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Do you think GameStop will pick up the slack, after Best Buy, Target, etc. stop carrying physical games?

Will GameStop capitalize once there's less competition


  • Total voters
    36

kiphalfton

Member
GameStop has a chance to capitalize once places like Best Buy, Target, etc. stop selling physical games.

Will they, probably not.

Although the perfect opportunity I think they will double down on Funko pops and other garbage, instead of taking advantage of having less competition...
 

Valonquar

Member
No Way What GIF
 

Kilau

Member
Best Buy is still going to sell physical video games and Target hasn’t announced they are ditching physical media.
 

Dthomp

Member
If they were run like a competent company they could take huge advantage here by bumping trade in values to be reasonable without a 25 dollar a year membership and come down slightly on used titles. I as a shopper wouldn't have an issue if I was getting in the ballpark of 50% value (35 on trade credit on brand new trades of 70 dollar titles), would at least make it feel worth trading in. Other issue is used games that are $3 bucks cheaper then new. If they had a better setup to evaluate titles and at least be kind of competitive they could do wonders for their stores. Mine is a joke, like 15-25 used and new titles in a section, but half the store is fucking Yu-Gi-Oh cards, T-shirts, cheap PC stuff and a big toy section.
 

Dthomp

Member

Ok, so I'm not saying this is ok to do to a customer, but they just didn't have options for employees to make this right at store level (at least when I managed one). What this likely is is from an online order that a store sent back and they just passed along. Little shit thieves steal the boxes for some ungodly reason and at least I would either bury that copy so it never sold or sent it back to the warehouse as "defective" to get it out of my store, but they are too cheap to just move it to used and lose the couple bucks and you get this crap. I managed for them a couple times in my life and doubt they have changed that much from my tenures, but they are just as shitty to the employees and management with this crap as they are with the customer.

The only thing that keeps me from being a shopper at my local store now is the beyond awful staff at my store. A bunch of Yu-gi-oh kids hanging behind the counter completely ignoring customers, and while I don't need help, I know they are supposed to be at the very least greeting my ass.
 
I guess short term they can.
But how much longer will physical media be viable?

This is the bigger issue for sure. And it has more to do with the publishers than the console makers or the brick-&-mortar stores. The new Alan Wake and Yakuza are probably just the first small waves of the upcoming tsunami. Publishers realize that the disk copies devalue the games (both from retail discounts and used copies) and the sales splits have gotten to a point where they figure they can chance it. Remember, for them it isn't about what % of recent games sold on disk, but what % of those buyers wouldn't have bought digitally if the disk wasn't available.
 
Everything is moving online. Only chance for Gamestop is to start focusing heavily on their online stores, continue focusing on geeky and game related merchandise (clothing, T-shirts, etc...), get exclusive content (game figures, etc....). The other option would be to break into vintage gaming, like DK Oldies style, at least online. I don't see them being able to compete with Amazon, Walmart, or Target for online sales unless there is a reason to go their website. They are going to keep shutting down more stores as the demand for physical games dies off, and keeping the remaining profitable stores kept up to date is going to be hard. We've seen this before with Sears, Sam Goody, Blockbuster, and Radio Shack. Physical games are dying, so they need to evolve or die.
 
^ I've often thought that they should work a little harder at trying to attract some of the PC gaming crowd as well. Yeah, they probably couldn't compete on price of components with Amazon, Newegg, etc. But, if they offered build-out services that could be a big advantage, a place that you can run to locally would have some benefit as well. There aren't all that many Micro-Centers after all.
 
This is an ideal situation for Gamestop.

In the near future, their strength will be selling physical media. As other major retailers cut back or stop selling physical media, Gamestop's vast collection of pre-owned titles will cushion the impact of the shift to digital.

Due to supply and demand, they can even raise game prices and focus on exclusive items.
 
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Gamestop is the rare company where when I buy a "new" product from their website, I know there's a good chance that I'm getting an unopened possibly used product. I have little faith in them fulfilling a basic business transaction.
 

Sorcerer

Member
Best Buy is still going to sell physical video games and Target hasn’t announced they are ditching physical media.
Target restructured most of their stores and got rid of dvd's and blu-rays within the last 2 weeks. Unless you are talking about video games.
 
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RavageX

Member
I personally feel all they have to do is properly support retro physical titles, have a membership program that doesnt sound like a rip off, get rid of all the nonsense collectibles, keep supporting pc hardware along with physical media.

I dont really think its a difficult thing. The system is kinda there, but stupid choices always set them back.
 

Dorfdad

Gold Member
GameStop has a chance to capitalize once places like Best Buy, Target, etc. stop selling physical games.

Will they, probably not.

Although the perfect opportunity I think they will double down on Funko pops and other garbage, instead of taking advantage of having less competition...


If you mean rise prices on used titles and offer less trade in value than yes they will pick up the slack.
 
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Mr Reasonable

Completely Unreasonable
Video games retail would be one of the last places you'd consider opening a business if you had a lump sum to work with and there are plenty of reasons why It's not going to stick around longterm.


1) business is in decline. A shrinking percentage of customers want physical media.
2) lower margins - distributors have been demanding higher and higher wholesale prices to physical stores as time has gone by. It's harder to make a profit when your costs go up.
3) constantly devaluing stock - with years of precedent, gamers expect games to devalue and to be cheaper months after launch. Don't get stuck with a bunch of games that haven't sold or you might make a loss when being undercut by digital stores, online retailers and (if you can find one) other physical stores.
4) parts of the industry have already disappeared - pc games don't get physical releases, now we're starting to see big name games on console do the same. A safe bet would not be that the next consoles will even be equipped to play physical media.

Annecdotal:
5) extremely price sensitive customer base - gamers are quick to price compare, were one of the early communities to have really embraced online price comparison and have a culture of sharing and exploiting deals and glitches that I'm not certain is the same as with other enthusiast consumers.
6) price is all that's important, it's difficult to provide extra value that differentiates your business when gamers, certainly the most passionate ones - unfortunately, potentially the ones most likely to want physical media - know what they want and don't want or need sales advisor help.
7) efforts to diversify product lineup has alienated customers. Here in the UK, I see the same complaints about our physical chain retailer, Game, selling collectables and assorted products that are not video games.

Those are just off the top of my head. Tbh, I find it quite interesting to see how even people who advocate for physical product put that preference to one side and cannot forgive various efforts to keep physical retailers in business. It feels a lot like the audience want a store from a different time, which coincidentally is also where the product they want comes from too.

In answer to the thread's titular question, physical media would need a miracle to survive and won't get one, imo. If the market shrinks gradually, the remaining retailers will gradually pull out as the business shrinks and declines. In that sense, a particular chain could be last man standing.
But I think we could see a sudden change in the market. If physical retailers can hold on until the next Gen of consoles they may find the new systems don't have a physical media capability and that'll be curtains. If Nintendo's next system doesn't support physical media, then I think it's unlikely that retailers will survive until the next PS/Xbox hardware anyway as that would represent a sudden, significant decrease in the market they can service. But even if Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony do continue with physical releases, I would think it unlikely that dedicated physical retail will survive 5 years.
 
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Soodanim

Member
Knowing the sort of profit margin on games that GAME has here in the UK, prices can't really go any lower without making losses. Amazon and other online retailers that are happy to sell at a loss because of their wide product ranges ruined them and they could not and still cannot compete. That's why they have to sell all the merch they didn't sell years ago - they'd be dead and buried already otherwise.

I imagine GAME and GameStop are essentially identical, so the same rules apply. They might not operate with ideal business practices at times, but on some level I feel sorry for them. They're victims of aggressive pricing from businesses that don't need to play by the same rules, and the result is another nail in the declining traditional high street. In the case of GAME, it has already been bought by a retail group with a poor reputation and branches exist as locations within a low level sports fashion retailer (Sports Direct).

Gaming retail is a shambles. I wonder what would have happened to Gamestation if GAME hadn't bought them.
 
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