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Opinion: Why I don’t shop at GameStop and you shouldn’t either


JonkyZMBE

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After reading XtremeGamerX810’s post “Where do you buy your games?” and the responses that followed, I felt slightly surprised and concerned by the number of replies that said that they buy their games from GameStop. As a former employee of GameStop’s, I have personally vowed to never shop there and to encourage other people like myself to look elsewhere to satisfy their gaming needs. So here are four reasons why anyone considering shopping at GameStop should consider an alternative source for buying games.

1. GameStop rarely has the best deals on games

It is a fact that GameStop rarely has the best deals on games. If you were to buy a game pre-owned the price is typically only $2.00 to $5 less than buying the same game brand new. In addition, GameStop also rarely has the best prices on games versus other competitors such as Amazon, Best Buy, Target, or even Walmart, and worse of all, GameStop does not price match (unlike Best Buy, Target, or Walmart).

 

Here are a few examples:

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f123/JonkyZMBE/CODGSvsAma_zpscab07b53.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f123/JonkyZMBE/WolfGSvsAma_zps088a84d1.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f123/JonkyZMBE/Sky_zps6d69d4c4.jpg

 

(Screenshots taken from GameStop.com and Amazon.com on 08/22/2014)

 

Pro Tip: if you are too impatient to wait for shipping, Best Buy, Target, and Walmart will always price match Amazon as long as the product is directly sold by Amazon. Also these retailers will also price match GameStop if they happen to have the best deal.

 

2. GameStop’s suggestive sales technics are annoying to customers and employees alike

When I was an employee suggestive sales was my least favorite part of the job, and customers always seemed annoyed when I had to sell these things to them. I always did my best to find a middle ground to meet the company’s standards and the customer’s expectations of what the customer experience should be like. But by GameStop’s standards this is what an ideal customer visit should look like:

 

Customer walks in the door, and the employee walks up to customer and says, “Hello how can I help you today”? Customer says, “Oh I am just looking”. Employee replies, “Okay great, just so you know we have this (insert GameStop weekly trade-in promotion or sale tag line) deal going on and here is a flyer to show you everything going on this week.” (Customer either begrudgingly takes flyer or says no thanks) and employee leaves them alone for the time being.

 

Customer finds a game to purchase and walks up to register. Employee says, “Did you find everything okay?” Customer replies, “Yes thank you.” Employee starts suggestive sales technics (below is ideally what the GS expects you to offer to every customer making a purchase):

 

- PUR Loyalty Card: “Do you have a Power-Up Rewards Card?” (If customer does, you ask for their phone number or card and if customer doesn’t have one you have to try to sell them one). Employee starts sale, “The Power-Up Rewards card is something I highly recommend, it saves you 10% off all pre-owned games for an entire year, and gives you 10% extra store credit for any games that you trade-in, and in addition to that, you get a year’s worth of Game Informer magazine for only $14.99. Would you like to sign up today?”

- Pre-owned Sales: (If the customer bought a new game) “We have this game in-stock pre-owned for only (insert price that is typically $2.00 to $5.00 cheaper), would you like to buy it pre-owned instead?”

- Reserves: “We are now taking reserves on tons of exciting games coming out later this year, games such as Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed, and Madden are now available for reserve and they come with bonuses for doing so. Are there any games coming out this year that you would like to pre-order?”

- Game Play Guarantee (GPG): “Would you like a warranty on your game (also known as a GPG) for only $3.00? It will cover your disc for a year in case it gets scratched.”

- Customer Survey: “If you could when you get a chance, please take our customer service survey and tell us how I did today.” (Employee highlights area of receipt that tells customer how to take the survey.)

- Trade-ins (if customer didn’t trade in anything): “One last thing before you go, if you have any games or devices at home that you don’t use anymore you can get cash or store credit if you bring them in to GameStop. Thank you, have a great day!”

 

If you have a hard time believing that this is what is expected during a common interaction with customers, I highly encourage you to take a survey sometime. You will notice while taking the survey that they ask if the employee did the things listed above.

It should also be noted that GameStop recently leaked out an internal document that includes a new Credit Card with a high interest rate. So I am sure this will be implemented into all of the other suggestive sales as well. You can read this article for more information: IGN - GameStop Reportedly Introducing New Credit Card

 

3. Resale/Trade-in values are inconsistent and are rarely fair to the consumer

This is probably one of the areas that is commonly complained about by customers who shop at GameStop. So much in fact that GameStop has recently launched a new pricing system that supposedly gives deals that are fair. But typically during my time there, trade-in values for new release games would be $10.00 to $20.00 for newer release games that are resold at a price point of $54.99, and $5.00 to $9.00 for older release titles. According to the new system though, a game with the base value of $9.00 will be raised by 20%, which would make it $11.00 and they have terminated the special percentage promotions to simplify customer’s understanding. I believe that this is actually a bad thing because in the past you could occasionally get a special trade-in promotion and get more money for your games because of special promotions that they would have three to five times a year to increase their inventory of hot items. For example, it was a common for GameStop to have a 50% bonus trade-in credit promotion during the summer to stock up on inventory for the holiday season and to encourage customers to pre-order games. During these promotions instead of getting only $20.00 for a new release title, you would instead get $30.00, in comparison to the new system you’ll only be able to get $24.00 which is much easier to understand, but is not a better deal.

Here is the article if you would like to learn more: Gamestop is Overhauling Trade-ins Will Offer More Money

 

4. GameStop’s business model has a negative impact on the industry

This is by far the most important reason why you shouldn’t shop at GameStop. It comes as no surprise to me that during a week where Infamous developer Sucker Punch suffered layoffs that GameStop also reported over $1 billion in sales for the second quarter of the year. This report is a direct result of pre-owned sales, in which GameStop makes 50% to 70% profit from the sales of pre-owned games, hardware, and consumer electronics (such as iPods, iPads, iPhones, and various Android Tablets). Sales in which the publishers and developers see zero of. This is a direct conflict of interest with the sales of new games because GameStop is in competition with the companies who make the games that they sell. If you go to GameStop and buy a new game such as Call of Duty Ghosts for example, GameStop encourages you to buy the pre-owned version instead (for $5.00 less than new) because they make about 50% to 70% profit from the sale (and the developer doesn’t see a single dollar of that money). This is why developers implemented online passes, season passes, and DLC in general. The problem with this is that GameStop has figured out a way to make money off of the sale of Online Passes, Season Passes, and DLC because they can sell the currency you need to buy these, and they even started taking pre-orders on them as well.

 

In addition, GameStop is also to blame for the infamous pre-order incentive program where you can only get specific content on day one for your game if you buy it from a specific retailer. So when a game is announced (instead of the content just being included in the game to begin with) you have to consider where to pre-order your game to get which bonus you would like, or none at all if you didn’t pre-order it (even though you paid the same $60.00 for the game that everyone else did). GameStop is the company who started the idea and fight for the best day one pre-order content to increase their sales. They are even meeting with developers to try to have more involvement and control for exclusive content by meeting with developers and trying to have involvement with the early development of the game in general. It is likely that one day you won’t be able to play a specific area of a game without having bought the game from GameStop. For more information read this article:

Joystiq - GameStop may seek exclusive content during a game's development

 

Bottom line, if you enjoy playing games and supporting the industry that you love, buying games at GameStop (especially if you buy pre-owned over new) hurts the very Studios that spend days, weeks, months, and years to create what you enjoy.

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Here is some more useful information:

 

Cheap Ass Gamer : This is a link to a great website to find the best deals on Games. (Added in Edit)

 

IGN - GameStop Reports Over $1 Billion in Sales for Second Quarter (08/21/2014)

GameStop Reports Over $1 Billion in Sales for Second Quarter - IGN

 

IGN – Infamous Dev Sucker Punch Suffers Layoffs (08/20/2014)

Infamous Dev Sucker Punch Suffers Layoffs - IGN

 

IGN – Sony Layoffs Hit Evolution, Guerilla and SCE London (03/24/2014)

Sony Layoffs Hit Evolution, Guerilla and SCE London - IGN Video

 

IGN – Layoffs Hit God of War Studio Sony Santa Monica (02/25/2014)

Layoffs Hit God of War Studio Sony Santa Monica - IGN NEWS - IGN Video

 

The Boston Globe - Video game studio Irrational Games to close (02/19/2014)

Video game studio Irrational Games to close - Business - The Boston Globe

 

Joystiq – Posts tagged Layoffs (various articles and dates)

http://www.joystiq.com/tag/layoffs/

 

Original post by XtremeGamerX810’s post “Where do you buy your games?”

http://www.playstationtrophies.org/forum/general-games-discussion/244371-where-do-you-buy-your-games.html

 

Thank you for taking the time to read my opinion. Happy Gaming!

Edited by JonkyZMBE
Added cheapassgamer.com link to help other's find the best deals
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As I agree with you 100% about how bad they are they also have a loophole of 7 days with used games. Thus by playing and returning games. Yes I preorder stuff there (mostly because I take advantage of them *sometimes buy games cheap at other places and sell them to GS for double* or Can't get rid of a system and they offer a good amount. *sold my 360 to them for 150$* )

 

They are a buissness and are in it to make money same things as every other company. And to be honest the last 2 years they have had the best Black Friday sales that weren't *between the hours of 9:00pm and 9:15pm get said game for 20$*

 

Keep fighting the good fight.

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Your first point about pricing is pretty flawed in my opinion. Yeah, those games are cheaper on Amazon now, but they're full price on release day. Those photos were a pretty cheesy way to back up your point in my opinion. Amazon is great for buying games after they've been out awhile, and it's even better if you have the time to follow it (which I do when I'm hunting for a price) but it changes like the wind, it's more akin to eBay these days truthfully. I've seen Call of Duty: Ghosts for under twenty bucks numerous times on there, but in fairness, it's almost a year old game. I'm not saying you're completely wrong or anything, but it's not like Destiny (just an example) is going to be forty bucks on Amazon on release day and sixty at GameStop. Also, I feel comfortable pointing out that anybody who's willing to pay $54.99 for a used copy of a $59.99 game probably deserves to get screwed. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that's not a great deal.

 

I'm not a fan of GameStop, but they offer a convenience that appeals to me. All I have to do to not get screwed by them, is pre-order my game so I can get the pre-order bonuses and then pick it up. Everything else they throw at me, I can ignore. I can also say from experience that if I go to a midnight release, regardless of how many people there are, that I'm in and out in no time. I've gone to midnight releases at Best Buy that took until 3AM to finish because of the half-assed way they run the show.

 

I probably sound like I disagree with you, but I really don't. I just think it's fair to point out some of the things that appeal to people who don't want to fool around and that's really why they go there. Ordering from Amazon would be the next best option for me, but I enjoy going out and picking up my games when I want them and not tracking/waiting around for a package on release day. That's just me though.

 

Points two and three on your list also have their problems.

 

Point two... Every store has annoying sales techniques, especially on a corporate cookie cutter level in a store like GameStop. That's how you sell shit and stay in business. Do I like being approached with an aggressive sales pitch? Of course not, but I understand why it exists.

 

As for point three, they still have bonus offers after they changed their trade-in tiers. I'm looking at a +50% trade in coupon as we speak that begins next week (August 25th). They're always going to have promotions, they've just simplified things. For example, when you look at their website it would tell you a store credit trade in price for a specific game or console. Then you would go to the store and inquire and they would give you a much lower price. You would then point out what their website said and they would be just as confused as you on how to get to that price, which involved figuring out what perfect combination of trade-ins and bonuses, matched with the rewards card that actually got you that amount of money. I know this from personal experience, it's happened to me multiple times. My understanding for changing it was to avoid that kind of confusion for both customers and employees because they look pretty stupid when it happens and the customer is pissed.

Edited by WalterWhite
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Very interesting and well-written article, it's definitely made me take a step back and re-consider them, since they're my go-to shop for gaming purchases and pre-orders. I really enjoyed reading it. :) Though, I've noticed one thing with this article - most of these points don't vouch for the European branches of GameStop (or at least the local ones here in Ireland) at all. For example...

 

1. GameStop rarely has the best deals on games

It is a fact that GameStop rarely has the best deals on games. If you were to buy a game pre-owned the price is typically only $2.00 to $5 less than buying the same game brand new. In addition, GameStop also rarely has the best prices on games versus other competitors such as Amazon, Best Buy, Target, or even Walmart, and worse of all, GameStop does not price match (unlike Best Buy, Target, or Walmart).

I'm not exactly one to talk on Best Buy, Target or Walmart as none of those shops are here (except for Amazon, which I have used one numerous occasions to get my pre-orders). But, at least here, the pre-owned prices for games in GameStop are great. :whistle: The price difference from brand new games to pre-owned are massive, sometimes €20-€30 in difference. For example, I saw South Park: The Stick of Truth on my last trip to GameStop sometime last week. The brand new copy was its typical €50 as well-selling, triple-A games tend to stay here for a good while after their release. Yet, I found the same game in the pre-owned section for €22.99, a massive drop. This isn't the first time I've seen such drastic price changes either, if anything, it's a common thing to see. I've always heard about the minor price drops in America's GSs, but over here it's certainly not the case.

 

2. GameStop’s suggestive sales technics are annoying to customers and employees alike

When I was an employee suggestive sales was my least favorite part of the job, and customers always seemed annoyed when I had to sell these things to them. I always did my best to find a middle ground to meet the company’s standards and the customer’s expectations of what the customer experience should be like. But by GameStop’s standards this is what an ideal customer visit should look like:

 

snip...

 

PUR Loyalty Card: ...

- Pre-owned Sales: ...

- Reserves: ...

- Game Play Guarantee (GPG): ...

- Customer Survey: ...

- Trade-ins (if customer didn’t trade in anything): ...

That sounds... horrible. Like, dear God. So cut-and-dry. :p The most we get asked post-purchase here is the year warranty for €3 or so. Most times they don't even ask, and when they do, it's very casual and non-suggestive. Been going there for 5+ years regularly and I've never been asked to fill a survey, told about any of their upcoming releases or pre-owned/trade-in details. :|

 

3. Resale/Trade-in values are inconsistent and are rarely fair to the consumer

This is probably one of the areas that is commonly complained about by customers who shop at GameStop...

I don't really have much to say on this as I haven't traded-in for a while now (due to strictly limiting my purchases to franchises/companies I've always liked and trusted in terms of game quality). Only thing I only have to say is when I got my PS3 back in 2010, I traded in about 20-30 PS2 games and got almost €100 off my PS3 Slim. :whistle: Can't vouch if it would be as good now, but that was a nice bit off considering that model was brand new at the time, and considering those PS2 games were only worth €5 at that point, being a good 3-4 years into the PS3's cycle. But again, that was 4 years ago, and I can't vouch on how generous they'd be now.

 

4. GameStop’s business model has a negative impact on the industry

This is by far the most important reason why you shouldn’t shop at GameStop. It comes as no surprise to me that during a week where Infamous developer Sucker Punch suffered layoffs that GameStop also reported over $1 billion in sales for the second quarter of the year. This report is a direct result of pre-owned sales, in which GameStop makes 50% to 70% profit from the sales of pre-owned games, hardware, and consumer electronics (such as iPods, iPads, iPhones, and various Android Tablets)...

 

...Bottom line, if you enjoy playing games and supporting the industry that you love, buying games at GameStop (especially if you buy pre-owned over new) hurts the very Studios that spend days, weeks, months, and years to create what you enjoy.

 

Now this... this is the one that makes me feel guilty for my continued patronage to GameStop. :p I'm sure the European branches wouldn't have as much involvement as the American ones would as most major games are either American or Japanese, but damn, GameStop sound like real pests to the the developers, trying to have a part in the development like that. It's almost sickening. :|

 

However, to expand on a point I made from #1... money isn't exactly an easy thing to throw around, especially in Europe. Although knowing pre-owned copies give no profit to the developer, and being able to buy all my games brand new would benefit both me (for owning a flawless copy) and the developer (for showing my support), we don't exactly have that money... and so financially, pre-owned games are the easier and simpler route to take. I'll be honest, for whatever games I don't pre-order and get on release date, it's pretty much 100% guaranteed I get them pre-owned once they reach a decent price. :whistle: New games are just too much, and especially considering new games on PS4 and onwards will be a whopping €70, the equivalent of $100. For just a game. To add to that, I'm too young to even have a job... so pre-owned games are the MUCH more affordable option for me, someone who earns their pocket cash by cleaning around the house and getting good grades. :p And so until I can make my own income, I and many others honestly and realistically pray on pre-owned games for a good bargain. But hey, I get the games I really really want and are excited for on release via pre-order, so I'm not doing that much bad, right? :pout:

 

Anyway, just my two cents. Again, I really enjoyed reading it. I almost feel for you guys across the pond for how shit GameStop sound. :whistle:

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Yes Gamestop has made a lot of money. So has Amazon. We buy game from mainly those 2 companies. We have spent so much money at Gamestop that they treat us really well. For instance, when ps4 came out, we got one at 2 different Gamestop and got another from one of those stores that had 2 extra sent to them. Because we are frequent shoppers they said Free gets one of these. That's me, Free. No the system was't free :p but if we were not frequent shoppers we would not have got the extra system. We have 4 ps4s. The other one we bought from Amazon on release date. Gamestop also gives us the goodies that my son likes. The collectibles for free. Of course most ppl are not gaming freaks like us so they do not get the goodies. We will continue to buy games from both. We are all free to choose who we buy from. It's funny that when I talk with someone at Sony to fix a bug. They get a kick out of us having 3 ps3s and 4 ps4s and for some reason that seems to make them try really hard to make us happy. We used to have 7 ps3s because of our gaming room in the basement and upstairs den. We sold 4 of them to Gamestop. My son just moved into his university dorm so I'll be able to boost like crazy with all of the systems here. Cool to have friends over if they want to game at the trophy house. :dance: Live is good! Enjoy the gaming fellow members.

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Just to clarify, I am not saying that GameStop doesn't have good deals (that is why I said "rarely"), because they do have good deals from time to time. The examples I gave were just a few examples that proves that they aren't the only place to look. I encourage you to look at GameStop Ads, Best Buy, Amazon, where ever and get the best deal, just don't buy it from GameStop. It is very easy to get another retailer to price match and most of their competitors encourage it, and you hopefully won't have to sit through some kind of sales pitch (or at the very least so many things thrown at you).

 

Every retailer sells New Release titles on day one at the same price because the Vendors they buy them from require it for a specific amount of time so that they don't show favoritism to one specific retailer.

 

I am also not trying to argue that you shouldn't buy used games because you can't afford new ones. I am just saying that there are other places to look (ebay, craig's list, amazon, etc) where you can get a good deal. Just don't buy them from GameStop.

 

As far as GameStops in other countries, I know very little about so your experience there may be different.

Edited by JonkyZMBE
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I'm not a fan of GameStop, but they offer a convenience that appeals to me. All I have to do to not get screwed by them, is pre-order my game so I can get the pre-order bonuses and then pick it up.

 

But pre-ordering a game from them screws you and screws other gamers too. It means you're making their "preorder to get exclusive content" bullshit a success and that means they will keep doing it to the detriment of everyone who shops elsewhere.

 

If you really want to not get screwed by GameStop, boycott every single game that has GameStop exclusive preorder content (and also review bomb the game saying it sucks because part of the game was chopped out and sold to GameStop and shit like that so the publisher gets the appropriate message). If we all unite and send the game industry a message that their game sales will tank if they enter an exclusive content deal with GameStop, then the industry will stop entering into these deals and only then will GameStop not be screwing us anymore.

 

As it currently stands, GameStop screws me over frequently and I don't even shop there.

Edited by mjc0961
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Your biggest flaw is that your views are (naturally) limited to your country - US I guess.

 

1. GameStop rarely has the best deals on games

For me the pricing on new releases is fairly competitive, it's about on par with the big electronic outlets and we rarely have specialized shops like GameStop any more. Most online retailers will of course still be cheaper, due to their logistic infrastructure, but each has its own downsides - e.g. amazon taking an extra 5 EUR for 18+ goods which you then need to receive in person or can pick it off at an obscure packet shop - again in person - the next day ... often during business hours matching your own work hours.

 

2. GameStop’s suggestive sales technics are annoying to customers and employees alike

You can ignore it :p The only thing the clerks I see more regularly still tell me about is the survey. Even that mostly in a oneliner like "yeah, you know about it" while they mark up the code on the receipt.

While that's probably only because I go there several times a month to buy pre-paid cards, you have the vary same conditioned behaviour in most franchises. FFS, I can tell a "Sandwich Artist" I'm taking an untoasted Veggie Delite on Italian with cream cheese and still get asked what bread and cheese I want and it gets put in the oven. Even at the bar we were supposed to promote the newest addition to our assortment no matter what.

 

4. GameStop’s business model has a negative impact on the industry

That's not specific to GameStop. eBay is even worse in this regard IMO because GS at least makes money from the sales which go into purchasing new games from the publishers.

 

So yeah, there might be better alternatives to GameStop, but there are always worse, too. It's very region specific, so don't be too surprised if it ranks fairly high in an international community like this. :)

 

About pre-orders:

GameStop is a great way to get games likely to be indexed at Germany, because they'll get you the PEGI instead if you pre-ordered. No hassle with overpriced imports and customs ^^.

Edited by c1ned1ne
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4. GameStop’s business model has a negative impact on the industry

That's not specific to GameStop. eBay is even worse in this regard IMO because GS at least makes money from the sales which go into purchasing new games from the publishers.

 

And what do you think the seller on eBay is going to do with the money they make? The same thing GameStop will do: put it into a new game.

 

The only difference is that by cutting out the middle man, both the buyer and seller on eBay get a better deal. The seller gets more money for their game than they would at GameStop and the buyer pays less for their used game than they would at GameStop.

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And what do you think the seller on eBay is going to do with the money they make? The same thing GameStop will do: put it into a new game.

 

The only difference is that by cutting out the middle man, both the buyer and seller on eBay get a better deal. The seller gets more money for their game than they would at GameStop and the buyer pays less for their used game than they would at GameStop.

 

Also the difference here is that the money is going to one single company who directly has a large single audience and the power to give back to the industry that they continue to take advantage of but chooses not to. GameStop sells millions of pre-owned games a year, and makes billions of dollars shamelessly off the industry that produces the products that they sell. Without developers making games, the gaming industry won't survive and GameStop knows this and have plans for "evolving" into another business. More specifically consumer electronics.

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And what do you think the seller on eBay is going to do with the money they make? The same thing GameStop will do: put it into a new game.

 

The only difference is that by cutting out the middle man, both the buyer and seller on eBay get a better deal. The seller gets more money for their game than they would at GameStop and the buyer pays less for their used game than they would at GameStop.

 

Not necessarily. Maybe someone's selling because he badly needs money to pay of debts or just want to get rid of it for space issues or he has found another hobby or it was listed by an angry parent / spouse or ...

 

Not everyone who sells games is an avid gamer and those who are, are more likely to buy used I'd guess. A specialized shop is more guaranteed to put money back into the industry than some random people.

 

But that's the terrible thing about statements like "used games (or piracy or whatnot) are killing the industry" - you never know how much money is really lost. Not everyone who buys a used game cheap would have bought it for more within the time frame that matters to the publisher and selling used games with a high profit margin might help keeping stores afloat.

 

Edit

Also the difference here is that the money is going to one single company who directly has a large single audience and the power to give back to the industry that they continue to take advantage of but chooses not to. GameStop sells millions of pre-owned games a year, and makes billions of dollars shamelessly off the industry that produces the products that they sell. Without developers making games, the gaming industry won't survive and GameStop knows this and have plans for "evolving" into another business. More specifically consumer electronics.

 

And the simple solution here would be publishers enforcing digital distribution ... or at least make it more competitive on consoles. But they choose not to because they somehow still need companies like GameStop. (And the almost free advertising they do to sell your products is surely welcome.)

Edited by c1ned1ne
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Not necessarily. Maybe someone's selling because he badly needs money to pay of debts or just want to get rid of it for space issues or he has found another hobby or it was listed by an angry parent / spouse or ...

 

Not everyone who sells games is an avid gamer and those who are, are more likely to buy used I'd guess. A specialized shop is more guaranteed to put money back into the industry than some random people.

 

But that's the terrible thing about statements like "used games (or piracy or whatnot) are killing the industry" - you never know how much money is really lost. Not everyone who buys a used game cheap would have bought it for more within the time frame that matters to the publisher and selling used games with a high profit margin might help keeping stores afloat.

 

True. I'm not a big fan of that argument anyway to be honest. To me it's more about how GameStop shafts everyone so hard on the preowned games. And the preorder bonus content thing. Seriously fuck you for that, GameStop.

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If we all unite and send the game industry a message that their game sales will tank if they enter an exclusive content deal with GameStop, then the industry will stop entering into these deals and only then will GameStop not be screwing us anymore.

 

Yeah, haha. See, there is no we though. This romanticized notion of us doesn't actually exist, and we're even further away from anything resembling unification. We're all gamers, whatever that even means (probably not something I would want to be associated with really, but that's another topic), and we all hang out on the same message board, but that's where it ends. Our purchasing habits is what has gotten us to this point as it is, it's never going to go backwards now. People say a lot of things on these sites, but rarely back it up in real life. If they did, nobody would be buying Call of Duty games because everytime it comes up, people talk about how horrible it is and then Activision breaks another sales record. That tells me that people are just talking shit because they think it's cool. These aren't the kind of people that get things done in the world.

 

Also, I don't really care for this level of politics in a hobby. Certainly not a video game hobby. People can't even get organized on a level of effectiveness for real world issues, there's zero chance of anybody doing anything effective on a retail level regarding the game industry.

 

I know exactly what you're saying and everyone should vote with their dollar, unfortunately, it doesn't happen. I don't see any reason for me to miss out on some downloadable content to prove a point fighting for a cause that the majority of the planet doesn't know or care about, and leaves me with one less portion of a portion of a game. It just doesn't make my list of things that matter in life.

 

So, considering how often I compliment you on your posts and I am usually in agreement with you, which I think you understand I am here as well to some degree, I figure you're intelligent enough to know what I'm saying. If I went along for the ride on this boycott, it'd be you, me, and the OP standing outside of GameStop without a new release in our hand - hardly a victory. And let's be brutally honest, if we really gave a fuck, we wouldn't have bought the console in the first place, because let's admit, Microsoft and Sony are much bigger whores than GameStop could ever hope to be.

Edited by WalterWhite
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And the simple solution here would be publishers enforcing digital distribution ... or at least make it more competitive on consoles. But they choose not to because they somehow still need companies like GameStop. (And the almost free advertising they do to sell your products is surely welcome.)

 

It's because GameStop has so much power within the industry. If people would stop supporting them they wouldn't have the market share in the industry that gives them the power to control things. Rest assured though, companies like Sony are already exploring alternative benefits to buying digitally (ex: ps + discounts, pre-loading, and digital incentives). If you haven't tried PS4 pre-download pre-order system, I highly recommend it. I did it with Diablo 3 and it was way more convientient than driving to a store. My game downloaded 2 days before release and was ready to play on day one without the hassle of installing and updating.

 

Also I believe they are just playing nice right now while exploring alternative solutions to encourage digital.

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Gamestop has screwed me over more than once in the past, but I still get some games there. However, when it comes to a brand new game, I usually get it at Best Buy as they have great deals also. Used games on the other hand, would usually be Amazon's domain for me, but that usually occurs only if I am too busy to actually go get the game myself.

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I really hate arguement #4. The first sale doctrine is an important part of US copyright law. I understand the content creators deserve to be paid for their work, and they were. The gaming industry is not special, and every time someone whines about how used games are bad I roll my eyes. Used book stores didn't destroy the book industry. Used video stores didn't destroy the movie industry.

 

Used game sales are not a one to one replacement of new game sales. Some people buy games new because they can trade it in and recoup some of the cost. Some people cannot afford a new game, but the used version is manageable - and yes $5 can matter. And of course used games allow older or out of print games to still be bought and played.

 

GameStop exists because they provide a service that enough people find valuable. The ease, convince, and safety of trading to them is worth a reduced value to me. Having trade credit allows me to buy more games. And GameStop is allowed to make a profit too. I don't shop at GameStop because I'm stupid or ill informed, I shop there because of the opposite.

 

And content creators who want to prevent second hand sales should stop whining and look at the bigger picture.

Edited by Kyden139
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I don't understand what this thread hopes to achieve. Those who dislike GameStop business practices never go there: I don't. Those who don't care do exactly that. Not care and certainly not post here.

 

However:

And the simple solution here would be publishers enforcing digital distribution

 

While you meta you should realise the furor with Xbone and PS4 release. MS already tried to sell digital licensing, their method was content distributed physically (in disc format), but licensed digitally. You saw how that went down.

 

Sony said in response they'd never cripple the discs (we also take this time to introduce charging for online content on the very discs, which is something that was free for over a decade), and everyone went ballistic how cool Sony is over Microsoft.

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I really hate arguement #4. The first sale doctrine is an important part of US copyright law. I understand the content creators deserve to be paid for their work, and they were. The gaming industry is not special, and every time someone whines about how used games are bad I roll my eyes. Used book stores didn't destroy the book industry. Used video stores didn't destroy the movie industry.

 

This is precisely what I'm talking about. This sort of thing happens everywhere but gamers have these loud obnoxious voices when they have a problem with something. It's elementary school politics that spins a non-issue into one that gets equally uneducated people bent out of shape. You could make better arguments about a million other companies in the world that actually do harmful things. It's as absurd as EA being voted the worst company in America with cunts like BP sitting on the same ballot. Internet trolls skew some dumb poll and a company that doesn't have a shred of the negative impact on the planet that so many others do, walks away with the title. It's misdirected energy and effort for the least guilty offenders.

Edited by WalterWhite
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While you meta you should realise the furor with Xbone and PS4 release. MS already tried to sell digital licensing, their method was content distributed physically (in disc format), but licensed digitally. You saw how that went down.

 

Sony said in response they'd never cripple the discs (we also take this time to introduce charging for online content on the very discs, which is something that was free for over a decade), and everyone went ballistic how cool Sony is over Microsoft.

 

Furor, outcires, shitstorms ... as Walter said, people talk and talk because that's cheap, but their actions show otherwise. These pictures are still among my favorites on this topic:

http://dbzer0.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Boycott-Modern-Warfare-2.jpg

 

People are quick to rage on anything these days but at the same time have the attention span of a 10-year-old on sugar regarding those topics.

That's why I wrote "enforce" - most people rather bite the bullet than stop gaming. Of course a bit more sweetening wouldn't hurt, but apart from those who either stay true to their words or have a data plan / connection which prevents them from going digital, I doubt it would be much of an impact over the time. Funny story: I got into a discussion on Steam the other day how DRM is destroying the (PC) games market and that's why the guy is only buying Steam games ... :think: ... so if Sony or MS can pull of a similar smoke screen to their schemes instead of blatantly telling people to pay more and have less, retail outlets are completely doomed.

But for now there is still this (for me) inexplicable co-dependence.

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