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[Starwolf_UK]

Did GAME ever price match trade-ins. I thought it was gamestation and nowerdays I thought you had to beg for it.

Dave Hughes, who oversaw the re-launch of the GAME.co.uk website, will also leave the company.

Given how popular that (useless) website redesign was...then again he might not have been the architect but was just doing what the focuses surveys said the site needed to have which was big buttons and no on-screen content...

I don't think laying off 46 members of staff at their HQ is going to resolve the current problems. They need to address the inherent problems they have outlayed in this thread and others.

They are also putting up the overseas stores for sale (HMV did the same, though they sold Waterstones too...will GAME go as far as to sell Gamestation?) bids by Friday (which given they're probably not bleeding terrible amounts of money wouldn't be a bad thing)

Plus the too little too late lets get round to shutting down some stores when we have two on top of each other.

At the end of the day their business and their priorities need a rethink. Middle management being target focused without realising the targets are dumb (like 123rl pointed out) putting pressure on the lower employees killing morale. Upper management is stuck in an ivory tower/appeasing the loan companies and won't hear of problems for months.

 

[Azure Phoenix]

Unfortunately a lot of people assume stores will get stock in of everything so they just walk in on the day, but with the way things are going it wouldn't surprise me if they only sent a bare bones amount, especially if no-one bothers to order it.

Pretty much. Sometimes I feel like I'm banging my head on a brick wall when I try to tell customers that if they want to buy a specific small niche title in-store they'll need to place a free pre-order or we won't be allocated any stock - almost all of the time they refuse and then still turn up on the release day asking to buy the game. A couple of people wanted to buy Atelier Torori on the release day but because I was the only person to pre-order we only got sent a single copy.

Did GAME ever price match trade-ins. I thought it was gamestation and nowerdays I thought you had to beg for it.

Personally I'd never been clear on that, however they sent out a leaflet to reward card holders the other day advertising price matches on trade-ins so I suppose so.

 

[Zeouterlimits]

Would think that at least some of the Irish stores would be profitable, so surprised they'd be selling them off.

 

[checkeredknight]

Did GAME ever price match trade-ins. I thought it was gamestation and nowerdays I thought you had to beg for it.

As part of my "uniform" for Game Station, I have a shirt that says "We beat any trade-in price by £1! Ask staff for more details!" plastered on the front. I hardly call that having to beg for it.

We also have a huge A2 poster in the store stating the same thing, along with other random POS scattered around the shop floor. I'm not sure with GAME, but you'd have to be blind to miss it in Game Station.

 

[Link83]

Apparently GAME is not stocking Tekken 3D Prime Edition:-
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-02-17-game-confirms-its-not-stocking-tekken-3ds
Doesn't sound good...

 

[dc89]

You actually have 6 years in England - the Sale of Goods act.

Yeah, lots of people misunderstand this legislation. For example, lots of people think if it goes wrong after 4 years I can go get a new one. Well you can't, the retailer has the choice of what they do, not the consumer and they have the right to do what is most cost effective for them. Refund, partial-refund, replacement or a repair at their cost.

And don't just assume that if it goes wrong they have to do something about it. The retailer can ask for something which is known in law as the burden of proof, basically they ask for a certified engineer's report stating that it's a manufacturing fault and not wear and tear etc. This is also at the cost of the consumer.

---

Oh and yeah, GAME are knackered. I went to Sainsbury's for my MGS HD Collection. £29,

 

[Starwolf_UK]

They're not out of trouble yet* so can't afford to make mistakes of stocking games they'll struggle to sell the initial inventory of without loss (plus in order to make a pathetic profit on it they have to order a big enough bulk which ups the cost). I'd be surprised if any "small" releases are sold for the foreseeable future. Given the Eurogamer comments of no bit.trip saga listed...(then again Rising Star games are not fans of GAME at all).

Alas, it is a sad day when the specialist can not be relied on to stock titles but when they make a smaller percentage of the overall trade...shame that small % comes from your biggest most vocal customers customers.

Finally, Nintendo is publishing that title. Nintendo do not accept returns of inventory (so if you order too much, tough) and also have extremely high wholesale prices (making it unprofitable).

*-If they can get good cash money for their overseas stores and maybe accelerate shutting down duplicate stores then they might be alright.

 

[Moobabe]

Hours cut. Just sayin'

 

[PumpkinPie]

Went to my local GAME yesterday, didn't seem like they had limited stock of anything really, it just seemed normal. Prices were still poop though.

 

[dc89]

Hours cut. Just sayin'

You work for GAME and have had your hours cut?

Went to my local GAME yesterday, didn't seem like they had limited stock of anything really, it just seemed normal. Prices were still poop though.

They're not the only ones on the high street that are struggling to compete with the online giants.

For example look at John Lewis who price match. I bought my 3DS there on launch, because I pre-ordered it there and was charged the lowest price, they price matched Tesco so I think it was £197 or something like that, I even got it a day before launch! And if I found it cheaper elsewhere after, within 30 days or something I could get a refund of the difference.

Now they don't sell anything separately, all there stuff is bundled. You can't buy a console by itself now. The cheapest Vita they are doing is £299 because it comes bundled with a 4GB card, Uncharted and some cheap 3rd party accessories which look a bit rubbish.

Yup even games, you can't just go in and buy a game anymore, you get 800MS points with the 360 games and like a Yoshi keyring with Mario Kart etc. They are charging £40 for them and don't have to price match because it's not identical to the competition. £40 for Mario Kart 7, are you really telling me that Yoshi keyring or whatever it is is really worth £10?

So I guess price matching really effects margins. The whole market must be a tough place right now.

 

[ScreenSplitter]

Went to my local GAME yesterday, didn't seem like they had limited stock of anything really, it just seemed normal. Prices were still poop though.

This is my biggest problem.

Charging £40 for Mario Kart 7 and Resident Evil Revelations? £45 for Dead Island... preowned?

I am waiting ever so patiently for this company to become as bankrupted as fuck, or at least getting some new management in that aren't completely out of touch with everything

 

[panda21]

I went to GAME and bought Soul Calibur V. New and sealed.

I got it home and opened it and found a DVDR in place of the game disc. Of course they replaced it and apologised but that is super shitty. I guess they sell sealed returned copies as new without checking them properly.

 

[PumpkinPie]

This is my biggest problem.

Charging £40 for Mario Kart 7 and Resident Evil Revelations? £45 for Dead Island... preowned?

I am waiting ever so patiently for this company to become as bankrupted as fuck, or at least getting some new management in that aren't completely out of touch with everything

LOL. Yeah, I noticed a special deal in Gamestation: Mario 3D Land £39.99 new or £37.99 pre-owned. Good luck with your ambitions of staying afloat in 2012, GAME Group.

 

[ScreenSplitter]

LOL. Yeah, I noticed a special deal in Gamestation: Mario 3D Land £39.99 new or £37.99 pre-owned. Good luck with your ambitions of staying afloat in 2012, GAME Group.

For an impoverished student that wants to play new releases, they're my worst enemy. And as a former employee who was forced to peddle their corporate bullshit. And got punished when I didn't.

Decent customer service? Only if you sell them an insurance plan on their DSiXL.

 

[Chopper]

LOL. Yeah, I noticed a special deal in Gamestation: Mario 3D Land £39.99 new or £37.99 pre-owned. Good luck with your ambitions of staying afloat in 2012, GAME Group.

This post is a pretty much spot-on illustration of why GAME is shit and need sorting out. And, of course, there are five fucking used copies for every new one. So inept it hurts my brain.

 

[checkeredknight]

Apparently GAME is not stocking Tekken 3D Prime Edition:-
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-02-17-game-confirms-its-not-stocking-tekken-3ds
Doesn't sound good...

Our store has had no pre-orders for it and we've had no customers come in and ask for it. I think we should always still stock new releases, but there has been zero demand for it in our store. We need more copies of the MGS HD Collection though... we're having to turn quite a few customers away at the moment for both that and Kingdoms of Amalur. =/

Also, some bad and good news in regards to trading. The GameStation I work at has changed how we handle trade-in price beating. We no longer match / beat cash trade-in prices and we now only add £1 on top of the transaction for credit, rather than each individual item; basically meaning, we match the best trade-in offers and give customers £1 extra over-all. Most customers seem fine with this, even the regulars who usually get £1 on top of everything. Still, it's a step backwards imo.

The good news is, we have an offer on at the moment where you get £5 extra on top of every two games traded in for credit. This only applies to titles that have a sales value of £2.99 or higher on the shop floor. It's pretty good; it basically means if you trade in 8 old games you don't play any more you're going to get £20 extra on top of your normal trade-in price. We've had a lot of people that have traded in old Wii and DS titles that aren't worth that much any more and have walked away happy.

Hours cut. Just sayin'

Happening to our store too. We're getting hours cut so the company can save money, while head office are sending in stock we don't need. The higher ups need to do some serious re-thinking.

I am waiting ever so patiently for this company to become as bankrupted as fuck, or at least getting some new management in that aren't completely out of touch with everything

While I agree on the management thing, I'd appreciate not losing my job thanks. Also, I suggest you read the second part of this article.

 

[ScreenSplitter]

This post is a pretty much spot-on illustration of why GAME is shit and need sorting out. And, of course, there are five fucking used copies for every new one. So inept it hurts my brain.

Funny story; we got told to do that. We were heavily encouraged to "gut" new copies for manuals, discs, etc. and put out more used games. The fact that the used games section for every console is three times as large as the new one tells you a lot.

 

[checkeredknight]

Funny story; we got told to do that. We were heavily encouraged to "gut" new copies for manuals, discs, etc. and put out more used games. The fact that the used games section for every console is three times as large as the new one tells you a lot.

Are you surprised? It's the same in Grainger games. It's the same in HMV. It's becoming the same in places like ASDA, with them starting to push pre-owned titles themselves now. Even Argos do trade-ins.

Companies make more money back through pre-owned sales and a lot of high street customers like to trade their games in (otherwise stores wouldn't have so many of them.) Saying that, I've never had to open a brand new copy of a game and put it into the pre-owned section (although I'm not saying it doesn't happen in other stores.)

 

[ScreenSplitter]

Our store has had no pre-orders for it and we've had no customers come in and ask for it. I think we should always still stock new releases, but there has been zero demand for it in our store. We need more copies of the MGS HD Collection though... we're having to turn quite a few customers away at the moment for both that and Kingdoms of Amalur. =/

Also, some bad and good news in regards to trading. The GameStation I work at has changed how we handle trade-in price beating. We no longer match / beat cash trade-in prices and we now only add £1 on top of the transaction for credit, rather than each individual item; basically meaning, we match the best trade-in offers and give customers £1 extra over-all. Most customers seem fine with this, even the regulars who usually get £1 on top of everything. Still, it's a step backwards imo.

The good news is, we have an offer on at the moment where you get £5 extra on top of every two games traded in for credit. This only applies to titles that have a sales value of £2.99 or higher on the shop floor. It's pretty good; it basically means if you trade in 8 old games you don't play any more you're going to get £20 extra on top of your normal trade-in price. We've had a lot of people that have traded in old Wii and DS titles that aren't worth that much any more and have walked away happy.



Happening to our store too. We're getting hours cut so the company can save money, while head office are sending in stock we don't need. The higher ups need to do some serious re-thinking.



While I agree on the management thing, I'd appreciate not losing my job thanks. Also, I suggest you read the second part of this article.

Are you surprised? It's the same in Grainger games. It's the same in HMV. It's becoming the same in places like ASDA, with them starting to push pre-owned titles themselves now. Even Argos do trade-ins.

Companies make more money back through pre-owned sales and a lot of high street customers like to trade their games in (otherwise stores wouldn't have so many of them.) Saying that, I've never had to open a brand new copy of a game and put it into the pre-owned section (although I'm not saying it doesn't happen in other stores.)

I'm not saying others are completely innocent. But the way GAME handles it highlights it as the worst of a bad bunch.

 

[MrNyarlathotep]

I suggest you read the second part of this article.

No GAME means no specialist retail in the UK. That means a shrinking market. That means fewer games released. That means less publishing staff. That means reduced media spending to advertise games. That means magazines and websites become financially pressured.

Many in the games industry would feel the sharp pang of GAME dying.

Absolute bollocks.

Music companies fought hard for HMV to survive because HMV is an important resource for 'non-chart' music, but Game don't fulfill that 'specialist retailer' role.

The selection of games they sell is the exact same selection you see at a larger Asda or a Tescos, so how exactly is that going to equate to less games sold? The COD / FIFA / Mario buying crowd are still going to be buying those titles, except they'll be picking them up from the 'entertainment' aisle with their weekly shop.

When Our Price shut down as the highstreet 'specialist music retailer', it didn't see the music industry in decline, because the future of buying music was never buying chart cassettes from a bricks and mortar store.

The future of buying games is not buying DVDs in a bricks and mortar store - any PC gamers have been well aware of this for years as retailers have just stopped selling to them.

 

[PumpkinPie]

While I agree on the management thing, I'd appreciate not losing my job thanks. Also, I suggest you read the second part of this article.

Change your quote plz, somehow you got my name mixed up with someone else ???

 

[FanTomasas]

Why would you even go to Game or Gamestation? Just place an order online, get a massive discount, even if you order from their online stores.

 

[Brera]

Even as a share holder in GAME, I can see that it's one shit outfit. It always was. It's not even really GAME...it's futureshop or EB.

GAME was an awesome company that they bought out and turned to shit. Gamestation was the same, they used to be great but now there is no difference between the two.

I'd never trade in a game there, the prices are a rip off and their trade ins are shit. You're basically giving away your games if you buy from there as after the trade in, the game price is the same as most online prices!

Having said that, GAME have a future and my 10'000 shares are going to be worth fucking shitloads in 3 years when the next gen starts! Shitloads!

There is an odd bargain in there every now and again...

 

[Brera]

The best place to buy games is also...ASDA. Fucking awesome collection, prices are similar to online prices and the layout is spacious and well organised.

 

[Yen]

Even as a share holder in GAME, I can see that it's one shit outfit. It always was. It's not even really GAME...it's futureshop or EB.

GAME was an awesome company that they bought out and turned to shit. Gamestation was the same, they used to be great but now there is no difference between the two.

I'd never trade in a game there, the prices are a rip off and their trade ins are shit. You're basically giving away your games if you buy from there as after the trade in, the game price is the same as most online prices!

Having said that, GAME have a future and my 10'000 shares are going to be worth fucking shitloads in 3 years when the next gen starts! Shitloads!

There is an odd bargain in there every now and again...

That's assuming GAME can last that long.

 

[ScreenSplitter]

The best place to buy games is also...ASDA. Fucking awesome collection, prices are similar to online prices and the layout is spacious and well organised.

This has always been true. New release £40 in Gamestation? Usually £30 in ASDA. Non-specialist retailers have less to lose by pricing their games lower.

To all those afraid of losing their jobs, I completely sympathise. But there won't be just no specialist retailer. Ideally if GAME went under, a new retailer would pop up that learnt from GAME's numerous mistakes (Manic pricing, used games wankery, and trying to sell you every useless bit of tat you can stick on your console of choice).

Or maybe the current heads of GAME can either undergo a massive reformation and get fired and replaced with smarter individuals. Either way it needs to change. Shopping at retail for video games in the UK right now is anything but pleasant. It almost seems like they're doing everything in their power to make digital distribution seem the more desirable option, when clearly they should be doing the opposite.

And no, I don't mean a free fucking t shirt with your Donkey Kong preorder.

 

[Starwolf_UK]

Employees have been doing the beat by £1 thing in Gamestation wrong for years as I always heard lots of complaints of "guy tried to rip me off by giving me £1 over the whole transaction so I snatched the game back and did it one at a time. He was then really slow for some reason".

Are you surprised? It's the same in Grainger games. It's the same in HMV. It's becoming the same in places like ASDA, with them starting to push pre-owned titles themselves now. Even Argos do trade-ins.

Argos have quietly given up. Don't blame them as their system did not update prices regularly enough and was too generous leading to the locusts down at hotukdeals to flood them with bombas.

Even as a share holder in GAME, I can see that it's one shit outfit. It always was. It's not even really GAME...it's futureshop or EB.

GAME was an awesome company that they bought out and turned to shit. Gamestation was the same, they used to be great but now there is no difference between the two.

What I don't get is the whole it was EB that bought out GAME not GAME bought out EB. If you're saying GAME was better before EB bought them out how come EB was also better. Did they both go into decline after the merger?

 

[Danj]

The best place to buy games is also...ASDA. Fucking awesome collection, prices are similar to online prices and the layout is spacious and well organised.

How do you find out which ASDA stores have the games you want though? Most of the stores I've been to only have like the top 5 chart positions + whatever COD or Halo or whatever game-of-the-week thing. I got lucky with Final Fantasy 13-2 because it came in at #1 (with MGS at #2).

 

[Rich!]

I'd never trade in a game there, the prices are a rip off and their trade ins are shit.

Generally, yeah. However I cannot fault their £130 3DS trade in credit towards a Vita, especially when I only brought my 3DS for £105.

I'm not buying my games from there though, oh no. Amazon's the way to go for that.

 

[Rich!]

So...my store would make £5 profit and had a 50% trade in ratio. The other store would make a £2 loss but have a 120% ratio. So my boss got his ass kicked over our trade in being so much lower even though the obvious reason is that the other stores were losing money. So when my boss stood up for himself and mentioned this during a meeting, the area manager (I mentioned him earlier - a cunt called Shane) said "I don't care. Profitability isn't a KPI. Trade in, is."

that's fucking retarded.

I've just finished a 3 year run as a blockbuster UK store manager, and I admit I was very lucky to have the area manager I did. He didn't give a shit what ranking you were at or whether you were hitting KPI's - as long as you were making a profit, he was happy. He'd argue with his regional manager too, trying to get the point across that a profitable store that misses KPI's on the weekly ranking is way better than a loss making one, that hits all.

 

[Burai]

Absolute bollocks.

Music companies fought hard for HMV to survive because HMV is an important resource for 'non-chart' music, but Game don't fulfill that 'specialist retailer' role.

The selection of games they sell is the exact same selection you see at a larger Asda or a Tescos, so how exactly is that going to equate to less games sold? The COD / FIFA / Mario buying crowd are still going to be buying those titles, except they'll be picking them up from the 'entertainment' aisle with their weekly shop.

When Our Price shut down as the highstreet 'specialist music retailer', it didn't see the music industry in decline, because the future of buying music was never buying chart cassettes from a bricks and mortar store.

The future of buying games is not buying DVDs in a bricks and mortar store - any PC gamers have been well aware of this for years as retailers have just stopped selling to them.

Digital distribution may well be the future but GAME are fucked in the here and now. What fills the void between the death of the biggest specialist retailer in Europe and competent digital distribution on console?

 

[Dragnet]

So, what are the chances of me getting SSX on release if I order from GAME online? Really want Eddie..

 

[Brera]

Employees have been doing the beat by £1 thing in Gamestation wrong for years as I always heard lots of complaints of "guy tried to rip me off by giving me £1 over the whole transaction so I snatched the game back and did it one at a time. He was then really slow for some reason".

What I don't get is the whole it was EB that bought out GAME not GAME bought out EB. If you're saying GAME was better before EB bought them out how come EB was also better. Did they both go into decline after the merger?

EB were always shit. I remember taking Indiana Jones Trilogy on the SNES down there and they offered me £7 trade in... the game was still 3 months old and in those days, games were mega expensive! Rare to see any SNES games under 20 quid unless they were THQ shit!

Game didn't offer trade ins or any of the malarky. Their stores were well stocked, everything on the shelf and brand new and sealed. The stores, especially the one in Birmingham was amazing. Massive TVs everywhere, demo units, they looked like something out of the future with that pink and purple sign!

EB bought out GAME and took over and ran both chains much like with Gamestation now. Slowly they all became EB and GAME disappeared. EB then had a rift with ED US as they were a franchise and didnt want to pay up any more. They dumped the EB brand and became GAME. This GAME was shit. GAME died a long time ago....think of it as infogrammes pretending to be Atari.

I bought £100 worth of shares at 3p last month, the price has bounced back at just under 7p which is when I bought £500 worth of shares. I'm at a break even point right now but confident they'll bounce back. GAME is like a Cockroach. No one likes Cockroaches but they're survivors.

 

[checkeredknight]

Or maybe the current heads of GAME can either undergo a massive reformation and get fired and replaced with smarter individuals. Either way it needs to change. Shopping at retail for video games in the UK right now is anything but pleasant. It almost seems like they're doing everything in their power to make digital distribution seem the more desirable option, when clearly they should be doing the opposite.

I agree with this completely. Personally, I think we should be giving customers something extra for shopping on the high street. Better new prices is one of them, Fifa 12 is still £42.99 and it's ridiculous. I think the stores can do the company some justice, I mean we're happy to help customers diagnose problems with hardware and such even if they didn't buy it from us. Though, when prices are high, trade-ins are rubbish and we have no stock it makes us look like the bad guys.

So, what are the chances of me getting SSX on release if I order from GAME online? Really want Eddie..

The same chance as you would ordering from anywhere else, I would've thought. We're trying hard to push pre-orders for SSX at GameStation due to the exclusive DLC, so I wouldn't be scared that you wont get it.

Change your quote plz, somehow you got my name mixed up with someone else ???

Eh, no idea how that happened. Sorry about that. =X

 

[Dr Zhivago]

The Game in Sheffield has hardly any new 360 titles on the shelves now.

 

[herod]

In my dreams the GS brand is sold off and then GAME go bust. GS then turns into a proper specialist again, like it used to be before GAME fucked them up.

 

[Danny 117]

My local GAME only had pre-order stock for the MGS HD collection. I was disappointed when I went up thinking that the giant GAME would have an in-demand (#2 in the chart) title in stock!

 

[MrNyarlathotep]

Digital distribution may well be the future but GAME are fucked in the here and now. What fills the void between the death of the biggest specialist retailer in Europe and competent digital distribution on console?

As I said, Game fails at being a specialist retailer, because they don't have the breadth of titles that such a term implies of new stock, and the niche title availability is entirely dependent on the taste of the people who have been selling back to them for their used selection.

If I want to impulse buy a recent game in the charts, I can do so at a fairly big selection of supermarkets near me - and usually at a price cheaper than Game would offer anyway.

If I'm buying a title I'm interested in, but don't need to play it right now, I'll buy it online for much cheaper than a retailer offers and have it delivered for free in a couple of days.

If I want an obscure or niche title (you know, exactly the sort of title that a 'specialist store' by implication would stock) I'm far more likely to have luck on Amazon than I am in an actual Game shop.
If I want a cheap secondhand copy, I'm best off on eBay.
If I want a new release in pristine unopened condition on or before release day, I'm going to ShopTo.

Game have no niche that make them valuable to a consumer who knows what they actually want to buy.

For consumers who don't know what they want to buy (like parents shopping for their kids christmas presents or whatever) they arguably have the strength of employees who can make recommendations, but (sorry, Game-employee-GAF) that is at best a hit and miss affair to get genuinely impartial advice on 'if my kid likes X can you recommend a Y?' that can be handled just as well by Amazons 'customers who bought this also bought...'

EDIT:
I tell a lie, Game do have one thing going for them that gamers would want, and that is retailer exclusive preorder bonuses.
That 'perk' is of course only available to them while they have the funding and marketshare to leverage publishers to giving them that, and I for one would be happy to see retailer exclusive bonuses vanish completely.

 

[Danj]

EDIT:
I tell a lie, Game do have one thing going for them that gamers would want, and that is retailer exclusive preorder bonuses.
That 'perk' is of course only available to them while they have the funding and marketshare to leverage publishers to giving them that, and I for one would be happy to see retailer exclusive bonuses vanish completely.

Oh God yes, a thousand times this. Ever since some bright spark came up with the idea of having different preorder items with different retailers or different editions and making it impossible to get all the items without buying multiple copies of the game, it's been an utter shambles.

 

[-Cally-]

I'm trading in my 3DS at game on Wednesday touring the vita price down to £100. After that, I am done with GAME. This past year they have fallen so far it's unreal. I don't think they will be around much longer. I'm sorry to anyone who will lose their jobs of course.

 

[CrunchinJelly]

I'm trading in my 3DS at game on Wednesday touring the vita price down to £100. After that, I am done with GAME. This past year they have fallen so far it's unreal. I don't think they will be around much longer. I'm sorry to anyone who will lose their jobs of course.

You're better off selling the 3DS privately and putting the money towards the Amazon bundle.

 

[Linkified]

Actually Michael French did a great article in MCV(10/02/12) basically calling out people who want GAME done in and what it means for the high street in general regarding specilist game reatilers.

 

[-Cally-]

You're better off selling the 3DS privately and putting the money towards the Amazon bundle.

Unfortunately I already have a non-refundable £25 preorder and £130 in store credit I need to get rid of.

They actually phoned me today and offered me the wifi vita, uncharted and 8gb for £290, when I'm sure amazon are doing a similar deal for £235

 

[Linkified]

This also happened:

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/industry-rallies-around-troubled-game/091006

Now if companies see the importance in GAME, then why all the doom and gloom its not like within the next 6 months they will go under.

Edit: Here is French's article finally found it:

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/opinion-game-lives-to-fight-another-day/091007

 

[herod]

Actually Michael French did a great article in MCV(10/02/12) basically calling out people who want GAME done in and what it means for the high street in general regarding specilist game reatilers.

Except, as has been pointed out many times already, Game are a long away from being specialist, they carry little more than a supermarket, indie shops absolutely put them to shame, and Gamestation pre-buyout is a distant dream of what a specialist should look like.

 

[Salvadora]

I went in today, Couldn't believe some of the prices. 3DS games in particular, What a joke. ASDA is king.

 

[Majora]

As I said, Game fails at being a specialist retailer, because they don't have the breadth of titles that such a term implies of new stock, and the niche title availability is entirely dependent on the taste of the people who have been selling back to them for their used selection.

If I want to impulse buy a recent game in the charts, I can do so at a fairly big selection of supermarkets near me - and usually at a price cheaper than Game would offer anyway.

If I'm buying a title I'm interested in, but don't need to play it right now, I'll buy it online for much cheaper than a retailer offers and have it delivered for free in a couple of days.

If I want an obscure or niche title (you know, exactly the sort of title that a 'specialist store' by implication would stock) I'm far more likely to have luck on Amazon than I am in an actual Game shop.
If I want a cheap secondhand copy, I'm best off on eBay.
If I want a new release in pristine unopened condition on or before release day, I'm going to ShopTo.

Game have no niche that make them valuable to a consumer who knows what they actually want to buy.

For consumers who don't know what they want to buy (like parents shopping for their kids christmas presents or whatever) they arguably have the strength of employees who can make recommendations, but (sorry, Game-employee-GAF) that is at best a hit and miss affair to get genuinely impartial advice on 'if my kid likes X can you recommend a Y?' that can be handled just as well by Amazons 'customers who bought this also bought...'

EDIT:
I tell a lie, Game do have one thing going for them that gamers would want, and that is retailer exclusive preorder bonuses.
That 'perk' is of course only available to them while they have the funding and marketshare to leverage publishers to giving them that, and I for one would be happy to see retailer exclusive bonuses vanish completely.

I couldn't agree more. As far as I'm concerned GAME just exist now for people who don't know any better. If I want a brand new game before release date, I'll order it off Shopto for a fiver cheaper and get it 1-2 days early. If I want a back-catalogue game I'm better off going on Amazon and seeing if they have it in stock. If I want to trade-in or sell games, I'll get better prices from Amazon or CEX.

I went in GAME for the first time in months a couple of weeks ago, and their range of games was abysmal. I was looking at the 360 section and basically all they had for new stock was the top 20 and a shelf with about 20 boxes on it. The rest was all pre-owned/points cards/accessories. I was looking for Alice: Madness Returns and couldn't see it anywhere. Now, in 2012, why should I waste time travelling down to my local GAME to see if they have a 9 month old game in stock, when I can log onto Amazon, see if they have it in stock or not (and they invariably will) and get it delivered to my house for cheaper?

I understand why GAME have to charge more, but that doesn't mean I should be willing to pay it. Especially when their stores are really no longer specialist anymore.

 

[BlazingDarkness]

The problem with supermarkets is their selection is really hit and miss. It's basically the chart stuff and shovelware.
I popped in Tesco the other day and a lot of it was really expensive as well, like 43 quid for chart games

 

[CrunchinJelly]

The problem with supermarkets is their selection is really hit and miss. It's basically the chart stuff and shovelware.
I popped in Tesco the other day and a lot of it was really expensive as well, like 43 quid for chart games

Where do you people live? I have two Tesco stores in my town.

Both have the following:

1) Top 20
2) Top 20 budget chart consisting of older titles and Classics/Platinum
3) Section for 15 or so Kinect or Move games depending on platform.

You are lucky to get even a top 20 in GAME these days.

 

[BlazingDarkness]

Where do you people live? I have two Tesco stores in my town.

Both have the following:

1) Top 20
2) Top 20 budget chart consisting of older titles and Classics/Platinum
3) Section for 15 or so Kinect or Move games depending on platform.

You are lucky to get even a top 20 in GAME these days.

I live in Manchester, the tesco I was in is a big size one too
The game selection is pretty tiny, it's along the same wall as CDs and DVDs, of which there is much more of