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"GameStop Enters Sellout Talks"


Austin

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A friend linked me to this and I thought it was interesting news:

https://www.engadget.com/2018/06/19/gamestop-enters-selloff-talks/

I'll be interested to see how this plays out. I stepped in a GS for the first time in a while recently and was shocked to see how little floor space actual video games took up.

 

I wonder if some of us have had an impact on their business. For people like me, it's more of a hassle to go there than anything and I've been pretty good about avoiding it like the plague for the better part of the last decade. Too much upselling, too many strings attached, not worth the trouble. I've been happy with getting my new releases from elsewhere (Amazon, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, whatever) and grabbing my used games online and from independent game shops.

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I like several ideas about GameStop, but what I hate is how much is dedicated to not-game stuff now.

 

I really only stop by because I know a few guys who work there well enough to chat with them.

 

Beyond that, I just keep stopping in with hopes of a good sale (Buy 2, Get 1 Free), or seeing something marked down to a decent enough price.

 

Otherwise the place is pretty garbage and is generally a waste of my time and money.

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I fear for whatever happens to that warehouse full of games they stockpiled as part of their retro initiative... :sad:

https://www.gamingconviction.com/former-gamestop-corporate-manager-reveals-inside-details-on-retro-trade-in-disaster/

 

A company with such piss poor practices deserves to die... :mad:

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I fear for whatever happens to that warehouse full of games they stockpiled as part of their retro initiative... :sad:

It'll be destroyed. This is nothing new to Gamestop, who have done immense damage to the retro gaming community with it's policy of 'throw everything away, leave the cartridge'.

 

To Hell with Gamestop, the faster they go out of business the better. Just get it over with, and I hope every employee has to eat a shit sandwich on the way out.

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Retail is a tough business. I feel like GameStop has kept itself alive via its pawn shop, and I would think more diverse retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and Target have been hurting their foot traffic as much as "downloads."

 

I wish I liked them more. I only go there for hardware, like every other year.

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I remember that retro article about the former employee, completely unacceptable gamestop did that, but obviously the consumer knew it going by their other shady tactics before retro came back and exploited it hardcore. They knew the company was too arrogant and tight fisted to invest in a device like a simple cheap LCD and retron5 let alone a dumb security bit kit for a couple bucks so you got miles upon miles of fakes and cart swaps, fake labels on legit shells, and other gems to make a lot of money off greedy idiots. I can't say I blame the for running the other name for their ebay shop because they would have been decimated with bad feedback and abuse that would have been well earned.

 

If they die fine by me. I go in there ever so often to look around the the toys and plushies in particular have been widening their wall and floor space usage over games. I can't say I'm surprised given their rep that has been souring for like what 15 years now or so?

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All this negativity about GS is one of those "be careful what you wish for" things.

 

Where else are you going to buy games for modern systems in person, especially used for a significant discount off the new price? Are you just going to buy *everything* online and either wait for it to be shipped to you or pay some ridiculous price for a "digital" copy you don't even really own? How are either of those things better than just going to a store?

 

I don't buy a hell of a lot of modern games, but when I do, there are basically two places I go: GameStop or Best Buy. And both of those places seem to be in their death throes. I don't see how my life is going to be improved when they're gone.

 

That's not to say GameStop hasn't become annoying lately, especially with the way they absolutely will not leave you alone if you're just looking around in the store, and the way they interrogate you when you check out. Those were bad, bad ideas that no doubt turned a lot of people off.

 

But I mean, have some thicker skin. Just say "no" to everything. It's not really that hard. And you walk out with a game, which is a win for you. And that's going to go away soon.

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But I mean, have some thicker skin. Just say "no" to everything. It's not really that hard. And you walk out with a game, which is a win for you. And that's going to go away soon.

Or, one could simply not step foot in a Game Stop to begin with. For some of us, "having some thicker skin" shouldn't even be a part of the retail shopping equation, especially not for videogames.

 

If they do end up selling and the stores shut down, it will undoubtedly be a blow for certain parts of the country and a large subset of customers. For places like where I live though, there are plenty of other options.

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Where else are you going to buy games for modern systems in person, especially used for a significant discount off the new price?

 

 

I have three local game stores to buy used games from, not to mention pawn shops, yard sales, thrift stores, etc. I stopped going to EB games for used games a long time ago when I found the mom and pops were cheaper for used games.

 

Are you just going to buy *everything* online and . . . wait for it to be shipped to you

 

 

Preferably yes.

 

or pay some ridiculous price for a "digital" copy you don't even really own?

 

 

That's the future and unfortunately probably unavoidable.

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The gamer has spoken. Digital is in. No one wants the hassle of cartridges or other physical media anymore.

 

It's a future every single gamer wants and embraces wholeheartedly. Demands even I dare say. Because they CONTINUE TO PURCHASE un-ownable digital games in record numbers. Utterly and completely impossible to argue with 44 billion in yearly sales. I won't even try..

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The gamer has spoken. Digital is in. No one wants the hassle of cartridges or other physical media anymore.

Physical no longer lays host to the majority of sales, but it's hardly dead and it likely won't be for some time. In a Giant Bomb interview last week, Phil Spencer (head of Microsoft's gaming division) stated that physical sales are still very healthy for them.

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GameStop satire: http://www.platypuscomix.net/mulberry/index.php?issue=27&page=1&seriesID=4

 

Actually makes a point in favor of the company near the end.

 

I don't want GameStop to go away, but I never find anything to buy when I go there. As for them asking if you need anything... It takes three seconds to say "no;" and in most stores you can't find help when you do need it. :/

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in the early-to-mid 2000s i frequented GameStop often- they usually had all the stuff in one spot and it was easy for me to get games/etc that I wanted.

 

i think it's just an evolution of user preference along with a 'sign of the times'. i'm still not a huge fan of downloading stuff because i like having the physical copy (even if it is just a hardware drm dongle in the case of a console).

 

i've slowly gotten used to the fact that this is SOP for Steam and XBox. depending on how impatient i am we go to walmart/target way more often than gamestop if i want a physical game, or i just end up ordering it from amazon.

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Only thing I buy at Gamestop these days is clearance stuff and I only do that once or twice a year. I lost interest in them when I pre-ordered Katamari Forever for the PS3 and when I got there the day they said it would be ready, they pulled an opened case off the floor shelf and went digging around a file cabinet for the game disk of my brand new game. I don't care if it was complete, I don't want a retailer to open my new games for me. What kind of dumb-ass policy is that? LOL

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I think they would be better off as ThinkGeek stores, and dropping the whole GameStop notion altogether. I can't even remember the last time I bought a game from their store. I bought GTA5 from WalMart without any hassle. I bought my Xbox One bundle from Target without any hassle. No pressure to join a club or wacked-out bundle "deals".

 

Sure, there's room to sell gaming hardware, but even Target & WalMart have that base covered. There's not enough room in the store to sell a bunch of different fun fighting sticks(for example) or hardcore gamer hardware.

 

Sell what other stores aren't selling, ie ThinkGeek merch that isn't being sold at Hot Topic, Walmart, Target.

 

And try not to have multiple GameStops in the same mall.

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I went into a GS for the first time in years the other day, just to check out their WiiU games. Was pleasantly surprised to find a better selection at lower prices than any of the independent used game stores around, many complete with cases, artwork, manuals, and other contents.

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Where else are you going to buy games for modern systems in person, especially used for a significant discount off the new price? Are you just going to buy *everything* online and either wait for it to be shipped to you or pay some ridiculous price for a "digital" copy you don't even really own? How are either of those things better than just going to a store?

They're just a store, a middleman. They don't make anything.

 

There's some convenience to going to a dedicated shop, but there are other places to buy physical media -- like the big-box places like Target and Walmart which carry a diverse range of products, so aren't as susceptible to trends that only affect a single industry like this.

 

Toys R Us is already gone. People adapt, even if that means they keep doing the behavior that "hurts" the retailer.

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All this negativity about GS is one of those "be careful what you wish for" things.

 

Where else are you going to buy games for modern systems in person, especially used for a significant discount off the new price? Are you just going to buy *everything* online and either wait for it to be shipped to you or pay some ridiculous price for a "digital" copy you don't even really own? How are either of those things better than just going to a store?

 

I don't buy a hell of a lot of modern games, but when I do, there are basically two places I go: GameStop or Best Buy. And both of those places seem to be in their death throes. I don't see how my life is going to be improved when they're gone.

 

That's not to say GameStop hasn't become annoying lately, especially with the way they absolutely will not leave you alone if you're just looking around in the store, and the way they interrogate you when you check out. Those were bad, bad ideas that no doubt turned a lot of people off.

 

But I mean, have some thicker skin. Just say "no" to everything. It's not really that hard. And you walk out with a game, which is a win for you. And that's going to go away soon.

Walmart. Target. Best Buy. No limit to the number of stores that carry physical games. They haven't quite gone the way of the CD yet.

 

Need better selection? Order online. And if you want to buy used games, try Amazon marketplace / eBay.

 

 

Only thing I buy at Gamestop these days is clearance stuff and I only do that once or twice a year. I lost interest in them when I pre-ordered Katamari Forever for the PS3 and when I got there the day they said it would be ready, they pulled an opened case off the floor shelf and went digging around a file cabinet for the game disk of my brand new game. I don't care if it was complete, I don't want a retailer to open my new games for me. What kind of dumb-ass policy is that? LOL

Yes it's a travesty, and one thing to look out for, people can and do steal dlc codes out of "new" open box games. I used to pad my Club Nintendo account using registration codes I found in "used" cases of Wii/Wii-U/DS/3DS titles at Gamestop. Just open case sitting on the shelf, snap a pic with my phone, and leave. :roll:

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