Will you be sad when Gamestop goes out of business?

[bikingjahuty]

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. But anyhow, it got me thinking about how I'll feel when Gamestop finally goes out of business, most likely in the near future. I thought it would be interesting to get everyone's take on Gamestop's demise and whether you'll even feel a tiny bit sad once they're gone. Or maybe you love Gamestop and you're sorely miss it after your last local store closes. We all know it's only a matter of time before the ever changing landscape of the video game industry catches up with Gamestop and it starts shuttering all of its remaining stores across the globe. So I don't think we should be discussing "if" they go out of business, but rather "when." Discuss...

[mrkonasoni]

I don't care about Gamestop but mostly because I don't have one in my country, but I am sure I have bought some imported ebay games that have their price label.

About GameStop itself I am not sure, they have a good number of controversies and I still read rather often people that bought brand new games just for get a disc/cartridge inside a generic case or sleeve.

Anyway since we are on topic...
I do feel nostalgia for Blockbuster, if there something I romanticize a lot is these fridays nights with Pizza Hut, some rentals and watching documentaries about my favorite retro games.

I guess I miss these simple times.

[david0mario]

Honestly won't miss it much. There's a locally owned game store near where I live and they have better prices and a greater variety of games, a lot more retro stuff. They give much better prices for trade-ins as well. As for newly released games, I either opt for digital or Target, Best Buy, Wal-Mart etc.

[kamikazekeeg]

It doesn't have nostalgia like some other places have had for me (Didn't have one in town, and when the rare times I traveled, it was called EB Games back in the 90's/early 00's), and Gamestop as a business has been pretty damn shitty for a long time, so no big loss there, but a part of me will miss it as an actual store I can go and get toys and games.  It's kinda the last business for that around as otherwise games are sold at just regular stores like Best Buy, Walmart, Target, etc...So it's more in a general sense I'd miss them, than the actual store itself.

[bizzarnage]

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 

[koemo1]

I have never been to a Gamestop, but I heard it is an American icon that swallowed up most of the little guys

[mastodon]

It doesn't have nostalgia like some other places have had for me (Didn't have one in town, and when the rare times I traveled, it was called EB Games back in the 90's/early 00's), and Gamestop as a business has been pretty damn shitty for a long time, so no big loss there, but a part of me will miss it as an actual store I can go and get toys and games.  It's kinda the last business for that around as otherwise games are sold at just regular stores like Best Buy, Walmart, Target, etc...So it's more in a general sense I'd miss them, than the actual store itself.

I loved Electronic Boutique

[tpugmire]

I don’t mind GameStop, I’ve been a pro member ever since they started giving the free $5.00 a month coupons, so I go every month to get some eShop credit, and occasionally preorder something. I’ll miss the free money, but that’s about it. If it wasn’t so close to my house, I likely wouldn’t even do it.

[Cartagia]

Nah.  Their decline has been so steady over such a long period of time that it's already hard to remember when I liked shopping there.

[kashell]

I doubt it. I have nostalgia for FuncoLand, Babbages, EB, etc. and I do remember being excited about finding new Game Stops when traveling, but these days I hardly think about going/shopping there.

That said, I do have two pre-orders from there for next month so they're still somewhat important, I guess?

[telekill]

I used to work at an EB Games just before the merger with Gamestop. They were essentially the same. They openly showed they didn't really care about their employees. I had a horrible egotistical manager... the hours were not good... and the pay was low.

Aside from that, I loved the job because I got to "talk shop" with people. I had a knack for getting to know the customer and knowing exactly what game that would suit them or their needs best. I even had an instance where I went against corporate and did the right thing... honoring a mom's GBA SP warranty when they would not. Their reasoning was that the serial number had been rubbed off due to her kid constantly having it in his pocket. Made logical sense to me and the hardware matched the warranty. So I swapped it out with a new identical one and wrote my manager a note. Next day I came in and was in the process of getting in trouble by my manager when the GM walked in and congratulated me on a job well done. Apparently the mom had called headquarters telling them she'd be a return customer ONLY because of my actions. Heck, she even bought a warranty again.

If/when Gamestop goes out of business, it will be because they've decided against customer service and put dollars above all else. Just after PS3 released, I even had a fanboy that worked at one try to tell me that I may as well just get a X360 because every PS3 game would be on the Xbox as well. Luckily, I knew better and called him on it. He got flustered but I'm sure many other people bought his misinformation.

I think the hardest part for me when they eventually go under is that I've bought every system from a dedicated gaming store... either them or one they've swallowed. The days of dedicated gaming stores are coming to a close as everything is moving to digital. It's a shame really, but there are other ways to get the games and hardware you're wanting. Perhaps Gamestop didn't think about competition?

[burningdoom]

Yeah, it's gonna suck. I'm not gonna say the store is perfect. It definitely has it's flaws. But what other national game store chain do we have? When it goes down, many towns will be without a game store. And there won't be a good place to browse many used games.

While the idea of mom and pop shops taking over sounds nice, it's just not realistic. Most of these stores only deal in used items, not new and upcoming stuff. And many towns don't even have a mom and pop place.

Yeah, there's Target, Wal-Mart, and such places but they don't have the same selection and have higher prices. Not to mention no used stock.

This will be bad for many gamers.

[NickAwesome]

The company is abhorrent but these days you can get some ridiculous deals from gamestop- trade in credit bumps and crazy discounts- I would miss those.  But the actual company can fuck off into the sun.

[aliensstudios]

Not even a little. Haven't gone to Game Stop since like 2013

[dharmajones93]

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. But anyhow, it got me thinking about how I'll feel when Gamestop finally goes out of business, most likely in the near future. I thought it would be interesting to get everyone's take on Gamestop's demise and whether you'll even feel a tiny bit sad once they're gone. Or maybe you love Gamestop and you're sorely miss it after your last local store closes. We all know it's only a matter of time before the ever changing landscape of the video game industry catches up with Gamestop and it starts shuttering all of its remaining stores across the globe. So I don't think we should be discussing "if" they go out of business, but rather "when." Discuss...

This has happened to me twice in the last year with Gamestop. The most recent was Metroid Dread! I live in a fairly busy area too, so it's not like we're out in the sticks. The whole reason I pre-order at all is to ensure I get a physical copy/don't have to deal with scalpers or mark up later. I almost exclusively pre-order from Best Buy now.

Anyway, I think I'm most sad that the idea of Gamestop will soon not exist. This place had so much potential to be a place where gamers could actually hand out and enjoy the hobby and community. GameStop never actually came close to fulfilling that ideal, but its still sad to see the last potential place go (I'm talking as if it's already happening; though as bikingjahuty put it, for some of us it already has). Alas, the state of gaming and the retail video game economy aren't such that it was meant to be. I hope at least it will open a void for local game shops to take Gamestop's place with more curated gaming items, game selections, etc.