"GameStop Enters Sellout Talks"

[Oldschool80skid]

They should start emulating 2nd & Charles.

[Mord]

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..

 

I'd recommend you do try. 44 billion may sound like a lot, but that's thanks to dlc, microtransactions, loot boxes, online subscriptions, in addition to actual game sales being lumped together.

[Keatah]

Yes. DLC, microtransactions, and online subs are all considered sales. At least by the games industry.

[Flojomojo]

You know what DOESN'T count as sales to the games industry? Secondary sales of used games, which appears to be a big part of GameStop's business, and the one thing that differentiates them from places that only sell new games.

 

Maybe GameStop should try to sell "season passes" to something.

[HammR25]

I buy games on digital storefronts at huge discounts all the time. Last week Microsoft had some huge sales on many good games and just today another Steam sale started. I've never been the type to collect video games so I'd prefer to just download them since I live in a major metro area and can do that. I doubt physical games will be going anywhere for people in rural areas that are stuck with garbage download speeds. I'd guess the people in rural areas will be going to Wal-Mart though, not Gamestop.

[godslabrat]

You know what DOESN'T count as sales to the games industry? Secondary sales of used games, which appears to be a big part of GameStop's business, and the one thing that differentiates them from places that only sell new games.

Maybe GameStop should try to sell "season passes" to something.

 

Apparently they did. There was a "pass" program at GameStop where, for $60/90 days, you could rent their games as much as you wanted and keep the one you liked best at the end. It only lasted a few weeks before GS realized that not only didn't it make money, their computer system wasn't even equipped to handle the accounting required.

 

Like Atari, GameStop is literally doing anything to make a quick buck, in a market that increasingly doesn't care about them. I'm surprised the two haven't joined forces.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Like Atari, GameStop is literally doing anything to make a quick buck, in a market that increasingly doesn't care about them. I'm surprised the two haven't joined forces.

Why on God's green Earth would Gamestop want to join forces with Atari? Gamestop is a multinational corporation. Atari had to resort to crownfunding because they don't even have enough capitol to launch a "game console" using off the shelf parts.

[atarilovesyou]

 

 

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.

 

Damn, I laughed out loud when I read this bit! Thanks for that. While it's sad to see retailers go under, it's no different than video stores...and their time is up. Plus, their staff was 95% arrogant little turds who have zero social skills (mind you I'm speaking of the Canadian EB Games) and actually ensured that I would sooner buy games anywhere, ANYWHERE else. While I know it's not representative of the whole chain, they sure went out of their way to hire terrible employees.

 

I still laugh when I think of some of their policies from the late 90s...you could return opened games, that was a doozy. Oh, and don't forget how they opened EVERYTHING anyway, so you never broke the seal on a new game (resulting in a new, scratched Dino Crisis game for me...which was quickly returned...refunded, actually. Last game I ever bought from them 'new' after hearing the manager explain why they did that sort of stuff).

 

Tack on the markup for shittier service, and it was a guarantee that I would frequent Walmart and Superstore almost exclusively, unless a local game store would match the price (or, imagine: providing better SERVICE to account for the few bucks markup on their product).

 

Video games are bigger than the games, of course. They probably are doing quite well in their merch side, shirts, toys, whatnot. But again, much of that would need to be somewhat exclusive product...and it ain't. I won't miss them, and their lousy employees can go get a job at McDonalds...scratch that, I love my Big Macs and fries too much to have them F that up too. Let em' work at ARBY'S.

[Flojomojo]

Plus, their staff was 95% arrogant little turds who have zero social skills

 

As someone who fits that description, I resent being compared to a GameStop employee. How dare you.

[+x=usr(1536)]

As someone who fits that description, I resent being compared to a GameStop employee. How dare you.

 

I dunno. In the hierarchy of crap retail employees with unwarranted self-importance syndrome, it's hard to beat a Ham Radio store.

 

Trust me on this one. The average HRO employee makes even GameStop's most socially-inept, mouth-breathing employee with food on their shirt and a finger up their nose look like a paragon of erudite wit and charm by comparison.

 

And yep, I really dislike GameStop, so that's saying something.

[eightbit]

Every game I buy for the most part has been online. Usually Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and a shop or two overseas that I know are reputable. I could care less about any wait time (2 days usually...whoopee) and I always get a brand new REALLY sealed copy of the game I order. I love ordering physical games online. No hassle, no trying to get to a store in between my busy work and home life. I just order and the next thing you know there's a package in the mailbox. I am perfectly content with that.

 

That said, I personally have or see no need in physically walking into a store to buy this stuff. It usually costs more than purchased online, I waste gas driving there, and waste my time on a line checking out. And, most of the time they don't even have what I am looking for.

 

You know, many years ago I would have said the exact opposite. I would have been all for the brick and mortars and swore by that over online purchasing. But times have changed. Time is tight. Money is even tighter. Go to a store waste gas and pay $59.99 for the game I can get shipped to me in 2 days for free on Amazon for $39.99? Yeah, no brainer to say the least.

 

 

But of all of the retail outlets I have purchased from over the years I will absolutely not shed a tear for Gamestop. Their BS of opening games and using the boxes as display boxes, and then selling you that very game as "new". Putting their own sticker over the case opening. Giving people 50 cents for their game and selling it for $50. And tons of other shady tactics over the years. I swore them off around the Gamecube era and have not purchased a single thing from them since. I hope I at least played a tiny tiny part in their demise.

[youxia]

It's a future every single gamer wants and embraces wholeheartedly.

 

Do you really think so? Have a source perhaps, to back it up? I mean, I for one do not "want and embrace it wholeheartedly", so it's already not "every single gamer" . I'm pretty sure there are a few others too.

 

Admittedly I'm not that concerned about the digital vs physical thingy. I miss the boxes, manuals, going to a shop on Friday with some money in my pocket and all that, but it's not the crux. No, it's all about the gargantuan BS that is the lack of ownership which came with the glorious dawn of the digital era. It's one of the saddest things about the Internet and modern times in general, how easily people gave up on this previoulsy unshakeable concept.

 

And for what? To satisfy that nowadays sacred and overbearing need for "convenience"? Right, having to leave the house and meet real people is a great trauma. And sure, we're all oh-so-busy so it's such a time-saviour, time which we can then spend on more important things like mindlessly scrolling through stuff on our phones.

 

But wait - it's so cheap! Is it really, though? Isn't it funny how the industry was bitching for decades about how the brick'n mortar stores are ripping gamers off and are responsible for the high prices, only for these prices to remain the same when that menace was eliminated? In fact it lead to paradoxes in which quite often a steam copy a would be more expensive than a physical one. The glorified 5 buck sales were of course part of the usual "turn their heads early, then crank it up" strategy which is so prevalent everywhere and now these are much rarer. Plus, of course some folk might remember that sales and bargain bins - never mind second hand market - were also part of the old system.

 

Overall, the most maddening thing is that it does not have to be like that. They only do this because most (not "every single one", sorry) gamers went along. In the era when people also gave up on their privacy, like it's also some worthless and antiquated concept, it's perhaps not all that surprising. But, it'd be entirely possible to change that idiotic status quo, which only exists because nobody objects. Well, actually no, some do - like the Australian or European courts which harassed Steam and which is why for example they had to eventually introduce the refund policy (nope, it was not out of goodness of Gaben's heart). If the "gamer" spent less time on fun pursuits such as worrying about SJW's, sending death threats to devs or raising up about BS such as Mass Effect's ending, then perhaps he could organise a bit and demand that the whole DRM con be gotten rid of. Ever heard of CD PRojekt Red? They seem to be doing well for themselves.

 

There are already grumblings about it, the concept of trading digital games is not as outlandish as it was a few years ago. Given more traction it could well succeed. And maybe also look at that little detail about how you lose your entire collection once you breach some nebulous TOS rule. And why on earth not? It's of course the same for books, music or all other media we used to own and do as we please with. It has also nowt to do with streaming services which are a different kettle of fish and could coexist with DRM free model just fine.

 

For the record, this is just a one-off rant, I have no illusions regarding convincing anybody about it via a course of "discussion" on an internet gaming forum. Been there, tried that, yonks ago. But hopefully it will change, one day, even if it takes decades to do so. Stranger things happened.

Edited June 22, 2018 by youxia

[Flojomojo]

I'm pretty sure Keatah was being facetious. But by all means, let's have another thousand words about the evils of game downloads.

[Blazing Lazers]

Good riddance to them, if so. I've only gone to Gamestop in recent years to browse through the few 360, Wii, and PS3 games, and sometimes to look through the newer games. It's the one good thing left about them, and lately they really don't have much before the current gen at all. They used to- the Columbia Mall location still had a big bin of common NES carts for 99 cents each in 2006. They never should have stopped selling and accepting games for older systems.

 

I can only wonder what happened to all of their various warehoused games over the years, and what will happen to any they still have.

 

I long ago stopped trading things in thanks to an idiotic local law that required them to see ID before accepting trade-ins (at the urging of a few big-box chains that had theft issues), and to insist on seeing ID in order to buy M-rated games. Many of the same clerks had had no problem with selling me M-rated were now insisting that I show ID, even though I was obviously old enough. I started buying a lot more on Ebay after this in particular.

 

Anyone else remember that into the early 2000's Gamestop and EB both had fairly large DVD sections, and took in all manner of DVDs, as that was a huge revolution at that time?

 

Gamestop can burn just for destroying so many, many perfectly good cases and manuals over the years. Especially for DS games- they've guaranteed huge price spikes for complete copies of otherwise common games for years to come.

 

There used to be a lot dedicated game and software stores around than just Gamestop. Gamestop bought them all up or killed the rest. One other local Mall had a Funcoland outside of it (the sign actually stayed up past 2010!), an Electronics Boutique in the Mall itself across from a Record Town/later FYE, a Toys R Us right around the corner, and a Gamestop across from that. And the Sears in the Mall also had a huge "game center" or whatever it was called until the early 2000's. Some other Malls in the area also had a Gamestop, a Babbages, a Funcoland, and/or an Electronics Boutique/EB Games, in addition to Sam Goody (which had a lot of more obscure releases- I miss this chain in particular), FYE, and a few computer stores. And all of them took trade-ins on top of selling new stuff. But now it's just Gamestop when it comes to dedicated national gaming stores. And they really don't have that much in the way of games anymore. Some of us are lucky to be near independent gaming stores, but those aren't always around. Once Gameflop and WorstBuy go away, and they are indeed on their way out, things are going to get really rough for a while when it comes to finding copies locally of anything other than the most common new releases. Think the price spikes of cartridge games were bad- just wait until Gamestop vanishes. What'll happen with cartridge and newer disc games then will truly be something once Ebay is the only option for most. Especially for collectors who do care about the condition of their games and like to see the exact item that they're buying.

[Keatah]

I dunno. In the hierarchy of crap retail employees with unwarranted self-importance syndrome, it's hard to beat a Ham Radio store.

 

Trust me on this one. The average HRO employee makes even GameStop's most socially-inept, mouth-breathing employee with food on their shirt and a finger up their nose look like a paragon of erudite wit and charm by comparison.

 

And yep, I really dislike GameStop, so that's saying something.

 

This one fat girl wanted to date me in high school once. And her father was even fatter and was a model HRO employee if ever there was one. The stereotype hasn't changed in decades!

[Austin]

I'm pretty sure Keatah was being facetious.

I wouldn't be so sure of that.

[NinjaWarrior]

I'm glad it's going down

[+frankodragon]

All I can remember is when they were Funcoland, I went to a store near the now dead-mall, Northridge in Milwaukee. There was a pimp and two or three of his hoes taking forever at the checkout register. I had no idea what they were talking about but a pimp and his hoes at a video game store?

[Cobra Kai]

All I can remember is when they were Funcoland, I went to a store near the now dead-mall, Northridge in Milwaukee. There was a pimp and two or three of his hoes taking forever at the checkout register. I had no idea what they were talking about but a pimp and his hoes at a video game store?

Pimpin ain't easy

[Cobra Kai]

I think that if Gamestop goes out completely, that will just open up opportunities for better business models to emerge. Maybe already established private game stores can once again get a boost, who knows. I'm sure GS choked out tons and tons of private game stores over the years, just like Blockbuster did to the video store.

 

I don't quite see the death of the game store all together just yet, as used games are still so popular. You can say that Redbox and Netflix killed off the video store, definitely. Redbox especially should be a teachable moment for retail, quit hassling consumers at the checkout, and make sure your employees are friendly and educated for the job, otherwise I'll let the robot get me the product.

 

I'm not sure video games are the same dynamic as renting movies. It seems like there is still a place for dedicated game stores. Heck, I live in Indiana, in a town of 50,000 people. It's not a metropolis, but I have access to about 5 different stores in a 10 mile radius, for used video games (not counting tons of pawn shops) that aren't Gamestop. To me, Gamestop will not be missed at all, it's hardly the only option if I want to browse a brick and mortar store.

[zzip]

My only real beef with gamestop was when you'd buy a new game, and they opened a drawer and retrieved the disk and put it in the case. I know it's anti-theft, but how do I know it's not pre-owned? I haven't seen them do that in years though.

[zzip]

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..

There's is only one reason I prefer digital- convenience.

 

At least on PS4, you need to insert the disk for physical games to play them, EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE INSTALLED to the hard drive!

 

Now let's say you are using the PS4 remote play feature, how do you change disks? You don't!

VR also makes physical disks inconvenient.

 

It doesn't have to be this way, I know the only reason the disk is required is for copy protection. Why not use a unique key instead that ties the game to your account? It's been done forever. Seems like the best of both worlds, physical collectors get their cases/art/media, you get the freedom of digital. Trade-ins, game share,rentals? make the key transferable, but only usable on one system at a time

Edited June 22, 2018 by zzip

[Mockduck]

If you buy Gamestop now, you can also preorder their next company.

[Austin]

It doesn't have to be this way, I know the only reason the disk is required is for copy protection. Why not use a unique key instead that ties the game to your account? It's been done forever. Seems like the best of both worlds, physical collectors get their cases/art/media, you get the freedom of digital. Trade-ins, game share,rentals? make the key transferable, but only usable on one system at a time

 

That would be a logistical nightmare. If someone is buying physical, it's pretty likely they probably won't have a problem taking the disc out and inserting it into the system.

[BawesomeBurf]

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.

The employees aren't the problem, they are just doing what their district managers are forcing them to do. If anyone needs to eat a shit sandwich, it's the district managers.