Game & Gamestation: GAME credit woes

[Mr-Niceguy2001]

I went to the one in the west end on saturday. There was hardly anything of note bargains wise. Lots of pre-order POS for Max Payne 3 and it looked like a skeleton crew of staff. Managed to pick up the skyward sword guide book for ?5 and Trauma centre on the Wii for ?2.

Just used the bulk of my reward points to pre-order the new Yakuza on the PS3 that is released this friday, hopefully it will be stocked, as I couldn't see anything worth spending my points on that was in stock on the website. Will use the rest up this week rather than lose them.

Hopefully, what ever happens, the good people who actually made an effort won't lose their jobs.

Had an email through today confirming the cancellation of my Yakuza pre-order because they won't be stocking it.
I'm not surprised, so off to the website to spend my points on stuff they have in stock whilst I still can!

[djtickle]

Had a nice experience with GAME today, I bought a 80GB PS3 last week and got round to testing it last night. The Pad wont sync to the console at all (Even thought the lights flash when its plugged in). Tested with one of my other pads from a different PS3 and it works fine.

Called in to be told they had not got any 2nd hand pads in, and they could not swap it out of another 2nd hand PS3 they had. I would have to bring the console back for a refund, which after that I could purchase another one.....

So now im left with a broken pad, but the PS3 is pretty mint. Guess im just going to leave it, dont want to risk getting a crappy PS3 replacement. Just seems stupid to me.

[charlesr]

Went to town to get Halo4 on a whim (a friend twisted my arm).
Argos is next to GAME.
Argos have Halo4 for ?35
GAME have it for ?40
Are GAME now so reliant on trade-ins that they can afford to not care that their neighbour is drastically undercutting them? I purchased from Argos. Maybe I'm in the minority that doesn't trade in.

So, 7 months down the line, has anything changed at GAME to ensure its continued survival?

[djtickle]

I had the same experience today also with the Vita version.

Argos ?35
GAME ?42.99

But saying that they had a 30mins queue of people outside waiting for CoD. I went in town to do a return with them and I would have had to have queued in that, so I sacked it off. 4 tills, surely it would have made sense to use one of them for none CoD related business rather than make everyone wait. Now I remember why I don't use them.

So they must be doing something right, I guess we just cant see it.

[gambit6613]

To be honest this is pretty much the norm with Game and its pricing, you only need to look at its pricing structure of Wii U. Just about every other high street retailer is cheaper, even HMV which is normally equally expensive. Unless you are trading something in i really do not understand why anyone would shop in Game.

I used to find this in Portsmouth Game, where HMV is directly opposite and would sometimes be ?5 cheaper, crazy. You would think that after all its problems this time last year, new management would have learnt a thing or 2 but sadly does not seem to be the case. Cant see how they can survive if this is the way they go about business.

[randombs]

So now im left with a broken pad, but the PS3 is pretty mint. Guess im just going to leave it, dont want to risk getting a crappy PS3 replacement. Just seems stupid to me.

Have you tried pressing the tiny reset button on the back of the pad? Worth a shot if you haven't...

A little while back Game in Oxford Street closed down and now it's been replaced by a Boots.

The idea of a game shop being replaced by a chemisty/health shop made me laugh a bit

[djtickle]

Have you tried pressing the tiny reset button on the back of the pad? Worth a shot if you haven't...

A little while back Game in Oxford Street closed down and now it's been replaced by a Boots.

The idea of a game shop being replaced by a chemisty/health shop made me laugh a bit

I took the pad to a different GAME store (thats gone now) and they swapped it Thanks though, guess its who you get on the day.

[BaronSqwelch]

Went to town to get Halo4 on a whim (a friend twisted my arm).
Argos is next to GAME.
Argos have Halo4 for ?35
GAME have it for ?40
Are GAME now so reliant on trade-ins that they can afford to not care that their neighbour is drastically undercutting them? I purchased from Argos. Maybe I'm in the minority that doesn't trade in.

So, 7 months down the line, has anything changed at GAME to ensure its continued survival?

Well instead of them giving you 25-35 quid for a week old game they now give you ?14 (with an added ?5 if you want points cards). So assuming not everyone walks out laughing like me thats gotta help their profits when they put it on the shelf for ?36??

[EvilBoris]

I think they have finally realised that they can not continue to sell games with such a hidesouly low gross margin.

[ETC]

Seeing as they have the same owners as comet (I think) if they don't perform we all have a good idea of the outcome in a year or two

[gIzzE]

I think they have finally realised that they can not continue to sell games with such a hidesouly low gross margin.

Agreed.

Retailing is getting seriously expensive. Until you try and run retail outlets yourself you have absolutely no idea.

There is no way I would even consider trying to sell a 'non touchy' product in a bricks and mortar store any more, just can't be done with the current margins. High street stores for things like electronics and media are an advertising/marketing adventure and nothing more.

Games have an rrp of ?50, how many on here happily pay that to make sure we keep seeing game shops on the high street?
I think this thread answers that.

[EvilBoris]

Agreed.

Retailing is getting seriously expensive. Until you try and run retail outlets yourself you have absolutely no idea.

There is no way I would even consider trying to sell a 'non touchy' product in a bricks and mortar store any more, just can't be done with the current margins. High street stores for things like electronics and media are an advertising/marketing adventure and nothing more.

Games have an rrp of ?50, how many on here happily pay that to make sure we keep seeing game shops on the high street?
I think this thread answers that.

Even if you look at electronics high street retailers, you can see that the manufacturers are creating lower cost/lower quality products that get sold under those familiar quality brand banners. This is the only way that the retailers can keep the price at a comfortable price.

The difference now between buying something online and in a high street retailer is often marginal. I remember when places like play.com were literally 40% cheaper than HMV.

[gambit6613]

I just dont understand why anyone would buy new games from the high street nowadays unless you pop in a buy something random whilst out shopping. You can save serious cash through the likes of Shopto, and apart from Blops2 i always get games a day before release. Even Games website is just totally pointless and overpriced, just doing a quick search

Lego Lord Of The Rings Xbox on game.co.uk= ?37.99

same game/format on Shopto= 30.99

Just why would anyone in their right mind buy from Games website and you even get reward points from Shopto. Its not even if its a pound or 2 out, were talking a ?7 and thats not to be sneezed at. Seriously what is the point of Game having a website if its not even going to try compete with the online market.

[noobish hat]

Have you tried pressing the tiny reset button on the back of the pad? Worth a shot if you haven't...

A little while back Game in Oxford Street closed down and now it's been replaced by a Boots.

The idea of a game shop being replaced by a chemisty/health shop made me laugh a bit

And Boots used to sell games, too...

[Rep]

If my three years at Gamestation taught me anything, it's that people don't know any better. Sure most people on here will buy cheaper online, but most of the customer base were parents, kids trading in or people that bought from GAME/Gamestation out of habbit.