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[Brera]

Good sir, what the devil does that have to do with anything? Troll status confirmed.

Ninja Cop is ultra rare and had a low print run, Game had it in stock, I'm just talking generally. I think it's the only positive shopping experience I can think of, so maybe not the best!

Either way, loads of companies have gone through troubled times, so has GAME, they got through it.

Let's not forget they have something like 30% retail market share for games and 20% for online sales so not as if amazon et al are all hammering GAME as they are the online market leaders.

It's not the complete lame duck many of you make it out to be.

 

[Ravensmash]

So you ended up getting SSX at Blockbuster, when Game was doing play this for £5 if you trade in before 15th March?

Oh man, I feel pretty stupid right now D: I presume that's any copy though?

 

[Salvadora]

Brera seems desperate.

 

[Kyoufu]

It's going to be rough for GAME employees come this Friday. Lots of people going to be turned away.

 

[Chopper]

With all this silly share price talk we forgot the most important thing of all:

Did Ninjafusion ever get his money back??

This is what I need to know.

 

[Brera]

Damn, and I was hoping to walk in to GAME in a few weeks and pick up Asuras Wrath for £20 when it bombed....

Thats precisely why they didn't stock it. I'm sure capcom tried everything to get GAME to stock it, that franchise is DOA! Look at all that retail window space that capcom will lose out on!

 

[heliconsoul]

Thats precisely why they didn't stock it. I'm sure capcom tried everything to get GAME to stock it, that franchise is DOA! Look at all that retail window space that capcom will lose out on!

Do you honestly believe Game chose not to stock SFxT and Asura's Wrath? After all the promotional stuff they had prepared? Are you nuts?

 

[Mr. Luchador]

Yeah, reminiscing on the GAME/Gamestation stores of old i remember i used to spend ages browsing the shelves, reading the backs of boxes, mentally calculating what i could/should buy on pay day, watching demo reels, etc....... relaxing little geek caves they were, i could literally spend hours in them.

Now i can't bare to spend more than 10 minutes in the fucking things, and you just reminded me why.

You're the customer they lost and replaced with Top 10 Parents. Sure those parents buy the best selling games, but when they lost you they lost the guy who'd buy the collectors editions. The Strat Guides. The Toad Keyrings. The Mario Beanie Baby. The 1up Hoodies. The posters. The guy who see's the slightly battered, but still sealed and new, GBA and thinks 'oh cool a Game Boy Advanced, be cool to own that.'. Generally all the stuff GAME are/were trying their best to push onto people who generally didn't understand or appreciate what it was they were being pushed into buying on top of 'Call of Duty' for Lil' Jimmy.

You're the customer that you could spend 10/20 minutes discussing GAMES with and perhaps learn something from - new information, or even if you're good at your job hints and pointers to something you have in stock that might interest them.
You're the type of customer that I'd have given promo stuff to for generally just always coming into the store and buying 'stuff'. Not the top 10 titles. 'Stuff'.

 

[Brera]

You're the customer they lost and replaced with Top 10 Parents. Sure those parents buy the best selling games, but when they lost you they lost the guy who'd buy the collectors editions. The Strat Guides. The Toad Keyrings. The Mario Beanie Baby. The 1up Hoodies. The posters. The guy who see's the slightly battered, but still sealed and new, GBA and thinks 'oh cool a Game Boy Advanced, be cool to own that.'. Generally all the stuff GAME are/were trying their best to push onto people who generally didn't understand or appreciate what it was they were being pushed into buying on top of 'Call of Duty' for Lil' Jimmy.

You're the customer that you could spend 10/20 minutes discussing GAMES with and perhaps learn something from - new information, or even if you're good at your job hints and pointers to something you have in stock that might interest them.
You're the type of customer that I'd have given promo stuff to for generally just always coming into the store and buying 'stuff'. Not the top 10 titles. 'Stuff'.

From the various threads on various forums I frequent, there are still people actively going to GAME that are like that. Only in recent weeks have people started getting militantly anti GAME, but as the movie studios found out with snakes on a plane and other net movies, word on the internets rarely translates into anything in the real world.

I give it 6 months before all this is forgotten and GAME are back on top treated gamers like shit and fleecing the industry dry!

 

[herod]

They don't need to suffer from Internet word of mouth when they turn away pre-orders and have no new products.

 

[Mr. Luchador]

When I worked there you could see the sea change from it being happy with its niche/hardcore gamers angle that would also appeal to High Street Wanderers to it focusing on the High Street Wanderers and taking the niche/hardcore guys for granted.

"Hardcore gamers know about us, we don't NEED to appeal to them." I remember one Regional Manager telling me when I questioned him about the change. OK, you guys might not need to APPEAL to them, but you don't want to just throw them away - for the reasons I've already mentioned. They're the guys that will buy all the 'add-ons' you now want to push onto the Parents who have wandered in off the High Street because they know their kid wants Top 10 Title.

I remember trying to get the store I worked in to stock more of the trading cards "That's not our thing, we sell computer games." Well... Pokémon is a computer game. Its also a trading card game. Kid comes in with his parent, he has his pocket money. £2 on some trading cards that he enjoys collecting with his friends, and perhaps down the road his enjoyment of the Pokémon series develops to the point he might want to play the video game (if he doesn't already - chances are he does). Hopefully you get the idea behind it. Where do you get the trading cards from generally? Newsagents and places like Forbidden Planet - there aren't many Newsagents in a Town/City Centre and if it came between Forbidden Planet and GAME, which would a parent be more likely/willing to go into?

GAME can't decide if Computer Games ARE Mainstream or Niche still. I haven't worked in a Game store for over 5 years now, so things might have changed, but when I was there it was at that horrible point of imbalance where it wasn't really one or the other in store.
It had all the cool niche extras (hats, hoodies, t-shirts, keyrings, etc) yet the customer service was based around being a Mainstream High Street store.

30 seconds to greet.
2 minutes max with anyone customer.
Find out what they want.
Add something extra on to it.
Mark it down on a tracker sheet to justify your existence within the GAMES Group.

"Oh, I see you're buying Mario Party! Would you be interested in buying this Mario Beanie Baby?!"
"I have no idea what, I'm buying. Its for my Son."

 

[mclem]

I give it 6 months before all this is forgotten and GAME are back on top treated gamers like shit and fleecing the industry dry!

Bless. You're like the sports fan who bets against their team so if their team loses, you'll still get some compensation.

 

[Brera]

GAME heavily followed Nintendo, now that Nintendo are floundering for the same reasons ie too much focus on casuals. Nintendo are turning is around despite the constant Nintendo am doomed shit on here. Same with Sony.

Gamers are miserable sods that like seeing companies fail and outline why they think it's that way.

The next generation has started. 3DS is picking up steam and the Vita is out, GAME have demonstrated their selling power. 50% share of a launch console is not to be sniffed at.

If Nintendo are to survive with the WiiU, they're gonna need GAME's enormous network and buying power.

 

[Gazzawa]

Went in there the weekend for a browse.
Overpriced heaven.
Skyrim €55 - I got it for half this online in December.
Poor selection. Preowned games barely cheaper than new ones.
No good deals on accessories.
I said it before and I'll say it again- I love being a turtle!
GAME is dead

 

[Mr. Luchador]

GAME heavily followed Nintendo, now that Nintendo are floundering for the same reasons ie too much focus on casuals. Nintendo are turning is around despite the constant Nintendo am doomed shit on here. Same with Sony.

Gamers are miserable sods that like seeing companies fail and outline why they think it's that way.

The next generation has started. 3DS is picking up steam and the Vita is out, GAME have demonstrated their selling power. 50% share of a launch console is not to be sniffed at.

If Nintendo are to survive with the WiiU, they're gonna need GAME's enormous network and buying power.

From experience, I'm going to disagree. Generally gamers are sad when a developer or game disappears they were looking forward to or had enjoyed in the past. However, Gamers aren't idiots and if they've been burnt then they'll think twice about continuing support that 'thing'. Just like normal people really.
They're certainly not more inclined to want to watch the gaming industry burn to the ground.

 

[Linkified]

You what I want to see is Mary Portas fixing Game Group, have it be maybe be 5 episodes with each being one hour long. Would be great, and knowing how even if they manage to survive this saga they are going to need to show mass consumers that they have changed. Get on it Channel 4!

 

[ScreenSplitter]

GAME heavily followed Nintendo, now that Nintendo are floundering for the same reasons ie too much focus on casuals. Nintendo are turning is around despite the constant Nintendo am doomed shit on here. Same with Sony.

Gamers are miserable sods that like seeing companies fail and outline why they think it's that way.

The next generation has started. 3DS is picking up steam and the Vita is out, GAME have demonstrated their selling power. 50% share of a launch console is not to be sniffed at.

If Nintendo are to survive with the WiiU, they're gonna need GAME's enormous network and buying power.

This is bugger all to do with the Vita, or the 3DS. Or Sony. Or Nintendo. People claimed doom on the Vita and Nintendo because they don't like the companies.

People are claiming doom on GAME because they are failing fast. And you are going to lose money. Accept that and move on.

 

[Brera]

So why are the most heavily populated and heated threads always the ones about bad news? Much like this one! A few people have spoken out and agreed with me and then left. The ones that have stayed and kept posting are the ones that are loving it!

 

[ScreenSplitter]

So why are the most heavily populated and heated threads always the ones about bad news? Much like this one! A few people have spoken out and agreed with me and then left. The ones that have stayed and kept posting are the ones that are loving it!

Because despite whatever your shares are worth, GAME are not a good company, for anybody who really likes video games. They've been carrying out sleazy buisness practice for years, and all of us who have noticed that are happy to see them finally go down for it.

Your place here confuses me. All you give a damn about is making a quick buck. Learn to invest your shares better, and realise that you backed the wrong horse. Big time.

 

[Zomba13]

So why are the most heavily populated and heated threads always the ones about bad news? Much like this one! A few people have spoken out and agreed with me and then left. The ones that have stayed and kept posting are the ones that are loving it!

Because people in general love their schadenfreude.

 

[Mr. Luchador]

So why are the most heavily populated and heated threads always the ones about bad news? Much like this one! A few people have spoken out and agreed with me and then left. The ones that have stayed and kept posting are the ones that are loving it!

People like bitching and talking about bad news, same reason newspapers sell. Ask yourself why people are not surprised this is currently happening to GAME. Its been a LONG time coming. The ones that are happy about GAME's demise are perhaps the ones that shopped their regularly and have felt let down by GAME's change in customer service (and recent events with the pre-orders).

 

[Brera]

This is bugger all to do with the Vita, or the 3DS. Or Sony. Or Nintendo. People claimed doom on the Vita and Nintendo because they don't like the companies.

People are claiming doom on GAME because they are failing fast. And you are going to lose money. Accept that and move on.

If I had bought shares in BP the other year, people would have said I was mad, a mate did and he made buckets.

People are fearful. They see bad news and panic, that's why shares go up and down so much, once you look at it dispassionately, you see a company with a solid history of sales, market penetration and a well known brand.

With a few tweaks, they will be back. I do agree that they need better management and a new CEO!

 

[awanderingsoul]

GAME heavily followed Nintendo, now that Nintendo are floundering for the same reasons ie too much focus on casuals. Nintendo are turning is around despite the constant Nintendo am doomed shit on here. Same with Sony.

Gamers are miserable sods that like seeing companies fail and outline why they think it's that way.

The next generation has started. 3DS is picking up steam and the Vita is out, GAME have demonstrated their selling power. 50% share of a launch console is not to be sniffed at.

If Nintendo are to survive with the WiiU, they're gonna need GAME's enormous network and buying power.

The issue is Nintendo are not going to agree to GAMEs demands when they know their are retailers out there who will pay for the stock upfront at higher rates than I imagine GAME are asking for at the moment.

If GAME was to not exist tomorrow then some other retailer would pick up that lost market share, whether it be HMV, Shopto, Play, Amazon, Tesco or Asda. There are very few areas (if any) in this country that don't have some sort of games retail prescence that wouldn't pick up the fall of GAME disappearing.

 

[Mr. Luchador]

If I had bought shares in BP the other year, people would have said I was mad, a mate did and he made buckets.

People are fearful. They see bad news and panic, that's why shares go up and down so much, once you look at it dispassionately, you see a company with a solid history of sales, market penetration and a well known brand.

With a few tweaks, they will be back. I do agree that they need better management and a new CEO!

Think there's a difference between an Oil Company bouncing back after a disaster and a High Street retail group bouncing back from financial peril (during a recession).

How many people depend on computer games to continue their day-to-day essentials?
How many people depend on oil to continue their day-to-day essentials?

 

[PaulLFC]

If I had bought shares in BP the other year, people would have said I was mad, a mate did and he made buckets.

People are fearful. They see bad news and panic, that's why shares go up and down so much, once you look at it dispassionately, you see a company with a solid history of sales, market penetration and a well known brand.

With a few tweaks, they will be back. I do agree that they need better management and a new CEO!

A few tweaks? They need to actually buy some stock to sell for a start, and without any money they can't do that. They're screwed, basically.

 

[Joni]

The moment GameStop buys out GAME the stock will go up; and for them it is an ideal chance for having a foothold in the UK.

 

[Mr. Luchador]

The moment GameStop buys out GAME the stock will go up; and for them it is an ideal chance for having a foothold in the UK.

That's the only way I can see out of this, to be honest. How likely is that? I'm not sure. Probably see the number of GAME/Gamestation stores halved before it happens.

 

[awanderingsoul]

The moment GameStop buys out GAME the stock will go up; and for them it is an ideal chance for having a foothold in the UK.

GameStop will NOT buy out GAME in its current form, it is too much of a liability with far too many leases. They would be better waiting till the banks take control and then trying to buy the bits and pieces they can rather than the whole group.

 

[BluWacky]

If I had bought shares in BP the other year, people would have said I was mad, a mate did and he made buckets.

People are fearful. They see bad news and panic, that's why shares go up and down so much, once you look at it dispassionately, you see a company with a solid history of sales, market penetration and a well known brand.

With a few tweaks, they will be back. I do agree that they need better management and a new CEO!

I think the reasons for BP's share price dropping were very different from GAME's. While BP lost the public's confidence thanks to the Gulf oil disaster (not itself an indicator of problems with BP's finances) not only are shareholders losing confidence in GAME due to the very public reporting of their problems (it made the BBC's front page, after all!) but also because this has been precipitated by news reports that they can't agree financial terms to purchase any stock - the key here is that it is definitely financial difficulties GAME Group appears to be suffering, rather than anything else.

I find it unsurprising that BP's share price climbed again once the oil disaster dropped off the public radar, as people still need oil. But it wasn't that they ran out of money in that situation. I think the proof will be in whether further publishers fail to agree credit terms with GAME, because that's indicative of a bigger problem than we might think.

I think we're also all considering GAME in light of the overall recession and the disastrous effect we've seen it have on high street retail. Despite a groundswell of nerdrage against the company for alienating them at retail or whatever, even if you have no interest in videogames I don't think you'd be massively surprised if GAME closed.

Perhaps this isn't a nuanced enough approach to the situation, knowing virtually nothing about the economics of the oil industry or games retail as I do. However, I do think that in light of the above the situations aren't directly comparable.

 

[killer_clank]

GameStop will NOT buy out GAME in its current form, it is too much of a liability with far too many leases. They would be better waiting till the banks take control and then trying to buy the bits and pieces they can rather than the whole group.

I reckon they'd probably only keep the GAME stores, consolidating some of them and shutdown all of the Gamestation ones. That way they have a more manageable chain and eventually rebrand all their shops into Gamestop. I could definitely see it happening, the idea that there's no place for a specialist game retailer is currently premature, and I'd imagine they'd be able to keep it profitable.

 

[ace3skoot]

I reckon they'd probably only keep the GAME stores, consolidating some of them and shutdown all of the Gamestation ones. That way they have a more manageable chain and eventually rebrand all their shops into Gamestop. I could definitely see it happening, the idea that there's no place for a specialist game retailer is currently premature, and I'd imagine they'd be able to keep it profitable.

For the next few years this maybe true, but in the longer term say in the next 10 years; will it really be a viable buisness to be a dedicated game retailer?

Firstly online retailers like amazon, zavvi, play etc. are eating into the market share and often can offer much lower prices.

Secondly and most importantly Devs have pretty much cemented their commitment to online downloadable content, they make more money, can use drm and online passes, make smaller games and distribute them at different pricing models not to mention dlc.

imo its time to sell up, and reinvest elsewhere.

 

[winstano]

Brera, I appreciate you've got a vested interest in GAME group staying afloat, but c'mon, look at it objectively for a second.

GAME Group need to sell *GAMES* to stay afloat.
The biggest game of the year so far (ME3) is not going to be sold there, as well as FIFA Street, Tiger Woods or the Sims' new expansion. All of those games will sell very healthily to casuals/sports fans. That's just from EA.
With Nintendo not giving them any stock of MP9 (or Tekken 3DS/Last Story from the looks of it), and now Capcom pulling out of giving them any new stock, the signs are far from optimistic.

GAME need to sell games to make money. With their current situation, it looks like there's going to be no new releases on shelves on Friday. If they've got a "war chest" of £120m, why didn't they pay up front for copies of ME3 when EA asked them to? Why did they put promo up everywhere for SFxT, and go so far as to organise in-store tournaments for launch day?

I have friends who work at GAME/Station, and I don't want to see anyone lose their job (been there, done that, horrible stuff), but with store closures, hours being slashed and next to no new titles being sent to their stores, it's going to be a matter of weeks rather than months before they go out of business. The comparisons you're drawing between GAME and BP are ludicrous. BP still sold petrol when their share price started faltering, GAME aren't selling the biggest game of the quarter this week.

 

[awanderingsoul]

I reckon they'd probably only keep the GAME stores, consolidating some of them and shutdown all of the Gamestation ones. That way they have a more manageable chain and eventually rebrand all their shops into Gamestop. I could definitely see it happening, the idea that there's no place for a specialist game retailer is currently premature, and I'd imagine they'd be able to keep it profitable.

The problem with this is Gamestop would still be paying the leases on all those Gamestation stores, which could be anything from 6 months to 10 years. The other option is attempt to sell the leases but this can be a lengthy and unsuccesful process leaving Gamestop with basically a bunch of storage units if they can't manage to sell them.

They have a lease bill of £400 million and only £3 million of this lease bill has commitment of less than a year, £150 million has less than 5 years. This will not be easy to shift without some sort of intervention from the banks..

 

[Slair]

What do you think the likelihood of us in the UK getting some stores here in the future that cater to us as well as the masses? Will it always just be like Game but rebranded after they go down?

I fucking hate game, you know exactly what they're gonna have in stock before you even walk in the door. The days of going in and finding something awesome hidden away somewhere are long gone, they put that nail in the coffin when they bought gamestation. Here game and gamestation are probably no more than 30m away from each other and they both have the exact same stock. They dont stock many collectors or limited editions if at all, which is frustrating if several games come out like this at once and i cant afford everything that week. There's nowhere here to just go and buy stuff like that. This makes relying on the internet a double edged sword because i do get some stuff for super cheap, but if i miss out on something that is limited it's usually because some HUKD guy has bought 50 of them and selling them on ebay for £150

 

[mclem]

I reckon they'd probably only keep the GAME stores, consolidating some of them and shutdown all of the Gamestation ones. That way they have a more manageable chain and eventually rebrand all their shops into Gamestop. I could definitely see it happening, the idea that there's no place for a specialist game retailer is currently premature, and I'd imagine they'd be able to keep it profitable.

I'd assume they wouldn't base their decisions solely on branding. There's a shopping centre near me that only has a Gamestation in it, no branch of Game. That's one I could see them considering keeping.

 

[Brera]

Looks like their war chest is actually 150 million...

Depreciation: £25,404,000

Total Fixed Assets: £322,644,000

Trade Debtors: £26,512,000

Cash at Bank: £151,243,000

Trade Creditors: £201,009,000

Bank Loans and Overdrafts: £15,727,000

Other Short Term Finance: £2,017,000

Misc Current Liabilities: £101,316,000

Total Current Liabilities: £320,069,000

Share Capital & Reserves: £201,009,000

P & L Account Reserves: £15,727,000

Shareholder Funds: £2,017,000

Net Worth: £117,119,000

Working Capital: £29,627,000

Total Assets: £672,340,000

Total Liabilities: £345,346,000

Net Assets: £326,994,000

 

[Joni]

GameStop will NOT buy out GAME in its current form, it is too much of a liability with far too many leases. They would be better waiting till the banks take control and then trying to buy the bits and pieces they can rather than the whole group.

For the stocks it doesn't matter when it buys GAME though, as long as it is rumoured before the banks foreclose. The stock rise should do the trick to make a profit.

For the next few years this maybe true, but in the longer term say in the next 10 years; will it really be a viable buisness to be a dedicated game retailer?
.

GameStop has managed to grow, and is investiging in online so they know the challenges.

 

[Solid07]

You take down one giant chain of game stores, there will be local game stores popping up all over the place.

I welcome the change.

 

[heliconsoul]

Looks like their war chest is actually 150 million...

Source?

 

[Corleth the Fey]

Looks like their war chest is actually 150 million...

Did you just make that up? Or are you going to give us a source, Kam.

 

[catashtrophe]

Just went to Game and Gamestation to see if they had Mortal Kombat Komplete edition in stock and was told it was expected to be delivered on the 2nd March but nothing arrived nor have they heard anything about it arriving anytime soon.

I'm now stuck with £14 in trade vouchers / elite points and only thing i want they might never get in stock

:-(

 

[awanderingsoul]

For the stocks it doesn't matter when it buys GAME though, as long as it is rumoured before the banks foreclose. The stock rise should do the trick to make a profit.



GameStop has managed to grow, and is investiging in online so they know the challenges.

The rumours are already there and it is doing nothing for the share price, unsubstantiated rumours will not make a big enough impact to the share price to make a difference.

 

[RichardAM]

I'm now stuck with £14 in trade vouchers / elite points and only thing i want they might never get in stock

I just panicked and checked my reward points online thinking I had loads to spend, but i've only got about £2. Doubt i'll be able to get much with it, even when the subsequent closing sale begins, but i'll be damned if i'm losing it

 

[PaulLFC]

Looks like their war chest is actually 150 million...

You really aren't helping your case by not providing sources for stuff like this. Plus, it's plain wrong.

Their "war chest" was £150 million in January 2011 - over a year ago. By July last year, it was just £40 million. It's very probable that it's dropped even further by now, and most likely is worth nothing, otherwise as others have pointed out, they'd be buying stock with the money.

Source: Game's interim report 2011, 'Cash and cash equivalents' column from their investor website. Screenshot:

 

[glaringradio]

I'm going to guess Brera's source was this:

http://companycheck.co.uk/company/00875835

A page from companycheck, from a year ago...

http://www.lse.co.uk/ShareChat.asp?ShareTicker=GMG

Guessing that this is where all of his mature and balanced share talking occurs as well, which unsurprisingly, sounds like it consists purely of gamers who know absolutely nothing about trading.

 

[herod]

I keep thinking that Woolworths couldn't even make it to the holiday season (which could have potentially saved them) before they folded abruptly.

Game seem to have come out of the holiday season in terrible shape, and there will be nothing but sporadic releases (which they may not even be able to stock!) for the next 6-7 months. The Vita launch was very muted.

Can they really turn it around in the quietest period of the year? Doesn't really make much sense to me.

 

[Brera]

They are looking at a £30 million loss a year later. It's fair to assume the war chest is around £120 million

 

[Corleth the Fey]

They are looking at a £30 million loss a year later. It's fair to assume the war chest is around £120 million

You did the math?

 

[glaringradio]

They are looking at a £30 million loss a year later. It's fair to assume the war chest is around £120 million

... Okay, you really haven't a clue what you're doing, do you?

 

[Mr. Luchador]

Brera
and his £120m War Chest
(Today, 01:48 PM)