Gaming News So Small It Gets a Second Thread

[Lebowski]

If true, why do we reckon they’re doing that?

I’ve always believed pre-owned makes loads for them, with RRP games only granting Game & other retailers, what, 30% of that total. Whereas preowned gives them whatever markup over what they have to the customer.

Interesting times. I’ve thought Game were going to vanish back in the late 00’s when the Supermarkets came onto their patch offering RRP games for dramatically reduced prices and all Consoles, Handhelds & PC’s came with a digital storefront. Yet in 2024, they’re still here.

When’s the last time anyone brought anything from them? I think mine was in the early 2010’s with an Xbox Elite Controller as it was £20 off, but then had a (Gentle!) argument with the Manager who said it wasn’t £20 off (It rang up as £20 off RRP) and when he finally relented, they tried to give me a display copy, rather than a sealed boxed copy.

I bet it's because they're sat on a lot of second hand stock that has depreciated faster than they predicted and their losing money on it, they wouldn't drop this part of their business if it was still profitable, i hope they have done their research properly though as a lot of people fund new game purchases via trade-ins, removing this removes a reason to shop here as its not as if they keep pace price wise with a lot of other retailers and are always more expensive than online retailers their own website often is cheaper than in store.

It feels like PS5 and Xbox series releases, have dropped price really quickly compared to last gen. Games that originally launched at a RRP of £70 like Hogwarts legacy and Star Wars Jedi survivor have both been sub £20 for a physical copy in the sales, Previous year's big exclusives like Deathloop can be got for as cheap as £7 on ebay. We also have a big move to digital with the likes of gamepass and PS+ pushing the value of older titles down even further, why pick up that mid-tier game you had your eye on when it's bound to show up in the game catalogue.

[Neon Ignition]

GAME in 5 years time:

[Lebowski]

Yes game is slowly becoming a toy shop half our local one is given over to toys, The only problem with that pic is Funko won't be around in 5 years they're headed for a Beanie baby style crash, their earnings are massively down and Funko now has so much unwanted surplus inventory that it's cheaper to send it to landfill than try and store or sell it.

[Neon Ignition]

Other than being affordable I still can;t believe how big they became given how ugly they are

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.eurogamer.net/take-two-and-remedy-in-trademark-dispute-over-r-logo

Hopefully Take Two lose. Utter horse****

[Wools]

I bet it's because they're sat on a lot of second hand stock that has depreciated faster than they predicted and their losing money on it, they wouldn't drop this part of their business if it was still profitable, i hope they have done their research properly though as a lot of people fund new game purchases via trade-ins, removing this removes a reason to shop here as its not as if they keep pace price wise with a lot of other retailers and are always more expensive than online retailers their own website often is cheaper than in store.

It feels like PS5 and Xbox series releases, have dropped price really quickly compared to last gen. Games that originally launched at a RRP of £70 like Hogwarts legacy and Star Wars Jedi survivor have both been sub £20 for a physical copy in the sales, Previous year's big exclusives like Deathloop can be got for as cheap as £7 on ebay. We also have a big move to digital with the likes of gamepass and PS+ pushing the value of older titles down even further, why pick up that mid-tier game you had your eye on when it's bound to show up in the game catalogue.

That could be it.

I remember my local indie The Kart Klub (God rest its beautiful soul) had fairly strict rules about game condition that could be accepted for trade in, and that's before they even consider the game itself, if they had a few copies of game X then they wouldn't let anymore come in. It always felt like Game wouldn't do that but would say "Just 10p for that mate" and the person would then be tempted to back out.

I feel digital really has helped people move across from physical. Yes, most big digital games are £70+ on day 1 but I the last games I paid that for was Gran Truismo 7 and Mario 3D Land. Aside from those, I do wonder how many people cough up full RRP on day 1. Maybe I'm just odd but the last game I pre-ordered was Resident Evil on the GameCube and I can count on 1 hand, the games I buy each year on day 1 for full price. Every other digital game, gets wish listed and I wait for a sale.

[wakka]

Fundamentally the GAME business is totally moribund. Shops specialising in physical games are a relic of a bygone era, and anti-consumer practises like low trade-in values, and poor condition and unsealed 'new' games have done little to endear them to veteran gamers over the decades. For younger players, they must seem totally irrelevant in the age of Fortnite, Game Pass, and Twitch.

In the 90s visiting Electronics Boutique was a proper event for me, because other than that the only way I had of finding out about new games was the occasional magazine. I could pore over the backs of the boxes, reading the blurbs and looking at the screenshots. These days the internet receives an absolute tidal wave of new specialist gaming content on every subject imaginable on a continuous basis.

Not to mention that when you actually want to make a purchase, a trip to a grubby branch of GAME simply doesn't compete with rapid digital downloads or next day Amazon delivery.

I can't imagine GAME will last more than a few more years. I just don't see how it could, really. They gave the gaming cafe thing a go with a few test branches a few years ago - there was one in Piccadilly Circus and one near Oxford Street - but that obviously didn't take off as they hoped it would. So that leaves Funko Pops and other memorabilia - not enough to sustain a nationwide chain with 200+ branches - and used mobile phones, which is already a fiercely competitive space well served by CeX and countless independents.

[Lebowski]

There aren't many actual game shops left, most have been moved inside Sports Directs Cavernous warehouse units, my nearest shop is shoved in a dark corner at the back of the second floor. the stock they do carry is very limited, and 50% of the store now looks like Smyths toys, Which is handy for some decent Transformers deals or some cut price lego every once in a while.

[wakka]

That is a good point, I'd forgotten they did that. There are hardly any here in London now. There used to be a few in central, now zero. There is still one not that far from me in a grim shopping centre in Surrey Quays that looks to be still kicking according to Google. I've never been to it though.

A quick glance at this page:

https://storefinder.game.co.uk/game/stores/search?letters=ABC

Reveals that a huge number now seem to be stashed in Mike Ashley's warehouses of tat, namely Sports Direct and House of Fraser.

[briareos_kerensky]

Yarr, Ubisoft.
Yyyaaaarrrrrrrrr.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/the-new-ubisoft-and-getting-gamers-comfortable-with-not-owning-their-games

[Neon Ignition]

And Ubisoft needs to get comfortable with Ubisoft+ not panning out

[fuse]

Hey Ubisoft, great news! I am very comfortable with not owning your games.

(this would work better if that new Prince of Persia game didn't look good, damnit)

[Hirst]

Fundamentally the GAME business is totally moribund. Shops specialising in physical games are a relic of a bygone era, and anti-consumer practises like low trade-in values, and poor condition and unsealed 'new' games have done little to endear them to veteran gamers over the decades. For younger players, they must seem totally irrelevant in the age of Fortnite, Game Pass, and Twitch.

The place is just a badly-performing business on every level - I can completely see why they might want to transition away from physical games and into more of an accessories and general pop culture tat type place, but they just fail on every level.

People say about how the place is full of toys now, but have you looked at the toys? It's really badly-chosen and strange stuff, I get the impression most of it is failed ranges that have been bought in dirt cheap. Loads of them never move and have a layer of dust on the top, board games in particular - not saying there isn't an interest in board games, but the ones they have are the same ones you get in any big supermarket or Smyths toys. Monopoly with the weird decoder thing. Beat That, the wacky game of whatever thingy. Ticket To Ride! Then all the Baby Alive dolls, figures for that Trolls film that came out during Covid, that weird reboot of Thomas the Tank Engine nobody seems to care about.

Collectables are a good laugh too. They seem to have a recurring theme of only having a few of the same obscure characters. One I visit has an Indiana Jones range and they've got about a dozen of that guy who gets his face melted off in Raiders of the Lost Ark, another dozen of the angry woman he partners up with in Temple of Doom. Star Wars has absolutely loads of Peter Cushing and that guy who looks like a big red lobster (I haven't seen it). It's like they've specifically bought in all the unsold figures from other places thinking a figure's a figure.

And the game stuff, what a joke - I remember being in there once and a lady was asking for a PS4 controller for their son as it had broken. "Er, we don't do them". A game shop that doesn't do a controller? Insane. I think there was a shortage around then, but you'd think they'd have a ton of third-party alternatives lined up at the very least. As for the games, at the very least they should be able to give you a sealed game. Using unsealed stock as the display boxes and then just putting the disc inside is pathetic, especially when it's a limited edition - seen loads of card sleeve ones get absolutely knackered but still be up at full price.

The whole thing just feels like the business decisions are led by a bunch of grey old men who are just throwing anything at the wall and hoping it will stick, presumably buying up dead stock and piling it high. The place is usually busy, but also very rarely does anyone actually go up to the counter. What they need to do is look at a business like HMV - they've been converting stores into something called "The HMV Shop". Reduced the range of things like DVDs and CDs, but also tried to be more specialist with what they've kept in - they stock most of the obscure Blu-Ray release labels, K-POP CDs (with insanely expensive limited editions) and have tons of pop culture type stuff that I personally have no interest in - but theirs actually seems to sell. I don't know if it's working for them, but place always seems to be buzzing away with a lot of trendy youngsters going in and buying stuff.

Meanwhile GAME is just a weird shop of junk that seems to please nobody, bar the odd reseller who goes in and fills their boots when the manager goes mad and reduces things to 80% off to get them out the door to be replaced with some other useless tat.

[wakka]

Hold on, you've never seen Star Wars?

[Brad]

Hey Ubisoft, great news! I am very comfortable with not owning your games.

(this would work better if that new Prince of Persia game didn't look good, damnit)

This. I was so far ahead of the game that I made myself comfortable with not owning Ubisoft gems before they even told me to get comfortable with it.

Imagine blu ray collectors or people who like Lego being told to get comfortable with not owning what they bought. What an absolute arse wipe.