KmartGamer 6.0 - Gears of War 3 $20 coupon + Save $30 on 12 Month XBLA

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www.KmartGamer.com (Blog is effective in all locations)

To receive gaming coupons you must be a Shop Your Way Rewards member. It's free and only takes a couple of minutes to sign up in store.

September 18th through the 24th:
link to blog post

:360: Buy any version of Gears of War 3, get a $20 gaming coupon.
Deal will work with Limited and Epic Editions.
Coupon valid from September 25 to November 5.

:360::ps3: Shadows of the Damned $29.99

Kmart Weekly Ad: (Circulars not effective in all stores, NYC and Offshore in particular - Savings coupon offers effective everywhere)

September 18th through the 24th:

:360: Buy the limited edition Gears of War 320GB Xbox 360 system for $399.99, get Gears of War Triple Pack for free.

:360: Buy any version of Gears of War 3 and a 12-month Xbox Live Gold subscription card, get $30 off the price of the 12-month Gold card.
Deal will work with Limited and Epic Editions.

:360: Turtle Beach Ear Force X12 headset $44.99

:360: Halo ODST $9.99

:360::ps3: Brink $19.99

:360: Halo Reach $29.99

Shop Your Way Rewards:

It's a wiki, please update. This portion of the OP is for anyone who notices a SYWR offer. These offers can be very targeted (Geo, User, etc.) so anything placed needs to be validated.

Coming Soon:

All titles listed below I am working on offers for and the dates I think they are coming out.

9-20 :360: Gears of War 3 $20 Gaming coupon + Buy game & 12-month Gold card, get $30 off 12-month Gold card.
9-27 :360::ps3: X-Men Destiny $15 Gaming coupon
9-27 :360::ps3: FIFA Soccer 12 $20 Gaming coupon
9-27 :ps3: Ico/Shadow of the Colossus Collection $15 Gaming coupon
10-4 :360::ps3: Spiderman: Edge of Time
10-4 :360::ps3: Rage
10-4 :360::ps3: Dark Souls
10-4 :360::ps3: NBA 2k12
10-11 :360::ps3: Dead Rising 2: Off the Record
10-11 :360: Forza 4
10-11 :360::ps3: Ace Combat: Assault Horizon
10-11 :wii::360::ps3: Just Dance 3
10-11 :360::ps3: RockSmith
10-16 :wii::360: Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure
10-17 :ds: Professor Layton and the Last Specter
10-18 :ps3: Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One
10-18 :360::ps3: Batman Arkham City
10-24 :3ds: Pokemon Rumble Blast
10-25 :wii::360::ps3: Disney Universe
10-25 :360::ps3: Battlefield 3
10-25 :360::ps3: Silent Hill Downpour
10-25 :360: Dance Central 2
10-25 :360: Kinect Sports 2
11-1 :360::ps3: James Bond: Goldeneye 007 Reloaded
11-1 :360::ps3: Sonic Generations
11-1 :ps3: Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
11-1 :360::ps3: Lord of the Rings: War in the North
11-8 :360::ps3: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
11-8 :360::ps3: Metal Gear Solid HD Collection
11-11 :360::ps3: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
11-13 :3ds: Super Mario 3D Land
11-15 :360::ps3: Need for Speed: The Run
11-15 :ps3: Silent Hill HD Collection
11-15 :360: Halo Anniversary
11-15 :wii: Mario and Sonic London 2012
11-15 :3ds: Shinobi
11-15 :360::ps3: Saint's Row: The Third
11-15 :360::ps3: Assassin's Creed: Revelations
11-15 :360::ps3: Rayman Origins
11-20 :wii: Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
11-22 :ps3: Tekken Hybrid
11-22 :360::ps3: WWE 12
12-11 :3ds: Mario Kart 7
2012 TBA :3ds: Kid Icarus
 
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Your partially right, but Kmart ships out its games to the stores in boxes with numerous other games inside. So ordering 3k in games only has to be divided up and shipped to the distribution centers, which will just place a couple in with the other games it ships in boxes. I understand then you have to create UPC labels, etc....., but that should be extremely easy. I understand both arguments, but I would say I would agree with Kain for the most part on the situation.
 
Then again, with Kmart's inability to routinely not have any kind of deals on older games, I'm sure the unsuccessful ones will just add to the ridiculous stockpile of already worthless overpriced titles in their stores today.
 
[quote name='Kain']I want to say just one word - just one word. Are you listening? "Katamari". Think about it. Will you think about it?[/QUOTE]

I don't think you can rightfully make this comparison. Katamari Damacy premiered with a very reasonable MSRP of $19.99. It garnered the attention that it did because it was a unique game that didn't cost the then-typical $49.99 to buy at launch. Word got out and people were willing to take a chance because there wasn't cause for "I'll wait for it to be inevitably cheaper" like we're hearing from a lot of people regarding SotD right now.

While your points about games needing to be carried to sell make sense, it's not KMart's obligation to take that risk. While any of us with a coupon and the intent to purchase Catherine at launch would have considered KMart our first choice in retailer, something true of any launch game under these conditions, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone outside of this thread who would have considered KMart as the go-to place for the title.

[quote name='Kain']So many shops bought as many copies of E.T. as they could handle. But you know what happened? The game sucked. Nobody bought them. Rumor has it they were all returned to the developer and dumped in a landfill somewhere.[/QUOTE]

That's no mere rumor. http://www.snopes.com/business/market/atari.asp http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E.T._the_Extra-Terrestrial_(video_game)#Atari_video_game_burial
 
[quote name='confoosious']It was just so useless trying to explain why his argument made no sense.

Kain) Why can't they just take a risk? It's only a few copies per store.
Me) No, you don't take a risk because of x, y, and z
Kain) I think they should take the risk. Cause even CoD has 20 copies on my local shelf.

WTF. I'm sure your anecdotal evidence of CoD languishing on your local shelf really changes the equation of CoD (any low risk title) vs Catherine (any high risk title).

-----

I'm gonna try one more time because I think some really shortsighted, self centered thinking goes on in this thread when people bitch about titles being on sale, not being on sale -- they always think of each title in a vacuum. ("I don't understand...huh huh huh... why can't Title X also get a $20 coupon like Title Y? They're both $60 games..." ) And that simply isn't the case. Big publishers pushing big games have the weight of all their other big games behind their push.

Everything revolves around money and how much the marketing push is. There's also a finite amount of resources in any department.

This isn't simply a case of "well, I could just throw up a few copies on my ebay account." Every single title takes resources. Buying 3000 copies doesn't take 1/10th the effort / overhead as 30,000 copies of a game.

It's almost just a very fundamental exercise in management decision systems: do you spent x resources on something that in all probability will yield y or do you spend x resources on something that in all probability will yield 1/2 of y?

It might not be a logistical nightmare, but it certainly requires work: marketing, operations, field. Making a trial of "2-3 copies per store" isn't as easy as it sounds.

And yeah, a retailer might take a risk on a lesser known title but not because they feel frisky --- someone is pushing it. Apparently nobody is pushing Catherine.[/QUOTE]

Plus, he has absolutely no regard for the importance of shelf space. I don't know about your guy's K-Marts, but the ones around me have very limited spots in the video game racks for each platform. Why give it to a game that is almost guaranteed to be a low seller when they could give it to a game that is much more likely to sell?

So what if someone goes to Gamestop to pick up Catherine rather than at K-Mart? K-Mart misses out on 1, maybe 2, potential sales? I think that's a better fiscal decision than buying 2-3 copies per store (and then having all the additional fixed and variable overhead costs of holding just 2-3 copies of a game).

A game being extremely niche is exactly a reason why they shouldn't waste valuable resources and shelf space on Catherine when they can use it to give us deals like what happened with L.A. Noire.

Like I said, he's an idiot.
 
Well with all the great games due out from Sept till the end of the year I think it's a good idea to hold off on deals when nothing great is really rocking the shelves at this moment. Easier to have the budget to have better deals on better games later on.
 
I mostly lurk this thread but despite the lack of deals as of late, I'd still like to thank Josh and KMart for the last few months, as I stockpiled a bunch of SYWR points which came in handy when I needed some car repairs done Saturday and used them to knock $77 off the price of a couple of tires at Sears. When he pulled up how many points I had, the customer service guy went "holy s***!" Thanks!
 
I actually agree with Kain that taking on a copy or two of higher profile niche titles would be a good move for Kmart, assuming Kmart can reasonably deal with quantity that low.

Why? Because even a niche title has, by definition, a niche. Hardcore gamers exist throughout the country, and kmart is trying to become a 'go to' gaming store. Being able to pick up [insert niche title here] is part of that. What's the alternative? Amazon?

Now, again, that assumes kmart can deal in low quantities, and it also requires some level of 'selection'. That is, anything with enough buzz to be discussed would be considered 'high profile' niche... such as Catherine, and would likely be okay. Valkyria Chronicles, Demon's Souls, etc, would also qualify.

The bottom line is that if you want to be a go to gaming store, it's good to have what the core gamer wants as well as the more average and/or casual gamer. There's a level of gamer cred that is earned, and there is some value to that.

Then again, maybe it's just the difference between the Blockbuster video that only carries hollywood movies and the indy place down the street that has a huge selection of harder to find stores.
 
[quote name='Kain']...But a game being "too niche" really is a ridiculous reason to not stock a game at all...[/QUOTE]

I think if you want to defend this idea, you're going about it the wrong way. I'd point out that some of the bajillion copies of the popular game (the portion that doesn't sell) will probably still be sitting on the shelves years later and likely won't ever sell at any respectable price at that point cuz every other retailer will likely have just as many left-over copies collecting dust in many of their stores. If you have a niche title from Atlus, NIS, etc. the title may not sell initially but there's a good chance that in that same time frame (or likely less), the niche manufacturer's game will get sold at higher price (maybe even a profit) than the over-produced and quickly out-dated blockbuster title if for no other reason than someone looking to re-sell it and make a few bucks on the secondary market.

I'd admit that If I had a store I'd rather be looking at two copies of Catherine sitting on my shelf three years after it was released than twelve copies of Call of Duty #37 three years after it was released cuz I have no doubt that I could off-load the former at a higher price somewhere. That being said, the goal of any store should obviously be to turn money over quickly for a profit and therefore to try not to have ANY KIND of excess inventory sitting around too long. The way to do this is not to buy a few less of one title in order to have the resources to take a chance on a few of another title, but to buy the the titles that sell and try your best to hit the sweet spot with your ordering where you won't run out and risk losing sales, but you won't have too many extras. No company will get it perfect every time but that's the goal.
 
[quote name='affa']I actually agree with Kain that taking on a copy or two of higher profile niche titles would be a good move for Kmart, assuming Kmart can reasonably deal with quantity that low.

[/QUOTE]

They start doing that and they might as well stock all of them. Otherwise they'd get nerd rage for carrying this title but not that title. Granted, that's already happened, but Josh did say Catherine wouldn't be stocked MONTHS AGO.
 
[quote name='affa']
Then again, maybe it's just the difference between the Blockbuster video that only carries hollywood movies and the indy place down the street that has a huge selection of harder to find stores.[/QUOTE]

Yes, or compare it to one of those express bookstores. Do they want to stock some relatively obscure manga on the off chance that some random geek is gonna wander into their store? Or are they gonna stock the latest John Grisham bullshit that will fly off the stores?

And games aren't evergreen like some books. Old games are useless. (And cheap for people like us.)
 
[quote name='Maineavalanche']I was saying 8 hours based on everything I heard and read about it, but 11 hours is not all that much more. I'm glad you liked it, but I will wait for it to hit a lower price as I feel I'm not getting the value for my money at $60.[/QUOTE]

Should've taken advantage of the B2G1 deal that BB and Amazon had if you wanted 2 other games. I haven't seen SotD on sale either but I pulled the trigger anyway and bough it at Best Buy last week.

[quote name='nbballard']Was that per Josh? I know via email I discussed with Stockboy that Thor (and I mentioned it in the forum - during a previous discussion about catherine.. fucking game won't go away) and GL weren't carried, but I hadn't seen an official mention of Captain America.[/QUOTE]

:lol: No shit brah. Catherine isn't going away and these people here are bitching their way til Josh reconsiders his decision and bring the game to KMart along with a coupon deal.

And all these Superhero Movie to game adaptions? You know they're redbox rentals/soon to be in $20 bin soon.
 
[quote name='vlv723']And all these Superhero Movie to game adaptions? You know they're redbox rentals/soon to be in $20 bin soon.[/QUOTE]

You don't know that though, K-Mart should take risks and stock them all!
 
[quote name='nbballard']Was that per Josh? I know via email I discussed with Stockboy that Thor (and I mentioned it in the forum - during a previous discussion about catherine.. fucking game won't go away) and GL weren't carried, but I hadn't seen an official mention of Captain America.[/QUOTE]

I remember someone asking about Green Lantern and there was a reply that Kmart was not going to carry those games because after previewing the games they decided not to carry them. As a previous post mention there should be a place to view games not being carried.
 
[quote name='Kain']

K-Mart wants to play it safe and stock only the IPs that are guaranteed to sell. So when Modern Warfare 3 comes out, you can go and buy it at K-Mart, Walmart, GameStop, BestBuy, Target and every other gaming store under the sun. So which store is going to get the business? The answer? Unless you're a CAG who knows of a special sale or coupon, the answer is probably going to be "whichever store is closest."

But let's say GameStop decides to sell Catherine, or Disgaea 4, or any other niche title, and no other store sells it because it's not a "guaranteed sell." Then which store is going to get all the business if it happens to be a sleeper hit? The answer? The only place that bothers to stock it: GameStop.[/QUOTE]

You pretty much answer your own question right here.

Obviously most will just buy it from whichever store is near them. But last time I checked, a lot of people buy CoD games.

You then say GS will get "all the business" if it's a sleeper hit. All the business could be like...a few copies sold at each of the Kmarts.

It's also nothing like other business risks you equate it to. If anything, Kmart has taken risks, and it's been shown to not be a good idea.

I mean, SotD sold 24,000 copies, Child of Eden 30,000. Let that sink in for a bit.

Here, let's switch it around.

Let's say you buy a pittbull, and it bites your left hand. You think you took a risk, so decide to take one again. You buy another pittbull and it bites your right hand.

Are you going to take ANOTHER chance and have a third pittbull bite your ass?
 
plus Josh has said before that Atlus is a pre-order focused publisher. They probably don't offer any deep volume discounts or future purchase rebates on titles if they can't show there's demand at that retailer.

They do low print runs so it's probably beneficial to their business relationships to only sell to retailers who can show specific demand.
 
If K-mart decided to carry Catherine then we'd have 25 more pages of people proclaiming "What, no deal/coupon?!? I guess you forced me to go and buy it from Gamestop! :roll:
 
I'm pre-ordering from Amazon anyway. According to Amazon's selling rank, the regular edition is #12 and the Love Is Over edition is rank #16. I'm not a Japanese game fan or anything, I just like to play games in general, especially those with intriguing ideas/twists/novelties.


Media: Video Game
Release Date: July 26, 2011
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #12 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

#1 in Video Games > PlayStation 3 > Action
#3 in Video Games > PlayStation 3 > All Games
 
[quote name='nnthomas']Did KMart carry Dungeon Siege 3, and if so, can you do a sale on it anytime soon plz.[/QUOTE]
I would love to, I've tried to catch up with July but it is not working out to well due to some transitions internally. August is when I am able to heat back up.
 
[quote name='seanr1221']You pretty much answer your own question right here.

Obviously most will just buy it from whichever store is near them. But last time I checked, a lot of people buy CoD games.

You then say GS will get "all the business" if it's a sleeper hit. All the business could be like...a few copies sold at each of the Kmarts.

It's also nothing like other business risks you equate it to. If anything, Kmart has taken risks, and it's been shown to not be a good idea.

I mean, SotD sold 24,000 copies, Child of Eden 30,000. Let that sink in for a bit.

Here, let's switch it around.

Let's say you buy a pittbull, and it bites your left hand. You think you took a risk, so decide to take one again. You buy another pittbull and it bites your right hand.

Are you going to take ANOTHER chance and have a third pittbull bite your ass?[/QUOTE]
Hopefully this will end the Catherine debate.

It comes down to pure balance sheet accounting.

First, take EA. Let's say I buy 100 titles from them a year. The pipeline of payables continues to flow to EA throughout the year. When they provide subsidy (like price protection or ad coop0, they are able to pay off of a balance that is owed to them instead of cutting a check out of their bottom line.

With Atlus, who I may buy one title a year, the pipeline is empty. If they fund any markdown or support the title in any way we have to request a check. No gaming publisher likes to do this and usually it becomes a hard situation.

The way around this issue is to use a third party distributor to push this type of product to consolidate small pipeline vendors. What happens then? Well, your margins become toast with a general 5-7% upcharge on a game that you only make 18 points to begin with before even doing a promotion.

Simple math, Catherine could only be supported online for us because without a pre order program the inventory investment becomes a liability if it does not sell within the first 4 weeks.

When KmartGamer.com goes up as a full ecommerce site we will be doing pre order offers on these titles like crazy but until then, I won't touch them with a ten foot pole.
 
[quote name='chriscolbert']You're taking a beating here but I'm going to mostly agree with you. But only because they carried the Yakuza games and I see them being somewhat comparable on the "niche" scale. Now of course that could have been a disaster and that's why they won't touch Catherine. But unless there is some outrageous minimum order requirement or it's a logistical nightmare, I don't see the risk in bringing in 1-2 copies per platform per store.[/QUOTE]
I know it probably doesn't make a ton of sense but there is so much more to think about then one title at a time. An entire balance sheet comes into play per publisher and they all interact with each other. Making an investment in the wrong title can be a big issue.

Yakuza 4 was supported by Sega, a publisher that I will have consistent title offerings throughout the year that will allow those investments to help sell through Yakuza 4 from a fiscal perspective. I have much more disposable income with them then say Atlus.

I love Atlus, they make a unique cross spectrum of games that are generally high quality and they are cool to work with but it is still a tough BM deal without guaranteed inventory investment (pre orders).
 
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[quote name='SHC-Gamer']I would love to, I've tried to catch up with July but it is not working out to well due to some transitions internally. August is when I am able to heat back up.[/QUOTE]

So I guess it's probably safe to assume we won't be seeing another drop on SotD before the OOT coupons expire, huh? If nothing else, that means I can go ahead and pick it up.
Thanks for all the savings thusfar!
 
[quote name='joshrocker']Thanks for giving your perspective on Catherine!

Any chance of 3DS games going on sale anytime soon?[/QUOTE]
Yes, I am sure we will hit a sale on 3DS games in August but I can definitely tell you that coming out of my Nintendo holiday planning session the 3DS is going to be a huge focus for us this Fall/Holiday.
 
[quote name='Serpentor']I'm pre-ordering from Amazon anyway. According to Amazon's selling rank, the regular edition is #12 and the Love Is Over edition is rank #16. I'm not a Japanese game fan or anything, I just like to play games in general, especially those with intriguing ideas/twists/novelties.


Media: Video Game
Release Date: July 26, 2011
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #12 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

#1 in Video Games > PlayStation 3 > Action
#3 in Video Games > PlayStation 3 > All Games[/QUOTE]

Buy.com has a 20 dollar credit. I emailed Amazon, but they spewed the usual b.s. about it of, "Yes, we know it's lower in price and offers a credit, but we hope you order from us soon."
 
[quote name='Maineavalanche']Buy.com has a 20 dollar credit. I emailed Amazon, but they spewed the usual b.s. about it of, "Yes, we know it's lower in price and offers a credit, but we hope you order from us soon."[/QUOTE]

What did you expect some low level CSR to say? "Yes sir, boss, right away sir! Updating the computers now boss. Taking off the shirt now boss."

(Above reference may be too obscure for you kids.)

---

Josh - in Kmartgamer 7.0, you should have a FAQ / Game buying 101 that kinda explains how deals work generically from your point of view. It's 1) really interesting and 2) might cut down on some deal whining in the thread. Ok, who am I kidding on 2. But it would be pretty interesting.
 
[quote name='Kain']And just like E.T., all those dozens of unsold copies of "popular" games like CoD, Halo, and others are a bigger loss at the end of the day than a couple unsold copies of a new IP that nobody's ever heard of.[/QUOTE]
[quote name='Kain']Nope, the game developer was being completely serious. He truly believed that having his title lining game shelves showed how immensely popular it was. If only I could remember which company and game it was, then I'd look up the article I read it in. :S[/QUOTE]
Not to beat a dead horse that's already six feet under, but the line of reasoning that "lots of copies on shelf = not selling" is so ludicrously wrong in regards to popular games that it truly boggles the mind that you believe it and say it sincerely. The reason Kmart has 20 copies on the shelf of COD is because COD sells really god damn well all year round. They can rotate through their inventory of it and keep it stocked to demand, and taper it down as the next game releases. With games that sell well, having a shit ton of copies on the shelf doesn't mean it's a failure, otherwise it would not be popular, it means that demand is steady enough to justify keeping a larger footprint on store shelves. They stock so much of it because the demand is there, even if it has tapered off from launch.

The only time having a lot of stock on shelves is bad is when there's no demand, when the title is not popular. Then yes, that is obviously a bad sign. But think about it: if a bookstore carries 100 copies of Dan Brown's next book, all sitting on a table or on the shelves, it doesn't mean "it's selling poorly, look how many there are sitting there!" but rather "holy shit they're going to sell all of those!"

Because except for a few rare occasions, people do not stock a lot of a title that won't sell well enough to justify the stock. COD can justify the large stock risk; a lot of games can't. That's why you see 20 copies of COD and only a few of most other games. That's all I'll say of it. I won't argue the point further.

[quote name='jer7583']nobody cared about shadows of the damned and even fewer people are going to care about catherine.[/QUOTE]
Catherine will outsell SotD by a fair amount. It's Atlus, it has a lot of ads and coverage in enthusiast press, etc. It's not enough for Kmart to carry it, I'm not arguing that, but SotD had no coverage, no advertising, no word of mouth, nothing. Catherine has a lot more than that, and most Atlus games have a built in fanbase (of Atlus) that can help mitigate the risk of it (for Atlus) of it being niche.

[quote name='confoosious']What did you expect some low level CSR to say? "Yes sir, boss, right away sir! Updating the computers now boss. Taking off the shirt now boss."

(Above reference may be too obscure for you kids.)[/QUOTE]
That sounds so familiar that it's going to bug the shit out of me all day until I remember what it is, if I actually know it. Chances are it's just reminding me of something else though.
 
[quote name='JustYourAverageJoe']Not to beat a dead horse that's already six feet under, but the line of reasoning that "lots of copies on shelf = not selling" is so ludicrously wrong in regards to popular games that it truly boggles the mind that you believe it and say it sincerely. The reason Kmart has 20 copies on the shelf of COD is because COD sells really god damn well all year round. They can rotate through their inventory of it and keep it stocked to demand, and taper it down as the next game releases. With games that sell well, having a shit ton of copies on the shelf doesn't mean it's a failure, otherwise it would not be popular, it means that demand is steady enough to justify keeping a larger footprint on store shelves. They stock so much of it because the demand is there, even if it has tapered off from launch.

The only time having a lot of stock on shelves is bad is when there's no demand, when the title is not popular. Then yes, that is obviously a bad sign. But think about it: if a bookstore carries 100 copies of Dan Brown's next book, all sitting on a table or on the shelves, it doesn't mean "it's selling poorly, look how many there are sitting there!" but rather "holy shit they're going to sell all of those!"

Because except for a few rare occasions, people do not stock a lot of a title that won't sell well enough to justify the stock. COD can justify the large stock risk; a lot of games can't. That's why you see 20 copies of COD and only a few of most other games. That's all I'll say of it. I won't argue the point further.


Catherine will outsell SotD by a fair amount. It's Atlus, it has a lot of ads and coverage in enthusiast press, etc. It's not enough for Kmart to carry it, I'm not arguing that, but SotD had no coverage, no advertising, no word of mouth, nothing. Catherine has a lot more than that, and most Atlus games have a built in fanbase that can help mitigate the risk of it (for Atlus) of it being niche.


That sounds so familiar that it's going to bug the shit out of me all day until I remember what it is, if I actually know it. Chances are it's just reminding me of something else though.[/QUOTE]
GMROI, Gross Margin Return on Investment. Inventory turns, GM rate and sales. Publishers that have a high GMROI you can make more investments in, lower GMROI you can't.

.com targeting makes it so much easier since you only have one distro point making it easier to forecast sales demand etc. Especially with pre order activity.
 
[quote name='JustYourAverageJoe']

That sounds so familiar that it's going to bug the shit out of me all day until I remember what it is, if I actually know it. Chances are it's just reminding me of something else though.[/QUOTE]

Don't google it. :)

"Taking off the shirt now boss."
"Taking off the shirt"

hint: eggs

-----

You know, for the most part, everything you need to know about selling can be learned from Pawn Stars: Every decision Rick makes is based on how much profit on an item but almost more importantly, how long it sits on the shelf.
 
[quote name='confoosious']
---

Josh - in Kmartgamer 7.0, you should have a FAQ / Game buying 101 that kinda explains how deals work generically from your point of view. It's 1) really interesting and 2) might cut down on some deal whining in the thread. Ok, who am I kidding on 2. But it would be pretty interesting.[/QUOTE]

I for one would love to read something like that!
 
[quote name='SHC-Gamer']Hopefully this will end the Catherine debate.

It comes down to pure balance sheet accounting.

First, take EA. Let's say I buy 100 titles from them a year. The pipeline of payables continues to flow to EA throughout the year. When they provide subsidy (like price protection or ad coop0, they are able to pay off of a balance that is owed to them instead of cutting a check out of their bottom line.

With Atlus, who I may buy one title a year, the pipeline is empty. If they fund any markdown or support the title in any way we have to request a check. No gaming publisher likes to do this and usually it becomes a hard situation.

The way around this issue is to use a third party distributor to push this type of product to consolidate small pipeline vendors. What happens then? Well, your margins become toast with a general 5-7% upcharge on a game that you only make 18 points to begin with before even doing a promotion.

Simple math, Catherine could only be supported online for us because without a pre order program the inventory investment becomes a liability if it does not sell within the first 4 weeks.

When KmartGamer.com goes up as a full ecommerce site we will be doing pre order offers on these titles like crazy but until then, I won't touch them with a ten foot pole.[/QUOTE]


The only part I find odd is that you have chosen to start a small campaign among mostly internet forum gamers in hopes of turning that into a bigger game draw for the company. But then when games like this are coming that are precisely the types of games that will almost ONLY be supported by the type of customer you chose to cater your initial program through, you don't take the risk with them.

So I suppose I figured that the risk of starting a campaign that sought after internet forum gamers to lay the groundwork for a bigger gaming push. Would also include the risk of backing the niche titles that a large portion of your audience takes the time to support.

I fully understand the reserve concern though. That is the obvious best way to have Kmart actually become a destination for gamers looking for someplace to replace Gamestop and other more dedicated retailers. I don't buy much of anything online though but would support an online reserve/ in store pickup system.
 
[quote name='confoosious']Don't google it. :)

"Taking off the shirt now boss."
"Taking off the shirt"

hint: eggs

-----

You know, for the most part, everything you need to know about selling can be learned from Pawn Stars: Every decision Rick makes is based on how much profit on an item but almost more importantly, how long it sits on the shelf.[/QUOTE]

What you're talking about isn't from SNL is it?
 
[quote name='harveyiscool']Then again, with Kmart's inability to routinely not have any kind of deals on older games, I'm sure the unsuccessful ones will just add to the ridiculous stockpile of already worthless overpriced titles in their stores today.[/QUOTE]



You have got to be fuckn' kidding right?!?!
Check out the clearance post in the OP

TW Wii bundle....$20
Socom Confrontation bundle...$20
Oblivion GOTY....$20

It's already obvious that MOST Kmart employees don't give a shit.
That results in price tags/stickers not being updated and customers still seeing release day price tags/stickers.



On a side note,

For the 10 copies someone saw on the shelf of CoD, that store probably sold a 100 copies of that game. No one except creepy nerds wanna buy shit like Catherine, and thank God, there aren't huge masses of that type of clientele around.
The investment, shelf space, and work does not even come close to justifying using up resources on a game like that when there are AAA titles coming out this fall where those resources could have gone to better use.
 
[quote name='SHC-Gamer']I know it probably doesn't make a ton of sense but there is so much more to think about then one title at a time. An entire balance sheet comes into play per publisher and they all interact with each other. Making an investment in the wrong title can be a big issue.

Yakuza 4 was supported by Sega, a publisher that I will have consistent title offerings throughout the year that will allow those investments to help sell through Yakuza 4 from a fiscal perspective. I have much more disposable income with them then say Atlus.

I love Atlus, they make a unique cross spectrum of games that are generally high quality and they are cool to work with but it is still a tough BM deal without guaranteed inventory investment (pre orders).[/QUOTE]

Thanks for taking the time to break it down. The post before your response to me was really informative. I guess it's easy for lots of us to be naive to the big picture.
 
[quote name='confoosious']Don't google it. :)

"Taking off the shirt now boss."
"Taking off the shirt"

hint: eggs

-----

You know, for the most part, everything you need to know about selling can be learned from Pawn Stars: Every decision Rick makes is based on how much profit on an item but almost more importantly, how long it sits on the shelf.[/QUOTE]


Pawn stars is my SH%^
 
[quote name='aznhero913']
For the 10 copies someone saw on the shelf of CoD, that store probably sold a 100 copies of that game. No one except creepy nerds wanna buy shit like Catherine, and thank God, there aren't huge masses of that type of clientele around.
[/QUOTE]

:roll:

Stereotyping is fun!
 
[quote name='biledriver']The only part I find odd is that you have chosen to start a small campaign among mostly internet forum gamers in hopes of turning that into a bigger game draw for the company. But then when games like this are coming that are precisely the types of games that will almost ONLY be supported by the type of customer you chose to cater your initial program through, you don't take the risk with them.

So I suppose I figured that the risk of starting a campaign that sought after internet forum gamers to lay the groundwork for a bigger gaming push. Would also include the risk of backing the niche titles that a large portion of your audience takes the time to support.

I fully understand the reserve concern though. That is the obvious best way to have Kmart actually become a destination for gamers looking for someplace to replace Gamestop and other more dedicated retailers. I don't buy much of anything online though but would support an online reserve/ in store pickup system.[/QUOTE]
I guess the main point is that it isn't a risk, it is a liability due to the current limitations of the lack of systemic pre-orders and the lack of a financial pipeline with Atlus.

I'll support any title all day long but at the end of the day I have to make money for the company or find another job lol.

As far as the movement goes, I feel and probably everyone else does as well, is that for us to actually compete in the upper echelon of the gaming market at large or niche, certain things have to be in place in order to pull Kmart forward as a pure gaming destination that extends beyond the walls of CAG, blog, and namely me. i.e. Pre order functionality, marketing assets, quality UX on .com/in store and competitive offer abilities (I do not have the system in place to offer gift cards/coupons etc. online yet).

Sometimes I am tempted to go try this on my own lol.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
[quote name='SHC-Gamer']I
As far as the movement goes, I feel and probably everyone else does as well, is that for us to actually compete in that market certain things have to be in place in order to pull Kmart forward as a pure gaming destination that extends beyond the walls of CAG, blog, and namely me. i.e. Pre order functionality, quality UX on .com and in store and competitive offer abilities (I do not have the system in place to offer gift cards/coupons etc. online yet).[/QUOTE]
And this is one reason I love what your doing for K-mart. You know it's nice to know that I can go to one store and get everything I need (gaming and or otherwise), with a good deal and cheap. Also I would like to thank you highly for helping me with my k-marts around the area and the whole Zelda fiasco. Not only do I want to shop there more now but you have shown me that yes I feel good about shopping there as well. It's nice to support a company who actually gives a shit about it's customers.
 
Josh,
This might be an odd question but I am going to throw it out there anyway. Have you heard about the fan petitions of the group Operation Rainfall? They are trying to get 3 wii games released. Xenoblade, Last Story, and Pandora's Tower. I am not sure if you could speak to this or not but have your contacts at Nintendo or elsewhere given any hints as to whether they are going to take a chance on releasing any of these in the US?

I ask as other than Zelda I don't see any need to even keep my Wii anymore and more content is always welcomed. Thanks as always.
 
[quote name='phoenix83']Josh,
This might be an odd question but I am going to throw it out there anyway. Have you heard about the fan petitions of the group Operation Rainfall? They are trying to get 3 wii games released. Xenoblade, Last Story, and Pandora's Tower. I am not sure if you could speak to this or not but have your contacts at Nintendo or elsewhere given any hints as to whether they are going to take a chance on releasing any of these in the US?

I ask as other than Zelda I don't see any need to even keep my Wii anymore and more content is always welcomed. Thanks as always.[/QUOTE]

I doubt he would be able to tell you even if he did know. I mean he's not going to leak Nintendo company secrets, and that's assuming he actually knows any. Nintendo isn't going to continue wanting to do business with him if he did stuff like that.

Sad to say it, but just Support Nintendo of Europe and import the 2 or 3 games. They clearly deserve the money way more then Nintendo of America nowadays. Even if just from the fact that an internet campaign had to be started for them to tell us that they refuse to release a game in the states. That stuff should have been said right as Europe announced the game. Pay around 70 dollars for it and suck it up because it's the best way to go. That being said I totally wish there was a way Kmart could stock import games :lol:

I do wonder though Josh... if you actually have any interest in playing these titles, and if you think they would be able to do well enough in a store like yours. I know this would require Nintendo to do some marketing of these titles, but I find myself completely questioning nowdays if *Japanese* RPG's can make anyone money if they don't have Square Enix logo on the box.
 
[quote name='Phenomic']
I do wonder though Josh... if you actually have any interest in playing these titles, and if you think they would be able to do well enough in a store like yours. I know this would require Nintendo to do some marketing of these titles, but I find myself completely questioning nowdays if *Japanese* RPG's can make anyone money if they don't have Square Enix logo on the box.[/QUOTE]
They can make money, in the right situations. The reason Atlus and other companies do great is they localize a game but don't ship 18,000,000 copies, just enough to sell and if they decide there is a market they will reprint more copies (in the case of Radiant Historia). That reminds me, I should open my launch copy of Radient Historia and play it :lol:.

Nintendo could make it work, all they have to do is say RPG from Nintendo and it would be instant sales.
 
[quote name='confoosious']Don't google it. :)

"Taking off the shirt now boss."
"Taking off the shirt"

hint: eggs[/QUOTE]

I think a better hint would be "sometimes nothin' can be a pretty cool hand"
 
[quote name='Sir_Fragalot']They can make money, in the right situations. The reason Atlus and other companies do great is they localize a game but don't ship 18,000,000 copies, just enough to sell and if they decide there is a market they will reprint more copies (in the case of Radiant Historia). That reminds me, I should open my launch copy of Radient Historia and play it :lol:.

Nintendo could make it work, all they have to do is say RPG from Nintendo and it would be instant sales.[/QUOTE]

That's because Atlus is a much smaller company, that specializes in niche titles.

Would Nintendo want to spend resources on a niche JRPG that might make them $500,000 or put those resources towards the next Mario game that will print money for years?

It's not just about making an overall profit but choosing how to allocate a limited amount of resources and making the MOST profit.
 
[quote name='8bitArtist']is kmart going to carry catherine?[/QUOTE]

:roll:

everybody run!!! :hot::hot::hot::wall::twoguns: :bomb:

i blame confoosious's off topic discussions for this.
 
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