SuperEpicMan
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UK Retailer GAME is dead | Brera's Lament
- Thread starter CrunchinJelly
- Start date
- Status
Sorry to hear that
Have an appointment in town today so I'm gonna pop into GAME/Station to see if there's any deals left.
Throwaway123456789
Member
Someone on boards.ie found this in his local GAME yesterday.
Of course they're still going to take in preowned ones
Bloody bargain. I'll take 2!
j0hnny_385
Member
44.99 for a a PREOWNED copy? no wonder they're going down the drain. idiots.
Keyser Soze
Member
Latest issue...
Chittagong
Gold Member
dreamcastmaster
Banned
Especially after all the pro press MCV have been writing.
grandmastashi
Member
Yesterday the whole sorry situation was summed up for me in visits to Gamestation in Chester and GAME at Cheshire Oaks.
Was mooching around Gamestation was tempted to pick up a very new looking Prince of Persia HD collection in the preowned section for £12.98, when the sales assistant forlornly asked if I needed any help. I said no, but asked him how things were going. He said not great, they're running out of stock and getting sick of telling people they've not got stuff in, then having to deal with the anger of people who don't know the full situation. He said it's all quiet from head office and they don't know what's going on, saying they could be shuttered at any time.
Contrast that to Game, where I picked up Demon Souls, Ferrari the Race Experience and two brand new, sealed PS2 games (Prince of Persia Warrior Within and Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe). I took them to the counter and the sales assistant I mentioned a couple of pages back who seemed oblivious, now is either in utter denial or toeing the company line. Anyway, I was treated to the usual Game attitude of the customer is a total idiot, with:
Sales Assistant: Do you have internet at home?
Me: Yes.
SA: Are you on PSN
Me: Yes.
SA: Because there's no disk in this box.
Me: I know
SA: You have to download it.
Me: Yes I know.
SA: It's a download card in the box.
Me: Yeah, because it says it on the box, which I've read.
SA: Ok. Do you have a points card?
Me: No
SA: Do you have anything to trade?
Me: No
SA: You realise these are PS2 games.
Me: Yes.
SA: They won't play on your PS3.
Me: I know.
SA: You have a PS2.
Me: No.
SA: You won't be able to play them.
Me: One's a gift. The other I'll play on my PC.
SA: You can't play it on a PC.
Me: I can, my is powerful enough to emulate it.
SA: That's illegal.
Me: Look, can I just buy them? I'd have thought money was the most important thing bearing in mind the trouble Game are in right now.
SA: We're not in trouble, just getting rid of old stock.
Me: ..................
Near £41 pound isnt it? Either way rediculous!
Keyser Soze
Member
The MCV piece from inside the issue...
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/gone-the-game-we-once-knew-is-up-analysis/092819?
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/gone-the-game-we-once-knew-is-up-analysis/092819?
bigtroyjon
Member
lol, stay behind them till the end. "circumstances" turned against them all right.
PumpkinPie
Banned
^ If Game hadn't sold pre-owned games for more than new ones? That's the reason I stopped buying from them.
To be fair, I have to say there are a lot of customers that are complete blithering idiots (I know, I have to put up with them at my workplace) They are just covering their butts when a customer comes up to complain about a missing disc. People don't read. Seriously.
Anyway, I had 24AUD on my account which I used up yesterday. ^_^ Still curious what's happening here in Australia, the business seems to be doing ok here. Maybe it'll get spun off during an administration process?
grandmastashi
Member
To some degree I can understand, but you have to give the customer some credit based on their answers and their purchases instead of just continuing to badger away.
Cosmonaut X
Member
What an awful article.
Yeah, when they started asking you whether you knew those were PS2 games is when they should have stopped.
edit: Scratch that, not what I meant, it should not have got to that point.
J Tourettes
Banned
That MCV piece is lol-worthy. Obviously, no one pointed out the problems with Game before now...
IdreamofHIME
Member
I dont mind them asking to make sure I know it's a download code or when I buy multiple games and they make sure I own the right consoles (my mum was always buying games for the wrong console 20 years ago. Buying us Sonic when we only had a Mastersystem :/),but I hate when they're trying to sell me stuff at the counter. Insurance, extra controllers, guides etc. I ****ing hate that.
Zomba13
Member
My 'preowned' copy of Disaster: Day of crisis showed up today. I'm pretty sure it's brand new. Everything is crisp and clean, no scratches or smudges, no creases in the manual, case shows some signs of being left out and the nintendo code thing wasn't used (also still has all the useless junk). Dunno when I'm going to play it but was always interested in it. Even if it sucks it was only £2.
Sounds like they didn't want you buying anything.
grandmastashi
Member
I think head office have forced the upselling on the staff so much they're not allowed to exercise judgement. For me if they must do it, just ask one, maybe two questions and if the customer isn't biting just complete the transaction. Fact is, I've just had a long day at work, just want to buy my games and go home, do I really need to have an discussion about whether I know PS2 games don't work on PS3?!
It felt like that!
Dr Frasier Crane
Member
There's too many people in here in general that seem unnecessarily irked by someone just trying to do their job.
I mean I've worked retail and you have to ask these things on pain of a punch in the face. Is it so hard just to say "No I'm OK, I'm not interested" or "Yep thanks I'm aware of that" without getting snarky then coming on GAF and bitching about it?
If these interactions are so intolerable for you should you really be shopping outside the house? Just get some perspective, it's like 30 seconds out of your day, the person is just doing their job, no-one died. Just say "No but thanks for asking".
Don't make out it's an affront to your liberty.
I mean I've worked retail and you have to ask these things on pain of a punch in the face. Is it so hard just to say "No I'm OK, I'm not interested" or "Yep thanks I'm aware of that" without getting snarky then coming on GAF and bitching about it?
If these interactions are so intolerable for you should you really be shopping outside the house? Just get some perspective, it's like 30 seconds out of your day, the person is just doing their job, no-one died. Just say "No but thanks for asking".
Don't make out it's an affront to your liberty.
industrian
will gently cradle you as time slowly ticks away.
This.
Anyone who has ever worked in retail or customer services knows about the pain that this sort of thing can cause.
J Tourettes
Banned
Having to answer a litany of questions is a pain in the arse. Sometimes I wish shop assistants over here would be more like the surly motherfuckers in Poland, who act as if serving you is a massive inconvenience.
grandmastashi
Member
To be honest, I thought my simple yes and no responses were clear enough. And yes, I've worked retail too.
toythatkills
Member
I was once in Tesco and they asked if I had a Clubcard so I threw a pomegranate at the checkout assistant, let out a really loud high pitched scream and ran out of the store, only to return later that night and burn it down, leaving a single clubcard among the ashes.
Hardly the same statement can be applied to any high street retailer Suddenly trade prices increase, rent increases, utility rates increases, etc. Then the 3 external factors which will kill all non multinational companies - unemployment rising, banks not lending, and negative growth in the economy.
Remember though it is an opinion piece.
J Tourettes
Banned
Azure Phoenix
Member
I won't go into specifics, but know that the staff don't want to be bothering you and would appreciate if you'd just say smile and say "No thank you".
Also that staff member was covering their back against customers that don't read the box and then blame everyone but themselves. You may think it's ridiculous to have someone ask you if you have a Kinect/3DS/PS2 when you are buying those games, but at least half of customers don't read the packaging, buy the game, find out it doesn't work, lose the receipt and then come back to hurl abuse at the staff. PC games are by far the worst, we ask on every transaction if the customer has checked the specs to make sure their PC can run the game, and almost every customer replies with "Yes, I have Windows XP", leading to a long Q&A session to try and discover if their PC might be new or strong enough to run the game.
NeverDead was stocked, only enough for pre-orders though.
is it worth popping in on the way to work to see if they have anything cheap? i went on sunday and there was shit all
it bothers me that they almost always try to upsell you on something, or convince you to try and buy a used copy. thats not the employees fault, but it makes them seem like a shitty company that they have these policies.
it bothers me that they almost always try to upsell you on something, or convince you to try and buy a used copy. thats not the employees fault, but it makes them seem like a shitty company that they have these policies.
StalkerUKCG
Banned
Tesco is 24 hours you killed the night staff be ashamed
It's awkward and embarrassing. I can avoid it by shopping elsewhere, so it's just worth pointing out as yet another reason to not shop at GAME.
Keyser Soze
Member
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/publishers-respond-to-game-woe/092825?
Konami's UK General Manager Pete Stone
"One way or another it’s crunch time for the GAME Group. Despite the growth of digital delivery there is still a long way to go with physical games, so we need a presence on our high streets and in our shopping centres and I want GAME to survive in some form. I never like to see anyone lose their job and I feel for the many staff there. But I also know there are far too many GAME and Gamestation stores and at the very least rationalisation is necessary.
"There are other issues that should have been addressed a long time back, such as the in-store experience, depth of range, and online competitiveness, which they need to look at if they get past their current crisis. I’m keeping my fingers crossed they can come out of this leaner and stronger."
Codemasters CEO Rod Cousens
"The loss of Game, were that to happen, would not be helpful to the perception of the gaming industry particularly for traditional publishers who are making the transition to digital rapidly in any event.
"For many, digital starts with a disc, so a retail presence is still needed. It may be that it is more a case of virtual retail such as Amazon.com. than it is GAME.
"If you analyse digital revenues, a disc is a significant contributor to the generation of those revenues. While there are great opportunities in social and particularly so in smart devices, there is also intense competition and aside from rising development costs, marketing spend to cut through the clutter is soaring.
"For many Apps and social games, the revenue generated is inconsequential. It has to be a top ten game to be meaningful and then it really is. This is not lost on progressive retailers who have embraced digital and changed their business and business model accordingly.
"By virtue of their loyalty scheme, GAME has built a community which could prove valuable to some.
"You could make an argument that platform holders intervene and convert debt to equity but the quid pro quo might be the management of the pre-owned element.
"There are other initiatives that could be taken if the industry was to collaborate but that has never happened!
"The reality is such that market forces will prevail and what will be, will be. What is for sure is that the consumer doesn't go away but will navigate another route. Some may see that as an opportunity even those who are similarly challenged as the trading boost may be the trigger for a turnaround in their fortunes.
"Those who make games will ultimately be best placed. The global games market continues to grow year-on-year and accessing that global growth will not be negatively impacted by a downturn in the UK High Street."
"Hopefully GAME comes through but talk of its demise may be premature in any event as it could re-emerge from a pre-packaged administration for a powerful new owner.
"There are still many a twist and turn to the saga but whatever the outcome, I don't see the market going away. In fact I see it continuing to grow but in a different form and measured and tracked differently."
"There are exciting times ahead."
1C international publishing director Darryl Still
"It saddens me greatly to have been proven so right in this instance,"
"But my main hope is that the shake-up will turn out to be for the good. It seems to me that, with the likes of Tesco, Asda and Morrisons doing the job of stocking the mass market hits, it is behoven to whatever specialist game entity that crawls from this wreckage to be exactly that. A specialist. Stocking range & supplying knowledge.
"I spent some time with the GameStop guys in the States last week, and the way they are supporting their physical stock, with a whole back-up catalogue of key codes for games they don’t stock, but which are available for immediate download and play by their Impulse digital company, is not really rocket science, but just makes so much sense.
"That is the kind of side by side solution a games retailer needs to offer. Along with some staff expertise. Just look at how Apple stores manage the whole in store experience with loads of experts and knowledgeable staff. Leaving the wide range to iTunes. And the stores are always rammed!
"The fact that EA have just had their best ever launch with the latest Mass Effect title, without a single copy hitting a GAME shelf just proves that type of title is not where specialist games retail should be focussing their main efforts.
"My hope is that the great people at UKIE and other industry luminaries can help facilitate an independent solution to supporting a string dedicated customer base who want knowledge, breadth and support, working with some key digital suppliers and therefore they can leave the price wars and margin cutting to those that can cope with it.
"Hopefully all of these solutions will also leave the pre-owned bullshit to eBay and Amazon’s marketplace where it belongs."
Konami's UK General Manager Pete Stone
"One way or another it’s crunch time for the GAME Group. Despite the growth of digital delivery there is still a long way to go with physical games, so we need a presence on our high streets and in our shopping centres and I want GAME to survive in some form. I never like to see anyone lose their job and I feel for the many staff there. But I also know there are far too many GAME and Gamestation stores and at the very least rationalisation is necessary.
"There are other issues that should have been addressed a long time back, such as the in-store experience, depth of range, and online competitiveness, which they need to look at if they get past their current crisis. I’m keeping my fingers crossed they can come out of this leaner and stronger."
Codemasters CEO Rod Cousens
"The loss of Game, were that to happen, would not be helpful to the perception of the gaming industry particularly for traditional publishers who are making the transition to digital rapidly in any event.
"For many, digital starts with a disc, so a retail presence is still needed. It may be that it is more a case of virtual retail such as Amazon.com. than it is GAME.
"If you analyse digital revenues, a disc is a significant contributor to the generation of those revenues. While there are great opportunities in social and particularly so in smart devices, there is also intense competition and aside from rising development costs, marketing spend to cut through the clutter is soaring.
"For many Apps and social games, the revenue generated is inconsequential. It has to be a top ten game to be meaningful and then it really is. This is not lost on progressive retailers who have embraced digital and changed their business and business model accordingly.
"By virtue of their loyalty scheme, GAME has built a community which could prove valuable to some.
"You could make an argument that platform holders intervene and convert debt to equity but the quid pro quo might be the management of the pre-owned element.
"There are other initiatives that could be taken if the industry was to collaborate but that has never happened!
"The reality is such that market forces will prevail and what will be, will be. What is for sure is that the consumer doesn't go away but will navigate another route. Some may see that as an opportunity even those who are similarly challenged as the trading boost may be the trigger for a turnaround in their fortunes.
"Those who make games will ultimately be best placed. The global games market continues to grow year-on-year and accessing that global growth will not be negatively impacted by a downturn in the UK High Street."
"Hopefully GAME comes through but talk of its demise may be premature in any event as it could re-emerge from a pre-packaged administration for a powerful new owner.
"There are still many a twist and turn to the saga but whatever the outcome, I don't see the market going away. In fact I see it continuing to grow but in a different form and measured and tracked differently."
"There are exciting times ahead."
1C international publishing director Darryl Still
"It saddens me greatly to have been proven so right in this instance,"
"But my main hope is that the shake-up will turn out to be for the good. It seems to me that, with the likes of Tesco, Asda and Morrisons doing the job of stocking the mass market hits, it is behoven to whatever specialist game entity that crawls from this wreckage to be exactly that. A specialist. Stocking range & supplying knowledge.
"I spent some time with the GameStop guys in the States last week, and the way they are supporting their physical stock, with a whole back-up catalogue of key codes for games they don’t stock, but which are available for immediate download and play by their Impulse digital company, is not really rocket science, but just makes so much sense.
"That is the kind of side by side solution a games retailer needs to offer. Along with some staff expertise. Just look at how Apple stores manage the whole in store experience with loads of experts and knowledgeable staff. Leaving the wide range to iTunes. And the stores are always rammed!
"The fact that EA have just had their best ever launch with the latest Mass Effect title, without a single copy hitting a GAME shelf just proves that type of title is not where specialist games retail should be focussing their main efforts.
"My hope is that the great people at UKIE and other industry luminaries can help facilitate an independent solution to supporting a string dedicated customer base who want knowledge, breadth and support, working with some key digital suppliers and therefore they can leave the price wars and margin cutting to those that can cope with it.
"Hopefully all of these solutions will also leave the pre-owned bullshit to eBay and Amazon’s marketplace where it belongs."
Barnaby_Jones
Member
That's not even strictly fact although I doubt there's many original 60GB models still going strong these days. So glad mine is still spluttering along, original HDD and all!
As far as this whole debacle is concerned though, I've had words with a few employees of my local Game and Gamestation branches about it and on the whole they know very little about it and often seem not even to be gamers although 2 of them at least knew what was up but they didn't sound over the moon about it. I got very little information (as I doubt any has been filtered down) but what I did get pointed towards getting as much of anything sold as quick as possible but I suppose in reality, that's just a job responsibility.
grandmastashi
Member
Quite true; wish my 60GB had survived this long!
toythatkills
Member
An opinion can be either right or wrong.
Dr Frasier Crane
Member
Yes but you got snarky at the end after like 3 questions. It's their job just say "No thanks" and be nice. It's their job.
A litany of questions? In grandmastashi's example there was only 3 or 4. Is that so terrible for someone doing their job?
Most retail outlets will do the same. When I worked for Costa we had to do this, upsell to Medium drinks, added food etc. Businesses will want to make money. Again as I said is it the end of the world for them to ask. Just be nice back.
But most places you go to will try and up-sell and make their business some money.
I just don't see the problem with people asking this. If it makes you feel awkward then surely thats more your problem rather than either the sales assistant or the business you're frequenting. Sales Assistant are there to make their business as much money as possible whilst maintaining good customer service. If your idea of good customer service is being entirely left alone and only purchasing your one thing, then you're never going to be happy.
J Tourettes
Banned
Someone on boards.ie found this in his local GAME yesterday.
Medal of "Honor" for 30. Get fucked GAME
grandmastashi
Member
I wouldn't personally describe 'Yes I know' and 'Yeah, because it says it on the box, which I've read' as snarky... but maybe that's just me. Ultimately not everyone's idea of good customer service is the same.
Medal of Honour is like 6 quid at my store...
Psychotext
Member
Nice. Oddly enough yesterday I found a little indie game store in my town that I had no idea existed.
That makes no sense whatsoever. So just because someone doesn't want to be asked question after question, just wants to buy something and go, they have a problem? That's completely nonsensical. I have no problem with sales assistants doing their job, it's what they've been told to do - I do have a problem with the management insisting that people be asked to purchase additional product after additional product. It does not make for good customer service - if I really wanted points, or a controller, or some other accessory or game, I'd bring it to the till before I was asked about it.
Your last sentence is not true either. I've been to PLENTY of shops that just take the money for what I want to buy, give me my change and that's that. Quick service, and the customer leaves happy with the product(s) they wanted.
Once again, I don't blame the staff for this, and I don't blame customers either - I blame the management.
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