Yet another Gamestop story.

[fishsandwich]

This is not a "Gamestop sucks" rant... most of us are well aware of the many shitty policies courtesy of the corporate parent. We don't have any independent shops in my area so I'm pretty much stuck with Gamestop. Plus most of the employees that I have encountered (lately) have been great.

The bad...

More and more Gamestops are ditching the boxes for NDS games. Great. Now I have discovered a Gamestop where they throw away all the boxes and instructions for the used PSP games. They were still selling boxed (and evidentially sealed) games... but you have to look at a printed list. Fail.

HOWEVER...

I was walking around said Gamestop and noticed a new strategy guide in the trashcan by the counter. I pulled it out and it was for Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare. I asked the dude at the counter if they meant to trash it and why. He said the game itself was "obsolete". I asked how much and he said it was free. Sweet!

It just so happened that I bought this same game less than a week ago.


!

[Johnny_Rock]

My local Gamestop basically gives strategy guides away too. I'm not sure what the policy is but I guess they only stock guides for X amount of games so when the new big release comes out they have to clear inventory.

[Flashback2012]

This is not a "Gamestop sucks" rant... most of us are well aware of the many shitty policies courtesy of the corporate parent. We don't have any independent shops in my area so I'm pretty much stuck with Gamestop. Plus most of the employees that I have encountered (lately) have been great.

It certainly won't take long for the angry mob to show up in force with their torches and pitchforks. We were about due for another one of these threads anyway. :ass:

My sympathies to you for having limited/non-existent choices for alternatives in used game purchasing. I assume you have a plethora of places available to you for new game purchases? At least having employees to interact with who are not self absorbed, sanctimonious mouth breathers is a plus. ;) At any rate...




The bad...

More and more Gamestops are ditching the boxes for NDS games. Great. Now I have discovered a Gamestop where they throw away all the boxes and instructions for the used PSP games. They were still selling boxed (and evidentially sealed) games... but you have to look at a printed list. Fail.

The act of tossing out cases is one of the most pathetically stupid practices I have ever encountered. It's hardly a new practice, they've engaged in it for YEARS. I utterly despised it when I worked for them and I still despise it post employment. In my time working there, I made no qualms about my feelings regarding the practice to my store manager or his boss, the district manager. I always made a case (no pun intended) that a wall full of multi-colored cases was MUCH more appealing than a wall full of generic cases.

One of the biggest causes of this problem is Gamestop's lack of warehousing. They have some warehousing facilities but the bulk of the games/merchandise is kept in the stores themselves. In some locations, shelf real estate comes with a high premium and in today's age of constantly refreshed marketing and paid advertising space, the company sacrifices things like cases in order to free up more shelf space in stores with small square footage.

I'm sure most people who've set foot in a Gamestop location in the last few years has seen the GBA/DS and sometimes PSP games all cart/disc only inside a glass case or under a glass counter space. I'm sure they've also seen the red bins chock full of disc only games in yellow sleeves sitting on a counter or on top of a rack in the PS2/Xbox/GC sections. It always baffled me how they claimed that used games were the lifeblood of the company's profits yet dedicated a whole endcap to EA and Activision to have their dumb marketing wars. :roll:

A few years ago after I stopped working for them, I remember seeing a thing on their website saying that any game for the current gen (360, PS3, Wii) and current portable (DS and PSP) purchased from the website would be complete with case and instructions. I have no idea how long that initiative lasted but I know their current "Pre Owned Guarantee" promises no such thing any longer. :|




HOWEVER...

I was walking around said Gamestop and noticed a new strategy guide in the trashcan by the counter. I pulled it out and it was for Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare. I asked the dude at the counter if they meant to trash it and why. He said the game itself was "obsolete". I asked how much and he said it was free. Sweet!

It just so happened that I bought this same game less than a week ago.!

If there was one thing I loved as much as the discount and pre-order items (which I obtained from actually pre-ordering the games), it was the pennied-out guides. The thing that always perturbed me about the guides is it always seemed like an all or nothing with them. I never could understand why Prima or Brady never allowed the guides to drop in price and why they insisted that full price be charged until the okay was given to "destroy" them. Truth be told, nearly all of the managers I worked for never followed the correct procedure for disposing of these. They were supposed to "sell" them out of the system with a transaction and then rip the covers off the books, discarding the rest but keeping the covers and receipt for the DM so they could audit if necessary. In my 10 years there, I only saw this happen once.

Kudos to you though for saving that book from ending up in a landfill somewhere. ;)

I would suggest that whenever you buy something, you take the time and fill out the survey. The only problem with doing that is their corporate doesn't know how to actually properly process said feedback. If you fill it out and say that your visit was great, the employees took care of you and were engaging, and everything was rainbows and unicorns BUT you didn't like that game you bought was in a generic case, the manager of that store gets penalized and has to work extra hours. I still have several manager level friends who work there and they've all confirmed this. Knowing that, I wish there was a more appropriate forum for which to bitch the company out for it's dumbshit practices without punishing the employees who have zero control over such things. :|

TL;DR? :ass:

[Kitsune Sniper]

The moral is, not all Gamestop employees are soulless, brainless drones.

[Nionel]

The bad...

More and more Gamestops are ditching the boxes for NDS games. Great. Now I have discovered a Gamestop where they throw away all the boxes and instructions for the used PSP games. They were still selling boxed (and evidentially sealed) games... but you have to look at a printed list. Fail.

Yeah, they've been doing this since back in the GB days, they claim it's due to a lack of shelf space, and while I haven't seen this done with PSP games at my local GameStops yet, the ones in my area, and the ones where my brother lives, have started throwing out their PS2 cases as well.

[Tempest]

Heck they were doing this back in the Genesis days. I got a large bulk of my Genesis cases from Gamestop because they were tossing them out. They used to hold them for me as long as I came into pick them up that week. I never got anything rare, but it was nice to fill in the gaps in my collection for free.

[Bojay1997]

Speaking of Gamestop, is something going on with their customer service department? I called yesterday and this morning and was on hold 15-20 minutes over three different calls and never got through. I need to check on the status of a replacement game they are sending out as I haven't received it and nobody seems to be answering their phones. Even at 8:00 a.m. this morning it claimed they had a high call volume. Very odd as I have never waited more than 5-7 minutes to speak to someone and they have always been pretty helpful.

[Clownzilla]

I don't mind filling out surveys to give correct feedback about an experience but how they set up the prize drawings for the surveys really irritates me. Now, I understand winning one of these drawings is extremely unlikely but I don't understand why I am only allowed to be entered in the drawing for the first survey only. When you fill out a second survey for a SECOND purchase you are told that you can only have one entry for the current drawing.

I'm sorry, but if they REALLY valued my feedback then they would not limit me to one entry. If I buy 10 different items at 10 different times AND take my time to fill out a survey each time then I should get an entry each time. Again, the odds of winning the prize drawing are almost zero but it's just the principle that irritates me.

[Ludwig]

If everyone saying that GS sucks would actually switch to Amazon/eBay or another alternative if available they would close down sooner or later and make space for hopefully a new and better shop.

[kupomogli]

If everyone saying that GS sucks would actually switch to Amazon/eBay or another alternative if available they would close down sooner or later and make space for hopefully a new and better shop.

Most people who go to Gamestop probably don't rant on video gaming sites all the time. I still go to Gamestop at the very rare chance that they have a great deal or when looking for used DS games, otherwise I don't step inside the store as they're usually just as overpriced as any other brick and mortar store.

[Bojay1997]

If everyone saying that GS sucks would actually switch to Amazon/eBay or another alternative if available they would close down sooner or later and make space for hopefully a new and better shop.

Unfortunately, Amazon and Ebay and every other retailer has its share of issues from the collector's perspective. I know last November I had to return almost 2/3 of the collector's edition games I ordered from Amazon for replacements because they shipped them in boxes that were too small or in padded pouches. Amazon's customer service has also taken a serious turn for the worst in recent months with a significant language barrier that didn't seem to be present even a year or two ago. Ebay has the usual issues of misrepresentation, potential fraud, etc...Gamestop.com has always worked fine for me and if you find a local Gamestop that's well run, it is actually not a bad alternative for some things.

[Ludwig]

Well i admit, ordering always got risks, but i have to say most of my experiences been quite good. I feel your pain though if you don't have any local alternatives. I consider myself lucky that i have a local dealer that isn't gamestop. I'm going there for about a decade now, he's not big into collecting or repairs, but he treats his customers and wares with respect.

[VertigoProcess]

Gamestop will be out of business in 5-7 years im calling it now... believe me or not... the market is shifting and at this point in time (and I believe they are to stubborn of a company to) they are not making any steps to shift with it... games are becoming more digitally available and they will keep heading that way... and people that still want their physical copy will still be able to purchase them from stores that make profit in more then just one market such as target or best buy... I know a lot of people are prob gonna disagree with me now but well see in 5 to 10 years the true answer...

[BetaWolf47]

Geeze. I can't stop thinking of how much this generation of gaming sucks. Between manuals diminishing, DRM screwing over legitimate customers, DLC justifying greed, game cases getting cheap and flimsy, and now retailers getting rid of collector's material, I could almost cry. I'm done with consoles after this generation I think. I'll just stick to consoles from NES to Wii.


Gamestop will be out of business in 5-7 years im calling it now... believe me or not... the market is shifting and at this point in time (and I believe they are to stubborn of a company to) they are not making any steps to shift with it... games are becoming more digitally available and they will keep heading that way... and people that still want their physical copy will still be able to purchase them from stores that make profit in more then just one market such as target or best buy... I know a lot of people are prob gonna disagree with me now but well see in 5 to 10 years the true answer...

Erm, GameStop just bought out Impulse this year...

[Trebuken]

Geeze. I can't stop thinking of how much this generation of gaming sucks. Between manuals diminishing, DRM screwing over legitimate customers, DLC justifying greed, game cases getting cheap and flimsy, and now retailers getting rid of collector's material, I could almost cry. I'm done with consoles after this generation I think. I'll just stick to consoles from NES to Wii.



Erm, GameStop just bought out Impulse this year...

They are also launching there own handheld/tablet with a controller soon...

[VertigoProcess]

Apparently I don't have all the facts... but regardless the tablet market is extremely competitive now with so many major company's making them...

[Aussie2B]

What gets me is that they put the guide in a trashcan. And if they did it once, how many times have they done it before? Guides can be pretty hefty, so how many tons of paper have they sent to the landfill? I mean, I take issue with them getting thrown out at all, but if you're doing that, then for crying out loud, put them in the recycle.

[SteveSpeeze]

This is not a "Gamestop sucks" rant... most of us are well aware of the many shitty policies courtesy of the corporate parent. We don't have any independent shops in my area so I'm pretty much stuck with Gamestop. Plus most of the employees that I have encountered (lately) have been great.

The bad...

More and more Gamestops are ditching the boxes for NDS games. Great. Now I have discovered a Gamestop where they throw away all the boxes and instructions for the used PSP games. They were still selling boxed (and evidentially sealed) games... but you have to look at a printed list. Fail.

HOWEVER...

I was walking around said Gamestop and noticed a new strategy guide in the trashcan by the counter. I pulled it out and it was for Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare. I asked the dude at the counter if they meant to trash it and why. He said the game itself was "obsolete". I asked how much and he said it was free. Sweet!

It just so happened that I bought this same game less than a week ago.


!

"the many shitty policies"
It almost seems like they come up with these on the fly too.. lol

[kupomogli]

What gets me is that they put the guide in a trashcan. And if they did it once, how many times have they done it before? Guides can be pretty hefty, so how many tons of paper have they sent to the landfill? I mean, I take issue with them getting thrown out at all, but if you're doing that, then for crying out loud, put them in the recycle.

This happens in all places, unfortunately. All those monthly magazines that you see at stores are required to get destroyed if they're not sold. Think about how many of those magazines are at every single isle at Walmart or any other grocery store. They probably don't even sell half of what they receive.

[Aussie2B]

Yes, but are they sent to a landfill or a recycling center?

[VertigoProcess]

What gets me is that they put the guide in a trashcan. And if they did it once, how many times have they done it before? Guides can be pretty hefty, so how many tons of paper have they sent to the landfill? I mean, I take issue with them getting thrown out at all, but if you're doing that, then for crying out loud, put them in the recycle.

I work at target, and every week this happens to magazines books and game guides at least a shopping cart full a week... covers ripped off and thrown right in the compactor...

[soloman]

From a business standpoint there's no point in keeping these cases because there's literally nothing you can do with them. As a fad based market, the supply of video games will almost always exceed the demand. When you're selling less than a dozen PS2 games a week, what else are you going to do with that inventory but remove it? The two or three people actually interested in buying a complete copy of 10-year-old-game-XYZ far outweighs the hundreds of customers who shop there daily buying games that cost 10x as much.

If I owned Gamestop, I would take it a step further by destroying excess quantity of any game below a set price. If you've ever seen the backroom of a Gamestop it's literally four rows of EA sports titles and garbage no one wants. They will never move that stock. Ever. They destroyed all their original Xbox merchandise which basically amounted to a million copies of some sports title nobody cared about. Anything of value, like Knights of the Old Republic, was cleaned out. Rummaging through my local store's GBA bin, there are cheap looking games I've never even heard of (or actually wanted to hear about).


Yes, but are they sent to a landfill or a recycling center?
Depends on the state. Some states require recycling of paper materials.

With that said, some plants aren't equipped to handle the glossy material strategy guides are printed on.


Apparently I don't have all the facts... but regardless the tablet market is extremely competitive now with so many major company's making them...
There's no "gamer" tablet though and that's a potential market. Statistics have shown that gaming is one of the highest (if not the #1) thing people do on phones. Polls have shown that people are willing to pay for "premium" games (basically anything over $5) and that the biggest barrier of entry is a lack of controller. If a tablet is released that provides the support and functions of what you'd expect coupled with both high quality and cheap games (the latter being the whole point of kongregate which is highly successful for Gamestop), a gaming tablet could be very successful. Apple has a very neutral position with gaming and they've been this way since the beginning (Apple IIs proved to be a popular platform but it was never intended or designed with games in mind). Gamestop is making $400+ million profit and climbing yearly, they're powerful enough to release something like this.

Truth of the matter is, Gamestop doesn't make as much money from used games as people think they do and the profit gap from used games and their own endeavors is widening. Last fiscal year they made about 45% of their profit from used games the rest comes from their digital platforms and new hardware/software.

[G-Boobie]

I went Amazon Prime a couple of years ago, and I've never looked back.

[Carnby]

Sometimes great items can be found at gamestop when it is their mistake. For example I found a copy of Resident Evil 4 Premium Edition PS2 (mint/complete) in the used section. It was priced the same as a used copy of the regular version (8 dollars.) The cashier was so upset that he didn't notice it before I did.

[Ludwig]

Geeze. I can't stop thinking of how much this generation of gaming sucks. Between manuals diminishing, DRM screwing over legitimate customers, DLC justifying greed, game cases getting cheap and flimsy, and now retailers getting rid of collector's material, I could almost cry. I'm done with consoles after this generation I think.

Yes, it sucks from that perspective but we finally get fresh ideas again. Most of the 00's been worse. It's the golden age of the independent developer, many great games actually getting made because now they don't really need a publisher anymore thanks to digital distributing. Something a bit like that happened before and it changed the way we play.

As far as DRM goes: Yes - it sucks! Sadly though they do it because they can. Look at EA with their origins stuff, everyone is whining, but everyone will still get their BF3 and MassEffect3. I'm still hoping for a revolution, but i doubt anything like that will ever happen.

[Mark III]

Even independent stores sometimes have to do this. At work we throw away pretty much any non 1st party N64 box and manuals. Unless it's an Ogre Battle or something. For some reason people just like buying the cart onlys and don't even look at the boxed games, they take up a lot of room and almost never sell. At one point I even opened up new copies of Perfect Dark, Turok 2 and Megaman Legends to throw away the box and put the bare carts out on the shelf once we ran out of used copies. They sold no problem even though the new ones a few rows down were the exact same price. Weird.

[VertigoProcess]

Even independent stores sometimes have to do this. At work we throw away pretty much any non 1st party N64 box and manuals. Unless it's an Ogre Battle or something. For some reason people just like buying the cart onlys and don't even look at the boxed games, they take up a lot of room and almost never sell. At one point I even opened up new copies of Perfect Dark, Turok 2 and Megaman Legends to throw away the box and put the bare carts out on the shelf once we ran out of used copies. They sold no problem even though the new ones a few rows down were the exact same price. Weird.

Maybe people just assumed they were more expensive? Didn't even bother looking at the price difference?

[soloman]

Frankly, I avoid cardboard boxes if I can. They either come in really, really good condition... or they're falling apart and smell. There's rarely an inbetween. Sega's late-gen Genesis and Sega CD cardboard boxes are horrendous and seem to be designed specifically to degrade after 10 years no matter what condition they're kept in.

I would definitely keep a box that had some value like Perfect Dark or Mega Man Legends, but there's not a huge demand for a complete copy of Turok 2 and I won't lose sleep over not having the box on my shelf.

[ReaXan]

this guy explaines why gamestop sucks so much

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wTitoOtq1Q&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2k6KoFTzfc

[Tanooki]

And this cartoon also illustrates in a very funny way unlike that annoying attention whore linked above why Gamestop stucks from the counter. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=onEfmC6HRF4