GameStop tests Classic Console & Games Program

[Warmsignal]

I don't mind, but what actually scares me is knowing how they will probably throw away so many retro boxes and manuals people trade-in because they don't keep that stuff on their shelves. Hopefully most people won't trade in pristine retro stuff to them, chucking out everything but the cart and slapping their price tag sticker over a nice label, that would be sad.

[kamikazekeeg]

I don't mind, but what actually scares me is knowing how they will probably throw away so many retro boxes and manuals people trade-in because they don't keep that stuff on their shelves. Hopefully most people won't trade in pristine retro stuff to them, chucking out everything but the cart and slapping their price tag sticker over a nice label, that would be sad.

It doesn't sound like this stuff will be in stores.  Web in store and online only cause there is no way they have room for the vast retro library out there in any store.

[tpugmire]

There will be if all new games are going digital.

[kamikazekeeg]

There will be if all new games are going digital.

Which won't happen anytime soon.  They still get a good bit of foot traffic into their stores to just toss that out in favor of the niche retro market.

[bikingjahuty]

I'm not a fan of GS, but I'm fairly optimistic about this.

[MJMaranan]

In order for Gamestop to not only survive this change and (they hope) thrive, they are going to move into the "retro" market.  Your new games will be purchased online or through a pre-paid card in store and physical games will be old stuff.  Guarantee this is where this move is coming from.

Not to mention some decent game-related swag, their tech trade-ins, and general foot-traffic.  At least in my area.

Physical-edition games for the new generation may be going away but GameStop will still have some relevance with kids since they don't have credit cards.

I don't mind, but what actually scares me is knowing how they will probably throw away so many retro boxes and manuals people trade-in because they don't keep that stuff on their shelves. Hopefully most people won't trade in pristine retro stuff to them, chucking out everything but the cart and slapping their price tag sticker over a nice label, that would be sad.

It doesn't sound like this stuff will be in stores.  Web in store and online only cause there is no way they have room for the vast retro library out there in any store.

As long as we could still browse around for the condition of the games, this would be acceptable.

[burningdoom]

The article is a little confusing as it says that it's testing it out at certain stores in certain areas, then goes on to say that it's only offering it online through their website...so does that mean only residents of the test markets can buy and trade-in online and no one else; or is there going to be stock in those stores only and available online to the rest of us?

[matimo]

Even though i reside in Canada and this won't affect us currently, i' am excited for this and want to see it succeed and come to other countries. The Canadian Retro collecting market is horrible at the moment, anytime you find games at garage sales they're almost always ebay price or worse, and same goes for any retro stores themselves, not to mentioned craiglist and Kijiji is riddled with resellers and no actual sellers. This program in Canada would do well i think, i see it bringing down prices and would make the retro collecting market more competitive, and would hopefulyl screw over a lot of re-sellers(There are far too many here). Here's to hoping it goes well.

[kashell]

So this program starts on 4/25, yes? Me going to Birmingham that day wouldn't be beneficial because they wouldn't have anything for sale; they'd just be accepting trade-ins. Is that right?

[badATchaos]

gf78 stated it best. With physical games disappearing they need to grow in other directions.

[dashv]

Shameless plug since no one else has plugged it so far.

Retro Reload East Coast had a very detailed discussion about the good, the bad, and the maybe with this whole game stop thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5v1XmwWOD4