The Truth About GameQuest Direct
We recently sat down with Kevin, Director of Operations at GameQuest Direct -- a staple amongst hardcore gamers wishing to get their fix of some of the industry's more popular, yet hard to find games. Join us as Kevin addresses everything from the company's roots, to the controversy that currently involves their line of business. More importantly, will Panzer Dragoon Saga, or Suikoden re-releases ever see the light of day? Read the full interview below.
GamePetition: Can you explain exactly what you guys do at GameQuest Direct for the people that aren't in the know? What makes you unique compared to other specialty game retailers?
Kevin: "Well let me just give you a little brief history on GameQuest. GameQuest has been around for 15 years and we were founded in 1992 in Orange California. [We] opened our first store and from there it was nothing but growth. At the height of our retail operations with brick and mortar, we had 25 locations. We sold about 14 of the locations to Electronics Boutique back in 2001 and thereafter basically we started focusing online. By selling a portion of our [brick and mortar] operations to EB, it basically allowed us to focus on our online operations. From 2001 to 2003, we pretty much learned the business. From 2003 forward, we have focused on creating a unique identity for GameQuest. We have gone to the manufacturers and said look, these games are what our clients have been looking for, what do we need to do to bring these titles back into the marketplace? Companies like Capcom, they really don't have much interest in catalog goods -- things that have been in the marketplace for more than a few years, or maybe even a year -- it really doesn't interest them. When you have Gamestop and Gamecrazy's of the world, they are so focused on used games, that the publishers are losing out on residuals. Once we have sat down and have done some analysis with [the publishers], it makes financial sense for them. If a game is in short supply, but hot in demand, it can fetch as much as $200 dollars. Right now as you know, Suikoden II is going for $200 dollars. Valkyrie Profile, is what, $150? These titles, what is Konami or Enix getting out of it? Absolutely zero."
GamePetition: How do you decide which games will be reprinted and exactly what goes into that decision making process?
Kevin: "On an average GameQuest Direct gets about maybe 250 to 300 e-mails collectively from international or domestic people either looking for an item that we have in stock, or wanting an item that is not in stock. Once we see that there is a continuous request for a title [we begin to look into the inquiry seriously]. GameQuest is a more reputable alternative and also it takes away all the headaches and hassles of bidding, and [not knowing] what type of product you're going to get ultimately. There have been unfortunate incidents that GameQuest wasn't able to provide the best shipping timing, or got the item damaged in transit, but honestly if you look at the scope of our business, that reflects less that 1%. To answer your question specifically, I think our customers are the best way we determine what needs to be reprinted. We have approximately, in our company, 32 employees which includes the retail stores and our online division. Among them I think, including myself we were or [currently] are, a hardcore gamer, where we know what games are definitely one of a kind -- a unique game.
Also, we have so much feedback from our ongoing operation, that it doesn't take long to figure out that
Marvel Vs. Capcom is definitely a title we'd love to remake. But knowing the licensing issue with Marvel, EA, and Capcom, it would be a next to impossible task. If we could release Marvel vs. Capcom today, it would cost a minimum of at least $100 retail. Titles like those, to be honest with you, I think once we have established ourselves enough, we will definitely look into it, but right now we are not going to take a risk to that extreme. In our opinion a game like Rez, our company sold, I want to say 2000 pieces in less than a month. Not because it was Christmas season, but in the past we have noticed that any game that is going for over $100 dollars on eBay, as soon as we receive it, we can sell 2000 pieces within less than 30 days, mostly within the first two weeks."
GamePetition: Let me just say that the majority of gamers, and we here at Shamegames think you're doing the industry a favor with getting these games back where they belong -- in the hands of people that play them... Now, I'm not sure if you guys have heard this or not, but a lot of serious game collectors, and folks who make a significant profit selling rare titles on eBay are up in arms about your services, they feel as if it's hurting the value of their collections. What are your thoughts on this?
Kevin: "I think any independent can tell you they don't like Wal-Mart, but Wal-Mart is a fact of life. So in essence, in the same parallel, GameQuest is in business to make money, and also run its business. What we are doing, is we are filling in the demand that exists out there. Now if a collector is more of a reseller, how would it bother them? It's not like we are competing with their products, because we are not going to a collector and saying look, don't sell it on the marketplace. Yes, they can also differentiate themselves by saying look, this is the original run.
At the end of the day when they're selling an item for $200 dollars, and GameQuest can sell the same item for $50 dollars, collectors, I guess if that's their personal collection, I don't think it should effect them, but if they're in the business to resell that collection, obviously it will impact them. Then again, if we were not doing business, tomorrow some other company may pick up this idea and want to do the same thing. So, I don't think it's one of those things that you can blame our company for, it's just, there's a demand for it, and GameQuest is filling in that void. I think where a lot of the negative feedback has come from are the people buying for resell purposes.
In my opinion, if a game player wants to buy a game, they should not have to go out there and pay $200 dollars for a game like Rez, or matter of fact, any game. I grew up on the original Nintendo, I think I even had an Atari 2600, and I remember video games, whenever you thought about it, there's always been a $50 dollar benchmark for an average. So what we have done is, yes, there are times when we can sell an item for a little bit more, but you have to keep in mind that at times, we are taking risks both financially, shipping, storage, and other factors of running a business."
GamePetition: Some of the collectors say they are willing to compromise, and are requesting that reprints indicate somewhere on the disc and the packaging, that the game is indeed a reprint. Is this something you've tried to address or consider, or have the publishers been reluctant to adopt an idea such as this?
Kevin: "Well, I think the publisher, they have no incentive, neither does GameQuest have any incentive. But if you're an avid gamer, as you know in the last six months, Sony in particular -- on PlayStation 2 -- does not put the top seal on, so that is the first indication that it is a reprint.. In the beginning, GameQuest did not know how to approach the marketplace so we, and I do apologize to the gaming community, but we were kind of deceptive about how we approached and told the marketplace, because the manufacturer didn't want to make too much fuss about it, they kind of wanted us to be very quiet. But, how can you be quiet about something when you have several thousand units? So, we basically went back to them and said look, we have to let the gaming community know that it is a reprint. To a gamer, I think, and I think about it from an end-user [standpoint], if someone is looking to buy a game, and to them, if you look at a parallel of Greatest Hits Vs. non-Greatest Hits, I think many people don't care because they are buying for the actual content of the game play."
GamePetition: Right, most people don't care, but the hardcore gamers, and the people that care about the look of their collections do indeed care.
Kevin: "I agree, I agree, but what I'm trying to tell you is, if a customer e-mails us... matter of fact on a daily basis, we probably get 15 e-mails a day of people asking if this is a Greatest Hits or Non-Greatest Hits game. We are very up front about it, we say well, at this current moment, our inventory is only Greatest Hits, or we have both in stock, please specify at the checkout. But you know to be honest with you, I don't think the publisher has any incentive, nor does GameQuest have any incentive [to specify on the cover when games are reprints] because that is something that is going to cost money to go back and change the layout. When you change the layout they have to go back to Sony for approval. The cost of republishing will go up for us, and I don't think it makes financial sense for GameQuest to go and spend more money to specify an item that is reprinted.
What I can do is ask our web publisher to see in the future if a game is republished, maybe we can specify in one of the comments that this is a reprint title that is exclusively available to GameQuest. Currently, GameQuest has the title Growlanser: Generations Deluxe for the Playstation 2, which I'm sure you've heard about. That is the original release, it's not a reprint but our price is very competitive. Now, you don't hear a big ire there, that GameQuest has that game, because I can guarantee you if GameQuest did not have Growlancer Deluxe at this time it would be going for $150 dollars. I could tell you if you take it out tomorrow, that it would be going for $150 tomorrow in the marketplace, because if you look at the contents of that, the watch alone has a value of about $50 dollars."
GamePetition: How much are you guys selling that for?
Kevin: "It's $64.99, it's the Deluxe Edition."
GamePetition: We've heard you guys are in talks with Square-Enix? What can we expect out of that relationship as far as reprints are concerned?
Kevin: "There are certain titles that are owned by Enix, and there are certain titles owned by Square.
The Enix titles have been harder to reprint versus the Square games. Keep in mind, they were two different companies, with two different licensing issues. I think with the Square games, we had very little problems getting the games in, from Final Fantasy VIII, IX, Xenogears, etc. But Enix titles, be it Torneko or titles of such nature, we are having a more difficult time because of licensing issues. I think the issue goes back to Japan, because Enix in Japan, they were, and again I'm just speculating, I don't have the entire facts in front of me, but my feeling is, we will be able to nail down that problem within the next few months.
We are hoping to have at least one or two titles from Enix before E3."
GamePetition: A lot of people want Panzer Dragoon Saga for the Sega Saturn reprinted, is there any chance of this happening? Have you talked to Sega at all about the possibility?
Kevin: "You know the Sega Saturn games, are, it's one of those things that Sega does not want to touch upon. I think the decision has to be made at Sega Japan versus Sega USA. In essence, when it comes to something of this nature, Sega US has very little control because of the nature of Japanese company structures. I think at this current moment, we do not foresee an update in their future, but it may not be long where Sega Japan can be convinced that it's in their benefit to reprint, or bring about a game.
The thing is, you have to keep in mind that a lot of times a manufacturer fears that when a game is reprinted, it hurts their current game market. One of the big problems we are having with Konami is, they feel that if they bring Suikoden II, it will hurt the market for Suikoden IV or III or even Suikoden Tactics. Whereas, as you probably know yourself, Suikoden II or I being re-released will help the marketplace, not hurt the marketplace. It will create an excitement for the game, and once someone has the opportunity to play the original edition, they might pick up the newer edition."
We'd like to take this time to thank Kevin for his enlightening and no-nonsense answers to the questions, that I'm sure -- if you're anything like us -- many of you were wondering about. We'd want to reiterate that we commend the efforts of GameQuest and their ability to get some of the rare, yet overpriced titles, back into the hands of gamers everywhere. We understand that there are many collectors, who value to worth of their collections, and are justly concerned about these practices. It appears that GameQuest is willing to take steps to help out collectors as much as possible. We're also confident, that in due time, there will undoubtedly be something that distinguishes precious first run copies of titles. However, it must also be remembered that gaming is just that -- gaming. It's in a whole another realm than that of say, comic books or baseball cards. To experience a game, you have to be able to play it, and at the absurdly high prices that some of the rare titles demand, it's next to impossible for some game enthusiasts to achieve that experience. A service like GameQuest Direct is long overdue, and we hope they will continue to expand their business. Who knows, maybe one day we'll even see our beloved Panzer Dragoon Saga back on store shelves.
-Jeff Kennedy
You can visit GameQuest Direct at the following URL:
http://www.gamequestdirect.com
