The idea for this thread came to me after I went to pick up a preorder today from one of my local Gamestop's and surprise, surprise, they didn't get the game in even though it came out today (the game is KOF XV in case anyone is curious). While I'm aware that this likely had to do with delays in delivery and also supply chain issues, the truth is that this has been happening to me for several years now, and it seems to happen on every other preorder I make.
This was especially true for many MANY people who pre-ordered Monster Hunter Rise. It was my first time seeing it on a state-to-state basis, as people all over the country were experiencing the issue of either next to no copies or straight up none at all arriving in time to fulfil their pre-orders on time or even within the week. I myself was lucky enough to bag KOFXV's Omega but the clerk said "I'm surprised we got this one in, honestly. Only one we're probably gonna get" which was probably not as reassuring as he meant it to be. More to the point though, I don't think I'll be too bummed about it. They're not really the outlet anymore; they're just an option.
It's funny this comes up because while I was there, I was thinking to myself if there was anything else I wanted to lay some money down on but in reality, most of the time I pre-order from BestBuy for better incentives. Stranger Of Paradise, in this instance. Sure, GS has it's exclusive things, but they're often not exactly of particular value to me personally. They have a very.. dad's fishing hat-esque hat that's just black with the game's logo on it in white as a pre-order bonus. BestBuy on the other hand.. has an exclusive steelbook with gorgeous artwork featuring a more
familiar version of Garland I'm sure many of remember, which sells me immediately. Sure, I could pre-order the GS version and grab the steelbook second hand, but after missing out on the P5 Scramble steelbook I'd rather not test my luck!
All in all, I do find a lot of use in GameStop as a retailer, but it's just a matter of it being a (sometimes) convenient option for me. Ultimately, they still have a lot of issues as a business to correct if they want to stay afloat and if we're being perfectly honest here... I'd rather a return to FuncoLand than another few years of being chased around a sales floor by a pressed employee trying to meet their daily quota