**Shenannigans!!!** (EB / GAME)

[Gemini-Phoenix]

Now this is not an issue which affects me, but something I do feel strongly about, and I am sure affects a lot of the rest of you guys who buy pre-owned games ~ especially ones from EB / GAME...

Now most of you at some point will have come across what I like to call "Satan's black mark" ~ EB / GAME are notorious for marking their pre-owned games with black permanent marker pen. Now to me, that is bad news for a collector...

Take a look at the following I found on eBay:

http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/1204/suikoden6ju.jpg


Now who here can say that what you see above isn't blatent defacing of a perfectly good collector's item? Ok, so with a bit of elbow grease and blu-tack, you may be able to remove it (MAY be able to), but what self respecting person would do this?

How do they get away with it as well? Surely people complain about this? and they wonder why they have racks and racks full of old games that they can't sell...


This practice boils my blood. Again, it's not something that actually affects m directly (As I only buy sealed games, and this is one reason why), but when I had my own shop, this was something which DID affect me. I spent hours removing these marks from game manuals and discs, or rather ATTEMPTING to remove these marks...



And for anyone wondering what the four digit code on the back represents ~ The first two digits represent the store number, and the last two represent the price which was originally paid for that particular game...

Eg. The Suikoden II shown above has the code "7407" ~ This means the store that it was traded in at was store number 74 (Whatever store that may be - My local one is number 70), and they paid (Or gave as a trade) £7.00.

[MegaDrive20XX]

"I'm gonna pistol whip the next son of a bitch who says Shenannigans!!"

Hey Farva, what's that place with all that crazy shit on the walls?

"Oh Shenannigans??"

oooooOOOooo!!!! LOL


Sorry, I had to get that out of my system :D

Back on topic....DAMN Eb Games, those whores! I hope they get kicked square in da nuts!!

[Enixis]

Oh yea those black marks are EVIL!!!! I know the former UK Electronics Boutique used to do that alot. But luckily the pre-owned games i bought from them had the mark behind the manual and not in the front. I don't know if GAME does it though, never been going there since i've been getting my used games from computer exchange or gamestation.

I believe the marking on the back can be easily removed with cooking oil, but theres no way of getting rid of the marking from the manual.

[goatdan]

Aren't those black marks just on the case itself, not on the insert? The ones on the manual seem to not be done by EB, as far as I can tell. So...

Buy it, replace the CD case, life is good.

Or am I missing something?

[dbiersdorf]

Take a look at the manual.

[whoisKeel]

"I'm gonna pistol whip the next son of a bitch who says Shenannigans!!"

Hey Farva, what's that place with all that crazy shit on the walls?

"Oh Shenannigans??"

oooooOOOooo!!!! LOL


Sorry, I had to get that out of my system :D

Back on topic....DAMN Eb Games, those whores! I hope they get kicked square in da nuts!!

I just don't like it when the word is overused and incorrectly as in this case. The markings suck, but they aren't shenanigans.

[Gemini-Phoenix]

Aren't those black marks just on the case itself, not on the insert? The ones on the manual seem to not be done by EB, as far as I can tell. So...

Buy it, replace the CD case, life is good.

Or am I missing something?

No, what they do is take out the insert, and write over the barcode with the marker. They also then mark the disc and the manual

In this instance, they haven't actually marked the disc, but they do it on the majority of other games, including carts. In the above picture, the barcode has the marker on it, as does the manual (Has "PP" or something written on it)

[rbudrick]

Hey Farva, what's that place with all that crazy shit on the walls?

"Oh Shenannigans??"

Funny...the bar I go to once a week is called Shenannigan's. LOL

-Rob

[importaku]

Personally if you buy games from places like GAME then you deserve everything you get.

Game is shit & will always be shit.

[RevQuixo]

When I owrked at EB back in the Mid-Ninties it was commonplace to Sharpie out the barcode and mark the disc with a big ol' "P" on it. The rationale was the prevention of accidentally selling the game as a new item.

I think it is fair to say after all of these threads that corporate owned game stores don't care about collectors.

[SuperShark]

Befor I read everyones posts, I have to say a couple of things.

Yes I toataly agree with you on how EB marks on near all of their games with permanet marker and it sucks, I actualy have to ask when buying a pre-owned game to see it first and check to see if it has been marked when I buy XB games from them. I have only bought 3 PS games from EB in my life, and I bought them not for collectors value but for enjoyment, and they take that away from your PS games as well! NONE OF THEM worked, and they have a stupid no return policy, ON OF THE FREAKING GAMES WAS CRACKED CLEAR IN HALF AND ONLY HELD TOGETHER BY A STUPID STICKER THAT THEY PUT ON ALL OF THEIR PS GAMES!!! And The ID10TS STILL Wouldnt Take it back!!! They even put stickers on EVERYTHING that says "100% Cleaned And Tested!", but they are alyays filthey and dont work!!! They put it on Genesis games, and I get them with dust in unbelieavible amounts, and once without the connector pins attached (to which they said, because you opened the box after we put the cart in you may not return the game (And BTW, YES I have asked to check the game before buying and they say that it is not alowed! Freggin ID10TS!)) busted clear off, and BTW, they got no Genney to test them!!! I bought a couple DC Rumble/memory card packs and they doth had the stupid "100% cleaned and tested!" Stickers, and one did not work!!! I FREGGIN HATE, ABSOLUTLY HATE, THOSE STUPID EB STORES!!! I TRY TO NEVER EVER EVER NEVER EVER BUY FROM THE PLACES, BUT ON MORE THAN ONE OCCASION APPARENTLY I HAVE BEEN STUPID AND I KNOW THAT I WILL BE AGAIN IN THE FUTUER!!! HATE THEM!

:angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry:

DOES ANYONE ELSE SHARE MY SADNESS FROM EB VISITS OR ANGER THEREAFTER?

\\end rant\\

Wow, didnt mean to go on that long rant, just ment to post that I hate the permanet marker, how that start up! wow, LOL. How the heck.

The other thing that I was going to say is that the last several time that I have been to my closest EB and checked out the bargin bin, they have had not one, but two copies of this game for PS posted in pics above and I am always stupid, forget the value, and dont get them, I NEED To Get Them, and if nothing else, Sell Them for more!

Well, if not reading all of the very first post of this thread compleld me to create such a long post, perhapes I will now read the other posts here. LOL :) 8-)

[snes_collector]

Do EB games in the US do this? Because I've never saw that before.

[Griking]

I've never noticed any of the US EB's that I've been to doing this. They just put like 30 stickers on the front and back of the jewel case

[goatdan]

Take a look at the manual.


The ones on the manual seem to not be done by EB, as far as I can tell.


No, what they do is take out the insert, and write over the barcode with the marker. They also then mark the disc and the manual

In this instance, they haven't actually marked the disc, but they do it on the majority of other games, including carts. In the above picture, the barcode has the marker on it, as does the manual (Has "PP" or something written on it)

Okay, if they go through all that trouble, that does suck. I think their problem with needing to mark them is the fact that for new games, they always open a copy to show it off. Luckily, it seems most US EBs are changing that policy...

And I also have never seen this done, except for on the CD case itself, usually for a third party store to denote where they stuck the game.

[studvicious]

US Eb Games don't do this.

[Jumpman Jr.]

I've never seen that either. However, they always put their price-tags (which are hard as hell to get off) right on the label of most games (on all NES games). That pisses me off.

[Kejoriv]

Im just laughing at the word Shenannigans LOL

[anagrama]

Now this is not an issue which affects me


Again, it's not something that actually affects m directly

So why the rant? If it's that much of a problem, then let it boil the blood of someone who cares.

Surely you've already got enough on your plate launching diatribes against companies who don't seal their games well enough to comply with your exacting specifications, no?

[bazariah]

a hell of a lot of my older ps1 games have the store code/price code marking... i actually thought that it meant date bought and price paid....

they seem to have gotten better now they have started using sticky barcodes for preowned titles which gives them all the info they need on their epos systems... the stickers are easy to peel off when on the case, sometimes they put them on the inserts, not too much of a prob to take off then , allthough can be hard if you pull them fast

[Spartacus]

I would guess I've bought well over 200 used PS2, Xbox and Gamecube games from EB in the US and have never seen any black markings. And if you buy them online you can return them to any brick and mortar EB store for a full refund if you are dissatisfied. I see alot of stickers, but that's what they invented Goo Gone for.

I am going to miss EB games. They have treated me extremely well.

[Enixis]

I guess that black marking thing was only done by EB UK (now GAME). Never seemed to happen anywhere else.

[unwinddesign]

EBGames (US) pisses me off with their used games. Putting 800 stickers on the case is ridiculous.

And their display copies that are "new"? Blah, don't get me started. I've bought three of them, and none of them were new. The only reason Forza wasn't beaten to hell was because I bought it like three days after release.

Damn them. So I'm stuck with buying new games.

[Gemini-Phoenix]

I guess that black marking thing was only done by EB UK (now GAME). Never seemed to happen anywhere else.

I guess so.


I also hate those stickers they plaster all over games. One primary reason for buying only sealed games, as any stickers will be on the cellophane only, and not damage the game case beneath. Some of the adhesives they use on those stickers can leave a permanent shape in th plastic of the game. Even worse on GameBoy or N64 games, as they are made of cardboard, and rp when the stickers are removed...

[intvsama]

And people wonder why I refuse to shop at EB. Their service is horrible (unless you're a cardholder), their selection is ass, the don't take care of any games (and on that respect, they don't care what condition the games are in when people trade), and they're generally too concerned about the bottom line than actually the product they sell. And what's with the 93 different stickers they put on EVERY used game case?

I shop independant (there's a Microplay out here that gets 95% of my patronage [Microplay's a franchise, not a chain]) and whenever I can't get something at Microplay I stop in at Game Crazy and see if they have it.

I'm still amazed at how many people shop at EB.

[Gemini-Phoenix]

And people wonder why I refuse to shop at EB. Their service is horrible (unless you're a cardholder), their selection is ass, the don't take care of any games (and on that respect, they don't care what condition the games are in when people trade), and they're generally too concerned about the bottom line than actually the product they sell. And what's with the 93 different stickers they put on EVERY used game case?

I shop independant (there's a Microplay out here that gets 95% of my patronage [Microplay's a franchise, not a chain]) and whenever I can't get something at Microplay I stop in at Game Crazy and see if they have it.

I'm still amazed at how many people shop at EB.

Plus the fact that they are always trying to palm you off with a pre-owned copy rather than a new one... At the end of the day, they make more money off a pre-owned game than they do selling you an actual new one.

I only ever tend to buy special editions on day of release from GAME< and I know everyone there, who in turn know me and know that I expect a sealed copy fo whatever I buy. They just give up asking me if I would rather have a pre-owned version...

However, it seems that they have a ritual for newbies, and always get them to serve me as a hazing ritual! Lol. And damn, are they in for a surprise if they sprout the immortal words: "Would you like a new of pre-owned copy?". Lol. How everyone else laughs as I just stare the new guy in the eyes in a disconcerning manner and wink to the older employees... LOL

[studvicious]

And people wonder why I refuse to shop at EB. Their service is horrible (unless you're a cardholder), their selection is ass, the don't take care of any games (and on that respect, they don't care what condition the games are in when people trade), and they're generally too concerned about the bottom line than actually the product they sell. And what's with the 93 different stickers they put on EVERY used game case?

I shop independant (there's a Microplay out here that gets 95% of my patronage [Microplay's a franchise, not a chain]) and whenever I can't get something at Microplay I stop in at Game Crazy and see if they have it.

I'm still amazed at how many people shop at EB.

I guess cause your EB Games suck. The EBG's near me are very sweet. They all have a great selection of NES, SNES, and Dreamcast games. (sadly this will all change soon) But I haven't had any bad experiences with them. GameStop on the other hand.... x_x