VGCollect Forum
General and Gaming => General => Topic started by: bikingjahuty on February 18, 2022, 02:34:31 am
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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...
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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 :P
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I have never been to a Gamestop, but I heard it is an American icon that swallowed up most of the little guys
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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
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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?
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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.
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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.
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Not even a little. Haven't gone to Game Stop since like 2013
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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.
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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.
I honestly don't remember the last time I saw a discount at GameStop that made me want to pick up something. At least not in store.
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I grew up shopping at Software Etc at an old mall I used to go to often. I LOVED that store and have so many wonderful memories of shopping there during the mid to late 90s. There was an EBX at another mall that I frequented too, but Software Etc was way better. When Gamestop decided to buy out all their competition and I saw my beloved Software Etc practically change overnight I hated Gamestop for it. The selection got worse, the employees got more and more pushy, and just overall it was a far less enjoyable experience going there. I eventually just started buying my games from places like Best Buy or Target, and after discovering some great independent stores in my area I just gave up on Gamestop entirely for a while.
It wasn't until around 2014 or so that I started to warm up to Gamestop and began shopping there fairly often, at least for new games. I'm not going to lie, I really liked a couple of my local Gamestops up until around 2019 or so, however they too began to suck more and more, mostly due to Gamestop shifting the focus of their business on collectibles and video game merch that wasn't actual games. Then they started only carrying the same 500 or so titles across all stores while sending rarer stuff to their warehouse. In all honestly, Gamestop stores haven't even been worth visiting for the last 2-years and aside from popping into preorder games I never go there now.
This brings me to where I am now. I'm honestly one more screwed up preorder away from no longer even utilizing them for that either. I just feel like every time I start to like Gamestop more they find a way to screw that up. Obviously this is more of a corporate thing than an individual store thing, but all things considered I feel like Gamestop has made the video game retail landscape a far worse place than it would have been otherwise. I have a few good memories of Gamestop over the years, but overall they will mostly be remembered by me as the place that continually disappointed me and also destroyed game stores I actually really loved back in the day.
So in short, no, I won't miss them or feel sad once they're gone.
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Of course I will be, they've always made up a huge chunk of my modern game purchases at retail; a trend which I continue to this day. While GS doesn't get the distribution of smaller profile titles like they used to, other retail store are significantly worse for game selection in 2022. If you haven't noticed, all of their competition has now relented back to AAA titles only, full retail, brand new with next to no clearance... Leaving GS as the only retail store left offering a chance of getting a reasonable deal on a modern game, that might be a little bit more obscure, like a KoF. Although, as you know they're having distribution issues themselves actually getting the games on time.
Two stores in my general area have closed in the past couple years, leaving 3 within reasonable driving distance. I feel it's only a matter of time until it comes down to just 1 store. I suppose I'll be forced to order all of my modern games online when the day comes that there's nowhere left to get them. As I've noted, big box stores like Best Buy are useless for most AA game releases now. Sure, you can buy Horizon all day there, but think you're gonna find Edge of Eternity in store? Nope. Heck, you aren't even gonna find that one in GS unless you pre-ordered.
So yeah, I am going to miss it. I don't really care about the things which people often complain of, like trying to be sold subscriptions, or warranties, or pre-orders. I don't care about how little they offer you for your games. If you don't like it, sell them yourself. You can't expect a corporation to give you what your games are worth in cash, not even close. That's silly.
The sad part of this all comes down to not only the obsolesce of GS as a store, but the rampant and gross mismanagement happening as we speak. As with most failing retail chains, the company is made up of a bunch of money-grabbing fat cats, only taking the chairman position to soak up as much wealth from the company as they can, and then bail and let the next guy do the same. They don't actually care about trying to save the company, and they're not trying to turn things around. It's just greed from top, all the way to the bottom level management with these stores, and lots of abusive assholes at every level, firing hard working employees to cut costs and trying to make everyone below them in the company suffer in some way. Beyond your average guy running the register, it's just a corrupt cesspool of over-paid assholes who don't care, pointing fingers, barking orders, and soaking up fat paychecks. There's so many over-paid levels of management in the company, it's ridiculous, and the store workers get treated like crap.
Greed and corruption usually sees the demise of most corporations, and GS is no different in that regard, sadly. I feel for the bottom level employees, who are doing all of the actual work and trying to make a decent living doing something they are suppose to enjoy. But ya know, late stage capitalism.
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I also want to comment on the notion of GameStop destroying other game stores, only to point out... when companies absorb other companies it's not just some kind of brutal, forced take-over against their will... For every buy-out, there's also a sell-out. Companies like Software Etc simply sold their souls to a big fat payout. Agreed to the terms, threw their employees under the bus, and didn't give a damn about their own vision as an independent company, because the money waved under their nose smelled a lot better.
So, it's sort of hypocritical to scorn GameStop for taking over the landscape without acknowledging the other companies which played an equal role in not caring about you, their former customer. The guys at the top of Babbages, FuncoLand, EB, Software Etc, had no principles other than big money, either. They wanted a piece of the pie. There were some which didn't, like Game Crazy, and Play N Trade.... but where was the show of support for that competition? They both died off during the prime era of re-selling used games. There's a good chance both probably died through terrible corporate mis-management as well. I've heard horror stories of people who actually tried to run Play N Trade franchises. Treated like suckers with no support from corporate after investing all of their money into opening a store.
“A system is corrupt when it is strictly profit-driven, not driven to serve the best interests of its people.” That's our system. So, we deal with this reality on every level, even at our video game stores. The power of the almighty dollar can conjure any shit-show imaginable, and the logical conclusion of every corporate conquest - the implosion and the golden parachutes for all the winners... i.e, not you the customer, or the poor guy being berated buy his boss to sell pre-orders under threat of firing.
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I always wished they would get their act together . Their retro gaming items were always a crapshoot , but sometimes the prices were pretty good on some of the stuff . I'd be sad , I always liked mall game stores as they are a great place to hang out when you have to go "shopping" bleh :P
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Not really I'm mostly interested in retro stuff first. And newer games second.
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No, I won't.
I didn't ever regularly shop at GameStop, but once they started selling new games without the plastic wrap and then began adding pricing labels directly to the cover, I stopped going altogether.
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I can count the number of game's I've purchased from Gamestop on one hand, so no, I won't miss them. I pretty much purchase all of my modern games from retailers like Target or Meijer or online places like Amazon or PlayAsia.
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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.
I honestly don't remember the last time I saw a discount at GameStop that made me want to pick up something. At least not in store.
When they run their promotion- buy a certain number of titles, get 50% off you can get some pretty wild deals- Gamestop this past winter was crazy- so many good deals- I cleaned up. They did buy 2 get 1 free with new games too for the first time- 50% off 1st party nintendo switch and so much more. In store and online. And when you combine that with some of the trade-in specials they run- they are so poorly optimized- people were buying titles like back 4 blood and no man's sky and getting $15-$20 more a game by trading them into a different location. Literally free money.
It is possible to get some absolutely insane deals at gamestop if you pay close attention. But usually only in the holiday season- otherwise I ignore Gamestop for the first 9 months of the year usually.
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No, I won't.
I didn't ever regularly shop at GameStop, but once they started selling new games without the plastic wrap and then began adding pricing labels directly to the cover, I stopped going altogether.
That's exactly why I stopped going.
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I use them all the time. We used to have more local stores like Game Xchange around here ... but they slowly went under. Vintage stock is still in my area but they are way overpriced and never offer any kind of sales or any reason to choose them over GameStop. I worked at GameStop for a while so I am friendly with some of the managers and one of them constantly gives me reasons to go to her location such as pre-orders before they go live, free items, etc cause she knows I actually do enjoy gaming itself.
I also will chime in on missing Babbages and EB. I was one of those people that thought GameStop had so much potential to be more than just a dude-bro game store but the upper crust management doesnt care/want that. I would be willing to wager that they dont even play games themselves. They are just businessmen in the wrong line of work. Ive wondered if it was fixable with someone (me) in charge to turn GameStop around into a place like old school FuncoLand where the staff is knowledgeable and happy and it was an inviting place to be ... sadly digital is going to destroy that dream regardless.
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Will you be sad when Gamestop goes out of business?
Honestly? No, not at all. They've shown time and time again to never learn from their mistakes, so I genuinely think it's about time they ceased to exist. If anything, the only thing that would truly bum me out if they were to go out of business are the thousands that would lose their jobs.
I loved Electronic Boutique
And Babbage's. I miss them both.
When they run their promotion- buy a certain number of titles, get 50% off you can get some pretty wild deals- Gamestop this past winter was crazy- so many good deals- I cleaned up. They did buy 2 get 1 free with new games too for the first time- 50% off 1st party nintendo switch and so much more. In store and online. [...]
It is possible to get some absolutely insane deals at gamestop if you pay close attention. But usually only in the holiday season- otherwise I ignore Gamestop for the first 9 months of the year usually.
You're not wrong, but I still wouldn't care if they went the way of the dodo.