Game & Gamestation: GAME credit woes

[ETC]

Like many high street stores, if GAME fold their premises will be taken over by clothes shops. If GAME fold the only real hope for a high street presence is Grainger, and, well, no thanks. I don't think there's anyone other than them that would risk a high street game store if GAME can't make it work and I doubt Grainger want to risk much expansion to go nationwide.

I think they will go national back when I used to buy them it all started from a tiny market stall in Newcastle Grainger market and that was only about 10 years ago

[toythatkills]

I think they will go national back when I used to buy them it all started from a tiny market stall in Newcastle Grainger market and that was only about 10 years ago

I just don't see why anyone would want to risk it when they've got a pretty steady business as it is. If GAME can't make it work, why would anyone else be able to? The things that traditionally pulled money in were huge new releases and new consoles. The supermarkets and online have basically stolen the huge new release money, and new console cycles are getting way longer. It's just a very risky market to go in to and I don't know why anyone would.

The only real money-spinner that GAME have now is pre-owned, and even that's probably being cut into by online these days.

[charlesr]

It has been interesting looking at how walking into HMV over the last decade (or 2!) has changed.

It used to be music up front.
Then it moved to films up front.
Then it moved to games up front.
Last week I went in and I had to walk past loads of music hardware. Turntables. Headphones (lots of headphones!). Portable music players etc. This makes a lot of sense - if media is moving online, they must find revenue from sales of items that must be physical.

What can GAME do? Consoles don't make them any money. If an onlive-a-like thing is built into a TV then there's no point in selling consoles any way. They could sell accessories, but it's not a repeat business model - most people get a few bits as a one off, but regularly buy games.

Online retailers are eventually screwed too though if everything goes digital, unless they are gamepointsnow et al. Affiliate earnings for gaming websites will have to be diverted to advertising (or subscription models). I predict a whole different online world in a 10 years time.

I wonder how much of ebay's profits come from 2nd hand but recent release (and new) media sales.

[fuse]

Whole other kettle of fish there Charles, but one I find very interesting - this is worth a read on the topic; http://www.thinq.co.uk/2011/11/14/ga...-not-hardware/

[Soundwave]

I still remember when EB was Future Zone. And when Future Zone was Virgin Game Center.

I am old.

Most of my early games buying were from indies with only one store in Nottingham, all long since dead and gone (Intoto, Software Plus, Microbyte... ah, nostalgia)

I'm always surprised to see that Kart Klub in Aldershot is still around on the rare occasion I find myself there...

Damn I actually forgot about them being Furture Zone & VGC I remember them both well.

We used to do ok in my town back in my old VG bying days we had...

Boots (Yes they too sold games...they even had PC Engine & Neo Geo CD Consoles back in the day...I bought Goldne Axe & Football Manager 2 for the Spectrum from them)
WH Smiths
Woolworths
Software + (Small independent that started life as a market stall on Canvey Island market)
3/4 different Market stalls dotted around Basildon & Pitsea (including an awesome one in Pitsea run by an Irish lady called Noreen who introduced me to Import gaming...she stocked EVERYTHING import, such a shame she went )

Fast Forward 20 years & all we have is Game, Gamestation, HMV & CEX

Everything else has fallen by the wayside
The failing of Game really is just showing that online sales are the majority of our buying.

I was actually in Gamestation on Saturday & bought my Gears 3 Epic Edition but that was only because it was cheap & I wanted the statue
But there was a parent in there with her child looking at games & he was pointing a few out that he wanted for his birthday & his mum said ok well I'll write them down & when we get home we will see how much they on Play.com & Zavvi so that right there doesn't bode well...if the parents are getting clued up then there is no hope for high street games sellers

The end is Nigh!!!!

Neil

[toythatkills]

I used to buy games from John Menzies.

[Daragon]

They've only themselves to blame for this state. Their ridiculous pricing coupled with pre-owned state games sold as new never did them any favors.

I only ever buy from their stores now during sales (their most recent one has been uncharacteristically good, so they may need to look into making those far more regular an occurrence in order to tempt business) or when I have gift cards.

Pretty much all my games buying is done online now, from amazon and play. Since this recent news of jersey based tax shenanigans however, GAME could use this as an opportunity to match their store prices with their online prices as they're mainland based and thus not fall under the same restrictions as the two aforementioned companies.

Of course, history teaches us that the bigwigs at GAME group are just as blind and greedy as corporate bankers and they don't believe that they have to set their sights lower now that people are spending less. By the time they learn this very tough lesson though, it'll be too late for them.

[Brad]

^^^^ This except that they won't even realise why it all went wrong and they will make the same mistakes again.

[Cornflakes]

Isn't GAME managed really bad anyways? What did they expect?
Here in edinburgh there is one gamestation just a couple of metres apart from a GAME store, and the next GAME store(formally EB) is just around the block, plus there is another on one inside st. james centre, which is at the end of the road. That is like four stores within a mile.

[Flabio]

There were three in Guildford at one point, which is minor overkill. Only one now.

[Soundwave]

There were three in Guildford at one point, which is minor overkill. Only one now.

We've gone from 3 (2 Games & 1 Gamestation) to 2 (1 Game & 1 Gamestation)

Neil

[MonkeyJuggleDX]

I only ever buy from their stores now during sales (their most recent one has been uncharacteristically good, so they may need to look into making those far more regular an occurrence in order to tempt business) or when I have gift cards.

I wouldn't say sticking a couple of quid onto the price of already overpriced pre-owned titles, then introducing a 2 for 3 offer on the pitifully small selection 'good'.

[nakamura]

EB were ****, dreadful.

I worked for Game in 1998 and the company was savvy and a pleasure to work for. EB bought Game out and it has been a steady downhill slope. They literally had no idea what the public wanted or how to display items effectively, certainly not in my store anyway.

I don't want to see them vanish mind, I love hunting for games but things need a shake up. In our area we have both a Game and a Gamestation in the same high street which seems pointless. A rebrand and rethink would be a good thing. Would love to see more stores with bigger stock selection across current gen and retro.

[nakamura]

I used to buy games from John Menzies.

C64 tapes! And a Pang cart.

[Brad]

I wouldn't say sticking a couple of quid onto the price of already overpriced pre-owned titles, then introducing a 2 for 3 offer on the pitifully small selection 'good'.

DA:Origins for a fiver, Mass Effect for a quid, Dead Space for 3 quid, Crysis + warhead + warfare for a fiver and MW3 for ?19.99. Those were all excellent recent deals in my local Game store. It was still a horrible place to go into though.

Just after xmas the high street in Cheltenham was dead. Even on a saturday. Game though, had people queuing round the isles. They looked recession-proof!