dating back to the NES.

They had a compete in box NES and many black box games complete, for cheap... as well as Sega Genesis games (although most were actually Megadrive games for some reason) and within 6 months it became current gen systems ONLY. I got a lot of my Dreamcast games there.

Wish I'd bought some more of their stuff back then...

Edited April 18, 2015 by Torr

[Reaperman]

I've still been thinking about this--and how many classic video game fans are there really? How many fans who are interested enough to buy real carts, with real money, for real hardware--how many of us could really be around?

 

According to wikipedia, back in 2012 gamestop had 6627 locations. So how many potential customers per location? 2? 3?

Factor in that a good number of us aren't especially fond of gamestop and now what? Half a customer per location? Figure we stop in every 6 months, filter through the half dozen games that aren't supermario/duckhunt and spend our $20. It's madness to think that would help a bottom line.

 

Maybe instead they could consider selling me a 'cut the crap' card, which I could present at any time during my yearly visit to gamestop to make the cashier instantly drop the upsell script and ring my order up. That'd sell. It's like paying money to a website to stop the ads.

Edited April 18, 2015 by Reaperman

[Keatah]

I've still been thinking about this--and how many classic video game fans are there really? How many fans who are interested enough to buy real carts, with real money, for real hardware--how many of us could really be around?

 

I'm a classic gaming and computing enthusiast just as much as anyone here. Maybe more so! I'll get into some classic games all evening long. Try out different versions on different systems. Explore cheats and mods. Try new gameplay ideas. Read the reviews, hunt for bugs. All that good stuff!

 

Am I interested in building a huge wall-to-wall collection? Nope. Am I interested in accumulating the physical consoles and cartridges these days? Nope. And I'm the only one in my immediate neighborhood that knows anything about classic computing and consoles!

 

There are three GameStops within bike-riding distance, but my classic gaming hobby isn't compatible with them. It's all emulation 100% uv'da way, supplemented by a set of real Apple II systems.

Edited April 18, 2015 by Keatah

[Reaperman]

There are three GameStops within bike-riding distance, but my classic gaming hobby isn't compatible with them. It's all emulation 100% uv'da way, supplemented by a set of real Apple II systems.

Totally agree that you're more hardcore than most--but you're not at all compatible with their silly business plan. For that matter, I'm not either, and you'd think I would be at least a little closer...

Their business plan hinges entirely on them buying common carts for pennies from idiots, and turning them into 'nintendo world championship' 4-figure sales to other idionts. In short--fairyland.

 

Gamestop thinks that some of their investors heard that NES games go for $0.50.

They also know that some of them understand that nintendo world championship goes for $10,000.00.

SInce these are obviously the same goddamn idiots, they won't bail when they hear that gamestop has a plan to buy $0.50 games ans sell them for $10,000.00.

Edited April 19, 2015 by Reaperman

[BydoEmpire]

Thinking about it more, this is probably just a marketing thing, not a program intended to directly add the bottom line. Gives people something to talk about, maybe turn a couple heads and generate a little traffic, which will hopefully get people to buy a used copy of Halo 4 or whatever.

[cybercylon]

Totally agree that you're more hardcore than most--but you're not at all compatible with their silly business plan. For that matter, I'm not either, and you'd think I would be at least a little closer...

Their business plan hinges entirely on them buying common carts for pennies from idiots, and turning them into 'nintendo world championship' 4-figure sales to other idionts. In short--fairyland.

 

Gamestop thinks that some of their investors heard that NES games go for $0.50.

They also know that some of them understand that nintendo world championship goes for $10,000.00.

SInce these are obviously the same goddamn idiots, they won't bail when they hear that gamestop has a plan to buy $0.50 games ans sell them for $10,000.00.

Gamestop must think there are both kinds of idiots out there. Ones who well sell for pennies as you said, and then those who will buy something at a 50x to 100x markup. Unknown is how much of the latter exits, but they do. There is stuff way over priced with the regional chain that already sells this stuff, and someone is buying it.

 

One thing in our area.... the regional chain (The Exchange) has a strong presence near Gamestop stores. They also sell a lot of other stuff... there are good deals to be had on Blurays, etc. At the moment, most PS2, PS1 is decently priced unless it was something rare. It is mostly the Nintendo stuff that gets way, way marked up. So what would Gamestop have to offer here?

[cimerians]

I have zero interest but for anyone who wants more info....here's an interview Wired did with a lot more details:

 

http://www.wired.com/2015/04/gamestop-classic-retro-games/

 

hehe:

" For the pilot program, Haes says that stores will have a single SKU in their point-of-sale systems for each game. That means GameStop will offer one flat price, whether you’ve got a loose game cartridge or one with its original box and manual."

[Mord]

I have zero interest but for anyone who wants more info....here's an interview Wired did with a lot more details:

 

http://www.wired.com/2015/04/gamestop-classic-retro-games/

 

hehe:

" For the pilot program, Haes says that stores will have a single SKU in their point-of-sale systems for each game. That means GameStop will offer one flat price, whether you’ve got a loose game cartridge or one with its original box and manual."

 

The problem of course being that they'll probably be taking the highest paid price from ebay transactions for each game to set the price. So all those loose, ripped-label, cola-stained games will cost as much as mint sealed CIB games. Then they'll wonder why they're not selling, and call the pilot program a bust.

[Austin]

" For the pilot program, Haes says that stores will have a single SKU in their point-of-sale systems for each game. That means GameStop will offer one flat price, whether you’ve got a loose game cartridge or one with its original box and manual."

 

This is the same as it used to be, so it's nothing new for them. I'm willing to bet the SKUs never left their system either and there's very little actual legwork needing to be done in that regard asides from updating the prices.

[Gredler]

" If something is “beyond repair,” it’ll get junked."

 

This is what scares me the most. They are so quick to junk things. Like right now, they just throw away DS/Gamecube/Wii/PS2/OG Xbox games. Gamestop is a blackhole, destroying anything they can't make a profit on. Non working copy of little samson? trash it.

[Torr]

Considering even people who know nothing about classic video games have an over-inflated idea of what they're worth, I can't see ANYBODY selling a game to GameStop.

Collector's KNOW game X is worth, say 20 bucks, so they aren't gonna sell it GameStop for $0.50-$1.00.

Others THINK game X is worth, 80 bucks (because it's old, right? and they've heard these old games can go for THOUSANDS!) so they aren't gonna sell it GameStop for $0.50-$1.00.

Edited April 21, 2015 by Torr

[cybercylon]

" If something is “beyond repair,” it’ll get junked."

 

This is what scares me the most. They are so quick to junk things. Like right now, they just throw away DS/Gamecube/Wii/PS2/OG Xbox games. Gamestop is a blackhole, destroying anything they can't make a profit on. Non working copy of little samson? trash it.

 

 

That will be unfortunate as it is very possible to make some working consoles out of a bunch of broken ones. Something tells me they won't put much effort into that....

[+save2600]

Give a monkey a Nintendo system that has cold solder joints at the power plug or needs a new 72-pin connector and you're liable to see the same look of confusion if you were to hand it over to your average LameStop chimp.

[Keatah]

Yes. Do you think GameStop is going to higher experienced technicians?

 

Too many electronics refurb sweatshops don't know the finer points of anything. Refurb, today, means cleanup the cosmetics and replace replaceable parts like AC adaptors and lens caps.

 

And gamestop is no different. For example, GS might get an Apple II (not plus or //e) in. And they'll throw it away for want of $1.00 IC logic gate.

[+save2600]

Yes. Do you think GameStop is going to higher experienced technicians?

 

 

 

no way Jose!

[Keatah]

Why does GS trash the boxes and manuals?

[Keatah]

Why do they throw away the manuals? Make you buy strategy guides?

[+Cobra Kai]

Why do they throw away the manuals? Make you buy strategy guides?

They claimed it was a space issue. They were literally throwing boxes and manuals into the dumpsters behind their stores.

[Hydian]

The Exchange in the Pittsburgh area is pretty good actually. Down where I'm at now, we have quite a few good places for classic games and I haven't explored all of them yet.

 

The Gamestop thing is bad for collectors. It will mean fewer things out on Craigslist, yard sales, and flea markets. It will also further normalize prices in an upwards direction.

[cybercylon]

The Exchange in the Pittsburgh area is pretty good actually. Down where I'm at now, we have quite a few good places for classic games and I haven't explored all of them yet.

 

The Gamestop thing is bad for collectors. It will mean fewer things out on Craigslist, yard sales, and flea markets. It will also further normalize prices in an upwards direction.

As I mentioned, yes they are. Aside from the Nintendo stuff, there are deals to be had. As far as I know, they don't toss manuals and boxes, even if it is an old sports title.

 

The one thing that annoys me is seeing 7-8 copies of Windwalker for $50 a pop. It is not that rare, but people will pay I guess.

 

As with many places though, they are not a place to trade stuff in unless you have a lot of inexpensive stuff in bulk and trying to unload it elsewhere is more trouble than it is worth.

Edited April 22, 2015 by cybercylon