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UK Retailer GAME is dead | Brera's Lament

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mil6es

Member
My local Gamestation now have one of those cage bins with a 'Stuff' label on it absolutely brimming with Wii-related plastic tat. Steering wheels, golf clubs, console stands... 98p a pop.

It just looks so pathetic. I've seen a more professional looking Cash Converters.

Made me laugh so hard in my office haha
 

teeny

Member
Mass Effect 3 outsold both ME1 and ME2 without assistance contribution from Game/Gamestation. And while it could be argued that ME3 is high profile enough for people to shop around for it, the same can't be said of Mario Party 9, yet that placed third in the games charts the week of it's release, outselling previous Mario Party games during their first week.

One of the main reasons Game/Gamestation are dying is because people are now savvy enough to shop elsewhere for better deals, be it supermarkets or online.

And as for publishers, many of them WANT to see Game/Gamestation die, as the pre-owned market cuts into their profits significantly, and Game/Gamestation focus a lot more on pre-owned than they do new stock. There's a reason why EA were the first to pull support, when they're the publisher who fight used game sales the most (online activation codes in all of their games). Game/Gamestation's precense likely costs publishers more money than they make.


Also, as JoeTheBlow stated, Gamestop won't buy them out. If Gamestop do want to establish themselves in the UK, they'll wait until Game Group go into administration, and then set up afterwards.

I dont think that you can argue that Mario Party 9 is not a high profile title, especially considerring the adverts behind it in the UK, and the fact that the target audience of the game is in fact more likely to purchase games from supermarkets rather than a specialist retailer. No wonder it did well.

I worry for the longevity of smaller budget titles that GAME and Gamestation did stock. No one will argue that the games industry will die along with a high street retailer, but it remains a fact that supermarkets and even HMV have spotty selections of videogames across the country. One store might be fantastic, and another might be shit. At least GAME had a breadth of content (at one point, anyway) only usually found at online retailers.

Not having a dedicated highstreet presence will consign lower budget titles to a fate worse than they receive even now. The homogenisation of games has been a concern since this generation has started. Not having a visible and physical outlet for smaller games is only going to lead to an increase.
 

Carl

Member
I don't really see the benefit to this, unless they want to diversify and open a specialist games brand. Even then, it would be cheaper to just broaden the range of games that Asda sells.

But ASDA are out of town and a bugger to get to.
 

Facism

Member
ah well went looking for a ds lite and out of the 5 different GAME/Gamestation store sin my area all that was left was a dirty white one :p

It was £35, but really, really grubby.

May hold out a bit longer and see with happens with their 3ds prices as the next week or two rolls by. Ready to jump into handhelds :)
 

Bumhead

Banned
Disagree with that regarding GAME having a wider selection of stock. The selection of new stock in my local stores is feeble, and has been for the last few years. If you want anything older than the current chart, you're highly likely to be shit out of luck unless you can get lucky in the pre-owned bin. Our HMV isn't perfect, but it dumps on GAME from an enourmous height in terms of stock levels and variety, and that's been the case for a good many years now.

I don't think that's an isolated situation either given what others have said before in threads like this.
 

teeny

Member
Disagree with that regarding GAME having a wider selection of stock. The selection of new stock in my local stores is feeble, and has been for the last few years. If you want anything older than the current chart, you're highly likely to be shit out of luck unless you can get lucky in the pre-owned bin. Our HMV isn't perfect, but it dumps on GAME from an enourmous height in terms of stock levels and variety, and that's been the case for a good many years now.

I don't think that's an isolated situation either given what others have said before in threads like this.

Oddly, my experience has been the exact opposite. Not saying that GAMES stock has been good, just that everywhere else has been just about comparable, if not worse. My local HMV, and the couple elsewhere nearby, stocks the chart and any older stuff is usually preowned. I suppose it all just depends on location.
 

Danj

Member
This doesn't even make any sense. They'd be competing with themselves (Asda), which was Game groups mistake.
Whats that now, the 4th company supposedly "interested" in buying out Game "exclusively" revealed by MCV in the past 24 hours? Hmmm.

One thing ASDA doesn't seem to have which other supermarkets do is "Express" or "Local" type stores, maybe they could use the retail premises for that and sell games as well?
 
I can see some logic in setting up your own Game Retailer, as Supermarkets don't really need to sell games to make profit anyway. But it could be possible that WalMart just wants the store space to make mini-ASDA's, rather than Game stores (as this seems to be something of a trend with supermarkets and I haven't seen an Asda branded mini-mart about yet...)
 
My local Gamestation now have one of those cage bins with a 'Stuff' label on it absolutely brimming with Wii-related plastic tat. Steering wheels, golf clubs, console stands... 98p a pop.

It just looks so pathetic. I've seen a more professional looking Cash Converters.

says it all really.
 
One thing ASDA doesn't seem to have which other supermarkets do is "Express" or "Local" type stores, maybe they could use the retail premises for that and sell games as well?

Again, that would be no reason to buy Game and take on all of their liabilities. If they want the locations to expand their retail outlets into the high street then it's better for them to wait until administration and pick up 200-300 locations on the cheap.
 

123rl

Member
One thing ASDA doesn't seem to have which other supermarkets do is "Express" or "Local" type stores, maybe they could use the retail premises for that and sell games as well?

They do now. They bought Netto a few years ago and turned all of the Netto stores into mini Asda branches
 

acm2000

Member
Again, that would be no reason to buy Game and take on all of their liabilities. If they want the locations to expand their retail outlets into the high street then it's better for them to wait until administration and pick up 200-300 locations on the cheap.

forgive me if im wrong, but GAME doesnt actually have debts does it? its been living off its war chest, and now its run out
 

Carl

Member
One thing ASDA doesn't seem to have which other supermarkets do is "Express" or "Local" type stores, maybe they could use the retail premises for that and sell games as well?

Haha i doubt you'd even fit a deli counter in my local GAME/Gamestation
 

PaulLFC

Member
Haha i doubt you'd even fit a deli counter in my local GAME/Gamestation
Was thinking that, nearly all of the Game/Gamestation stores I've seen are far too small even for an express/local supermarket. Plus a lot of them are in indoor shopping centres, where you wouldn't really find supermarkets.
 
I can see some logic in setting up your own Game Retailer, as Supermarkets don't really need to sell games to make profit anyway. But it could be possible that WalMart just wants the store space to make mini-ASDA's, rather than Game stores (as this seems to be something of a trend with supermarkets and I haven't seen an Asda branded mini-mart about yet...)

There's room for profitable discount electronic retailers in High Street locations. JB Hifi in Australia is a good model of this.

Part of the problem of the Gamestops, EBs and GAMEs of the world is that they try to sell at RRP to people who really know better. Even when the guy three doors down in a suburban shopping centre is selling at 20% below RRP corporate will still sit there going "well someone's eventually going to be stupid enough to pay 50 quid for Modern Warfare 3 aren't they? They have before."
 

mclem

Member
I'm a buffoon.

As mentioned a couple of times in this thread, I've been wanting the Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition on 360 for under £20, and I've been mildly upset that I've seen it reduced on PS3 in Game to that level while the 360 version was untouched.

It's just struck me that I still have my £5 gameplay voucher. I'm not going to get many other opportunities to use it, so combining it with the (online) Gamestation £25 New Vegas gets me the pricetag I've been angling for.
 

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward

BluWacky

Member
Hmmm.

I would much prefer it if they went into administration - not that I want people to lose their jobs, but it would be much "nicer" from a consumer perspective if there could be a proper fresh start. I worry that, if OpCapita buy the business out, it will be "business as usual" as it was with Comet.
 

Ah, the £1 buyout. I was wondering when this would break.

Basically instead of going to the shareholders and board, Comet are going directly to the creditors (much like how Liverpool FC were bought by Fenway from RBS rather than H&G) who will sell Game to ensure that their debts are paid.

I'm not sure if it will work out though, and Comet are said to only be interested in 350 UK locations and nothing in Europe, I don't know how they would break the leases without the administrator.
 

Linkified

Member
Idiots buying on the Asda rumour then. Brera, you are missing out!

2.10p as we speak!

How are they idiots maybe Walmart sees it as an entry point into Spain, Portugal, France, etc...

Change it to Walmart Entertainment sell DVDs, Blu Rays, Games etc... could work wonders for them.
 

Linkified

Member
Ah, the £1 buyout. I was wondering when this would break.

Basically instead of going to the shareholders and board, Comet are going directly to the creditors (much like how Liverpool FC were bought by Fenway from RBS rather than H&G) who will sell Game to ensure that their debts are paid.

I'm not sure if it will work out though, and Comet are said to only be interested in 350 UK locations and nothing in Europe, I don't know how they would break the leases without the administrator.

Hilco are looking at the international assets BTW. Which bank do you work for again?
 
Hilco are looking at the international assets BTW. Which bank do you work for again?

Again, I wouldn't rush to buy up GMG stock on this latest bid from Comet. As I understand it, they have gone directly to the creditors who will use their power to sell Game for a nominal sum so that their debts are secured.

I haven't said which bank I work for, I would prefer to leave it that way.
 

jono51

Banned
Again, I wouldn't rush to buy up GMG stock on this latest bid from Comet.

fffuuuuuucckkk!!!!

Just bought £100 worth. I'm back in!

Being on the megabuxxx!!!

uMoVr.gif
 

s_mirage

Member
I love the way MCV says "OpCapita has done a great job of reversing Comet’s fortunes". And how long ago was that takeover completed? A month? The takeover was initiated less than six months ago. A bit soon to be singing their praises don't you think?
 

Linkified

Member
Again, I wouldn't rush to buy up GMG stock on this latest bid from Comet. As I understand it, they have gone directly to the creditors who will use their power to sell Game for a nominal sum so that their debts are secured.

I haven't said which bank I work for, I would prefer to leave it that way.

I'm not talking about OpCapita but rather Hilco, the company that want GMG international assets.

Shame,but one day will you?
 
I'm not talking about OpCapita but rather Hilco, the company that want GMG international assets.

Shame,but one day will you?

I haven't heard about any bid tabled from Hilco, but the Comet one is directly to the creditors, not to the board.

It's unlikely I will ever tell anyone.
 
Again, I wouldn't rush to buy up GMG stock on this latest bid from Comet. As I understand it, they have gone directly to the creditors who will use their power to sell Game for a nominal sum so that their debts are secured.

So what would that mean for stock holders, would the name just be taken off the market at that point? Or would it stick with the sale?

I had a moment of weakness and briefly considered buying shares, but it's gonna take 5 days to transfer my funds anyway. By which point they might be gone or the bargain bin share prices could be long gone depending how things go.

But then I saw Brera brought shares again, so I'm just gonna get out the popcorn and watch the thread unfold, cheaper and less risky!
 
I've got some shares, stupidly should have sold at 9p but actually thought they'd reach 20p even if it took a few years. Of course that was before their stock problems which is what really killed their shares.

Now im just trying to wait for the best time to bail out or if they are worth holding on for my original plan of a year or two.
 

winstano

Member
Couple of interesting tweets from UK based peeps...

@chris_Dring
"Just got off the phone. The news of OpCapita's bid is true. We await GAME's move"

@shoptonet
"shoptonet: Yakuza: Dead Souls to skip GAME: SEGA Europe has just confirmed today that Yakuza: Dead Souls will not be stocke... http://t.co/C8AelvKG"

So that's SEGA out as well... And OpCapita are supposedly confirmed to be making that move. However, that *IS* MCV's editor...
 
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