GameStop...a necessary evil?

I used to work for Software ETC/Gamestop back in the day. Then they went power hungry and ate Funcoland, then Electronics Boutique. Sad really because they bought in their "multiple Sales Transaction" philosophy to all these other companies and now its bad. Cant even get anywhere with out being asked several times about reservations and new product.
 
weaponepsilon said:
I used to work for Software ETC/Gamestop back in the day. Then they went power hungry and ate Funcoland, then Electronics Boutique. Sad really because they bought in their "multiple Sales Transaction" philosophy to all these other companies and now its bad. Cant even get anywhere with out being asked several times about reservations and new product.
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dont forget about Babbage gamestop killed them to
 
M.C. Koopa said:
i prefer to use pawn shops for old-school stuff, but i rarely buy games
and, if i do, i buy at Walmart
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Pawn shops are excellent simply because to them, an old game is an old game. So you can find stuff really frikkin cheap sometimes. Example, a buddy of mine got both Tales of Symphonia and Eternal Darkness for $12 each from a pawn shop.
 
Honestly people, it's a store for crying out loud. They don't overprice anything, and everything is right there for you, not all over like in normal department stores.
 
redrum said:
dont forget about Babbage gamestop killed them to
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By the time I had worked for the company they were on their fourth acquisition. They were originally introduced under Babbage's, then that became Babbage's ETC, then there introduced Software ETC. Then then purchase a few east coast chains called Planet X or something then they rolled out Gamestop to compete against EBX, which was rival Electronics Boutique express store. They bought Funcoland in 1999 and they turned them all into Gamestops. I worked for a small chain here in Minneapolis when EB was buying smaller franchises and turning them into EBgames as a response. Sadly, EB was bought by Babbages and that didn't satiate their hunger because they bought out Hollywood videos Game Crazy shops. Now 95% of all used game retail sales are through GameStop nationwide.

Little known fact, but they're are owned by the same parent company as B.Dalton and Barnes and Noble bookstores.
 
Hinesmdc said:
Honestly people, it's a store for crying out loud. They don't overprice anything, and everything is right there for you, not all over like in normal department stores.
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It's a monopoly, hines. And they WILL take advantage of that. They're the biggest and baddest gaming retailer so if they make things pricy, they know people will buy them. Especially where I live (out in the country). Simply because they're the only gaming specialty stores around.
 
Strubes said:
Not a fan of cheap games? I can understand if you're talking about new games that you can still find new at your local Walmart, but older games that you'll no longer find at your local stores, I have no problem purchasing. Plus, it hasn't hurt the game industry really at all. I haven't read of a complaint from a publisher or game-maker about it, especially since they have billion dollar building's they're using to make these games in. That's just what I think though. My whole $12 spent on a used game isn't going to hurt the game-makers.
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Billion dollar buildings? Not quite. A lot of developers share buildings with other companies actually, which run in the thousands. No developer actually has a super huge state-of-the-art building. Not even the big ones.

You're right to a point about the hurt on the industry. It's not as bad as the music or movie industry since it's a little bit harder to pirate console games. But the thing is you have to look at the big picture as well. $12 is not much when it's one person, but when hundreds or even thousands do it, it adds up. But people are buying new as well, so it's not as bad.
 
Hinesmdc said:
Wal*Mart, KMart, Circuit City and Best Buy don't sell games anymore!?
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Oh, no Hines! You, of all people, trying to look stupid? Never!

Maybe I lost you at the part where it said I LIVE IN THE COUNTRY where THE ONLY PLACE TO GET GAMES IS GAMESTOP. If I don't buy from GAMESTOP then I don't get THE GAME.

Walmart is in a completely different city than mine, K-Mart's don't exist down here anymore, Circuit City is in another city, and Best Buy is, yet again, in another city. I know I don't have an infinite supply of gas money like you, so I don't like to waste it driving roughly 40 miles into another city.
 
Jack said:
Oh, no Hines! You, of all people, trying to look stupid? Never!

Maybe I lost you at the part where it said I LIVE IN THE COUNTRY where THE ONLY PLACE TO GET GAMES IS GAMESTOP. If I don't buy from GAMESTOP then I don't get THE GAME.

Walmart is in a completely different city than mine, K-Mart's don't exist down here anymore, Circuit City is in another city, and Best Buy is, yet again, in another city. I know I don't have an infinite supply of gas money like you, so I don't like to waste it driving roughly 40 miles into another city.
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That doesn't make Gamestop a monopoly...at all.

That just means that you have an inconveniently placed home.
 
GameStop is actually fairly priced compared to some of the mom & pop video game stores. For example, I'm sure GameStop did not try to charge $150 dollars for a used copy of Earthbound when they still carried SNES games. Regardless of what a game is going for in collector's circles, GameStop still follows a retail price guide of some sort and does not try to get ebay prices on rare games. Unfortunately, it's not very often that rare games get traded in, so it becomes a moot point.

I used to work for GameStop, and I quit because of the company's bs policies. I seriously trained four managers when I was an assistant manager, and never once was I offered my own store. Then, even before I gave my two weeks, they already hired someone to replace me. I thought it was hilarious when he later got fired for falsifying returns.
 
Hinesmdc said:
That doesn't make Gamestop a monopoly...at all.

That just means that you have an inconveniently placed home.
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It's a monopoly for us living in the quaint town of Watson. We don't need Walmart, Best Buy, or Circuit City in our town. We have what we need. A grocery store, restaurants, a theatre (being built), and about three or four schools.

A monopoly doesn't necessary apply to the whole market. For example...

We have a newspaper for our state. It's called "The Advocate". It's the only paper for Louisiana. Now...is it the only paper in existance? No. It forces us to purchase the paper from them, and only them because they're the only ones supplying news for Louisiana. If they want to charge us $10.00 (not the actual price...just an example) and then have terrible delivery service, then so be it. Who else is going to compete? GameStop knows that for our portion of the state, there's nowhere else to purchase videogames. They want to charge $50.00 for an N64 game that I want? If I don't buy it at that price, I ain't gettin' that N64 game. They take advantage of the people and the locations that they build their firms.

When I'm ready to purchase a game, I make sure I have a list of at least two or three to make the gas money worth while. And I purchase from Gameware, because they don't rip people off. They don't take my rare NES games, give me $.99 for them, and then turn around and sell it for $12.00. Gamestop is a bunch of pricks and I would love to see them be taken over by another honest, fair company.

My house isn't incoveniently placed, GameStop is too self-absorbed.
 
Well, Gamestop is cheaper, but that is because they can be due to their size. I would much rather support a Mom n Pop shop even if it costs a little bit more, but as I've said there's simply is not one near me, all I have is a Gamestop, Walmart and Target.
 
Strubes said:
Not a fan of cheap games? I can understand if you're talking about new games that you can still find new at your local Walmart, but older games that you'll no longer find at your local stores, I have no problem purchasing. Plus, it hasn't hurt the game industry really at all. I haven't read of a complaint from a publisher or game-maker about it, especially since they have billion dollar building's they're using to make these games in. That's just what I think though. My whole $12 spent on a used game isn't going to hurt the game-makers.
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Allow me to illustrate:

Next-Gen editor in chief Colin Campbell ... calls the process "parasitic" and writes that it costs the industry $1 billion annually.
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and

"the real losers here are publishers, developers and the non-retail game industry eco-system" otherwise known as the "part of the business that actually generates content."
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Sadly yes, because sometimes they have these awesome pre-order bonuses that are SO hard to pass up.

CastleVania PoR had that stellar 20th Anniversary kit...I mean...dang, we were like held at gun point basically.

Even the new PS2 Silent Hill Origins had a pre-order bonus..and I was like "MUST FIGHT!!!! ARGH!"
 
CreepinDeth said:
Billion dollar buildings? Not quite. A lot of developers share buildings with other companies actually, which run in the thousands. No developer actually has a super huge state-of-the-art building. Not even the big ones.
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Over-exaggeration, correct.

You're right to a point about the hurt on the industry. It's not as bad as the music or movie industry since it's a little bit harder to pirate console games. But the thing is you have to look at the big picture as well. $12 is not much when it's one person, but when hundreds or even thousands do it, it adds up. But people are buying new as well, so it's not as bad.
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But if you're buying used games that you WON'T or CAN'T find new, then why not? Used game stores have been around for years and years, and haven't affected developers or publishers at all.
 
Mai Valentine said:
GameStop is actually fairly priced compared to some of the mom & pop video game stores. For example, I'm sure GameStop did not try to charge $150 dollars for a used copy of Earthbound when they still carried SNES games. Regardless of what a game is going for in collector's circles, GameStop still follows a retail price guide of some sort and does not try to get ebay prices on rare games. Unfortunately, it's not very often that rare games get traded in, so it becomes a moot point.

I used to work for GameStop, and I quit because of the company's bs policies. I seriously trained four managers when I was an assistant manager, and never once was I offered my own store. Then, even before I gave my two weeks, they already hired someone to replace me. I thought it was hilarious when he later got fired for falsifying returns.
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Glad to see that I wasn't the only one. Back when the dreamcast came out, they had THE WORST promo vids for anything new. Basically a video of someone playing a game with a "reserve now" subtitle to it. I went (without permission) and borrowed some games and made a promo video (this was way before youtube and those kids who make AMVs) since I was a video Production student. I got a big handshake from the company regional manager and a distribution for my video across four or five states. The next week all the videos that the corporate produced looked EXACTLY the same. Same Ideas, Same visual style. I got no pay or recognition for my work. This isn't a lie. That was part of the reason I had to leave the giant.
 
weaponepsilon said:
Glad to see that I wasn't the only one. Back when the dreamcast came out, they had THE WORST promo vids for anything new. Basically a video of someone playing a game with a "reserve now" subtitle to it. I went (without permission) and borrowed some games and made a promo video (this was way before youtube and those kids who make AMVs) since I was a video Production student. I got a big handshake from the company regional manager and a distribution for my video across four or five states. The next week all the videos that the corporate produced looked EXACTLY the same. Same Ideas, Same visual style. I got no pay or recognition for my work. This isn't a lie. That was part of the reason I had to leave the giant.
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Wow, that's crazy. Yeah, one of my coworkers used to make promo videos for our store, since the corporate ones are so lame. But we were always told that was a no-no, so if we knew someone might be visiting the store, we'd put the company video back in.
 
Strubes said:
But if you're buying used games that you WON'T or CAN'T find new, then why not? Used game stores have been around for years and years, and haven't affected developers or publishers at all.
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I wasn't arguing that part. Obviously if something is no longer being sold then your only option would be to buy used or find someone who has an unwrapped game for a decent price. Plus, in my case, I want games that are older than the last generation so they have no use for me there.

It does affect developers and publishers just not as bad as other industries. And like Stealth pointed out, they have voiced there opinions. They would rather have you not do it, but again since it's not as bad as other industries they don't really push consumers to buying new, because they still do it anyways. People buy new just as much as people buy used so it balances itself in the end, since you can't have used games until someone buys them in the first place.

From the past figures that Gamestop put out, it seems they are making more money than some developers and personally I'd rather have that money go to the developers than Gamestop. I would rather support them and have them make more games.
 
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