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Re: Will you miss Game Stop

Posted: August 3rd, 2019, 11:47 am
by Rev
The only thing I've ever really liked from Gamestop is they have good deals on modern games if you buy them used at the end of a generation. When you guy them on their 2 for 3 deal plus the 10% off (which I think they did away with or will be for a crappy $5 coupon) you can get a lot of the modern games pretty cheap. Still... that is about the only times I have frequented a Gamestop in years.

I won't really miss them. They are trying reshuffling their strategy but I don't think it'll work. I guess we'll know in the next 1-2 years if they can save themselves.

Re: Will you miss Game Stop

Posted: August 3rd, 2019, 12:40 pm
by MSR1701
Having recently purchased a PS Vita again, I have been buying up games of late for it, as many are on the cheap. However, several were so high that I figured, heck, I'll look at GameStop's site to see if they still sell Vita. Shockingly, a store not far from my work had a dozen really good games at a lower deal than was available online (apparently someone traded in about 80+ Vita games very recently), and I ended up buying several. Have to say, it was the first time since 2015 that I stepped into a GameStop, and I was shocked at all the non-gaming items they had, from clothing to board games, to random nick-knacks, to retro cash-ins. It felt like I'd gone to 2nd And Charles without the great books section to keep me interested. Or Hot Topic without the games.

Honestly, there's a retro game/comic store near my house that I frequent that handles virtually anything from Pre-Atari to Present that is a good spot to frequent, but given how many GameStops are all over the place here in the Metro-Atlanta area, should they close that'll be a LOT of empty shopping strip areas overnight...

Re: Will you miss Game Stop

Posted: August 3rd, 2019, 1:10 pm
by Gleebergloben123
Electronics Boutique, Babbages, Funcoland, companies of which I have fond memories (Nice set-up, friendly staff, etc). With GameStop, this part from the article sums it up best:

“For many consumers, the seemingly imminent demise of GameStop is not a cause for sadness. The company has a reputation in many corners for poor prices on trade-in games, high-pressure sales tactics for extraneous add-ons, unfriendly staffers, poor return policies, and, in recent years, stores filled with toys and Funko Pop figures instead of games”.

Re: Will you miss Game Stop

Posted: August 3rd, 2019, 1:30 pm
by MSR1701
The store I recently frequented had veey helpful n friendly staff, but otherwise I agree with that statement.

Re: Will you miss Game Stop

Posted: August 3rd, 2019, 2:00 pm
by pacman000
I will, tho I like other gaming stores more

This caught my eye:

wallinbl Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
reply
Aug 2, 2019 11:23 AM

Popular

amyjess wrote:
My experience with "local employees" at GameStop and everywhere else is being incessantly interrupted with "Can I help you with something?" over and over and over again while I'm browsing on my own. I'll be glad when their jobs are automated out of existence.


For every one like you, there's one that complains they weren't offered enough help. Retail is a terrible job, because no matter what you do, some set of customers is mad at you.

Give people a little more slack and simply communicate your preferences, understanding that they only way they'll know is if you tell them.
See that bolded part? That's true. And I can't emphasize it enough.

Re: Will you miss Game Stop

Posted: August 3rd, 2019, 3:12 pm
by Voor
Heck yeah, retail is super though, because employees are trapped in between “the customer is always right” and customers who are....not smart (to put it nicely).

I worked at a grocery store for a long time, and the stories were wild. It’s stunning how uncivilized people will act in public.

One of the local streamers has a few YouTube videos discussing some GameStop stories and behind the scenes stuff. Here’s a funny one regarding a “less educated “ customer.

https://youtu.be/wfS_3nla8YQ

*i actually think he’s gathering a few GameStop employees together for a podcast soon to. discuss their times and the company. I’m excited to hear it.

Re: Will you miss Game Stop

Posted: August 4th, 2019, 8:09 am
by noah98
I loved Software Etc., Babbages, and Funcoland. Gamestop has always been a place I go to because I have to, not because I want to. However, with modern games not holding my attention as much anymore, I've been playing and collecting retro games, so I rarely frequent Gamestop.

I'd like to see something take its place though. I absolutely want a store dedicated to just games. The sad part is, if Gamestop fixed their predatory business practices, and created a better atmosphere in their stores, they might have a chance to survive.

We've already lost Sears (older peeps like me know why they mattered for gaming), Toys R Us, KayBee, and Blockbuster. All we have left are Walmart (the worst experience), Target, and then ebay and Amazon. Not a promising future...

Re: Will you miss Game Stop

Posted: August 4th, 2019, 9:41 am
by Voor
I may be wrong, but I’ve always felt that the whole “trade in used games” premise to be a bad idea financially for a business. I get that it supposedly brings in more customers, but I question that idea (people are going to buy new games regardless if you give them cash for their old ones or not), and I don’t think it makes sense money-wise.

It might work for stores that are exclusively used (like Game Exchange), but I felt like GameStop tried to be both and lost their identity.

Re: Will you miss Game Stop

Posted: August 4th, 2019, 6:16 pm
by Matchstick
I'll echo what a lot of others have said and add that I miss FuncoLand dearly. My favorite part of the store was how they had many different consoles hooked up to a variety of TVs inside the store, encouraging you to try out a title before you bought it. Their used game selection was usually stellar, and if you had any questions about a game (how does it play, does the save battery still work, etc) you could pop it in and try it out for yourself.

I bought so many games from FuncoLand that I did not intend to buy before I walked in the door, just because they sounded interesting and I could give them a go before I bought them. Of course, some kids and parents would abuse this, and just drop their kids off for hours at a time while they played games like it was a free arcade, but that was part of the business. My local store always had a good hustle and bustle, and since it was right next to a Subway restaurant, it always smelled like sandwiches! BONUS!!

I also miss the cheap, multicolored cardboard sleeves they would have for their NES games. Their disc-based games came in similar sleeves, too, and it always brings back such nostalgia whenever I pull an NES game off my shelf and see that orange / green / red FuncoLand sleeve wrapped around it instead of one of the typical black vinyl ones. Not gonna lie, that FuncoLand sleeve has even been the difference maker for several eBay listings, helping that particular seller's game stand out over other, similarly priced ones.

We had Babbage's, Software Etc, and Electronics Boutique in the mall, and it was fun to make the rounds to all the stores in one go. Software Etc was right next to Kay-Bee Toys and Babbage's was right next to Sears, so I had five options for video games in one building as well as an excellent stop for action figures and playsets. Hell, there was even an arcade in the mall (Namco's Cyberstation) and the mall, itself, was right across the street from a Toys R Us. Yup, my first few paychecks from my random teenage oddjobs never had a chance, and it's a childhood / upbringing I wouldn't trade for the world.

...oh, wait, this thread was about GameStop? Heh, sorry, forgot all about it! Just don't care. To mimic a recent post I made in a related board, just let 'em die. I had so many other options during my gaming heyday that they never really had my business to begin with.

Re: Will you miss Game Stop

Posted: August 4th, 2019, 10:46 pm
by HawgWyld
I honestly never shopped much at Game Stop. Game X Change has had my business since its first store opened in Springdale, Ark., around 1993 or so. That company is located in only 12 states (mostly in the South) and seems to be doing quite well (at least in these parts). The store in my neck of the woods still has a decent amount of vintage stuff and I hope it stays around for that reason, alone. However, I have been expecting eBay and etc. to kick the legs out from used game stores for some time. Perhaps it's finally happening...