Spirit of Jazz
Banned
How big are the gaps in prices of new releases? I always thought they were around £40 everywhere.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
UK Retailer GAME is dead | Brera's Lament
- Thread starter CrunchinJelly
- Start date
- Status
Zeouterlimits
Member
Oh god. Ugh.Now Zavvi will get all the good ones.
Palette Swap
Member
Ugh.Now Zavvi will get all the good ones.
I really wonder what will happen with the ME3 CE. I'm kind of hoping someone else will pick it up (ideally everyone) and its price will drop. £70 is such a ridiculous premium.
Zeouterlimits
Member
Foliorum Viridum
Banned
Rather than complain about retail exclusives, just buy from a place that doesn't offer them, and thus discourage them.
Well the supermarkets usually do something silly like buy some groceries and Fifa for example will be £25.
Online, give a non Fifa or CoD a few weeks and it down to £25 then a couple more weeks down to £15 (used to be £18). Before Nintendo 1st party didn't do this, even they are subject to this too...
CrunchinJelly
formerly cjelly
Normally about £35 or so online, and GAME will charge £45 in store.
Revelations was about £30 online and GAME were charging £38 in-store.
Palette Swap
Member
I happen to do both, these aren't mutually exclusive.
pitcairn55
Member
Now Zavvi will get all the good ones.
I've got a pre-order in with Zavvi at the moment, solely on account of an exclusive pre-order bonus. Actually I've got one in with GAME too, for the very same reason. Trying not to feel nervous about that.
Bloody stupid retailer specific pre-order bonus wankery.
Foliorum Viridum
Banned
Haha, that's fair enough!
I just buy games from Steam or Amazon. Never take notice of pre-order bonuses or anything. Usually shit things anyway!
Foliorum Viridum
Banned
Because there are still lots of gullible people who don't know better and will buy the extra shit they try to sell you too.
I want to grab every person who asks for advice in GAME and give them ACTUAL good advice. It does my head in when I hear them spewing BS about games/consoles in the store.
It's disgusting and they're paying the price now. Fuck em.
I've seen their used games go for £37.99 basically a couple of pounds cheaper. Can't say I'll miss them but this is bad for the industry right now.
MrNyarlathotep
Banned
Or sometimes the supermarkets do extremely cheap console deals.
Only you can't buy them because local Game managers have sent all their staff to buy them all out, then mark them all up for resale at their own stores.
Honestly, fuck Game.
twisteddeeds
Member
I'd say keep your options open, but as soon as you want to spend it.. do so..
I think they are in trouble, but more than likely they will stick around, at least for a little while
bigtroyjon
Member
Based on the information in this thread, I would say they aren't getting away with it.
Palette Swap
Member
To be fair, I have nothing against preorder/early buyer bonuses, to compensate for whatever value games lose over time. But channel exclusive bonuses seriously need to disappear.
GAME being in such deep shit might hint that price is a much stronger driver than bonuses anyway, which seems pretty healthy to me.
For me, Game rode the casual wave a little too enthusiastically. There was no reason for a traditional gamer to go and flip through the racks (as you might in a good music shop for example) because you knew full well it would just be chart crap or second hand tat with no careful previous owners.
Now that casual market has shrunk, they lost their real demographic. There is nothing in the stores except a tiny new chart section, rows of second hand former chart crap, a mastertronic/sold out/pcgamer rack of budget pc titles and racks of dummy boxes for overpriced pre-orders.
There is simply no section for games you might have missed, or interesting obscure titles, no reason at all to go in for anyone with enough braincells to put Wikipedia/Metacritic/review sites and Amazon together and come up with an online order.
Even Gamestation, which despite smelling of sweat and god knows what else, used to have a wonderful little section for old and obscure hardware and games (the closest I ever got to a Virtual Boy for example), has now turned into essentially the same thing.
Now that casual market has shrunk, they lost their real demographic. There is nothing in the stores except a tiny new chart section, rows of second hand former chart crap, a mastertronic/sold out/pcgamer rack of budget pc titles and racks of dummy boxes for overpriced pre-orders.
There is simply no section for games you might have missed, or interesting obscure titles, no reason at all to go in for anyone with enough braincells to put Wikipedia/Metacritic/review sites and Amazon together and come up with an online order.
Even Gamestation, which despite smelling of sweat and god knows what else, used to have a wonderful little section for old and obscure hardware and games (the closest I ever got to a Virtual Boy for example), has now turned into essentially the same thing.
The Emperor
Member
I know same here!! I'm actually gonna phone their helpline and ask if I'll definitely be getting XIII-2 delivered on Friday.
What makes this even more absurd is GAME and Gamestation are literally 3 shops apart in my town centre.
frankie_baby
Member
What probably doesn't help them as a business is that they are running 2 Seperate chains often with branches very close to each other, they reallocated need to rationalise their business into one chain with one store in each town (maybe more in big cities but that's it) their costs must be stupidly huge
twisteddeeds
Member
lmao... Game over man... game over
It's like Déjà vu especially the story about Gamestop (last week) in Northern Ireland... and they're gone now...
I was researching the DLC Character pre-order bonus for Soul Calibur V online last night. Saw that it could be grabbed from a Game pre-order, so I clicked over to their website just to see what sort of price I'd be looking at.
Soul Calibur V had no listing on the Game website at all. Nothing, no page, no info, zilch. Irritated, but curious, I tried Gamestation's website also (which is basically the same website with a different skin it seems). No listing for Soul Calibur V on Gamestation's website either.
Walked into Game earlier today on my morning work-break and enquired about pre-orders -- "We're not accepting pre-orders for that game anymore."
I can't say for certain that any of the above is linked to the topic of this thread, but It seems possible.
Soul Calibur V had no listing on the Game website at all. Nothing, no page, no info, zilch. Irritated, but curious, I tried Gamestation's website also (which is basically the same website with a different skin it seems). No listing for Soul Calibur V on Gamestation's website either.
Walked into Game earlier today on my morning work-break and enquired about pre-orders -- "We're not accepting pre-orders for that game anymore."
I can't say for certain that any of the above is linked to the topic of this thread, but It seems possible.
Game have been in massive trouble for years. Have a look at their share price:
http://gamegroup.co.uk/gmg_plc/investors/shareinfo/chart/
From 300.0p a share in 2008 to 5p today!! They are in major trouble! Hooray.
http://gamegroup.co.uk/gmg_plc/investors/shareinfo/chart/
From 300.0p a share in 2008 to 5p today!! They are in major trouble! Hooray.
frankie_baby
Member
Will some people please stop cheering as if this is good news, do you guys really want a future with NO video game shops ????????
I've moaned about GAME before. Their failure seems to me to be all about their horrible way of making a profit collapsing. When I go into a Game and see used titles at higher prices than I can get new games online, there is something horribly wrong. The money they were making, offering trades for a couple of pounds, then pricing them with a pound off RRP, must have dried up as it relied on the large scale ignorance of consumers.
The contraction of the UK economy generally has forced people to be more careful with their money, and there has been a huge upsurge in stuff like Groupon, which offers time limited discount vouchers and special offers. Most consumers are aware now that there are cheaper alternatives to the high street online, and stores like HMV and Game are hard hit.
I had a £30 gift voucher that I tried to spend at Game. I wouldn't buy anything that I felt was a rip off, or offered poor value. It took 3 months of visits to find something that I couldn't get cheaper somewhere else.
I've got a fiver left on a card from buying a 3DS off them. There is nothing I can find that, minus the 5 bucks, is equal or less than I can get it elsewhere.
I won't miss them. Sorry for anyone who is employed there and might lose their job.
The contraction of the UK economy generally has forced people to be more careful with their money, and there has been a huge upsurge in stuff like Groupon, which offers time limited discount vouchers and special offers. Most consumers are aware now that there are cheaper alternatives to the high street online, and stores like HMV and Game are hard hit.
I had a £30 gift voucher that I tried to spend at Game. I wouldn't buy anything that I felt was a rip off, or offered poor value. It took 3 months of visits to find something that I couldn't get cheaper somewhere else.
I've got a fiver left on a card from buying a 3DS off them. There is nothing I can find that, minus the 5 bucks, is equal or less than I can get it elsewhere.
I won't miss them. Sorry for anyone who is employed there and might lose their job.
The Emperor
Member
So I phoned their online orders team and they said FFXIII-2 copies came in this morning and they'll be shipped out later today (that's why the order still says unshipped) in time for us to get it on release day.
I just hope they aren't lying!
Fucking this.
GAME have lost their identity. They're a "specialist retailer" that has pretty much ignored its own market for years. Arguably, their entire business model has been built on a system that exploits and shafts those consumers and the industry it serves.
I have almost zero purpose or interest at shopping in GAME at this point. Its a soulless experience and their stock, business model and "advice" from staff isn't targeted at me anymore. The analogy you used with record shops is bang on. Record shops used to be places where you'd go in for the experience as much as anything, to chat and discuss your interest with likeminded people, rifle through the racks looking for interesting new stock. Id argue independant game shops still have that. GAME don't.
lol?
twisteddeeds
Member
+1.. I feel bad for the staff, and us the consumers.. I just think whoever has been in charge seriously needs a good kick in the balls...
A pointed tweet from GAME:
Gamedigital GAME.co.uk
The first wave of 2012's releases - Final Fantasy XIII-2, MGS HD, SoulCalibur V - have hit the warehouse and the machines are warming up!
https://twitter.com/#!/Gamedigital
Gamedigital GAME.co.uk
The first wave of 2012's releases - Final Fantasy XIII-2, MGS HD, SoulCalibur V - have hit the warehouse and the machines are warming up!
https://twitter.com/#!/Gamedigital
MrNyarlathotep
Banned
You mean a future where videogaming is so mainstream that it has a dedicated section in most generic retailers in the same way that movies, music and books do?
And open competition between those retailers on price, rather than 'backroom deal' exclusives, preventing games being available via digital distribution on steam despite not selling those titles themself, and not openly taking advantage of competitor discounts not to make money but to deny consumers a cheaper purchase?
Absolutely I would.
That's pretty amusing that they're only just in the warehouse there. D:
My copy of FFXIII-2 arrived from ShopTo this morning.
As for being more on topic: sucks for people working there if the company goes under, but I can't help but think good riddance to the company itself. Terrible deals, bullshit overpriced exclusives and a them shitting on Steam at any chance they could get. Haven't shopped there in a while, and I don't think I will now.
So when HMV was struggling the music industry got behind it because it was the only highstreet chain to offer non-chart music; something the supermarkets don't do.
GAME struggles and the gaming industry sticks two fingers up at it and withdraws stock. They are no better than the supermarket so its no loss for the industry.
That's what they get for selling poor ol' Elite Beat Agents for only a fiver. Karma.
GAME struggles and the gaming industry sticks two fingers up at it and withdraws stock. They are no better than the supermarket so its no loss for the industry.
That's what they get for selling poor ol' Elite Beat Agents for only a fiver. Karma.
When I hear the word high street I think of Mary Portas.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16153541
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...rtas-my-vision-for-Britains-high-streets.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/dec/13/portas-high-streets-disapper
grimshawish
Banned
On a really stupid note - do game even sell fucking gaming magazines?
Their brand is all over the place - they want to be mainstream, but forget people buying games are umm...buying games.
I also think their failure is slightly down to their decision years back not to invest in new stores, their tiny little hovels most of the time, and this means that they can't sell quickly enough to meet demand AND they can't offer help to non-gamers at Christmas over what to buy on certain systems etc.
They need an entire change - unfortunately years and years of neglect has pretty much killed them off.
Their brand is all over the place - they want to be mainstream, but forget people buying games are umm...buying games.
I also think their failure is slightly down to their decision years back not to invest in new stores, their tiny little hovels most of the time, and this means that they can't sell quickly enough to meet demand AND they can't offer help to non-gamers at Christmas over what to buy on certain systems etc.
They need an entire change - unfortunately years and years of neglect has pretty much killed them off.
Blame the popularisation of the term on this annoying woman...
Um. The term was pretty well established *before* Ms. Portas became a media darling.
That said, the term might be under a little bit of a resurgence due to her.
I bought my PAL Panzer Dragoon Saga from there. Delightful.
That was true in Oxford, too. A few months ago the Gamestation closed.
FanTomasas
Banned
GAME is awful. UK market is far the best in the world, because of the actual competition between online shops. GAME website offers better prices than in-store, so more and more people are buying games online. But there is more, GAME prices are beaten by Zavvi, Thehut (same branch, but different prices), Shopto, Amazon etc. So in the end, consumers are abandoning GAME high-street and online stores.
Got Dark Souls for 15£ (+cashback) this week from Zavvi.
Got Dark Souls for 15£ (+cashback) this week from Zavvi.
MmmSkyscraper
Unconfirmed Member
I think i seen a tumbleweed in my local store, gamestation is always packed though
- Status