A GameStop on Every Corner
Is it me or does it seem like video game stores abound these days? I just turned 32yo, and I can remember back in the day when one would have had at most 3 nearby places (at least in a city the size of Tulsa) to go to buy video games from.
Today, I can locate 6 GameStops alone that are within 6 miles from me, as the crow flies. (A is me; and there are 2 Gamestops, one is in a mall, near 3)
This doesn't even include Best Buy, Toys 'R Us, Game Xchange or Vintage Stock (the last 2 also trade games from old consoles.)
Why is this? It would seem that, in such circumstances, there would now be a glut of video game stores and as such several would go out of business, or at least that GameStop corporate wouldn't have so many stores so close together. However, they've all stayed open for several years. I know that the video game industry is growing, but seriously....
Have you all also noticed tons of gaming stores popping up everywhere?
Today, I can locate 6 GameStops alone that are within 6 miles from me, as the crow flies. (A is me; and there are 2 Gamestops, one is in a mall, near 3)
This doesn't even include Best Buy, Toys 'R Us, Game Xchange or Vintage Stock (the last 2 also trade games from old consoles.)
Why is this? It would seem that, in such circumstances, there would now be a glut of video game stores and as such several would go out of business, or at least that GameStop corporate wouldn't have so many stores so close together. However, they've all stayed open for several years. I know that the video game industry is growing, but seriously....
Have you all also noticed tons of gaming stores popping up everywhere?
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I always go to 1 when I have a reason to go to GameStop, and sometimes I'll end up at 2 with my friends. I've never seen 3 or 7, and I've only ever seen 5 because that's where the nearest Toys-R-Us is. I don't know what 6 is doing on there, and 4 isn't even open yet. And there's one at the mall a little bit up the highway from 7.
All that said, I don't go in GameStop without a good reason. Either looking for a specific used game or something I just can't find anywhere else. I mainly buy my games at Target or every once in a while Best Buy.
Turns out it's EB Games in Canada and Micromania in France. Yeah. They're everywhere.
Although Score Games is pretty big too in France. But when I was a kid there was just one in my area that was pretty far. When I left France they were everywhere.
It's a good thing, though, isn't it? Maybe one of them will actually make it around my current area someday. And I'll be able to buy games from a store.
Although to be fair I'm a bit surprised, with the Internet being big and all, I wouldn't have expected game store to multiply quite as much as they did.
Toy stores carry games here too, but they're obviously not as specialised as game stores.
What does everyone think about the $10 fee EA (and other companies) are going to charge people who buy second hand to play online?
How's that for the other side of the penny?
I also find the term "used game" misleading. When you buy a game, you're purchasing a license to use the data stored on the disc. The disc can certainly become used, but data doesn't age.
GameStop's profit margin on MW2 is higher than Infinity Ward's...
Everything about the organized used game trade is shady.
GameStop profit up with strong sale of new games
apparently to them "Play test" Means pop the disc in and see if it knows it's there. My wii knew it was there, but it wouldnt play it for more that one match.
that's when I switched to game crazy, which is closed now. >:(
Same. I like to have all the pieces and have them in new condition when I get them. Also, I like to support the company that actually created the game, rather than someone who just happened to buy it back from someone else. And they are usually not that much cheaper anyway.
They had that great disc buffer that made ruined discs playable again, and they actually had some really good deals on used games.
From what I have heard from several friends and acquaintances they suck at getting in slightly obscure games, which often leads to the phrase "did you pre-order it?". Video games seem to have a standard price which is fixed more than over here.
Over the pond we have Game being the main brick and mortar retailer, though plenty of other shops carry games. Game in particular tend to stock about 50% new games and 50% pre-owned, which is different to the situation in Gamestop (from word of mouth). Of course the advantages of living on a small landmass could affect this.
I don't know where I'm going with this. Probably that a larger shop would be a better set-up for the gamer: larger variety of stock, easier overall stock take, etc.
I love how the clerks try to convince me that their shrinkwrap machine will magically make the game brand-new again.
A Gamestop near me (actually it's a Planet X) has one copy of A Vampyre Story for $10 new, but of course it's a gutted box. I'm tempted to pick it up but haven't followed through on that temptation yet. I really hate encouraging the practice by actually buying their open-box products.
Bart: To close this place would be twisted
Bullys: We only heard this place existed.
seriously. with my copy of brawl they buffed it and made it so it would always crash in that spot instead of sometimes crash at that spot or before. Then when gamestop obviously lied and said they had NO Wii games at all they replaced it for free even though I didn't buy it there
It doesn't bother me at all.
I can see your point, but I like to have a pristine case and manual with mine (because I do look at them, and [URL="[IMG]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y99/GuruGuru214/DSC02924.jpg[/IMG]"]I take pride in my collection[/URL]), and if there's a registration code (in the case of 1st party Nintendo games or for things like Rock Band song imports), I want it to be unused.
That is why I choose to buy my games online mostly, I am just lazy
True that a pristine case is important. I've passed up games I wanted more than once because the case was crap. As far as the manual goes, I prefer having one but it's not a deal breaker.
I have seen vids of ppl on Youtube that say they only get games that have the original label design, which is to say they refuse to get "player's choice" or "classic series" or w/e, where it has such on the label, possibly even the spine has a different color in places (eg. GCN games have black "GameCube" text on yellow background, PS2 games have white on red, instead of white on black for both as usual.) I've never been so picky about that... I'd actually prefer such a box with a manual to a normal box without one.
This makes me think of Animal Crossing.
i only have the japanese equivalent of player's choice for mother 1+2 and im jealous of those who have the pure red box because it doesn't match the rest of my collection.
I used to favour the French version of games because it included more languages, but now more and more North American version have several languages as well, so I get these (for instance Spirit Tracks has Québécois French, which is really nice if a bit weird at times because I picture all the characters having a Québécois accent and, well, that feels weird).
I hate the fact that when you buy a game your really just buying a license. It just gives company's like Ubisoft the right to put really crappy DRM on their games. I bought a copy of Settlers 7 but really all I payed for is the right to use their online server and I cant play the game with out the Internet. That's okay when I'm at home but If I try to play it on my laptop on a train, I cant with out wifi.
If you pay for a game you should have the right to sell it if you want. That's the big down side of direct to drive games for me. Though I did see some one try to sell his Steam account on Ebay a while back. Not sure how that went
Why do people sell games back to GameStop at all if they know they're getting a bum deal? I only ever tried to trade in a couple of my games, and that was because I knew I'd never play them through ever again. In the end, I didn't even trade in one of those (Star Fox Adventures) but instead gave it to my nephews after their family got a Wii.
It makes no sense why people would complain about the value and still trade in games instead of keeping them or trading them in elsewhere.
Gamestop don't stock PC games? That blows my mind, even our video rental place has a selection of PC games to buy (3 for £10 Sold-Out range, but still)
Its odd that there is no GameStop in the UK when there in almost ever big town in Ireland