Game & Gamestation: GAME credit woes

[EvilBoris]

Im saying theres another agenda here Flabio, you guys (ie your bosses ) and the like want GAME DEAD, so customers have nowhere to flog there games back to.

Are you insane? There is no way that any publisher would want the largest retailer of their products to go under.

EA are bricking themselves over their end of year financials after what's happened with game.

It is not a good thing for the industry this happening.
There is something fundamentally wrong with the business model if a game's shop of the company with the biggest buying power can't afford to run itself, despite probably getting stock for the best price.

[MisterBubbles]

Yes im insane.

[Daragon]

Christ, and I thought I came out with some random ****!

[toythatkills]

Im saying theres another agenda here Flabio, you guys (ie your bosses ) and the like want GAME DEAD, so customers have nowhere to flog there games back to.

If GAME die, the only game store on many high streets will be CEX, a store that is thriving by selling only second-hand games, and will be doing even better with GAME gone.

How does that help developers? As much second-hand as ever, but nowhere on the high street selling new games.

[davek22]

Yes im insane.

Its all a conspiracy. The freemasons are to blame in my books

[MisterBubbles]

Clearly i was being scacastic, but that seems way lost on your intelligence level Daragon.

[Daragon]

Clearly i was being scacastic, but that seems way lost on your intelligence level Daragon.

Clearly, despite several other people on these last few pages taking you seriously as well

Sarcasm (or scacasm in your case) is easy to detect in person. Sadly, not so much when you're reading words on a screen!

[Robster]

If Game go under then the high st will become a free for all which could be a good and a bad thing.

There is not alot of Cex in Scotland on the high st - none that Im aware of, so the high streets here will be barren.

I really hope this could pave the way for a few more indie chains to start up and create healthy competition and price wars for the consumer.

Until a couple of shops go under and the new game emerges, oh well. Lets hope we get a few years out of it at least...

[Shingle]

So I tried to recall a time before GAME, before Electronics Boutique, before Future Zone, wondering where it was I brought my games from before there was a dedicated games retailer on the high street.

My answers were WHSmith, Comet, Rumbelows and Woolworths!

[EvilBoris]

My answers were WHSmith, Comet, Rumbelows and Woolworths!

Selling makes must be a retail curse

[BaronSqwelch]

I wish we could have this automatically appended to posts in 48-point flashing letters every time this debate comes up. Merchandising games in a physical shop is something that publishers seem to conveniently ignore, even if they've paid for a game to be prominently displayed or featured.

My local Gamestation must be different to most then....

All the new releases are sealed, behind the counter and in the store room of course, with the shelves taken up with several dummy cases and the rest of the room taken up by bigger boxes covered in promo/poster stuff.

Apart from Portal 2 (which I had to ask the guy to get me a sealed copy) I honestly cant remember a time I have been offered an unsealed game. Even in the clearance sales!! Its why I never shop in HMV...unsealed to me equals second hand so I wont buy it for new prices. In these days of online passes its even more important imo....had friends have problems with Bad Company 2 and Need for Speed passes being used from unsealed games.

I will miss Gamestation if it goes, but the whole argument about not being able to get niche games in Tesco while true, you cant get them in Game/station either anymore and that was before the stock trouble!! I have struggled for ages to get anything beyond the big releases since at least when KOF XII was released and probably before.

[Dazzyman]

I had a look this morning for a laugh to see what's on Game online to buy and all the new stuff like SSX were sold out, couldn't even find Tekken! Something what's peed me off about Game was getting em out of sleeves, I want my 360 stuff sealed as amount I've had gone outside and there scratched to f so went back in and got one that wasn't, well it happened a lot. Plenty of stores in the past have sold games sealed on the shelf, HMV, Smiths, Game exchange/Gamestation when it started out, local Indy years back Yorcom are to name a few. Back in speccy days up to snes and PS1 it wasn't as much an issue with theft. I've also got sick of asking staff what 2nd hand stuff had codes when there 5 less. I asked with borderlands goty for wife if it was disc or code and same with pes and both times got told we dont know but if u buy them and they have had them u can't bring em back, which just meant walking off and getting new ones for sod all extra. They should be labelling any game 2nd hand with a warning u will have to buy a online code etc separately as 5 less for 2nd hand ends up more than new. Went past Game in York today and it was like an empty shell. Shame as the old future zone staff were great over the road back in the day same with Yorcom who got swelled up by Game group

[averybluemonkey]

Plenty of stores in the past have sold games sealed on the shelf, HMV, Smiths, Game exchange/Gamestation when it started out, local Indy years back Yorcom are to name a few.

I can tell you exactly why Smiths stopped doing that - theft was a big problem. It cost the company but we're not just talking about physical loss, we're talking about the cost of employing security guards, the costs incurred with getting temps in after your guard gets in trouble for accosting a thief after they've left the shop, the costs of sensor gates and so on. Most retail chains are running on skeleton staff these days and many can't even afford to employ any security.

[averybluemonkey]

I will miss Gamestation if it goes, but the whole argument about not being able to get niche games in Tesco while true, you cant get them in Game/station either anymore and that was before the stock trouble!! I have struggled for ages to get anything beyond the big releases since at least when KOF XII was released and probably before.

Maybe my area's the exception but the local GameStation have always had the niche titles be it the recent KOF XIII to Dodonpachi, Deathsmiles, Venetica, Millenium Championship Paintball, Infernal, History Channel Battles, Secret Service and Raven Squad to name a few.

[dataDave]

It won't be long before we can only pay for download only titles at 10% extra cost without any guarantee it will be there for download five years later (Doom, Smash TV). Despite what Sony/MS say for the next gen, the retail climate will dictate their future aspirations.