The "I Hate Gamestop" Thread

[cmdrdredd]

Dude, you are seriously being the most blatant GS apologist imaginable. I call BS on you not being an employee/shareholder/shill.

You get all that because I don't hate them, have friends who work for them, worked for them in the past, know people on these forums who claim to have worked for them, and don't think they are evil because they offer a service that is optional? ok...now you can go troll elsewhere.

 

[BikeJunkie]

You get all that because I don't hate them, have friends who work for them, worked for them in the past, know people on these forums who claim to have worked for them, and don't think they are evil because they offer a service that is optional? ok...now you can go troll elsewhere.

Except my disdain for them is backed up by actual facts and reason. You... you're just delusional.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Except my disdain for them is backed up by actual facts and reason. You... you're just delusional.

I gave facts...you like to ignore numbers. They are making billions. That's not exactly "going out of business" but keep imagining they are. They'll keep making money.

 

[MrCoyote]

I've only ever heard of the Xenoblade situation. I don't think they let any new sealed games sit in the warehouse unsold. They'd be losing money on every copy they have there.

They do on occasion take a title that is old and has no demand and start selling them as used games to try to move them. I've seen that before.

GS in my area also opens all games, and takes all the discs out and keeps them behind the counter. I don't see how they can sell them as new. If they don't want people stealing them, they should spend money on theft-deterrant plastic cases. I don't buy from GS anymore, because they open all the games.

 

[cmdrdredd]

GS in my area also opens all games, and takes all the discs out and keeps them behind the counter. I don't see how they can sell them as new. If they don't want people stealing them, they should spend money on theft-deterrant plastic cases. I don't buy from GS anymore, because they open all the games.

They only open one copy to put the box out there. They always give you a sealed one from behind the counter. They open all the games? So they sat there and opened 800 copies of GTA V?

Have you ever even been to gamestop? The only time you'd ever even have that happen if it was the last one and they will always tell you this is the last one and it was the gutted copy. I've seen a lot of people decline to purchase it which is perfectly fine. I'm one of those people who doesn't care cause I'll rip the plastic off immediately anyhow.

 

[smackababy]

They only open one copy to put the box out there. They always give you a sealed one from behind the counter. They open all the games? So they sat there and opened 800 copies of GTA V?

Have you ever even been to gamestop? The only time you'd ever even have that happen if it was the last one and they will always tell you this is the last one and it was the gutted copy. I've seen a lot of people decline to purchase it which is perfectly fine. I'm one of those people who doesn't care cause I'll rip the plastic off immediately anyhow.

For big games, we'd open a couple to have multiple boxes out on the shelves.

Not that it should matter anyway. It is not like a game sitting a sleeve is somehow flawed. You can inspect it before you leave...

 

[MrCoyote]

All the games on the shelves on every wall, have no discs in them. This is true. Yeah, on new releases, the day they get released, those are still in the package. But all used, and older games, even if they were new, have no discs in them. I bought several "new" games from them, and they got the disc from behind the counter in a locked cabinet, and placed it in the game case. I was charged the new price.

 

[cmdrdredd]

For big games, we'd open a couple to have multiple boxes out on the shelves.

Not that it should matter anyway. It is not like a game sitting a sleeve is somehow flawed. You can inspect it before you leave...

That's true...the one time I'd decline a purchase on a gutted copy is if it was a gift and I had to have a sealed one to give to someone.

 

[cmdrdredd]

All the games on the shelves on every wall, have no discs in them. This is true. Yeah, on new releases, the day they get released, those are still in the package. But all used, and older games, even if they were new, have no discs in them. I bought several "new" games from them, and they got the disc from behind the counter in a locked cabinet, and placed it in the game case. I was charged the new price.

The boxes out there yeah like I said, those are the gutted copies. Almost all of the time, they have sealed copies for every title on the shelf. The only time this happens is if you buy the last one. Some older or obscure titles, and some Vita and 3DS titles they may only get one in the store and that ends up being the gutted copy. Otherwise on major releases they gut one or possibly a few to fill a new release wall space as smackababy rightly pointed out, but have multiple copies of that title sitting in drawers or a cabinet behind the counter.

 

[Fulle]

When I was in HS, I had a few friends who worked at Sam's Club, but that doesn't mean I'd try to defend Walmart policies in an internet forum.

You're a weird dude, cmdrdredd.

 

[cmdrdredd]

When I was in HS, I had a few friends who worked at Sam's Club, but that doesn't mean I'd try to defend Walmart policies in an internet forum.

You're a weird dude, cmdrdredd.

So I'm defending them by giving actual facts? Wow...you guys are super ridiculous. You'd rather believe BS stories, fake anecdotes, and other falsehoods from the internet than come to an understanding of what the facts are?

I see people post blatant lies about gamestop all the time. On some other forums people call them out for their BS. It's not defending someone or something when you are only making sure the truth and facts are understood.

 

[Anteaus]

Instead of opening the games, I wish Gamestop would display their games the way Toys R' Us used to back in the day, which is with a plastic flip card with an image of the front and back of the case showing. I think they need to get out of the habit of opening anything, especially considering that there are one time use codes that can be used up, even by GS employees who use the check out system. Not saying it happens often, but as far as I'm concerned once the box is opened I can't trust them, period.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Instead of opening the games, I wish Gamestop would display their games the way Toys R' Us used to back in the day, which is with a plastic flip card with an image of the front and back of the case showing. I think they need to get out of the habit of opening anything, especially considering that there are one time use codes that can be used up, even by GS employees who use the check out system. Not saying it happens often, but as far as I'm concerned once the box is opened I can't trust them, period.

True enough there, but I worked at Toys backwards R us when they had the cards and it was a nightmare keeping up with new titles. Having to keep printed art for every title is difficult, they would get stolen too. Gamestop used to actually have artwork printed for games that we didn't have a case for but I would see people steal them or yell at me and even threaten me because I couldn't give them that little slip in that PS1 game and I had to give them the one without the art. It really was a nightmare to keep track of them.

 

[Fulle]

I don't think anything has been said that's unfair or untruthful about Gamestop.

Gamestop does sell brand new re-prints of games as gutted USED copies. They sell them as "Used" so that they can sell at higher "market value" prices that are well over the "new" pricing... and they've done that with several games. Other retailers don't do this on new re-prints. Just Gamestop.

Gamestop does try to sell gutted games as "New" copies. Mileage varies on whether or not there's a non-gutted "new" copy available. Seems to me if I'm not buying something absurdly common, it's been freaking opened.
Other retailers don't do this, just Gamestop.

And you know what? It'd be nice to be able to walk through the door completely, before being bombarded with requests to buy Pre-Orders and Subscriptions. It's super ridiculous.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I don't think anything has been said that's unfair or untruthful about Gamestop.

Gamestop does sell brand new re-prints of games as gutted USED copies. They sell them as "Used" so that they can sell at higher "market value" prices that are well over the "new" pricing... and they've done that with several games. Other retailers don't do this on new re-prints. Just Gamestop.

Gamestop does try to sell gutted games as "New" copies. Mileage varies on whether or not there's a non-gutted "new" copy available. Seems to me if I'm not buying something absurdly common, it's been freaking opened.
Other retailers don't do this, just Gamestop.

And you know what? It'd be nice to be able to walk through the door completely, before being bombarded with requests to buy Pre-Orders and Subscriptions. It's super ridiculous.

I never have people at any gamestop say anything other than "hey welcome to gamestop" when I walk in. So I dunno what kind of store you went in but there's probably 15 stores local to me and I've been to them all, none of them bombard you with anything.

 

[ManBearPig]

How is it even legal that they freaking open games and then sell them to people? That's absurd imo.

 

[BikeJunkie]

I gave facts...you like to ignore numbers. They are making billions. That's not exactly "going out of business" but keep imagining they are. They'll keep making money.

And I gave you the broader picture with more facts and numbers that put your delusions into actual context, yet you chose to ignore the entire lot, so you fail, Shillface 😉

Anyone with a brain can see they're in trouble. That's not a remotely subjective statement. It's a fact. The numbers show it. The stock prices show it. And basic critical analysis reveals it. You just have your head buried in the sand because you're blinded by some bizarre fanboyism for a retail outlet.

You whine about the GS "haters," but maybe if you didn't run to their defense like a white-knight-wannabe everytime their name came up, people wouldn't harp on it. Frankly, I think you're the troll. You can't let anyone have an opinion on the matter without freaking out about the disparagement of your precious GameStop.

You're a weird dude, cmdrdredd.

Ya think?

 

[BikeJunkie]

So I'm defending them by giving actual facts? Wow...you guys are super ridiculous. You'd rather believe BS stories, fake anecdotes, and other falsehoods from the internet than come to an understanding of what the facts are?

Seriously, put a sock in it with the "actual facts" nonsense. You gave a teenie tiny window of "numbers" and "facts" that grossly lacked context or even a modicum of reason. When myself and others gave that information the context it desperately needed to reveal the REAL truth, you turned a blind eye to it and retreated. Why? Because their performance is indefensible; it cannot be supported unless you cherry pick minute windows of time in order to generate an upward trend. In doing so, you either demonstrate yourself to be grossly incompetent with simple numbers, or you deliberately misrepresent them.

Either way, you need to get off your soap box, lest you make an even bigger fool of yourself.

I see people post blatant lies about gamestop all the time. On some other forums people call them out for their BS. It's not defending someone or something when you are only making sure the truth and facts are understood.

You sound like you're actually scarred anytime someone tells the GS story how it is and disturbs your Utopian perspective of them. You DO have a horse in this race (or a disturbing emotional dependency on them), and you're not being forthcoming about it.

How is it even legal that they freaking open games and then sell them to people? That's absurd imo.

Well I doubt it breaks any law, but it sure as hell presents a pretty nasty customer service conundrum. Nothing screams "we love our customers!" like treating each and every one of them like convicted thieves. And then there's the supply/demand manipulation that Fulle discussed, which cmdrdredd desperately and bizarrely tried to explain away into the ether 😵

 

[Doppel]

Well I dont see physical media dying at all.

Its death is inevitable. It's just a matter of time when.

There are still a lot of people who want to have the disk so they can play the game any time. If 15 years down the road they want to play a game that they bought digital but the servers are gone how do they download it?

They don't. Too bad for them; they represent an irrelevant segment of the market and no massive business will hang around to support this tiny subset of people.

There is also a good number of people who want to have the collection with the cases and artwork and maybe the steelbook special editions etc.

Again, most people don't care, so these people will be pushed aside.

It did not win movies. Look at how many movies come on blu-ray. The quality of the digital movie is not the same either. Again, there will continue to be a market. Not to mention that some movies cannot be found streaming but you can buy it.

Internet not only won movies, it eviscerated them. Many people literally cannot even rent movies now. The only access I have in my entire city is Redbox. Not long ago there were multiple movie stores. These are GameStop's future. Undeniably the percentage of movies watched each year over the net vs physical media grows by leaps and bounds. I'm an example. I watch more movies than ever before and only a couple/year on a disk. Many people are like me. Physical media means nothing to me and I've moved on. Everybody else will eventually, too.

We have years to go before it goes all digital. They have plenty of time to figure out a plan for then. I don't see GameStop going out of business. As long as you can buy and sell used systems they'll be open

No, they won't. Their business cannot possible go from what it is now to doing nothing but selling increasingly old and uninteresting hardware & games.

5 years is where my money is, barring a (successful) overhaul of their business model. A couple people chirping up in defense of GS without digesting the facts or the trends of similar businesses/models in the past. No matter... we'll know soon enough.

Dying businesses can sputter along for a VERY long time, but your time line seems realistic to me. The absolute best case for GS is that this generation does well for them. The next they are done. That's best-case.

The fact is everybody here knows the future is digital. We just don't agree on a time line. But we must agree that GameStop can't use retail stores to compete in a digital world. CD stores couldn't, Blockbuster (and all the others) couldn't. Nobody can. Hell, not even Best Buy can (their future is grim) and their products aren't even digitized. Internet kills old business models and GameStop is dead.

Mark up? They lose money when they buy a new product and have it sitting unsold. Every game is paid for prior to it getting on the shelf.

Yet another mark against them. This isn't even a factor with digital products.

----------

The title of this thread is a misnomer. I am not the only one predicting the end of GS who doesn't hate them. I don't hate them; I'm saying their future is dire.

 

[cmdrdredd]

So your single example means the entire movie industry will stop producing disks? Get real...

There are a ton of people who demand the quality of blu-ray before streaming. Quality that the internet can never provide from streaming.

 

[BikeJunkie]

So your single example means the entire movie industry will stop producing disks? Get real...

There are a ton of people who demand the quality of blu-ray before streaming. Quality that the internet can never provide from streaming.

One of your problems is that you have a serious propensity to project your behaviors and tendencies onto the masses. You somehow think that you're a model of the average consumer; you are not.

As a whole:

Gamers do not care about games like BlazBlue
People care less and less about physical media
People couldn't give two craps about collector's editions; and even those are being transformed into digital offerings rather than physical "here's a neat little character model and a booklet"

You are in complete denial, especially with respect to physical media. Just look at the music industry. If 5% of the population still purchased CD's, I'd be stunned. You point to the quality of BluRay as physical media's saving grace. Let's (erroneously) assume you're correct and that there's still significant demand for BluRay due to infrastructure shortcomings: how long until those shortcomings are no longer a factor? I'm sure there was a time when your current self would have defended CD's to your death... until the iPod came along and bent stores like MediaPlay over so far and so quick its spine snapped.

In fact, as Doppel pointed out with respect to the movie industry, MP3's eviscerated the music industry. Labels and artists had to re-evaluate how they made money. There were a few winners and a boatload of losers. You're witnessing the same thing now with the movie industry, and we've already witnessed a number of casualties, most notably Blockbuster, a former behemoth not at all unlike GameStop in countless ways, from its dependencies on physical media and resale all the way down to its awful customer service and policies.

And since your "quality" argument is woefully inept and inapplicable to the game industry for obvious reasons, anyone making an objective educated guess would say the game industry will get there even quicker (it's already happening, you just don't see it) now that console manufacturers are completely on-board with digital distribution. Quality isn't an issue and it in fact satiates the inner ADD/need-it-right-now inherent to gamers. No more pre-order BS or managing a bunch of media. The only unknown is what effect the desire to resell will have, and even that is only a factor for as long as the prevailing industry decision makers choose to entertain it.

 

[bguile]

I've never understood peoples hatred of gamestop. I've done plenty of business with them for our wii and ds's and never had a problem with them. Saved myself lots of money buying second hand games and peripherals.

 

[exdeath]

Right....that's why the PS4 E3 reveal was one of the loudest and biggest events of E3 history, and why Xbone launch would have been a complete failure if MS didn't backtrack, its because nobody cares about physical copies or ownership of their games. 🙄

 

[BikeJunkie]

I've never understood peoples hatred of gamestop

Plenty of examples in this thread. Regardless, this is more about whether they're viable as a business and less about whether they suck. I personally think they suck, but that's a subjective statement and thus debatable. Objectively speaking, they're in trouble as a business and are likely going to walk the path of Blockbuster, MediaPlay, etc. barring a substantial and successful overhaul.

 

[BikeJunkie]

Right....that's why the PS4 E3 reveal was one of the loudest and biggest events of E3 history, and why Xbone launch would have been a compete failure if MS didn't backtrack, its because nobody cares about physical copies or ownership of their games. 🙄

*** COUGH *** PC games *** COUGH ***

No speculation needed. Just look over there -->

Microsoft was too abrupt in their approach, and it's difficult to tell where the screaming really came from. Was it the average gamer, or was it the hardcore among us as well as entities like GameStop? Tough to say and it would be mostly speculation. What we do know is, it's less and less a factor.

All MS and Sony need to do is sit back and watch digital sales skyrocket. Then they won't even need to make a case for it. We've already watched this happen, folks (PC games, movies, music). No need to dissect it.