Gamestop looking to get back into retro games

[Greg2600]

Am I allowed to swear on this forum? Let's see. How about FUDGE NO!!!!

Many of us, like me, who has spent countless hours trying to rehabilitate classic games and consoles that were beat to hell via Gamestop.

[j_factor]

The thing I remember most from when they still carried some older stuff in the online store is "may or may not include box and manual". Fuck. That. Noise.

[Ryudo]

Too little too late. I either go to my local shop or Play n Trade and been going to Play N Trade for 5 years. Same amount of time I quit going to Gameshit
http://www.playntrade.com/

http://www.worldsgamestore.com/

[wiggyx]

Do not like.

[thegamezmaster]

Why don't they just bring back Funcoland.

Great idea!

[NayusDante]

A GameStop moved in across the street from my local Play N Trade, and his sales shot up from all the referrals they give him for PS2-era stuff and earlier. It'd definitely a decently sized market.

Back in the 90s, distribution companies sold NES games in blister packs to K-Mart, all barcoded and prepped for easy sale. THAT'S the only way I'd trust GameStop to do retro games.

[Greg2600]

So my initial anger has worn off! I re-read the article, and it's online sales only. I have a few questions though. First of all, it sounds like GS has this massive stockpile of classic games they've been sitting on? Second, if they bothered to actually check ebay, they would realize that most everything there are pictures of the actual merchandise, NOT stock photos. What collector buys something without knowing the condition? They would have to do something like the tradengames.com website, but that requires a ton of setup. Given what I assume is a massive inventory, I don't see that happening, and thus, I don't see this being worthwhile AT ALL to retro gamers.

[goatdan]

This really means nothing. When has GameStop *ever* worked in a way that satisfies collectors? By opening new product for the floor and then selling it to you as new anyway? By putting big stickers that you couldn't peel off onto paper boxes? Or by throwing out the inserts of different stuff because it takes up too much space?

I don't know of any collector that bothers with them unless it is for new stuff, and then usually they go the Amazon route.

Also, I got no idea what they are actually thinking they are going to pull off here. I / the GOAT Store has literally tens of thousands of dollars worth of inventory now, and it's not enough to be my full time job. This is going to become an experiment by them until they realize that they simply cannot make enough profit on it to really be worth their while, and then they'll drop it quietly.

[mailman187666]

All I know is that Gamestop has lost a lot of respect from collectors/gamers/enthusiests over the past x amount of years. I think this is really the best chance they have of redeeming thier reputation. Tell me how awesome would it be if we saw threads like this on digit press

August 2014 Finds:

Checked out gamestop (online/instore whatever they end up doing) and found Gargoyle Quest 2 NES for $15 loose, thanks gamestop.

just saying I'd rather have good places rather than crappy to get games.

[FABombjoy]

This strikes me as a toe in the water from a company that is concerned about Blockbuster Video'ing. They could pull off the vintage thing but I doubt the gross profits from vintage sales could even pay their CEO's salary. The vintage gaming market is small and the subject is complex. I'm not sure how Gamestop could refit their stores to adequately support their plan, beyond their old model of simply buying and selling whatever walked in off of the street. Raines is talking boutique but Gamestop will need one helluva facelift to get there, especially going upstream against their past transgressions.

If they really make a go of it, my only concern is that whatever voodoo they choose to employ for valuation could have an affect on vintage pricing. This would only be if they make a serious attempt with a market-style eye on values, as opposed to just pulling out the old Funcoland pricing sheets.

[DeseoParadise]

I like it

I wish they sell them at low cost...

[substantial_snake]

Why don't they just bring back Funcoland.

Why the hell would you want that?

The local store here was price gouging like a shaddier proto-gamestop before it shut down. I must of just been in a bad area or something but I had very few positive experiences at Funcoland.

Anyway this is probably bad for the local game store, however finding one that doesn't ebay check every item today is quite rare so I have little sympathy for them now anyways.

[Collector_Gaming]

Why the hell would you want that?

The local store here was price gouging like a shaddier proto-gamestop before it shut down. I must of just been in a bad area or something but I had very few positive experiences at Funcoland.

Anyway this is probably bad for the local game store, however finding one that doesn't ebay check every item today is quite rare so I have little sympathy for them now anyways.

Yea but do you blame those stores for Ebay checking? I don't.. I would do the same to be honest. Your out to make money not start a museum.

Its the same way other 2nd hand shops regardless of what they sell.. If a item fetches 2k at auction you know damn well i am gonna ask 2k for it. The one thing I am sure everyone of us knows in the world of selling is you once you start going down in price you can't just turn around and go back up.

[Double Ugly]

I have serious doubts that this will benefit retro game collectors but I don't think it will hurt us either. Only time will tell.

[chrisballer]

I personally think this will be nothing more than it used to be; loose carts sold online that are way overpriced with stock photos. I see a bunch of over priced N64 games and the like available is all. I usually am not so pessimistic, but I remember the ridiculous prices they used to have at Funco-Land.

[Greg2600]

I personally think this will be nothing more than it used to be; loose carts sold online that are way overpriced with stock photos. I see a bunch of over priced N64 games and the like available is all. I usually am not so pessimistic, but I remember the ridiculous prices they used to have at Funco-Land.

Agree 100%, I saw no indication this would come to brick and mortar stores. GS doesn't have the inventory for that, and who in their right mind is going to trade in NES games there for $5 store credit when you can get 5 times that on ebay? The website will be a failure and anyone who buys from them is going to get duped, receiving a mess of a cartridge.

[substantial_snake]

Yea but do you blame those stores for Ebay checking? I don't.. I would do the same to be honest. Your out to make money not start a museum.

Its the same way other 2nd hand shops regardless of what they sell.. If a item fetches 2k at auction you know damn well i am gonna ask 2k for it. The one thing I am sure everyone of us knows in the world of selling is you once you start going down in price you can't just turn around and go back up.

Yeah I do once they started ebay checking at the register.

There is literally no point in going to there store if thats there normal policy over ordering over ebay, its a shitty business practice and one that almost every store selling retro games seems to do now. I understand why they do it but its still a shitty to price bumb at the register and turns me off of whatever I was going to buy.

[kedawa]

I have a feeling that if this has any effect on the classic game market at all, it will drive prices downward.
If they actually start taking in old games again, the credit they offer will be a pittance, and the depreciating effect that would have on value would drive prices down.
The next time some shyster tells you they can get big bucks for an old common game on ebay, you can ask him how much GS will buy it for.

[Badhornet]

After reading the article, I got the urge to drive down to my local mom and pop game store where I bought a few games.

[Jaruff]

So my initial anger has worn off! I re-read the article, and it's online sales only. I have a few questions though. First of all, it sounds like GS has this massive stockpile of classic games they've been sitting on? Second, if they bothered to actually check ebay, they would realize that most everything there are pictures of the actual merchandise, NOT stock photos. What collector buys something without knowing the condition? They would have to do something like the tradengames.com website, but that requires a ton of setup. Given what I assume is a massive inventory, I don't see that happening, and thus, I don't see this being worthwhile AT ALL to retro gamers.

They're already selling retro games (well have in the past, they're "out of stock" right now) to PUR members. The prices were outlandish, considering you can get a $10 coupon for 10k points.

http://www.destructoid.com/gamestop-...d-221067.phtml

http://www.poweruprewards.com/PUR/Index/RetroGameVault

IIRC, the cheapest thing on there was 20-30k points when I looked many months ago.