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[Gahiggidy]

I think there is a potential market for this idea.

Think about it. Imagine going into a small boutique store and being able to purchase any game for your system. Whether it be obscure stuff like "Cubivores" or the latest releases. Usually, there is only around 20-25% of the system's library on the shelf. I realize that stores have to manage there inventory... but why not at least keep one copy of the game, or just the game's box, on the shelf? There is 399 games out for GameCube as of today. Figuring that the average stocking-fee for retailers is ~$25 per game, that comes to $9,975. That doesn't sound too unreasonable. The retailer may even be able to cut a deal with the publisher that allows them to hold off on the stocking fees untill after the sales is made (only accounts for that "last" copy).

I think such a promotion would go along way to building customer loyalty. I know I would stick to such a store and probably end up buying alot more games if I could easily get my hands on those "B" rated titles that never generate alot of hype and thus do not warrant rushing to get it on the release date... but are worthy games to pick up on the off months when not much new and interesting is releasing. I'm thinking about such games as "Beach Spikers", "SMB2", "Cubivores", and "BLiNX".

I also think its about time stores rethink their method of organizing thier shelf-space. Right now they just randomly through shit up on the shelf... no attempt at categorizing or alphabetizing. I'm thinking the way they do it at book stores would work. Put them binding facing outward, and group them by genre... and then order by title. Unfortunately, the DVD cases they use now has such a narrow spine that it would be tricky to read off the titles. Perhaps how they do it at the music stores would be better... with them stacked one in front of the other... alowing you to flip through the various games.

 

[DopeyFish]

AFAIK, games aren't sold to retailers under consignment, though i could be wrong.

 

[border]

Probably because they get a terrible per-unit price if they just buy games one at a time. That's the point of wholesale.

People will just use the internet for obscure titles.

 

[PanopticBlue]

I think there is a potential market for this idea.

Think about it. Imagine going into a small boutique store and being able to purchase any game for your system. Whether it be obscure stuff like "Cubivores" or the latest releases. Usually, there is only around 20-25% of the system's library on the shelf. I realize that stores have to manage there inventory... but why not at least keep one copy of the game, or just the game's box, on the shelf? There is 399 games out for GameCube as of today. Figuring that the average stocking-fee for retailers is ~$25 per game, that comes to $9,975. That doesn't sound too unreasonable. The retailer may even be able to cut a deal with the publisher that allows them to hold off on the stocking fees untill after the sales is made (only accounts for that "last" copy).

I think such a promotion would go along way to building customer loyalty. I know I would stick to such a store and probably end up buying alot more games if I could easily get my hands on those "B" rated titles that never generate alot of hype and thus do not warrant rushing to get it on the release date... but are worthy games to pick up on the off months when not much new and interesting is releasing. I'm thinking about such games as "Beach Spikers", "SMB2", "Cubivores", and "BLiNX".

I also think its about time stores rethink their method of organizing thier shelf-space. Right now they just randomly through shit up on the shelf... no attempt at categorizing or alphabetizing. I'm thinking the way they do it at book stores would work. Put them binding facing outward, and group them by genre... and then order by title. Unfortunately, the DVD cases they use now has such a narrow spine that it would be tricky to read off the titles. Perhaps how they do it at the music stores would be better... with them stacked one in front of the other... alowing you to flip through the various games.

Are you 12?

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

Of course would be nice, of course would be impossible. What do they do when they sell their 1 copy of Cubivore and can't get ahold of another? Or when in 10 years they're still stuck with 1 copy of every game?

 

[shuri]

 

[Musashi Wins!]

The economics of "stocking" a store doesn't make this likely to happen with the current software delivery methods, but I feel your pain. Cubivore shows up around here like twice a year...yet the price stays the same (low).

 

[vireland]

Think about it. Imagine going into a small boutique store and being able to purchase any game for your system. Whether it be obscure stuff like "Cubivores" or the latest releases.

This exists as a store called Ebay.

Stores don't really take games on consignment, but when they don't pay for 60-90-120-180 days (I'm looking at you, Kmart - one of the worst inventory flow management chains, if not THE worst), it starts to feel like that. I also think there's some tax disadvantage to keeping inventory past a certain timeframe (3yrs? 5 yrs?), so having a huge real inventory would be a problem. Since it's not consignment, their receivables would start to look (and BE) ridiculously high, and it would collapse the store/chain.

The distributed inventory system of Ebay doesn't have these problems, but the tradeoff is high prices for the rare stuff.

 

[Gahiggidy]

I don't buy eBay games. They smell funny.

 

[Matlock]

Guys, why don't stores mainly stock things that will only generate losses?

 

[Quadrophenic]

Keeping any store 100% stocked 100% of the time requires an infinite level of inventory.

 

[Gahiggidy]

Nintendo or somebody ought to research a way to manufacture discs on the spot. A way to burn the software right there on the post and package it. All w/o compromising thier anti-piracy security.

By the end of next year retail space is going to be a huge challege with 7 major platforms vieing for attention; PS2, GCN, XBX, XB2, GBA, NDS, PSP.

 

[Vlad]

Nintendo or somebody ought to research a way to manufacture discs on the spot. A way to burn the software right there on the post and package it. All w/o compromising thier anti-piracy security.

By the end of next year retail space is going to be a huge challege with 7 major platforms vieing for attention; PS2, GCN, XBX, XB2, GBA, NDS, PSP.

That's actually not a bad idea, on a purely theoretical level...

Get a machine that presses the disc, prints the label on the disc, and prints a cover for the game itself. Heck, you could even build functionality into it so that it could print and assemble manuals.

Like you said though, that's a HUGE liability for piracy, as they'd most likely have to keep the game data on the machine itself.

 

[TheDiave]

Because if people could always find what they wanted when they wanted it, the concept of demand would be nonexistent. By not having what people want, demand builds, and this keeps the evil machine of supply-and-demand going.

On a level that makes more sense to the regular Joe, it's the only reason those bastards at Wal-Mart haven't driven everybody else out of business; sometimes other stores have what they're out of and vice versa.

But yeah, wouldn't a world like what you're suggesting be sweet?

 

[rs7k]

Lay off the drugs.

 

[Shinobi]

Nintendo or somebody ought to research a way to manufacture discs on the spot. A way to burn the software right there on the post and package it. All w/o compromising thier anti-piracy security.

:lol :lol :lol You're sniffing some serious glue buddy...

 

[Kon Tiki]

The EB near me will order any current gen game that is not on the shelf.

 

[DDayton]

Actually, an in store disc pressing kiosk could be done... the only problems would be if someone were to steal it. That could be stopped by using a proprietary media which could only be ordered from Nintendo, though.

 

[Gahiggidy]

The EB near me will order any current gen game that is not on the shelf.

Its more than that though... what I want to see happen is people to walk into an EBGames and see a wall of 400 GameCube games... and be really, really impressed.

 

[keeblerdrow]

The instant gratification mentality is out of control.

 

[Scott]

Its more than that though... what I want to see happen is people to walk into an EBGames and see a wall of 400 GameCube games... and be really, really impressed.

Ah, but if they carried every title for GameCube, they'd do the same for PS2 & XBox as well. And when people walk in and see those 400 GC titles, next to shelves full of over 540 XBox titles, and adjacent to an entire wall dedicated to nearly 900 PS2 titles... Are they really going to walk away impressed with the GameCube?

 

[Ironclad]

Well, if the publisher stopped publishing a game, how could a store get a copy of it.

 

[Late Stage Marxist]

Ah, but if they carried every title for GameCube, they'd do the same for PS2 & XBox as well. And when people walk in and see those 400 GC titles, next to shelves full of over 540 XBox titles, and adjacent to an entire wall dedicated to nearly 900 PS2 titles... Are they really going to walk away impressed with the GameCube?

:lol

 

[Warm Machine]

The EBs in Vancouver are all ugly as sin. They should all be about double the size. The majority of any display wall is made up of pre-owned games.

Store design is going to have to get better and seeing as though there are so many systems on the horizon and the game industry is far larger than ever before, more and more shelf space really is required.

Does anyone know of any really large civilized game stores?

 

[Speevy]

Ah, but if they carried every title for GameCube, they'd do the same for PS2 & XBox as well. And when people walk in and see those 400 GC titles, next to shelves full of over 540 XBox titles, and adjacent to an entire wall dedicated to nearly 900 PS2 titles... Are they really going to walk away impressed with the GameCube?

If there were 400 Gamecube titles on the shelves, they would be forced to abandon the standard half-space approach taken with the console's games. I could certainly live with 900-540-400. What a cool store. Heck, put all the GBA titles up there too.

 

[Kon Tiki]

Its more than that though... what I want to see happen is people to walk into an EBGames and see a wall of 400 GameCube games... and be really, really impressed.

Have Nintendo open NOA Stores, or merge Pokemon stores. Start an email campaign.

 

[Flakster99]

Know what? During the 16 bit days, we used to see gigantic walls filled with pretty much everything that had been developed for the Snes and the Genesis. God bless Jumbo Video.

To many systems, so many games are being left in the dust after very little self time compared to how it used to be. I hear what you're saying Gah, it's way to fucking cluttered these days, stores just have to change with the times and they've been severely lacking in giving us proper self space.

Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft should try and do something about it, it is after all affecting each and everyone of them as well the 3rd parties.

 

[DarienA]

Poor Gahiggidy, desperate to get some Nintendo attention.

Could you imagine the floor space necessary to stock every game for the GC, Xbox and PS2?

And that's not even counting the pre-owns?

Lord help those employees when they close each night and have to reset the store...

 

[Fantasmo]

This topic screams the need for 1 thing.

Downloadable games at a consumer-fair price point. I'd buy ROMs left and right if I could, especially if they came with pdf manuals and stuff. I know I can get em free but I feel better buying, but half the time the trouble is too high to go to eBay for an obscure SNES or Genesis title.

If Sega/Nintendo and all thier former 3rd party publishers put their old ROMs online for purchase without any damn DRM, they'd have a helluva lot of revenue off of minimum bandwidth costs.

The perfect price for old ROMs could easily be $5 and profitable. Newer systems could also offer a similar scenario, although the process would obviously be a bit different.

Emulation really needs to catch on as a viable gaming alternative, especially with great usb controllers and tv-out being so cheap now.

BTW, I realize he meant newer games but I personally can't think of a viable alternative outside of eBay to get a full catalog of games outside of gamefly.

 

[Gahiggidy]

Poor Gahiggidy, desperate to get some Nintendo attention.

Could you imagine the floor space necessary to stock every game for the GC, Xbox and PS2?

GameCube's could fit in on a wall 20' feet long and 7½' feet high.

Figuring, you place the games 2 per ft. and take 9 inches a row. DVD cases are 5½" by 7½".

It would be a fraction of that amount if you placed them spine outward. You can fit about 15 per foot, so a wall only 3 feet wide would do it.

 

[DarienA]

GameCube's could fit in on a wall 20' feet long and 7½' feet high.

Figuring, you place the games 2 per ft. and take 9 inches a row. DVD cases are 5½" by 7½".

It would be a fraction of that amount if you placed them spine outward. You can fit about 15 per foot, so a wall only 3 feet wide would do it.

Narrow vision my friend... you've only account for one console.

You haven't account for the other two consoles... their preown sections, nor have you accounted for GBA or DS.

Get back to me when you have those calculations.

Spine out is not appealing to a consumer BTW. You'd could probably get away with a spine out for older titles and then a new release section.

 

[Gahiggidy]

How many differant movies are stocked at a BlockBuster?

 

[Community Forum]

There is a company that makes a device called Software-To-Go. This kiosk is installed in many CompUSA locations. A lot of the top applications can be purchased through this kiosk. Perhaps videogames could be delivered by a similar method.

Linky

SoftwareToGo is a revolutionary new software delivery system that offers you more of the software titles you want, when you want them. Simply choose a title from our "virtual" aisles of software, order it electronically, and within minutes it's "burned" onto a CD for you to take home and enjoy. And best of all, since SoftwareToGo is constantly adding new software titles to its ever growing library, you always get to choose from among the latest and greatest software titles.

News Story (old but relevant to the topic)

CompUSA to Launch Software-To-Go Nationwide; First Retailer to Introduce Electronic Software Delivery

 

[bjork]

Keeping any store 100% stocked 100% of the time requires an infinite level of inventory.

IAWTP

It's pretty much an impossibility too, given that print runs exhaust...

 

[Triumph]

You've heard of supply and demand, right? I mean, there's just not demand for any store to carry all of the PS2 titles, much less all of the GC titles.

But it's good to see you posting absurd stuff again. I had feared that you had lost the touch with all the SELL YOUR GAMECUBE IT'S ALL OVER stuff, but I see the DS has brought you back in rare form. Keep up the good work, Smapty!

 

[Gahiggidy]

They don't actually have to have the game... just the box.

 

[Triumph]

They don't actually have to have the game... just the box.

:lol You're precious. I mean that in as much of a heterosexual way as one man can say to another.

 

[Gahiggidy]

Ok. Just do me a favor and tell your boss about my idea.

 

[Triumph]

Ok. Just do me a favor and tell your boss about my idea.

Haha. I don't work for GS any more. And if I did he would tell me to stop smoking crack(actually he would probably wonder why I wanted to talk to him after he fired me).

 

[AniHawk]

I'm just disappointed I can't find Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland at our store or anyone else's. Should at least have the bigger sellers in stock. Who gives a shit about Barbie? Give me Kirby.

Right now they just randomly through shit up on the shelf... no attempt at categorizing or alphabetizing. I'm thinking the way they do it at book stores would work. Put them binding facing outward, and group them by genre... and then order by title.

...We alphabetize the games.

And we have DVDs stored the exact same way you suggest.

I went to a store in a mall, and they had every obscure game you could name. They even had some new Dreamcast, PSX, N64, and SNES stuff (this was about 6 months ago). The downside is the games were usually about $5 more than the normal price. They had stuff like MDK 2, Cubivore, and Super Puzzle Fighter II (or I, whichever made it to the US on the PSX).

And if I did he would tell me to stop smoking crack(actually he would probably wonder why I wanted to talk to him after he fired me).

Were you fired for smoking crack?

 

[pilonv1]

Am I the only one who remembers a simialr thread by Gahiggidy on the old GAF that pushed this idea because consumers weren't choosing Gamecube since only a small percentage of it's library was on the shelf? Good times.

 

[Shinobi]

Its more than that though... what I want to see happen is people to walk into an EBGames and see a wall of 400 GameCube games... and be really, really impressed.

That would take EB Games being in retail space that's bigger then the glorified walk-in closets that they currently use.

As for having every game ever made on tap, I doubt there's a retailer out there that has close to half the DVD's ever made in inventory or on the floor at all times. It's a nice dream, but that's pretty much all it is.

 

[ImNotLikeThem]

this reminds me, today i was in blockbuster looking for a movie, and like normal, i walked over to the games section. Fairly good sized selections for all 3 systems, PS2 with 2 racks, xbox 1 1/2, gamecube 1 1/4, and the last 1/4 for n64/ps1 games. But i noticed, all the "hot new games" for ps2 and xbox were at least 5 copies each, halo2 gta:sa, etc etc. Gamecube though, 2 metroid prime 2's, both out. 1 Baten kaitos, out. 1 Mario tennis, out. no donkey konga... 5 The Incredibles, 4 in stock. 5 Tak whatever, 4 in stock. 3 TMNT, 2 in stock. 3 spiro, 3 in stock. i really don't understand why these games are stocked in this manner.

 

[robox]

for anybody who's ever worked in retail, they'd know that this is quite an impossible feat. the logistics just don't work. i mean, even if you have one copy of every game, once you sell it, it's gone. right there, you're short one game and can't maintain your one copy of each game mantra.

and nintendo already pioneered this stuff in japan with the super famicom and their cart vending system in convenience store Lawson. have an empty cart, load up a game from a terminal and play. security is a very weighty issue with these kinda things though.

 

[Triumph]

Were you fired for smoking crack?

I don't know what you talkin bout!

 

[impirius]

this reminds me, today i was in blockbuster looking for a movie, and like normal, i walked over to the games section. Fairly good sized selections for all 3 systems, PS2 with 2 racks, xbox 1 1/2, gamecube 1 1/4, and the last 1/4 for n64/ps1 games. But i noticed, all the "hot new games" for ps2 and xbox were at least 5 copies each, halo2 gta:sa, etc etc. Gamecube though, 2 metroid prime 2's, both out. 1 Baten kaitos, out. 1 Mario tennis, out. no donkey konga... 5 The Incredibles, 4 in stock. 5 Tak whatever, 4 in stock. 3 TMNT, 2 in stock. 3 spiro, 3 in stock. i really don't understand why these games are stocked in this manner.

That's corporate's doing, AFAIK... we have rougly the same number of GC games at our store. Donkey Konga, etc. will likely never be in for rent as it requires a peripheral.

 

[ImNotLikeThem]

That's corporate's doing, AFAIK... we have rougly the same number of GC games at our store. Donkey Konga, etc. will likely never be in for rent as it requires a peripheral.

oh, i know its from-the-top or whatnot, but seriously, where do they get the "market research" that says buy lots of shitty games for gamecube and only a bare minimum of games that people play?

 

[impirius]

oh, i know its from-the-top or whatnot, but seriously, where do they get the "market research" that says buy lots of shitty games for gamecube and only a bare minimum of games that people play?

Probably from Head of Corporate Research Michelle Rodriguez

 

[OniShiro]

it's against the laws of physics, if a videogame store was fully stocked it's enormous mass would create a black hole that would engulf the earth

 

[DDayton]

As far as Blockbuster goes, it might be possible that on the whole, GameCube owners are more likely to buy games than Xbox and PS2 owners... especially big first party titles. Licensed games seem more unlikely to be purchased, though. Games which are purchased more often are less likely to be rented.

Again, this is just a quick guess... no clue as to whether it's true or not. GameCube games must be in lower demand for rentals, though.