So it begins....

[Anteaus]

We knew the time was coming where the mighty Gamestop would feel the pressure of online distribution. While in the short term this doesn't mean much as 100 stores isn't many compared to the total number, it is a signal that further changes are coming down the pipe. Of course, many people on these forums predicted this in earlier threads. Some defended the Gamestop machine, but I'm guessing they didn't expect the company to react and shift course so early in the game. Wait, was that a pun?

http://time.com/77098/gamestop-signals-major-retail-transition-says-itll-close-120-130-stores/

But as Gamasutra’s Matt Matthews noted a year ago, used games as a component of brick-and-mortar revenue are a dwindling and irreplaceable resource. If you’re a PC gamer, you’re probably purchasing most or all of your games online. If you own a PS4 or Xbox One, you’re increasingly likely to do so. Insert obligatory nod to smartphones and tablets and micro-consoles and handhelds and the impact they’re having on retail software sales. Not that any of this is news to GameStop: I’d bet my life the company’s been predicting and obsessively planning for this transition for years.

 

[sze5003]

Not sure if they will all close I think it will be over a long period of time if anything. Basically they are turning them into stores like radio shack that now try to sell you phones and tablets, bunch of other tech that you had no interest in when you walk in.

Radio shack didn't even have proper sata cables or audio aux cables in my area but they quickly tried to sell me a new Verizon phone.

 

[Lil Frier]

I think that non-gaming move for GameStop will do a decent job to add longevity, though it's tough to say how much. I also think it'll be tough to get folks to go digital this generation, because console manufacturers don't seem interested in offering a digital service to rival used gaming. GameStop will always give you $5 or so off of the price of a new game, plus another $5 off if you are a subscriber to Game Informer (the only reason I have been for years). On top of that, they have the buy 2, get 1 free offers a few times a year, meaning you basically get 3 newer titles for $100 when you're a member--I don't think that Microsoft would give us a deal to match that anytime soon.

The other thing to consider is that GameStop kinda overdid it with their store counts. In my city, there are 4 of them. That wouldn't be TOO bad, if it wasn't for the fact that we have one in the mall, one across the street from the mall, and a third (which was an EB Games before that buyout happened) about 30 seconds of driving away from that (the fourth is about 20 minutes away). IDK if any of ours will be closing, but one almost NEEDS to close, and closing/moving a second wouldn't be a bad idea, given that 3 are within a minute of each other by car.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Yea this was never more apparent than when they put Beyond Two Souls on PSN a few weeks ago for $59. This game was $25 in stores a few months back.

The companies still have their head up their asses to some degree. If any other options are eliminated gamers will get hosed. There is no doubt about it.

 

[Lil Frier]

Well, luckily, this generation COULD run 10 years. That means that the used game market should be just fine while digital distribution grows on the consoles. This will give the publishers/manufacturers a look at just HOW willing people are to give up discs for the convenience of digital titles. So, if folks are smart and show that their money matters more than 10 seconds save swapping discs, then it should look like this:

--Physical game sales stay solid, due to re-sale options and used savings
--Digital games slowly catch on, but lack of price benefit keeps growth in-check
--Manufacturers/publishers starting releasing digital titles for $50-55
--Digital sales become bigger and more-frequent
--Consumers expect such activity going forward, and we get a Steam-lite experience on consoles long-term (unless consoles die out in favor of streaming)

 

[KB]

I rememebr when EB games, babbages, funcoland and Gamestop all merged within a few years. There was like 3 gamestops in the same mall. They still have far too high a concentration today to make sense. They also have Walmart getting into the mix, so I expect tough times ahead for them.

 

[mmntech]

It's not surprising. Steam crushed sales of physical PC games. It didn't take long for Netflix either to completely obliterate the video store either. Which I do still miss. Nowhere to rent games anymore that doesn't require a monthly fee.

The problem with digital sales on consoles though the the whole monopoly aspect. Steam still has competition, which forces them to be price competitive. By contrast, I rarely see any worthwhile sales on PSN. Prices of older games take longer to fall too. I've seen PS4 physical copies ACIV and COD dropping to around $40 on a regular basis now, while they're still up for $60 on PSN at last check.

Despite being a tech guy, I still do prefer physical copies to digital. I like owning something tangible.

 

[sze5003]

I'll always prefer physical copy as opposed to digital unless the digital is an add on or a short game. Retail prices for console games sold as digital will not work too well. If I'm going to pay $60 I want the box and disc to have on me.

 

[preslove]

Yeah, I'd never spend more than $30 on a digital game.

 

[KeithTalent]

Yeah, I'd never spend more than $30 on a digital game.

I'm the same way, unfortunately it seems it will eventually get to a point where we have no choice if we want to play the games.

KT

 

[purbeast0]

It's not surprising. Steam crushed sales of physical PC games. It didn't take long for Netflix either to completely obliterate the video store either. Which I do still miss. Nowhere to rent games anymore that doesn't require a monthly fee.

The problem with digital sales on consoles though the the whole monopoly aspect. Steam still has competition, which forces them to be price competitive. By contrast, I rarely see any worthwhile sales on PSN. Prices of older games take longer to fall too. I've seen PS4 physical copies ACIV and COD dropping to around $40 on a regular basis now, while they're still up for $60 on PSN at last check.

Despite being a tech guy, I still do prefer physical copies to digital. I like owning something tangible.

i prefer redbox over streaming services 100% of the time. the quality isn't even close between the two.

as for games though, i still prefer a physical disc over a digtal one 100% of the time, even though the content is identical.

 

[blurredvision]

So, if folks are smart and show that their money matters more than 10 seconds save swapping discs, then it should look like this:

Ahh, so since I personally prefer digital this console cycle, I'm not smart? I very much dislike how you completely disregard any other advantage. Yes, you save time from having to physically change discs (more than 10 seconds, but whatever) but there are more advantages:

1.) Not having to keep up with discs/cases. Over the course of the 360 and PS3 cycle, I have 40+ game cases taking up space. That's dumb.
2.) Not having discs/cases with a young child around. I don't have to keep them put up or away from prying hands... no worries whatsoever anymore.
3.) With having a young child, I can lock my X1 away and not have to be concerned with accessing it just to switch out a disc. I can secure a gate in front of my entertainment center and not deal with opening and closing it all the time.
4.) If I ever want to sell my console and come back later, my games are still available to me and there's no dealing with storing games away or buying them back if I had sold them.

I decided to go digital with the new generation and I love it. I only ever buy games at launch, only about 4-5 per year if I were to break it down, I never trade-in or sell and I never go back and play old games, so I don't care if I won't be able to access my games in 20 years. Of course, everybody's situation is different that might make them not do digital, but don't claim I'm not smart. Digital works very well for me.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Gamestop will disappear, probably within the next decade. Sure, the market for their goods won't disappear, but it will become increasingly unprofitable and pretty much everything they do, Best Buy or Wal-Mart does too. And I expect BBY/WM have more resources to throw behind this market, with less on the line when it comes to making large margins (When you come to Gamestop, you buy game stuff. When you come to Best Buy, you can buy a lot more profitable stuff).

 

[mizzou]

We all knew it was going downhill ever since they stopped stocking PC Games.

Only a matter of time.

 

[railven]

It's not surprising. Steam crushed sales of physical PC games. It didn't take long for Netflix either to completely obliterate the video store either. Which I do still miss. Nowhere to rent games anymore that doesn't require a monthly fee.

The problem with digital sales on consoles though the the whole monopoly aspect. Steam still has competition, which forces them to be price competitive. By contrast, I rarely see any worthwhile sales on PSN. Prices of older games take longer to fall too. I've seen PS4 physical copies ACIV and COD dropping to around $40 on a regular basis now, while they're still up for $60 on PSN at last check.

Despite being a tech guy, I still do prefer physical copies to digital. I like owning something tangible.

I'd have to say I'm rather impressed with how digital sales have been thus far, at least for the PSN side. XBL came around a little more, but on fewer titles.

Since you can also buy PSN content on Amazon now, I've seen:
Lego the Movie for as cheap as $30
Tomb Raider Definitive Edition hit $30, Thief hit $30 surprisingly quickly, ACIV had a $40 deal going, or the $10 upgrade option which just required you to have a physical copy of the PS3 version (basically a $10 "rental fee" if you say, borrowed someone PS3 copy - not that I did ), Ghosts was going for $35 on Amazon (almost bought it.)

Add the PS+ discount and not too shabby. I'll eat my crow on the subject of their prices.

PSN has compettion in Amazon and whomever (I'm starting to see some PS4 digital content available at Gamestop) they allow to sell content. XBL so far it's just itself, for now.

 

[Lil Frier]

Ahh, so since I personally prefer digital this console cycle, I'm not smart? I very much dislike how you completely disregard any other advantage. Yes, you save time from having to physically change discs (more than 10 seconds, but whatever) but there are more advantages:

1.) Not having to keep up with discs/cases. Over the course of the 360 and PS3 cycle, I have 40+ game cases taking up space. That's dumb.
2.) Not having discs/cases with a young child around. I don't have to keep them put up or away from prying hands... no worries whatsoever anymore.
3.) With having a young child, I can lock my X1 away and not have to be concerned with accessing it just to switch out a disc. I can secure a gate in front of my entertainment center and not deal with opening and closing it all the time.
4.) If I ever want to sell my console and come back later, my games are still available to me and there's no dealing with storing games away or buying them back if I had sold them.

I decided to go digital with the new generation and I love it. I only ever buy games at launch, only about 4-5 per year if I were to break it down, I never trade-in or sell and I never go back and play old games, so I don't care if I won't be able to access my games in 20 years. Of course, everybody's situation is different that might make them not do digital, but don't claim I'm not smart. Digital works very well for me.

If you don't like trading in games, that's one thing. However, as a general premise of games, folks like to sell them after they finish them.

But, just because you want to take some "OMG, that's mean!" stance...you're dumb.

 

[sze5003]

Actually I don't mind trading games in now at best buy. They give you way more than game stop.

 

[cmdrdredd]

From what I've heard from my friends, these stores are the bottom of the barrel with impact and double impact status (meaning the employees steal or don't actively prevent theft and it is impacting their profits at that location negatively) and in locations where game sales are too slow to be profitable. They were expected to close anyway and they are surprised it took this long to get moving on it. Some of these locations will be re-purposed for their other retail efforts as mentioned in the article. I've even seen Gamestop Kids stores around which sell nothing but kid friendly games and tech gadgets. No M rated games to be found there. Interesting idea but I wonder if it causes some problems by directly competing with their other stores which sell many of the same products and in some cases are in the same shopping mall.

Actually I don't mind trading games in now at best buy. They give you way more than game stop.

Yep, except in the off chance that gamestop has some special where they guarantee a certain value which never extends to titles older than 30 days anyway IME.


I still want the disk, even for PC games. I like trading games with people I know who have the same system(on consoles obviously as PC locks you in with a key code) and trading games I won't play anymore for credit toward something new. I'll buy digital if that's the only way to get it, but if I have the option I want the disk. I also sometimes like to have Collector's Edition versions of games. The CE isn't the same when it's all digital.

 

[sze5003]

Yea I have noticed game stop has some decent trade in deals right after the games are out. But by then I haven't gotten much play time to make my mind up about the games.

Best buy will give you more because they don't set a trade price until a month or two after the game has been out. Sometimes longer, I played cod the whole month of November, and didn't touch it until earlier this month when I wanted to finish the single player and trade it in. I'm glad I got $30 bucks for it 5 months after I bought it though.

 

[Lil Frier]

I still prefer GameStop, haven't tried Best Buy. Part of that is because I haven't bought anything in a couple of years, except for Broderlands 2 GotY, which I got new. I don't intend to buy any games for my One until GameStop has a buy 2, get 1 free, an offer Best Buy won't be able to match. I haven't traded in games in several years either (the reason I had 34 games in my 360 lot on eBay), to the point that I don't think I've traded any in since Best Buy started taking used games.

Even if Best Buy offers better prices, they'd have to be significant for me to go there. They don't usually have anything CLOSE to the library of used titles GameStop has here, so getting Best Buy store credit would mean having to buy a new game for more money. Going with GameStop credit means I can save it for one of those used game deals, so I think it's a net financial gain to take the GameStop route still, but that's from the view of a person who stopped doing trade-ins and game purchases a few years ago, due to a lack of games I wanted.

 

[MongGrel]

What's a GameStop?

Before I get piled on perhaps, yes there is one near me, and I think I walked into it once or twice in the last 20 years.

 

[sze5003]

I still prefer GameStop, haven't tried Best Buy. Part of that is because I haven't bought anything in a couple of years, except for Broderlands 2 GotY, which I got new. I don't intend to buy any games for my One until GameStop has a buy 2, get 1 free, an offer Best Buy won't be able to match. I haven't traded in games in several years either (the reason I had 34 games in my 360 lot on eBay), to the point that I don't think I've traded any in since Best Buy started taking used games.

Even if Best Buy offers better prices, they'd have to be significant for me to go there. They don't usually have anything CLOSE to the library of used titles GameStop has here, so getting Best Buy store credit would mean having to buy a new game for more money. Going with GameStop credit means I can save it for one of those used game deals, so I think it's a net financial gain to take the GameStop route still, but that's from the view of a person who stopped doing trade-ins and game purchases a few years ago, due to a lack of games I wanted.

I never traded anything in either until I heard about best buy. Obviously if I want used games I go to game stop but there hasn't been anything I want used on ps4 that I don't have or have not played. It's different for everyone, some people may still play last gen games so taking advantage of their buy 2 get 1 used deal makes sense. I have 5 ps4 games and later when more games are out I would probably only trade in if significant value is given and buy used at game stop. It's just nice to have the best buy option available, I'm using that gift card on watchdogs.

 

[Tweak155]

Ahh, so since I personally prefer digital this console cycle, I'm not smart? I very much dislike how you completely disregard any other advantage. Yes, you save time from having to physically change discs (more than 10 seconds, but whatever) but there are more advantages:

1.) Not having to keep up with discs/cases. Over the course of the 360 and PS3 cycle, I have 40+ game cases taking up space. That's dumb.
2.) Not having discs/cases with a young child around. I don't have to keep them put up or away from prying hands... no worries whatsoever anymore.
3.) With having a young child, I can lock my X1 away and not have to be concerned with accessing it just to switch out a disc. I can secure a gate in front of my entertainment center and not deal with opening and closing it all the time.
4.) If I ever want to sell my console and come back later, my games are still available to me and there's no dealing with storing games away or buying them back if I had sold them.

I decided to go digital with the new generation and I love it. I only ever buy games at launch, only about 4-5 per year if I were to break it down, I never trade-in or sell and I never go back and play old games, so I don't care if I won't be able to access my games in 20 years. Of course, everybody's situation is different that might make them not do digital, but don't claim I'm not smart. Digital works very well for me.

While I don't think you're dumb... you spend your money on what you want... but these two points sound extremely contradictory. How is this one of your stated advantages given your habits?

Personally I don't think you need to "defend" anything. I buy stuff that lots of people think are a waste, such as coffee

 

[ponyo]

James Kim saw the trend and the writing on the wall when he sold EB Games to GameStop 9 years ago.

 

[Lil Frier]

I never traded anything in either until I heard about best buy. Obviously if I want used games I go to game stop but there hasn't been anything I want used on ps4 that I don't have or have not played. It's different for everyone, some people may still play last gen games so taking advantage of their buy 2 get 1 used deal makes sense. I have 5 ps4 games and later when more games are out I would probably only trade in if significant value is given and buy used at game stop. It's just nice to have the best buy option available, I'm using that gift card on watchdogs.

Well, I assume that Best Buy does the same as GameStop, and gives you store credit for games. I don't anticipate getting any games new in the near-future, so I wouldn't want to be stuck with a gift card I wouldn't/couldn't find a use for.

I'm not crazy about the games on the One right now either, none I'm dying to get. However, if I can get them for about $30 each during a GameStop sale, I would consider it. I have no interest in a game like NBA 2K14 at $50-60, but if it's $30, I'll consider it. Going used also gives me something of a chance to minimize/negate the money going to EA if I buy their games, so I could grab Madden or Garden Warfare or NFS: Rivals without feeling like EA's winning my money, haha.

If a buy 2, get 1 free sale comes after I sell my 360 on eBay, I'll probably see about grabbing NBA, Madden, and Tomb Raider or something. $100 for them all isn't a terrible deal.