High Street GAME .......Troubles

Not the first time i have heard reports that they are not stocking a well known game because of lack of credit or something but Mass effect 3 not been sold at either Game or Gamestation is a bit of a joke to be honest.

With the online game retailers and Supermarkets doing pretty well are Game days well and truly over.

REPORT

Edited by time2die (Thu 01-Mar-12 00:12:50)

Could it be due to the fact that its also available for download from Origin ?

They deserve to go out of buisness, There a rip off.

This does not read like that...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/17210489

Matt

There has been a very long bitter dispute between GAME and EA and occasionally EA refuse to let GAME have any copies of a game.

I was surprised when they were the sole distivutor for the old republic special edition as EA pull the rug out from under them for Warhammer Online.

That CVG article was incredibly poorly researched. They didn't mention EA's spat with GAME and other retailers who offer second hand traded in games. Obviously that could be a huge factor in explaining why certain EA games don't go to Game whilst they do arrive at other retail stores like Tesco who don't offer second hand games?

So, as the BBC article linked by Uno says, it could also be down to RBS' reluctance to pump money into a failing business with a quite probably outdated business model in this age of the internet.

Having read a couple of pages of user replies to that CVG article I have to say they make for far more coherent arguments overall. The article reads like a bait piece, to purely attract controversy or in this case, overwhelming criticism of his lack of reasoning and demonstrably lacking insider/industry knowledge.

Also, my own local GAME store is a bit pants so I don't ever recall learning anything at all about games there, hands on or no hands on. I mean, if you want to see a game in action go to PC World or HMV. There's nothing happening there at all.

I hope Game do sort themselves out as I've gotten some good advice from some of their staff in the past (just not my local one); it would be a shame to lose them. Plus, I'd like to think people would continue to resist games and software publishers moves to tie products to first buyers and prevent them selling on, trading in their rights to use the games/programs they've bought. I think media industries are far too greedy and punitive in what they allow their end users to do with the content they produce so it's no wonder there's so much illegal file sharing going on. A fair price is all anyone should want whichever side you're on.

Im suprised Game have not shut down more stores and move to a more online based distribution.

In particualr my local town has both a game and gamestation, gamestation is mainly ps3/xbox and some wii. Really game should shut the gamestation down and keep the Game store running as it offers a larger selection but even then in the long run will proably see alot of the smaller stores shut.

Better info about what is happening (via wikipedia):

Game - Mass Effect 3/EA announcement

Game Falls out with EA @ the Telegraph

So, the real reasons why Game didn't stock ME3... interesting.

It all basically reads the same to me............Game are in troubled Times.

Just think of how many people are now going to stop using Game,I haven't used them for 3 years based on poor delivery performance and the fact that most of the people they have working in there shops know absolutely Jack about games in general.

They were very silly in taking over Gamestation (which only had grotty stores). I don't see Game lasting much longer...

Gamestation in my town was a decent little store before Game took it over.

Then out went the older stuff and in came the huge "BUY CALL OF DUTY IT WILL MAKE YOUR DICK BIGGER" posters and banners, and now its a dump with over-priced games and games that are second hand being marked as new etc..

Waste of time.

So whilst I wouldnt say Gamestation were perfect, they were a lot better than Game, atleast in my experience

No dress code Goth Looking staff is not what you expect in a consumer driven market,don't get me wrong im not been judgmental but long gone are the days when it was expected that you wore a tie and suit as standard for a interview.

If i have to buy a game outside of my online stores then i prefer Gamestation even though its owned by Game,but on many occasions i have waited 10/15 minutes in the queue with little to no staff at the counter and 3 or 4 of the others just hanging around doing nothing.

Game tried to take the monopoly and killed many smaller game shops dotted around our towns and cities,Now places like Shopto.com and Supermarkets have taken back a lions share of the Game market.

On many occasions when i used to order from Game online i found there site tiring and not user friendly with no mention of future releases and when there was it was not simple finding it hidden among the depths of a poor designed website

Edited by time2die (Thu 01-Mar-12 17:40:57)

Yeh me too, first steps well under way to disappearing, mind you when I ever walk past them at weekends etc, they are always packed out, took my nine year old just after Christmas to buy 360 (he�d saved for 3yrs), it was shoulder to shoulder and manic, perhaps that was just a local extreme..

Yes they are in trouble, their credit rating is nil rated now and a lot of distributors are not selling to them. Sad times really, I do feel a bit sorry for them, they can't justify selling games for £25 like Tesco because games is all they do, supermarkets count on people going in and spending money on other items as well. Personally I still buy quite a bit from Game just because there are some good staff in the Game shop where I live and give you informative views on games and don't just say every game is great.

Haven't shopped with them in years as their PC "section" which once took 1/3 of the shop has been relegated to about 2 shelves.

Same thing with HMV. The one in my town closed recently. They stocked no PC games at all. Actually was in it before it closed before xmas when MW3 and BF3 were coming out. Went along to see what sort of prices they were selling for...only had console rubbish.

Seems silly to so obviously cut off a decent chunk of your potential market by totally failing to stock anything.

The Gamestation in Bognor used to be a grotty, darkly lit shop - the sort you wouldn't venture in unless you had a bodyguard, whilst Game was bright and airy.

It's funny you say that as that's exactly my experience with the two stores I use (one in Camden and one in my hometown).

According to Wikipedia, Gamestores are meant to be more for the hardcore gaming element (yes, that old chestnut!) Game were more mainstream. I guess that gets interpreted in terms of lighting bills...

It wont be long before HMV and Game both go under, their markets have moved to online distribution which can undercut and sell at a greater volume then they are able to.

Both companys have not moved with the times fast enough, as such their laden with large amounts of debt, HMV stock value is a tiny % of its actual debt.
The end result for these companies is they will run a few key stores that can turn a profit and a online site or they will go under and the market will carry on.

In reply to a post by time2die:

No dress code Goth Looking staff is not what you expect in a consumer driven market,don't get me wrong im not been judgmental but long gone are the days when it was expected that you wore a tie and suit as standard for a interview.

Not everywhere is like that.

Yes, I suppose a spooky, unrelenting and foreboding atmosphere adds a certain je ne sais quoi to the display

I know mate and the staff i have dealt with when going to Gamestation have all been pleasant people,its just a general observation of how times have changed and it's not just Game shops we are talking about.

it does not bother me what they wear personally as long as they know there products and are customer focussed and friendly.

Suppose i was making this observation based on my own experience of Job Interviews in the late 70s and 80s when it was standard practice to wear a suit and tie.

You make a good point there Jaxx after all how many times i have popped into the supermarket for a loaf of bread and 2 litres of milk only to end up spending £20.

Clever Marketing people at supermarkets as they always put the essential things way on the other side of the store to temp you into that Fresh cream cake counter and sweet section...........Yummy

10 Minutes later Milk and Bread in hand along with 3 fresh cream jam donuts, 9 pack of mars bars,tub of ice cream ,6 packet of crisps. and thats just my breakfast

Yea lol, I go shopping in Asda every week with a budget of about £20 for myself, I usually end up spending about £30 - £40 as I have to walk the entire shop to get a nice load of Tiger Bread and by then I have gone past all the offers that draw you in! I'm not a fool for the ones that are like £1.08 each or 2 for £2 but I am a fool for anything new flavour wise like biscuits, crisps, yoghurts, olives etc.

Tiger Bread and olives

Blimey aren't we posh