"GameStop Enters Sellout Talks"

[Andromeda Stardust]

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?

 

Give them something to do besides being b****es when business gets slow...

 

Pimpin ain't easy

My friend and I were quite stupidly infatuated with the notion of "pimpin" when we were teens. I don't think we had a clue what pimps did, or that it involved exploitation of women. We just knew that pimps were cool, and we wanted to be cool like pimps.

 

Well there was this tshirt at Hot Topic in the local mall (back then it was Gadzooks I think) that said "pimpin ain't easy." My friend wanted to get that shirt so bad but didn't have enough cash on hand. He told me he later on after we left, he went back to the mall after raiding his money stash and bought the shirt. His mom found out about it and drug his ass back to the mall by his earlobe, shirt in hand, to make the store clerk cough up a refund for the "abomination" they sold her son. And his mom kept the refund money. True story...

 

Like I saiz, PIMPIN AIN'T EASY!!!

[cybercylon]

I just go to GS for their exclusive physical games and deals. I've heard of their bs that they pull but haven't experienced it myself.

 

I haven't encountered the level of BS that other people have at our local store either. I am sure the BS level varies from store to store.

 

For new games where they have to run to the drawer to get the disc, that is generally only done at our local one when it is the last copy. Can't speak for other stores.

 

Getting retro games from them is a real crap shoot in terms of condition. I tend not to get the games that are too expensive, so no reproductions yet. I am not sure if I am going to buy much more from them though.

 

All that said, I only really go there to pre-order something the other retailers might not carry. The store these days is full of think geek crap, and there is less space for games. I do like it when they have the buy one t-shirt, get a second for free when you have a power up card though.

[slab0meat]

"Pimpin' Ain't Easy" got pretty popular back when Charles Wright used it a lot during his run as The Godfather in WWE.

 

I'd never heard of it elsewhere, though I don't know if the timeframe overlaps with when it was seen/heard by any of you.

[Tanooki]

See that's one and only for reasons why I still go into GS -- the exclusive, total release, not some rubbish waste of money fluff edition. They tend to get some games they end up publishing through a third party or just get a deal (like Stern Arcade and Wild Guns for Switch.) You have to buy from them, or get creative online and find someone peddling a new or used copy on ebay or elsewhere. The thing is, they bite it, then another retailer will get the exclusive instead either offline or on (like amazon.)

[Cobra Kai]

"Pimpin' Ain't Easy" got pretty popular back when Charles Wright used it a lot during his run as The Godfather in WWE.

 

I'd never heard of it elsewhere, though I don't know if the timeframe overlaps with when it was seen/heard by any of you.

Pretty sure I picked it up in some Tupac rhymes.

[keepdreamin]

The exit questions at checkout are simply a reason not to return. If people still want you to shop at brick/mortar, they should make the experience as quick as possible. I don't want to be questioned like I'm applying for a home loan when all I'm buying is a game. My last rare visit to a GS, simply to purchase a used PS4 game went something like the following:

 

"Do you have an Edge card?"

No, I just want to purchase this game.

"Do you want to sign up for an Edge card?"

No, I just want to purchase this game.

"If you sign up, you'll save money on this purchase right now."

No thank you, I would just like to purchase this game, please.

"Are you sure?"

YES, just the game please.

"Are there any new titles you want to preorder?"

NO, I just want to purchase this game.

"That'll be $$$"

Ok *pays*

"Can you take this survey? Link is on the receipt."

......... *leaving*

 

Edited June 29, 2018 by keepdreamin

[Shawn]

The exit questions at checkout are simply a reason not to return. If people still want you to shop at brick/mortar, they should make the experience as quick as possible. I don't want to be questioned like I'm applying for a home loan when all I'm buying is a game. My last rare visit to a GS, simply to purchase a used PS4 game went something like the following:

 

"Do you have an Edge card?"

No, I just want to purchase this game.

"Do you want to sign up for an Edge card?"

No, I just want to purchase this game.

"If you sign up, you'll save money on this purchase right now."

No thank you, I would just like to purchase this game, please.

"Are you sure?"

YES, just the game please.

"Are there any new titles you want to preorder?"

NO, I just want to purchase this game.

"That'll be $$$"

Ok *pays*

"Can you take this survey? Link is on the receipt."

......... *leaving*

 

 

That is a very actuate description of near all EB\GS experiences I've had in most of their stores as well. Towing that company line has to suck. They seem to hire folks that are into acting like that so I guess it works for them. My local store doesn't pull this shit on me anymore, thank God, cause I told them flat out years ago that I'm there to spend money on what I want and that's it. If they try anymore of the upselling, edge card or preorder bullshit I'm not shopping there anymore. Looks like it really doesn't matter if they are soon tits up anyhow. Guess I gotta find somewhere else to buy the new retail releases I want physical copies of.

[Flojomojo]

GameStop employees are incentivized to sell rewards cards and stuff like that -- it's almost pure profit for the company. I don't know the current methods, but I'm sure better things happen to those who make their numbers than those who don't.

 

The store near me has a lot of foot traffic (it's across the street from a large high school) so the pressure tactics are less annoying.

 

I agree having to deal with desperate sales staff is a big turnoff. We have lots of other choices of places to shop. There are the big box stores that keep things locked away in a literal cage, and you need to find someone to unlock them (I can't remember the last time I bought anything from that kind of place). Then there are the places where you can click a button on a screen and the next day, a package appears on your doorstep. And finally, the scenario where you press a button and the software comes to you instantly, without leaving the house or waiting a day. No packaging or clutter, it's pretty great.

 

Or the option I mostly choose above all the others -- buy nothing, I'm too old for these stupid games and I've wasted enough time and money and attention on them anyway. :-P

 

"But you don't really own anything physical! It's like a rental" --> the least of my concerns, seriously

 

So do we have predictions about whether GameStop will go under? Seems to me they could slim down and survive with the right management. I don't think there needs to be as many GameStop stores as McDonald's, which is how it seems to me now.

[Tempest]

I guess I'm lucky as the ones near me are pretty nice and the staff takes no for an answer to all those questions without being pushy about it. I realize they have to do it and they really don't want to, so I cut them some slack.

 

i'll be sad if they close down the GS near me because they're my go to place if I want a game NOW or to kill time browsing their used stuff. Any time I go to a big box store (Best Buy, Walmart, Target, etc.) they never have the game out on release day, and their selection/layout is pretty bad. Then again I haven't had to have a game on launch day in years.

[80s_Atari_Guy]

The exit questions at checkout are simply a reason not to return. If people still want you to shop at brick/mortar, they should make the experience as quick as possible. I don't want to be questioned like I'm applying for a home loan when all I'm buying is a game. My last rare visit to a GS, simply to purchase a used PS4 game went something like the following:

 

"Do you have an Edge card?"

No, I just want to purchase this game.

"Do you want to sign up for an Edge card?"

No, I just want to purchase this game.

"If you sign up, you'll save money on this purchase right now."

No thank you, I would just like to purchase this game, please.

"Are you sure?"

YES, just the game please.

"Are there any new titles you want to preorder?"

NO, I just want to purchase this game.

"That'll be $$$"

Ok *pays*

"Can you take this survey? Link is on the receipt."

......... *leaving*

 

 

This is happening across ALL major high street stores, especially here in the UK. It's not limited to just games shops.

 

In the UK, we have a shop called Halfords, which sale car parts, bikecycle parts, batteries, paint, cleaners, etc.. My local Halfords is massive, and sell everything you can think of. What annoys me is that I can't buy almost any part for my car without them asking for my car registration plate first, and they will not sell me, for example, windwipers without my car reg. I'm told it opens the till, which is complete bollocks. I've told them to f*ck off and I will buy wipers online.

 

We have Argos, a kind of everything seller. I picked up a USB portable HD they had on-sale.

I got to the till and it's

"Can I have your email address ?"

Why ?

"We send you a copy of the receipt"

Why would I want that, I just want the HD.

"It's for your convenience"

No, it's YOU fishing for my details so you can sell them off, or send me a lot of shit that doesn't interest me. Now can I pay for the f*cking drive or not ?

 

My local Pets-For-Home.

Takes dog food to counter.

"Do you have a account ?"

Why ? I just want to pay for my dog food.

"It saves you money, and you get special offers"

Do I save money on my dog food ?

"No, but you can save money of lots of other things"

Such as ?

He mentions lots of f*cking expensive shit that I couldn't afford even on sale, such as luxury dog beds, and dog food costing more than a daily food shop.

 

There are many many more shops I could mention that do this, but I don't have the time to type it all down. It's happening, and most of these high street shops have only themselves to blame if they go under.

Edited June 29, 2018 by 80s_Atari_Guy

[zzip]

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.

But the current system is rapidly killing physical because more and more people are discovering how much more convenient digital is. Me? I would buy physical if I wasn't tied to the disk because it would save hours of download time.

 

I don't see how it's a logistical nightmare, we've had key protection on software since at least the 90s

Edited June 29, 2018 by zzip

[cybercylon]

Ever notice that when you really do need help, no one is around or they are too busy pushing extras to other customers

Edited June 29, 2018 by cybercylon

[Tanooki]

I was in a gamestop about two weeks ago as I got curious about something. I actually found something I wanted to buy, the only one there was at the counter bs'n with this dude and his lady for like at least 10min trying to get him riled up into a few preorders and stuff, yet not actually selling anything. I kept looking over to get attention, one point even walked over and kind of just stared and never got so much as a damned look. I left. I was hoping to snap up Wild Guns on Switch since they only sell it outside of second hand used/new on ebay often for more unless you time it right. If they're more interested in ignoring people to piss time, that isn't going to help either.

[Andromeda Stardust]

The exit questions at checkout are simply a reason not to return. If people still want you to shop at brick/mortar, they should make the experience as quick as possible. I don't want to be questioned like I'm applying for a home loan when all I'm buying is a game. My last rare visit to a GS, simply to purchase a used PS4 game went something like the following:

 

"Do you have an Edge card?"

No, I just want to purchase this game.

"Do you want to sign up for an Edge card?"

No, I just want to purchase this game.

"If you sign up, you'll save money on this purchase right now."

No thank you, I would just like to purchase this game, please.

"Are you sure?"

YES, just the game please.

"Are there any new titles you want to preorder?"

NO, I just want to purchase this game.

"That'll be $$$"

Ok *pays*

"Can you take this survey? Link is on the receipt."

......... *leaving*

 

Employees get bonus commissions for signing up more customers. Corporate bullshit policies encourage the behavior. Worse, they can use your loyalty account info to track consumer spending habits.

 

Not as bad as when I go to random retail outlet to purchase something off the shelf, an they ask for my phone number every time I try to buy something. I can understand if I'm preordering something, picking up an online order, gettting something custom done, but to just buy stuff off the shelf and check out, I shouldn't need to provide phone or email. My 16 digits credit card is not enough?

[Austin]

But the current system is rapidly killing physical because more and more people are discovering how much more convenient digital is. Me? I would buy physical if I wasn't tied to the disk because it would save hours of download time.

 

I don't see how it's a logistical nightmare, we've had key protection on software since at least the 90s

 

Right, except in the '90s no one tracked your key. These days, you can be certain they would.

 

The only way I could see it working is if it's handled like professional software is where users would have to reach out to the company to have a license transfer done. It's one thing to do that for a $500 piece of professional software you hold onto for years, but for a videogame? It's not worth the trouble for most just so some don't have to get off their ass to swap discs.

[keepdreamin]

People need to realize buying physical copies vs digital copies of modern games doesn't really matter anymore. All you're getting is a case at this point, no real benefit to holding a physical disc. All these games on discs are seeing GigaByte sized update patches, numerous times over. I'm not complaining, that's just the nature of modern complex game development. But you need to realize what that "physical" copy means. You're simply holding the initial retail version of the game, if years down the road the online patches disappear, you're not going to have the updated title anymore should you pop it in a fresh console, or the game was uninstalled due to storage etc//. All you're going to be left with is version 1.0 of that title with none of the bug fixes that followed.

[Tempest]

With a physical disc I can always play a game, even 20 years from now. Good luck trying to redownload a game once a company has gone out of business or killed the servers.

[keepdreamin]

With a physical disc I can always play a game, even 20 years from now. Good luck trying to redownload a game once a company has gone out of business or killed the servers.

 

 

But like I just mentioned, you'll just be playing the initial retail version 1.0. Any and all large updates/fixes aren't going to be there to access.

[Shawn]

I guess I'm lucky as the ones near me are pretty nice and the staff takes no for an answer to all those questions without being pushy about it. I realize they have to do it and they really don't want to, so I cut them some slack.

 

i'll be sad if they close down the GS near me because they're my go to place if I want a game NOW or to kill time browsing their used stuff. Any time I go to a big box store (Best Buy, Walmart, Target, etc.) they never have the game out on release day, and their selection/layout is pretty bad. Then again I haven't had to have a game on launch day in years.

 

And even if Target, Walmart or Best Buy has the game you are stuck with the vanilla version 99 pecent of the time as they don't carry the "gold" or "special" editions of many games.

[Zonie]

With a physical disc I can always play a game, even 20 years from now. Good luck trying to redownload a game once a company has gone out of business or killed the servers.

See above...

[Austin]

 

 

But like I just mentioned, you'll just be playing the initial retail version 1.0. Any and all large updates/fixes aren't going to be there to access.

 

If you can even play Version 1.0. Some games require the download in order to even function.

[pacman000]

"All these games on discs are seeing GigaByte sized update patches, numerous times over."

 

I wouldn't consider that a physical release; more like half a physical release.

 

I'd prefer to buy a complete game on a disk, cart, or card. Downloads are too slow, streaming eats bandwidth, & I prefer to pay with cash, not credit/debit.

[Tanooki]

Yeah for dedicated console games thats a way of life in a lot of cases as 1.0 might as well be 0.8 or 0.9 releases on PS/XB stuff. WIiU didn't do this or back, and Switch is pretty much in the minority on the releases doing that too since it has little to no dedicated internal room and developers can't always expect people to buy a fat memory card on top of their game as a sure bet so it's a gamble.

[keepdreamin]

I'd prefer to buy a complete game on a disk

 

Unless you make PS2 era your cutoff point for game disk purchases, a complete game on a disc isn't a thing anymore. All modern console game discs I own have received numerous updates/patches.

[Atariboy]

I've had to update only 3 or 4 Wii U discs. And for the non-AAA style content, many a Xbox 360/Playstation 3 disc also was the finished product. And of course the Wii.