How is your local Wamart treating the DS

[Cmtz]

My local Walmart has started filling in it's DS slots with DS games. Before they would place GBA games there. The PSP section of the store is minimizing every month. Half of the PSP slots are filled with PS2 games and I see only 1 or 2 movies now.

[suckerpunch5]

Same in lincoln. It seemed at first that they were phasing out the PSP movies, but then I found that they had moved them in with all the DVD movies section. But yeah, now there are acutally DS games in the DS game slots.

[GrandAmChandler]

We don't have a Walmart in a 20 mile radius here. It's nothing but Targets and K-Marts.

[Cmtz]

We don't have a Walmart in a 20 mile radius here. It's nothing but Targets and K-Marts.

How are those stores doing in their DS Department?

[GrandAmChandler]

We don't have a Walmart in a 20 mile radius here. It's nothing but Targets and K-Marts.

How are those stores doing in their DS Department?

Target is constantly selling DS stuff usually selling out of many first party titles, PSP looks to be overstocked, and not moving.

Kmart crams their games in the displays, they overbuy it seems, or just no one likes their high prices.

[c0ldb33r]

Our local Walmart seems to have more DS stuff than PSP stuff. A lot of PSP movies though. They never seem to sell the PSP stuff, so I don't know why they keep stocking it.

Their DS section, while bigger than PSP, isn't loader bigger. But they're always rotating stock and selling games. So while it's not a lot bigger than the PSP seciton, it seems to be selling much better.

[c0ldb33r]

Our local Walmart seems to have more DS stuff than PSP stuff. A lot of PSP movies though. They never seem to sell the PSP stuff, so I don't know why they keep stocking it.

Their DS section, while bigger than PSP, isn't loader bigger. But they're always rotating stock and selling games. So while it's not a lot bigger than the PSP seciton, it seems to be selling much better.

[Simply Dave]

Of the big chain stores around here, Target always has the biggest and best selection.

The Wal-Marts in this area are hit or miss; they'll usually have the new DS releases and not much else, aside from the typical Spongebod, Rugrats, ect. type games.

[atari_wizard]

Our Wal-mart and Target sale NDS stuff quite well. To tell you the truth, I never even glance at the PSP merchandise. Our Target has been selling a ton of DS Lites (as I'm sure everywhere else is too). We have much to choose from in the DS section (games/accessories/etc.)

Also, whenever I go up to the local Target store, the DS is turned off. So at least someone cares about the life on that puppy.

[aaronpetrosky]

It's popular where I live too good selections of games and always someone playing the DS on display.

[LAGO]

They went out to a dinner and a movie the other night. All in all I would say it's treating her pretty good.

[joshnickerson]

About the same as the Gameboy section... a row of excellent games, the rest filled with licenced crap.

They also replaced the battered and cracked up DS Fat with a new DS Lite... I cringe to think what will happen to that Lite (that particular store went through three DS systems in a year) when some yokel goes after the touch screen with his keys... still in good shape so far though.

[keiblerfan69]

I don't shop at Wal-Mart because I don't like the way they do business or the way they treat employees.

[keiblerfan69]

I don't shop at Wal-Mart because I don't like the way they do business or the way they treat employees.

[diskoboy]

I'm too scared to even go near the Wal-Mart near here.

REALLY bad neighborhood.

[KingCobra]

DS Games have a good area taken up, but the hardware is throw'n down at the bottom on the display case and there's no NO test DS/DS lite for playing, like others, I pretty much hate Wal-Mart :/

Not just that, but they've got some old cranky laddy working that area and she's a real ass 99% of the time, the overflow of games at the bottom of the case she will NOT let you look at(claims it's the same as the games above, though you can see other tittles there) :/

I've quite shopping there now as of last month *tisk tisk* Wal-Mart, better clean up your act or you'll end up like K-Mart and other retailers that got too big for their britches.

*rant off*

But yea, Wal-Mart's got a good DS section.

[Cryomancer]

Last time I was at the one i got to at 2 am, they had the DS games just sitting unprotected on a shelf in their plastic. No barrier between customer and game, no security unless they started hiding ones inside, oddly enough. Granted, they are kinda moving stuff around now, but they had just restocked the shelf and everything, big old stack of New Super Mario Bros just SITTING there. Crazy.

[Avatard]

The Walmart here in GA has a super crappy selection of DS games but almost every UMD made. /boggle

[Necrosaro420]

I know they sell DS items, thats about it, I dont even own one

[MegaDrive20XX]

My wal-mart treats the DS like 3rd class pretty much, buried under mostly the GBA stuff, but loads of PSP stuff is upfront....

Which reminds me, how does your Wal-mart treat GameCube? Mine, treats it like shit, some of the holes arent even filled...but we got loads of PS2 and Xbox and X360 stuff...Even in the Bargain bin of $14.88..not a single Cube game...except SSX World Tour...

[Beefy Hits]

Last time I was there, they had weird stuff that you wouldn't expect them to carry like Trama Center, and Sigma Star Saga for GBA.

[Jasoco]

I don't know about my Wal-Mart, I don't go there as it's a huge crowded mess of a place.

My Target seems to be low on DS games, but they do at least have DS games there.

And my Kmart, seeing as I AM IN CHARGE OF THE DEPARTMENT is VERY tidy. The other day I did a total overhaul of the game section.

One case dedicated to GameCube. (With GameCube labels and a section dedicated to Players Choice. I keep all Cube games in the case.) In the bottom foot and a half are all consooles and big box games. One of each. Not crammed in like other Kmarts I've seen. I seem to be the only one in the company who cares about appearance. Plus our store was the first to be redone anyway so it helps I don't let the games look like shit. One of each 360, one of a Cube, PSTwo, Xbox, PSP both kinds, Guitar Hero, that GunCon game and Taiko Drum Master. Looks as neat as it can get.

One dedicated to DS and GBA, DS on the left half with DS labels and GBA on the right with GBA labels. (Thanks to the Nintendo Rep who comes in every month.) The bottom below the lower shelf has a row of GBA's. Two of each color. A few DS Lites, one of each Micro (Haven't sold a single one.) and a row of extra GBA games that we only have a few of.

One case dedicated to Xbox and 360 games. Left half 360, right half Xbox. The bottom of this case is a row of single games that are waiting for homes. Both sides have regular Xbox labeling. Microsoft doesn't care about its retail stores. Fuck them. They have never set foot in the store. And haven't sent a single thing since the 360 Kiosk which we never used anyway and sent back. Though Security does pay close attention to the 360 stock.

The last two cases are PSP and PS2. The bottom 2/3 of the first case is PSP. The rest is PS2. Two cases only because we have so many. So many PS2 games. So many unsold PSP games. (Rarely do we sell one. Sony, please just drop out of the race!) And along the bottom is the very few "UMD Videos". One day our SPAR rep (Video handling company) came in and took all our non game UMD's. Then we got a few more in. No one has bought a single one. Sheesh. The Sony rep hasn't come to the store in 2 years. We don't even have PSP labels.

All the Greatest Hits PS2 games and Platinum Hits Xbox games and other games $20 and below are out of the case along a row of shelves I set up and cleaned up the other day. PS2 on the left. Xbox on the right. With GH and PH games separated into a group on each end. Next to this row of game shelves is our DS Lite kiosk. At least we have a Nintendo Rep who cares about its appearance.

You see, I actually care about games. So I keep it looking nice and tidy.

The problem is that we have a lot of "single" games. Where we only have one of it left. The problem is that it takes up a slot. So having those games displayed prominently will help and has helped to push the game out the door. I've had to refill a few holes in the past few days since I did the redesign. Even in the DS case. (Where I found a hidden copy of Mario 64 DS the other day that had fallen under the shelf. It sold within a day.)

I'll take photos tomorrow.


My prediction for the upcoming console war. GameCube will slowly sell down. Wii will take over the Cube case, or at least half of it. The rep will most likely bring in some shelf labels for me to use. (When I say labels, I mean long strips that have the name of the system on them that run the width of the shelf.) The Xbox case will eventually be all 360 games. All the leftover Xbox 1 games will be pushed to the outer shelf. PS 3 will do the same. I plan to move the Nintendo cases to the more prominent end of the cases, the 360 to the middle and the Sony cases to the inner end. Give Nintendo more coverage.


I just wish I could order some of the more requested lesser known games. I'm actually surprised we got Guitar Hero. We only got two. One sold the next day. Then we got a replacement. So we have two again. A while ago we got a small amount of whatever the latest DDR was. Then never again. We had "We Love Katamari" when it came out, but never got the original OR the PSP version. We also got the original "Feel the Magic" but never the sequel. We never get the really good stuff either. Like Phoenix Wright. Sadly. I just wish I could order the other stuff. Even if it's like two copies of each. Just to test the waters.

Oh wells.

[Xizer]

My Wal-Mart has two cases full of PSP junk up front that nobody ever buys and a case with Nintendo DS stuff in the back.

I have a good memory, and I was in Wal-Mart the other day and the PSP section looked almost exactly the same as from a few months ago. It's clear they don't sell much.

It's confusing why my Wal-Mart stocks so much PSP stuff yet the DS section is smaller and is always sold out? WTF? I couldn't find MPH, Super Princess Peach, and a few others behind the price tag in the DS case because they were sold out the other day.

[Jasoco]

That one's easy and has nothing to do with Wal-Mart. The DS is simply kicking the PSP's ass. No one wants the PSP.

But that's an argument for another thread.

It's the same story at my store. MPH, NSMB, SM64, Nintendogs, all sell out constantly the week they come in. While in the PSP case we're stuck finding new homes for new games because the old ones won't leave. We have games left over from the PSP's first 6 months. :/

[Joker T]

I'm glad to see that there are employees like you Jasoco that actually care :)

[GameSlaveGaz]

I don't shop at Wal-Mart because I don't like the way they do business or the way they treat employees.

I second that motion. The only time I ever set foot in a Wal-Mart is because my friend insists on buying her cartons of cigarrettes in the Salem, NH one because they're tax-free and wicked cheap.

I've never paid attention to how well-stocked Wal-Mart and other dept stores are in the video game dept, but I always bitch about the fact that they are usually disorganized or only semi-organized. Not enough stores alphabetize. Now I might only be saying this because I'm super obsessive-compulsive, but I believe video game and DVD selections should always be alphabetized. But Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart, and the like are never alphabetized. At least the ones I've been to. A few of the GameStops I've been in TRY to alphabetize, and I've always kept the Toys R Us RZone alphabetized down to the last letter (like I said I'm wicked obsessive compulsive) I think it's easier to find stuff, put out new stuff, and it avoids the disorganized look (especially when there's two facings but they're like 3 shelves and 10 spaces away from each other). Also they don't always have people in there that know what they're talking about, but that could happen anywhere. That even happens at my (new) Toys R Us. Still, I feel it happens more frequently at Wal-Mart and K-Mart and the like.

But I'm just picky and obsessive-compulsive and compare everything to how I run the RZone and I always have to feel superior. So, I'm just talking out my ass.

[Jasoco]

I wish I was that obsessive. I don't alphabetize. Fortunately people don't mind glancing over the maximum two cases (10 feet, 5 if it's 1 case. 2.5 if it's a DS or GBA game.) to find what they want. If it's a popular game it'll be in the "New Releases" rows. It's just too much work to alphabetize every week. Too many labels to move.

I'm just happy to keep them at least neat. They were a huge mess for too long. Now that they're neartly arranged, more people are buying them. Especially all the -$20 games on the "Bargain wall". I've had to refill holes more often than I used to. People are buying our cheap-ass clearanced games! Yay! It also appears that the corporate people are finally noticing we have a ton of games to get rid of.

Now... if only they'd LOWER THE PRICE OF THE FUCKING TWENTY COPIES OF MARK OF KRI WE HAVE HAD FOR $21 FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS! That game came out in the PS2's first 6 months and has sat around forever! Advent Rising dropped to half price ($25) faster than MoK. One day, Jasoco. One day someone will buy all our Mark of Kri. *sigh* x_x It's like they don't know that one still exists. But the count in the computer is right! So they KNOW it's there!