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UK Retailer GAME is dead | Brera's Lament
- Thread starter CrunchinJelly
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frankie_baby
Member
Im not saying gamestop couldnt make a success out of the business but i know they are more reviled in the us than game are in the uk so dont sound good to me and as i was saying regarding a rebrand, the gamestop in birmingham just felt so cheap and nasty inside but with skyhigh prices
It's the same deals you will have seen in this thread, portable consoles for £30-£50, preowned stuff for a couple of quid etc
The sales on the new games are more expensive than what you can expect for them online.
I went to Brum Gamestop the other day to see what they were like because I haven't visited them in years, turns out it was closed down and is now a different shop (the different shop also looked like it was closed down). Surprised I never heard about them closing.
awanderingsoul
Member
Consider however that 90% of the people who contribute to games 1.6 billion turnover dont see game as a rip off and will just as likely spend their cash in gamespot if thats what happens. Even if the prices are a pound or two more which i doubt would be the case.
Holy FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!
A mate just emailed me this pic, the entire haul cost him £39.
:O :O :O
Meh, you should see my last haul at Morrisons.
Guitar Hero Metallica
Fable 3 (disc missing my brother is getting an asskicking)
Splinter Cell Convication
Mafia 2
MEtro 2033 * 2
Portal 2
MOH: dudebro
Metroid other M
I am almost certain i had a POP game
Cheesecakebobby
Banned
Still nothing to match my haul at Currys a couple months back. Heaps of games 97p each. I bought around 20 games and traded them in for a 3DS with Mario 
(I did keep about 5 games though, I'm not just an exploiter!)
(I did keep about 5 games though, I'm not just an exploiter!)
frankie_baby
Member
All i'm saying is i'd much rather someone else bought it
awanderingsoul
Member
Out of interest who? Who would really be any better than Gamestop?
frankie_baby
Member
Amyone really doesnt have to be another games retailer, an investment fund or even a management buy out if they could raise the finance
What? The big one on new street? R.I.P greatest gaming store there ever was (5 years ago before the GAME buyout)
edit: derp i read Gamestop as Gamestation, ignore me. Although, i stand by my statement of it being the best game shop ever.
frankie_baby
Member
Gamestop not gamestation
Gamestop was awful, the prices were ridiculous and it seemed the hiring criteria was "is this person a big twat? If yes stop the interview and congratulate them on their new position"
What kind of condition is the PSP in? I have a Vita but DAMN!
Calibur
Member
Infamous II £7.98 now that is pretty damn good!
Spirit of Jazz
Banned
No PSP cuts in my shops sadly. Had to make do with spending my credit on live points, Inazuma Eleven, and Bulletstorm.
Staff was still really annoying about pushing pre-orders, had to give an overly polite response whilst showcasing the most incredulous grimace ever seen by mankind.
Staff was still really annoying about pushing pre-orders, had to give an overly polite response whilst showcasing the most incredulous grimace ever seen by mankind.
Little Old Man
Member
The only copy of it I saw was at that price. But it was only the manual and disc, the cover was missing.
xxczx
Member
Jokes on him, he can't take a copy home with him for free!
checkeredknight
Member
Sale is doing really well. Bought four cheap games, had to stop myself from buying more. I've had ten or so customers coming up to me today saying "So, when are you closing then?" It's really depressing, I don't know any more than them / you guys and I don't want to lose my job.
Hopefully it'll turn out okay, whether Game Stop ends up buying the brand or whatever. I just know me (and my colleagues) would be royally screwed if we all lost our jobs at the minute.
Also just to note, we had a lot of people coming in today and asking about Mass Effect 3 (and its pre-orders.) While I don't think it's going to kill EA, many of them didn't even know it was out due to us not stocking it...
We can't do that anyway... :X
Hopefully it'll turn out okay, whether Game Stop ends up buying the brand or whatever. I just know me (and my colleagues) would be royally screwed if we all lost our jobs at the minute.
Also just to note, we had a lot of people coming in today and asking about Mass Effect 3 (and its pre-orders.) While I don't think it's going to kill EA, many of them didn't even know it was out due to us not stocking it...
prowler_ said:
We can't do that anyway... :X
MrNyarlathotep
Banned
Brera
A fool and his money...
(Today, 04:33 PM)
EDIT:
Seriously man, if the fact they are going into administration within a fortnight is hitting the trade press, there is basically no hope left for them.
The administrators will come in, find mostly empty warehouses with unsold copies of FIFA: Road To The World Cup for Gamecube lying around and a couple of crates of T-Shirts and blank reward cards, then shut the whole thing down.
You might as well just go down to Ladbrokes and put £1000 on every long odds horse they have, except that has a better chance of a return on investment.
most likely Sony would sort you out if something went wrong
They're giving an extra third on trades, hoping to get more used stock I'm guessing. A lass gave me a Battlefield giftcard and said it, so I dont know if you have to have one of them cards or what
checkeredknight
Member
No, you don't. GameStation are giving you an extra £5 on every two games you trade in (as long as they sell for £2.99 or more in the shop.) Obviously stuff like Gears of War 2 (now £1.98 in the sale) will not work with this offer. Offer might be a bit different in GAME... not sure. :X
zomgbbqftw
Banned
Brera, listen to this man. Sell you Game shares an invest elsewhere. If you want a risky investment go for HMV, they are a much better bet than Game. Movies and music are more passing trade friendly than games.
Anyway, from the latest reports it looks like Game are done for. If the directors are saying two weeks to d-day, it means Game have one week before they go into administration. I have heard that Sony are going to buy back their stock of new PS3s and they are taking back their Vita stock before the end of next week so that it doesn't get discounted and devalued so close to its launch. They know they can sue Game, but if Game go bankrupt then there will be no company to sue and win damages from. Better to reposes their wares before the end. I would not be surprised if Nintendo and Microsoft take similar action with their hardware to make sure that Game can't poison the well too much, which is what they have now successfully done for console software.
I emailed a publisher rep today and he was very, very irritated with the liquidation sale and they are now considering pulling back completely from Game as a retaliatory measure. He thought, like me, that the best course of action for Game to unload their stacks and stacks of used games was to sell bulk lots to CEX rather than firesale them to consumers who now have a taste for super cheap games. Game have doomed themselves, publishers, developers and other retailers by cheapening the industry in this manner. Game would have got a higher price from selling bulk lots to CEX and other competitors and they would have made sure that games don't become commoditised like DVDs and CDs.
Without support from this publisher that I don't see Game surviving beyond the end of next week.
The same finance site where you got the finance figures from for the "warchest"? The ones that aren't related to the actual stock exchange in any way whatsoever and whose advice seems to bear no resemblence to anything said by anybody who actually knows what they're talking about? The share price is at 3.51p, which I think is the lowest it's been since the start of this difficulty for Game.
As has been said already, if even the trade press, the previously pro-Game MCV are saying that administration is close, it appears that will be the case.
It's you guys working for this company I feel sorry for, I hope you manage to find another job quickly, at least when you do the management can't be any more incompetent than they are at Game. It's unbelievable how whatever happens now they'll basically escape this with no consequences and huge payouts, while the actual workers who were mostly dedicated and helpful will be screwed over. Not a nice situation.checkeredknight said:I've had ten or so customers coming up to me today saying "So, when are you closing then?" It's really depressing, I don't know any more than them / you guys and I don't want to lose my job.
Loads of 360 consoles and games in the Birmingham gamestation. Was tempted to pick one up but then realised things might go cheaper by the start of next week if they are still alive and kicking (yes i'm a bastard!)
Managed to get Flower Sun and Rain for the DS for 98p and PS3 Fallout New Vegas Ultimate Edition new for £20 (cheapest i've seen it anywhere0.
Managed to get Flower Sun and Rain for the DS for 98p and PS3 Fallout New Vegas Ultimate Edition new for £20 (cheapest i've seen it anywhere0.
I know you probably can't say, but I'm guessing that's either EA or Activision. If they lose either FIFA or CoD they're screwed.
Meus Renaissance
Member
What are the odds of finding a Vita for super cheap next week at Game?
ZERO
Apparently the Vitas have been loaned to GAME so they are still property of Sony. No discounts will occur
Wickerbasket
Member
Absolute zero. GAME doesn't own the Vita stock, Sony does.
not a chance. they are sony's property, not GAME's.
Speedymanic
Banned
er, Game aren't stocking any EA titles any way. Acti won't be pulling support, just can't see it. they want their games to reach as many as people as possible and their games tend to keep their value months after release.
whoever it is, i wouldn't take the rambling of a rep all too seriously. they tend to talk big but rarely have any real influence.
Annoyingly it looked like it was discounted on PS3 and full-price on 360 in the store I checked out, I'll be trying Gamestation tomorrow.
zomgbbqftw
Banned
Nil. Sony are going to pull back all of their stock and bulk buy all of the used stock to make sure that no Vita units are sold off for cheap.
I bought standard Fallout NV for £4 yesterday....not much of waste seeing how ridiculously cheap it was, but still..
Resistance100
Member
Yep all Sony products have a "property of sony until sold to the customer" sticker on them. GAME wanted the other publishers to do the same but as you can tell they didn't agree to that. I suspect Sony only did that because of the Vita launch.
They are. They're not stocking any EA titles post-SSX, any before that, including SSX, Kingdoms of Amalur and FIFA, are stocked. Don't know to what level they actually have stock, but there is some.
Speedymanic
Banned
well, if my friend is to be believed, sony still have faith in game as they've already shipped twisted metal to them. the store he bought those titles from had a few behind the counter but they weren't allowed to sell them.
Speedymanic
Banned
thanks for the correction, i thought they stopped stocking all ea titles.
ScreenSplitter
Member
Wow, a 320GB PS3 for £99?! Shame it's out of stock.
Will pop into the Halesowen branch tomorrow and see what I can pick up with my reward points. Going to feel very much like a vulture, but I don't really want to be £15 out.
Will pop into the Halesowen branch tomorrow and see what I can pick up with my reward points. Going to feel very much like a vulture, but I don't really want to be £15 out.
Resistance100
Member
Makes sense gives TM more exposure to help boost sales of the game. Plus they know that worst case senerio is that they will just get the games back to sell on to another retailer, its almost a no lose situation for them
Correct. Twisted Metal has arrived and is ready for launch on the 16th. Unit 13 also arrived, and even more surprisingly we got Metal Gear Solid 3DS for our pre-orders.
Speedymanic
Banned
yep, which makes other developers/publishers thinking about dropping them a little silly. if they can reach the same agreement that sony have in place, it's win/win for them.
Which is why this current sale is counter-productive. Companies may worry that GAME will just slash the hell out of the price and sell it for whatever they can get.
Sounds like in many ways, the companies are caught in a prisoner's dilemma. If they all band together and did it as a group, GAME would probably be fine. But if only one does it, there's a chance that they may get burned as the current executives try to squeeze out as much cash from the company as possible for their golden parachutes.
thechemist
Member
How much is Unit 13? Thanks.
Speedymanic
Banned
i can't seem the slashing new title prices as much as they have pre-owned, but i can see the point you're making and it's definitely a valid one.
saying that though, the worry, for now at least, from developers/publishers is misplaced. game are only slashing games, consoles, etc on pre-owned stuff, until they take further steps and start slashing new titles to insane prices, there's not much to worry about.
but i can see why some might be worried, but the worry, in my opinion at least, is currently pointless.
BUT, more pubs/devs should be doing what sony are doing and only loaning game new games, etc. at least that way they can have their games on the shelves but not have to worry about them firesaling the lot.
Speedymanic
Banned
if game do go down, that means hmv is next in line right? they are just as uncompetitive as game and i doubt their dvd/music sales will keep them afloat.
frankie_baby
Member
To be honest game going down could actually just be what hmv need, they will get short term trouble from games firesale but give it a couple of months and once game have gone hmv sales should be through the roof, however as its quite likely IMO than some sort of games retail business will rise from GAME's ashes it might not be so great for hmv after all
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