Blockbuster Destorys Games, I'm in Shock

[njiska]

So i was in my local blockbuster today, talking with the manager about why the hell they don't stock a DVD copy of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, when i realied they had 6 copies of The Guy Game still on the shelf.

I mentioned it to her, since i know it's been pulled off of most store shelves and Blockbuster is a conservative company (according to them) and she said she was shocked and would check it out because as soon as San Andreas was re-rated AO they pulled it from the shelves and destroyed all the copies. My jaw dropped in shock.

Why? Why would any store destory 20+ copies of GTA:SA? Look i'm no fan but i've got to think they could've been sent back to Take-Two or something, but no, Blockbuster destoryed them.

Does anyone else know of stores destorying copies of GTA:SA?

[davidbrit2]

Blockbuster "destory"ed GTA SA? I didn't think it had much of a story to begin with. ;-)

[-hellvin-]

It probably would cost them money to junk them out and do send backs on em and I don't even know if they'd receieve anything back for doing it. Probably easier to just toss em.

[njiska]

It probably would cost them money to junk them out and do send backs on em and I don't even know if they'd receieve anything back for doing it. Probably easier to just toss em.

I was under the impression that Take-Two was going to offer Morated replacements.

[SlayerOfFurbies]

does it really matter they destroyed 20 copies of GTA:SA?

i mean everyone and there grand mother owns/owned the damn game at one point or another LOL

[njiska]

does it really matter they destroyed 20 copies of GTA:SA?

i mean everyone and there grand mother owns/owned the damn game at one point or another LOL

It's the concept that bothers me. Innocenne games being sent to slaughter. That and it's a stupid fucking thing to do.

[Mianrtcv]

Too bad I don't work there. I personally would have overseen there "destruction". Right in to my trunk of my car!!!!!!!!!!! ("yep, I'll take out the trash... suckers"). Seriously, I would consider it being eco friendly/recycling.

[Famidrive-16]

I think it's because it'd be much easier than having the hassle of returning them or something in the like.

Guess it's like in their own catergory of 'defective copies'

[davidbrit2]

does it really matter they destroyed 20 copies of GTA:SA?

i mean everyone and there grand mother owns/owned the damn game at one point or another LOL

It's the concept that bothers me. Innocenne games being sent to slaughter. That and it's a stupid fucking thing to do.

Yeah, normally I'd agree too. But... come on. It's freaking GTA. Ha ha. There's not exactly a shortage of them.

[Slimedog]

I don't see why this is such a surprise. Pretty much every game I've ever bought from Blockbuster has been destroyed. I think they use a belt sander in the back.

[Policenaut]

I've seen something similar in my local EB, they have stored the GB/GBC and some GBA titles in a storage shelf and destroyed the boxes, I saved a few boxes for GBA but unfortunately came too late for the GB boxes... :( some stores even cut the manual cover of a game and put it inside of a generic case so we can see wich title it is....I was in shock when I knew this! :eek 2:

[Slimedog]

I've seen something similar in my local EB, they have stored the GB/GBC and some GBA titles in a storage shelf and destroyed the boxes, I saved a few boxes for GBA but unfortunately came too late for the GB boxes... :( some stores even cut the manual cover of a game and put it inside of a generic case so we can see wich title it is....I was in shock when I knew this! :eek 2:

I think pretty much all Gamestops and EBs have started doing this. Its saved me a ton of money since I know I'll never buy any of their used GB/ GBC/ GBA stuff anymore. Sad indeed.

[njiska]

I've seen something similar in my local EB, they have stored the GB/GBC and some GBA titles in a storage shelf and destroyed the boxes, I saved a few boxes for GBA but unfortunately came too late for the GB boxes... :( some stores even cut the manual cover of a game and put it inside of a generic case so we can see wich title it is....I was in shock when I knew this! :eek 2:

Blasphemy. These people should be drawn and quartered in the town square. It's the fitting punishment.

[linlhutz]

Why? Why would any store destory 20+ copies of GTA:SA? Look i'm no fan but i've got to think they could've been sent back to Take-Two or something, but no, Blockbuster destoryed them.

I figure it's for tax purposes.

In order for a company to claim a loss on merchandise whos value has depreciated from the price they paid for it, they must destroy said product.

They purchase copies of the game from the publisher at full retail price.

They rent those games out until the recall is issued.

Now they could send the games back. But they would lose out because the value of the games have depreciated. Plus they would be responsible for any shipping/handling charges.

Instead, they use the recall to their advantage.

They can now deduct the full retail price of the games.
But if they decide to claim the games as a loss, they MUST destroy all copies and take photos or have other proof of their destruction. Otherwise they could claim a loss and turn around and resell the items they said were unsellable/depreciated.

People often wondered why Atari destroyed thousands of copies of E.T. for the 2600 rather than selling them at discount prices. Well in the long run they actually made more money by doing it that way :)


I hope that makes sense. I'm a bit too drunk to be typing.

[Slimedog]

Linlhutz, drunk or not, the weight of your logic is undeniable.

[njiska]

Why? Why would any store destory 20+ copies of GTA:SA? Look i'm no fan but i've got to think they could've been sent back to Take-Two or something, but no, Blockbuster destoryed them.

I figure it's for tax purposes.

In order for a company to claim a loss on merchandise whos value has depreciated from the price they paid for it, they must destroy said product.

They purchase copies of the game from the publisher at full retail price.

They rent those games out until the recall is issued.

Now they could send the games back. But they would lose out because the value of the games have depreciated. Plus they would be responsible for any shipping/handling charges.

Instead, they use the recall to their advantage.

They can now deduct the full retail price of the games.
But if they decide to claim the games as a loss, they MUST destroy all copies and take photos or have other proof of their destruction. Otherwise they could claim a loss and turn around and resell the items they said were unsellable/depreciated.

People often wondered why Atari destroyed thousands of copies of E.T. for the 2600 rather than selling them at discount prices. Well in the long run they actually made more money by doing it that way :)


I hope that makes sense. I'm a bit too drunk to be typing.

Once again drunk logic proves the most sound. That makes prefect sense, but if it's an excuse for destorying games then i'm gonna have to find a way to use it as an excuse for destorying my enemies. :evil:

And to me it's still no excuse for destorying games.

[davidbrit2]

I've seen something similar in my local EB, they have stored the GB/GBC and some GBA titles in a storage shelf and destroyed the boxes, I saved a few boxes for GBA but unfortunately came too late for the GB boxes... :( some stores even cut the manual cover of a game and put it inside of a generic case so we can see wich title it is....I was in shock when I knew this! :eek 2:

Blasphemy. These people should be drawn and quartered in the town square. It's the fitting punishment.

Yeah, these stores pretend to be specialty retailers, etc. etc. When's the last time you saw a music store that routinely pitched out CD and record cases to save space? Can you imagine how little business they would have, comparatively speaking?

[Jumpman Jr.]

I can't understand why they would destroy them.. Wouldn't it just be easier to throw them in the trash? If they didn't want the game, why waste the time hitting it with a hammer?

[Slimedog]

I've seen something similar in my local EB, they have stored the GB/GBC and some GBA titles in a storage shelf and destroyed the boxes, I saved a few boxes for GBA but unfortunately came too late for the GB boxes... :( some stores even cut the manual cover of a game and put it inside of a generic case so we can see wich title it is....I was in shock when I knew this! :eek 2:

Blasphemy. These people should be drawn and quartered in the town square. It's the fitting punishment.

Yeah, these stores pretend to be specialty retailers, etc. etc. When's the last time you saw a music store that routinely pitched out CD and record cases to save space? Can you imagine how little business they would have, comparatively speaking?

I used to work in a book store and we destroyed books all the time. It depended on the return policy of the publisher, but a lot of them said that to get credit for unsold stock, cut off the book cover to send back and destroy (via tearing in half) the book. I've heard this is the same for music too, but I don't know that from personal experience.

[njiska]

I used to work in a book store and we destroyed books all the time. It depended on the return policy of the publisher, but a lot of them said that to get credit for unsold stock, cut off the book cover to send back and destroy (via tearing in half) the book. I've heard this is the same for music too, but I don't know that from personal experience.

Well that explains why they say it's illegal to buy a coverless book.

[kevincure]

I was at BB when we pulled GTA:SA, and they definitely weren't "destroyed". Destroyed titles are usually VHS, and 90% of the time an employee just takes them home. With GTA:SA, we sent them back to HQ, presumably to swap with Take 2 for the M-rated version.

[josekortez]

It's like when I worked at FYE, we had to pull all pennied strategy guides, shred them and spray paint them. It used to turn my stomach.

[Anthony1]

I used to work in a book store and we destroyed books all the time. It depended on the return policy of the publisher, but a lot of them said that to get credit for unsold stock, cut off the book cover to send back and destroy (via tearing in half) the book. I've heard this is the same for music too, but I don't know that from personal experience.

Well that explains why they say it's illegal to buy a coverless book.

[Anthony1]

I used to work in a book store and we destroyed books all the time. It depended on the return policy of the publisher, but a lot of them said that to get credit for unsold stock, cut off the book cover to send back and destroy (via tearing in half) the book. I've heard this is the same for music too, but I don't know that from personal experience.

Well that explains why they say it's illegal to buy a coverless book.




You know, that explains why I was able to get some Die Hard GameFan issues that had their covers ripped off. Must have been store issues that some employee kept.

[rbudrick]

Blasphemy. These people should be drawn and quartered in the town square. It's the fitting punishment.

Are you hanging around Sothy too much? I swear that sounded just like him.
x_x

(calls ear doctor for checkup)

-Rob

[njiska]

Blasphemy. These people should be drawn and quartered in the town square. It's the fitting punishment.

Are you hanging around Sothy too much? I swear that sounded just like him.
x_x

(calls ear doctor for checkup)

-Rob

A lot of people have been saying that this week. But no i've always been like this. Just not on the forums before.

[goatdan]

It's a tax thing. Trust me, Blockbuster isn't the only place that does this.

I was able to get some copies of sports titles for the Dreamcast from a manager who I was friends with at GameStop who had been ordered to destroy 90% of their stock.

When I worked at Chuck E Cheese, when they got new arcade games we had to take the old games out back and smash them to pieces with a sledgehammer. After they were smashed, we had to take pictures of them to prove that they were destroyed. It was amazing some of the stuff that they got rid of that way...

GameStops also often get lists of things for a penny that they are supposed to then destroy and lose the penny on. My friend used to just keep everything into a box for me and I'd come in once a week and pay a quarter or so and walk out with a TON of random stuff. Got some cool stuff like that -- soundtracks, the nice Final Fantasy Movie hardcover book and so on. And the regional managers at the time were okay with it :)

Of course, now they aren't. But anyway, back to the topic... it's a common practice in just about all industries.

[rpepper9]

I work at a CompUSA and we call it "Field Destroy". It's when it isn't profitable for a company to actually get the product back and refurb it. They tell the retailer they will give you credit and they you get rid of it instead of sending it back. The item has to be destroyed because people go dumpster diving behind retail stores all the time, specially a computer store.

Sony is a company that believes in Field Destroy. I have partaken in the destruction of at least 1 PSP, and bunch of games and have managed to take home a free PS2 that was supposed to be Field Destroy. Pretty cool Sony, keep up the good work! :D

[CocoVG]

Wow, I had no idea they destroyed mass quantities like that. You'd think they would sell them on the cheap to scavenging pack rats to get some coin. Come on, who can't photoshop a whole ton of busted merchandise these days? :D

[kainemaxwell]

Heck we just recall games and other items ourselves back to the parent company. magazines we just rip the cover off, trash the mag and send the cover back.