So, when will GameStop go out of business?
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bonesawisready
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No. They adapted pretty well between industry changes in the 90's to today. They'll, if anything, keep the niche physical game store alive into the 2020's and 2030's and at worst become a hub for digital games or a service like GameFly/Steam for consoles.
anotherpoorgamer
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Wish they would start selling retro games before/if they go. Kind of wanting to get into aftermarket scene of retro video games. Reproductions and homebrew titles that are worth paying for.
They are not even close to going out of business. They saw some of their financials take a hit because they sold a ton of consoles, which have much lower profit margins than what they are used to. The reason they get more units in the first place is because they are superior at increasing attach rate. That is, they sell more games per console than anyone else. When you go buy a console from Target or Amazon or whatever, they make very little effort to get you to buy games with it. GameStop pushes pre-orders and add-ons hard. They push season passes too, and the publishers like that.
I'm not saying I agree with GameStop tactics. Just saying that they are going very well.
I'm not saying I agree with GameStop tactics. Just saying that they are going very well.
They will be around for a long time because they are the go to place for kids who just want to get rid of used games and don't really care about getting the most value out of their trade ins, they just want to trade them as fast as possible and turn around to get the new hot game as fast as possible. So to them they don't care about money. Then you have parents who are completely oblivious and just go to gamestop because its the only place they really know about.
They make big bank off their used games alone. As long as someone is willing to trade in a game for 12 bucks in credit, then someone else is willing to pay like up to 54 dollars for that same game used then they will be around.
Gamestop appeals to the lowest common denominator of gamers and doing so will always get them a steady source of customers. Kind of like the big budget and mindless summer blockbuster movies despite how awful they are like transformers will always make money.
That probably wont ever happen. If it does they would just have a ton of super mario/duck hunt, sonic the hedgehog and other games that people cant even give away because there was so many of them. Not to mention the new generation of gamers are becoming the digital age of gamers and don't do physical games really.
Anything of any actual value they will sell for more than you can get it on ebay.
Gamestop is more of a mass market/appeal kind of place. They aren't a source for more hardcore gamers, especially ones that get into retro gaming because those kinds of gamers/collectors draw from a dozen or more sources.
Then you have the fact most gamers only really have newer systems, maybe 1 generation old systems in their homes. At best they have an Atari or a ps1 and a couple games laying in a closet. Most people only care about whats new or recently new.
They make big bank off their used games alone. As long as someone is willing to trade in a game for 12 bucks in credit, then someone else is willing to pay like up to 54 dollars for that same game used then they will be around.
Gamestop appeals to the lowest common denominator of gamers and doing so will always get them a steady source of customers. Kind of like the big budget and mindless summer blockbuster movies despite how awful they are like transformers will always make money.
That probably wont ever happen. If it does they would just have a ton of super mario/duck hunt, sonic the hedgehog and other games that people cant even give away because there was so many of them. Not to mention the new generation of gamers are becoming the digital age of gamers and don't do physical games really.
Anything of any actual value they will sell for more than you can get it on ebay.
Gamestop is more of a mass market/appeal kind of place. They aren't a source for more hardcore gamers, especially ones that get into retro gaming because those kinds of gamers/collectors draw from a dozen or more sources.
Then you have the fact most gamers only really have newer systems, maybe 1 generation old systems in their homes. At best they have an Atari or a ps1 and a couple games laying in a closet. Most people only care about whats new or recently new.
What retail store is the source for "hardcore gamers?"
Jesus, Gamestop is a store that sells video games. If they have the best deal, you shop there. Sometimes they have the best deal, sometimes they don't.
I had no regrets trading in Wind Waker HD to buy Mario Kart 8 at Gamestop. They gave me $30 for Wind Waker, and then I got Wind Waker back through the Mario Kart 8 promotion.
Yes, it's stupid to regularly trade games there, but there are strategic trades that are worth doing from time to time.
Jesus, Gamestop is a store that sells video games. If they have the best deal, you shop there. Sometimes they have the best deal, sometimes they don't.
I had no regrets trading in Wind Waker HD to buy Mario Kart 8 at Gamestop. They gave me $30 for Wind Waker, and then I got Wind Waker back through the Mario Kart 8 promotion.
Yes, it's stupid to regularly trade games there, but there are strategic trades that are worth doing from time to time.
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Do you not have any independent video game stores near you? I have 3 within a 10-15 minute drive for me, but I'm in St. Louis. We do have more tabletop/comic stores than independent game stores though.
Even if GS did retro stuff, they would never carry reproductions (intentionally) or homebrew titles.
anotherpoorgamer
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Figured Gamestop would try to compete with the mom and pop video game stores. Specializing in things collector's would want.
Yes, I would like to know where these hardcore video game stores are located, especially for the Midwest region.
I guess I should take a trip to St. Louis. Well there is Vintage Stock, but there selection is usually pretty weak. I guess better than nothing. Just not worth driving to when I have like 5 Gamestops within 10 - 15 minute drive for me.
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Around here, those stores are always popping up, closing, popping up again, going out of business. They have the worst prices on used games.
Well one of the ones I was counting was the local VStock in South County Mall. There's also Bodach's Games in Arnold & Trade N Games in Fenton. There's also a store called Game Haven in Overland, but that's not anywhere near anything I go to so have never been.
Like I said before though tabletop/TCG's are big in STL. Both Bodach's & Game Haven have to run Magic to keep the doors open. Trade N Games is the side business for the pawn shop in Fenton so that's how they keep afloat.
Bodach's has fine prices but he's not going to give you yard sale prices. The rare retro games there go for about what they would online. For current stuff he is cheaper than GameStop.
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KillerRamen
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There's a local used game shop in Oakville off Telegraph (it's pretty close to Bodach's). They just changed their name, but they sometimes have some interesting stuff. The Slackers stores seem to mostly have stupidly common carts and upcharge on anything interesting.
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Yeah I forgot about that Epic Gaming. It used to be a Play N Trade but I've not gone in since the name changed. And yeah there's the Slackers in South County Mall also but I have the same complaint as Ramen.
So yeah I have 5 retro game stores within 15 minutes of my apartment.
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Organization_XIII
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I don't get why everyone hates Gamestop so much. If you don't like how much they offer for your used copy of Madden 10, guess what? YOU DON'T HAVE TO TRADE IT IN TO THEM. They aren't holding a gun to your head and demanding you give them your grimy ass copy of Resistance: Fall of Man. Their prices don't very too greatly from what you'll be paying anywhere else for used games. They have alot of bonuses if you do decide to trade in games. They constantly have older $100+ Collectors Editions going on sale for $50 or less. They offer free stuff for PowerUpRewards member for shopping with them. It usually isn't too hard to find what you're looking for, if it's a recent generation game. And so on.
If you don't like Gamestop, just don't shop there. It's a pretty hard concept to grasp isn't it? If people at Italiano Stereotypo's All-American Chicago Deep Dish style Pizzaria wipe their dicks all over your food and throw it in your face when you have it delivered, you just wouldn't give them your money. Simple as that. What makes Gamestop any different? Just don't go there if you don't like their business practice.
If you don't like Gamestop, just don't shop there. It's a pretty hard concept to grasp isn't it? If people at Italiano Stereotypo's All-American Chicago Deep Dish style Pizzaria wipe their dicks all over your food and throw it in your face when you have it delivered, you just wouldn't give them your money. Simple as that. What makes Gamestop any different? Just don't go there if you don't like their business practice.
Have to agree with Organization there. But plenty of people don't mind the bs, so they'll go there.
I prefer to look at it as like an Amazon physical store with some game demos. Drop the kid in there, let him look around and we'll find what he wants online for like, 30% off of what GameStop wants for it.
I prefer to look at it as like an Amazon physical store with some game demos. Drop the kid in there, let him look around and we'll find what he wants online for like, 30% off of what GameStop wants for it.
Yeah, no kidding. I got $42.50 for trading Pikmin 3 applied to my Mario Kart 8 preorder. Now I'm also going to get the game back when I redeem my Club Nintendo code. If you know what you are doing, GS can be a great place for a "hardcore" gamer.Spokker said:
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soonersfan60
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As long as they keep getting some exclusives, I will shop there. Of course, I have to still get over there quickly once the games come in because one of the stores GUTTED a pre-order that came in. They only got 2, gutted 1 and I got the other sealed one. I would love to have been there when that guy came in to get his game.... but maybe he's one of those kind that don't care.
Erad30
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I like Gamestop fine, use them all the time and get pretty good value, at least at the ones I frequent, I don't get pushed too hard on anything but surveys, which I usually fill out cause hey, I might get a giftcard. The only local one near me is one called arch city gaming, their prices seem decent but most of my retro gaming is digital these days.
SierraNight
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I don't get actively wanting a place to go out of business. Don't shop there, fine. But actively want thousands upon thousands of people to lose their jobs? Idc if you think they are low paying, there are still people out there trying to get by on those wages. I've never worked for Gamestop, but I have worked for Best Buy, and every time someone would say "I hope Best Buy goes out of business" I would hear "I hope you lose your job: the one that puts food on the table, the one that let you buy a house, the one you support your family on".
And let's talk about competition. When Best Buy wanted to try and take part of the gaming pie in 2011, the big competitor they wanted to take out wasn't Wal-mart, wasn't Amazon, it was Gamestop. $20/$10 for preordering? @gamer magazine, trade-in, now GCU? All came about to compete with Gamestop. I'm willing to bet Target and Wal-mart's trade in and preorder programs were created for the same reason. Also, seems Amazons only deals are matching competitors lately, so sure, let's just pray that they have less competition and don't have to match as much.
And what about Xenoblade Chronicles and Tales of Hearts R? Those would probably have never been released in the US without backing from Gamestop. Those two games right there are reason enough for me to support them.
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Organization_XIII
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Also the Metroid Prime Trilogy got a reprint exclusive to Gamestop. I'm sure they ponied up money to fund that as well
EdgeCrusher36
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I feel the same way about Best Buy, in terms of, I don't care for the store, so I don't go there. I never said to anyone that I wish they would go out of business though, cause I have had friends that worked there, and know that a lot of people make their living at those stores. But people on the internet have to be crusaders and fight the good fight, and throw tantrums about companies and websites thinking they should be closed just cause they had a bad experience or two there, or heard bad stuff. If you don't like it, don't buy there or don't buy the product, it's that simple.
Then again the ones that are so vocal about boycotting and crusading are usually the first to run to said place when an outstanding deal or price mark down happens. Just pay attention to the gamestop threads in the deals section for proof of that.
Kevin26385
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I still go to Gamestop for every video game purchase I make. They will be fine until everyone decided to go digital.
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Monsta Mack
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I wouldn't wish any company to go out of business. I'd hope that they would learn from lack of sales/profit that they would restructure the company in way to get more money. Whenever companies go out of business that means less jobs. Even if they are shitty jobs.
LovingLife139
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I don't think they'll go out of business for awhile, if ever. There's quite a significant percentage of the gamer population (particularly console gamers) that prefer buying physical copies of games, and not enough independent game stores to go around. I don't have one independent game store within an hour's drive from my house. It's either go to GameStop or buy only new games at Target or Best Buy, and I've had nothing but bad experiences with Best Buy.
The only thing that worries me is this whole "new direction" they want to take with closing some of their stores and focusing more on the mobile market. If they lose their focus and their main customer base (either by closing stores or having less to do with games), I think going out of business would become a possibility for them. I hope that won't be the case, though. :/
The only thing that worries me is this whole "new direction" they want to take with closing some of their stores and focusing more on the mobile market. If they lose their focus and their main customer base (either by closing stores or having less to do with games), I think going out of business would become a possibility for them. I hope that won't be the case, though. :/
Richard Kain
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When digital media really takes over, GameStop will likely implode. There is too much stiff competition in that space from far more competent, capable companies. Platform holder like Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo will have no incentive to let GameStop be involved in any way in their on-line marketplaces. And services like Steam and Good-Old-Games already have the PC market handily sewn up. Any attempt GameStop made at this point to break into that space would likely meet with failure.
GameStop would need to change, and dramatically, in order to stay alive in the future. They could transition into re-selling different products, but might have to change their name. (MobileStop perhaps?)
While I am not fond of GameStop, I also don't have that much antipathy toward them either. I don't shop there much anymore, so their existence means very little to me. Their eventual decline is just a sign of the changing of the industry.
Small mom-and-pop used game stores are starting to make a comeback, as classic game collecting becomes more common. (and GameStop refuses to carry any of that content) GameStop could theoretically attempt to target that market as well. I just don't have much faith that they would be able to pull it off. The profit margins for that sort of thing aren't nearly as high, and you don't have the racket of constant release churn that is currently serving as GameStop's primary support. The supply is also hit-and-miss.
GameStop would need to change, and dramatically, in order to stay alive in the future. They could transition into re-selling different products, but might have to change their name. (MobileStop perhaps?)
While I am not fond of GameStop, I also don't have that much antipathy toward them either. I don't shop there much anymore, so their existence means very little to me. Their eventual decline is just a sign of the changing of the industry.
Small mom-and-pop used game stores are starting to make a comeback, as classic game collecting becomes more common. (and GameStop refuses to carry any of that content) GameStop could theoretically attempt to target that market as well. I just don't have much faith that they would be able to pull it off. The profit margins for that sort of thing aren't nearly as high, and you don't have the racket of constant release churn that is currently serving as GameStop's primary support. The supply is also hit-and-miss.
Digital media on consoles lost round one when Microsoft reversed its decision on Xbox One DRM. As long as there is demand for physical media on consoles, GameStop will be around. They are diversifying into mobile, though. And they could always promote used hardware more.
Digital taking over the PC platform happened partially because there was no one company that had an incentive to back physical media. There was plenty of demand for physical media in PC gaming from principled players. The difference is that when console players demanded used games and physical media on Xbox One and PS4, a company like Sony was able to capitalize on that by doing things like creating a video in which the executives exchanged a physical disc. It rallies the cause, so to speak. There's no incentive for any one company on the PC platform to do that.
But it isn't only that. Historically, consoles have had smaller hard drives than the average gaming PC. Also, until the prices come down on digital console releases, or sales get better, I don't think digital will overtake physical on consoles.
Richard Kain
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You're not thinking long-term enough. Everything you reference as an issue is a technical limitation. This is a technology-based industry. Technical limitations are always just a matter of time. We didn't see a hard transition this console generation, but that doesn't mean it isn't coming.
The real barrier for digital distribution is not technological, but psychological. And that particular struggle is also just a matter of time. The audience that insists on physical media is currently a majority, but it's only getting smaller. As soon as someone gets used to the idea of digital media, the convenience overwhelms most of the advantages of physical media. And the next generation is already being indoctrinated. The mobile devices you describe GameStop re-selling are primarily responsible. Smartphones and tablets are training younger gamers to accept the idea of digital-only games. For those players, the all-digital future may as well already be here.
Re-selling touchscreen devices is just a bandage. GameStop's entire business model is based on an industry that isn't going to exist in its current form in ten years.
The death knell of all of this is Android TV. Soon consumers won't even need a set-top box to get their gaming fix. One operating system will allow developers to distribute their games across a multitude of devices, including the average TV.
You are not entirely correct. The psychological barrier that must be crossed is to get gamers to accept paying the same price for digital as they do physical. It's going to come down to price. That's what's going to get people to accept not being able to trade in or resell your games.
Richard Kain
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Digital goods are inherently cheaper than physical product. As soon as on-line services don't have to kow-tow to brick-and-mortar retailers, they will undercut the crap out of them. You have to ship and package physical goods. Distributing digital games costs the publisher pennies on the dollar. In some cases it costs them nothing at all. (I'm looking at you, Blizzard) The price-gouging trade-in system of GameStop works against them in this scenario.
I just wanted to vent a bit on the ridiculousness of Gamestop upper management. The gamestop regional manager (the district manager's boss) went around to a bunch of stores in my area last month. She told most of them that she wants 1 of every collectors edition they have in stock to be on the floor, then also told them that she wants stores to get rid of the shelves that are along the walls closest to the ceiling where the big box collectors editions usually go.
So basically, she wants all the big box items out on the floor, but they cant use the shelves that pretty much were only for displaying them. Stores already kept most of their CE's in the back, but now they've gotten rid of all the shelves so they have even less on the floor than they did before, which contradicts her want of having 1 of everything out there.
So basically, she wants all the big box items out on the floor, but they cant use the shelves that pretty much were only for displaying them. Stores already kept most of their CE's in the back, but now they've gotten rid of all the shelves so they have even less on the floor than they did before, which contradicts her want of having 1 of everything out there.
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ludus
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I don't purchase often from gamestop. Was never fond of their trade in prices, since gamers pretty much get screwed over by what they offer. Anyways, If gaming goes to digital only in the future, they may in fact have to shut down or change to an all gaming store instead of mostly new console games.
I heard a while back that gamestop was going to have a service selling mobile games soon. Not sure if it's true though.
I heard a while back that gamestop was going to have a service selling mobile games soon. Not sure if it's true though.
TheRealRutledge
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I think that, at this time they're still viable - as many gamers do still want physical copies and collector's editions, etc.
I give it 5 years (max) before they have to really revamp their business model due to a changing direction towards digital downloads. They used to have a decent selection of PC games, and with the emergence of Steam and other platforms, that is almost non-existant.
Should Xbox Live/PSN/Nintendo Store go to a fully digital model, supported by increasingly larger hard drives, I think GameStop would become obsolete quickly. Though this would also be affected by any legislation that could come out regarding the internet and "fast lanes" potentially affecting download speeds.
As long as there is a demand for physical games new/used, which there will be until discs stop being produced however, GameStop will continue to live.
I give it 5 years (max) before they have to really revamp their business model due to a changing direction towards digital downloads. They used to have a decent selection of PC games, and with the emergence of Steam and other platforms, that is almost non-existant.
Should Xbox Live/PSN/Nintendo Store go to a fully digital model, supported by increasingly larger hard drives, I think GameStop would become obsolete quickly. Though this would also be affected by any legislation that could come out regarding the internet and "fast lanes" potentially affecting download speeds.
As long as there is a demand for physical games new/used, which there will be until discs stop being produced however, GameStop will continue to live.
harrywilson045
CAG Newbie
Haha, you made me shocked 
with Title
with Title I thought this was interesting, especially the part where they say that every power up member is "pre-qualified".
http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/07/30/gamestop-reportedly-introducing-new-credit-card
http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/07/30/gamestop-reportedly-introducing-new-credit-card
bread's done