Gamestop Raids New Copies Of Deus Ex 3

[Michael D]

Many here often talk about Gamestop's deceptive practice of selling games as new, despite being opened, so that the the disc(s) and manual can be held behind the counter.  This is an issue, although at least they used to have the decency to let the game sell shrink-wrapped for a while first before raiding them.  Those days are officially gone now.

Deus Ex 3: Human Revolution just came out yesterday and the PC version of it came with a code to allow users to download a free digital copy along with their physical one, ala DVD and Blu-Ray movies.  Now, it's been reported and confirmed that Gamestop ordered their unsold copies to be opened, remove and destroy the code that allowed the download and then, sell the game to people as new.  

And this isn't some hysteria thing; a memo ordering the action got out and Gamestop has admitted that they did this, claiming that the publisher, Square Enix, didn't tell them that the coupon would be included and, I guess because the service that provided the free digital copy, OnLive, is an outside company, that was some wrongdoing on Square Enix's part.

I think this is a new low, and that's coming from someone who has resisted jumping on the "I hate Gamestop" bandwagon with every little thing that pops up.  It also shows a disturbing (and, perhaps if we asked the Better Business Bureau, an illegal) trend that, not only may I end up being charged for a new game when it isn't, but that it may continue even when I pre-order the game (which, until now, was  one of the only ways you could assure a brand new copy from Gamestop).  Other thoughts?

[soporj1]

Here's an article about it:

Link

Gamestop blows. Never shop there.

[Leo1]

[QUOTE=Michael D]And this isn't some hysteria thing; a memo ordering the action got out and Gamestop has admitted that they did this, claiming that the publisher, Square Enix, didn't tell them that the coupon would be included and, I guess because the service that provided the free digital copy, OnLive, is an outside company, that was some wrongdoing on Square Enix's part.[/QUOTE]

To clarify, GameStop is hard at work setting up it's own streaming service. So I suspect they didn't want to promote their future competition.

The negative PR from this stunt is going to far outweigh any risk GameStop was facing with just leaving these intact. OnLive isn't even making a small splash in the pond yet. These things were going to go unused by 99% of their customers.

All this does is feed the fire of negativity towards the corporation.

[a1]

[QUOTE=Leo]

[QUOTE=Michael D]And this isn't some hysteria thing; a memo ordering the action got out and Gamestop has admitted that they did this, claiming that the publisher, Square Enix, didn't tell them that the coupon would be included and, I guess because the service that provided the free digital copy, OnLive, is an outside company, that was some wrongdoing on Square Enix's part.[/QUOTE]

To clarify, GameStop is hard at work setting up it's own streaming service. So I suspect they didn't want to promote their future competition.

The negative PR from this stunt is going to far outweigh any risk GameStop was facing with just leaving these intact. 
[/QUOTE]

I absolutely agree. This has to be the stupidest possible approach GameStop could have taken. 

[MoonMetropolis]

I must admit that, despite everything, I do continue to shop at GameStop for their low prices and pre-order bonuses.  And there aren't many used game stores around here.

[DrCruse1]

There's a simple solution to this. DON'T BUY FROM GAMESTOP! You can always order from Amazon, Best Buy, Target, etc. I don't see why people are so upset. All you have to do is avoid them.

[gilly]

I can never understand why people shop at Gamestop.
They are a plague!

[Edward1]

Any time you buy anything "new" from gamestop, always assume it is used.  There is no reason to ever buy a new game from gamestop.   Infact, theres very little reason to ever step inside a gamestop. 

Is gamestop telling everyone who buys a "new" Deus Ex 3 game they are doing this?   if not, this could be considered fraud. 

[Justlikeheaven]

The only time I buy ANYTHING from there is when they have a huge sale. That being said... I never go in the store. I order online. There prices usually suck though so buying from them is a rare occurrence. Buying new games from them online is better than in store because they come from a warehouse where they haven't been tampered with by the employees.

This latest strike against them is simple absurd though. You cannot open a game and re-seal it to sell it as new. It's like a car... The second you drive off the lot it's now used and the value just went down. As soon as videogame is opened the same thing should happen.

[VideoGameCritic]

The fact that video games are considered frivolous entertainment allows the industry to get away with things like this which are clearly illegal. 

If this kind of stuff went on in the car industry there would be laws passed and people would be fined or arrested.  But video games are not on law enforcement's or politician's radar, so they can do whatever they please.

It's the same reason why companies like EA can run monopolies - the government has bigger fish to fry.

One can only hope that the public backlash against behavior like this might be enough to keep them in line.