Is Gamestop Evil? The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Yes, they are. I hate having to shop there, and my overall experience is that they are dishonest and would not sell me their last stock games because some employee already "reserved" it. GS needs competition, badly. I'm sure the smarter of the gaming demographic would flock to it.

If it's a new release and with 48 hours of the launch date then we can't sell you someone's reserved/pre-ordered copy whether it's an employees or not, period.

Now if it's after 48 hours from launch or a game that older and you want it the by all means feel free to stir up some shit in the store.

[Replica]

Gamestop kicks ass for cheap GBA and PS2 games. Now is the time to collect that generation before those games start appearing at retro stores for that imaginary retro premium.

That's exactly what I've been doing lately. It's like with the Dreamcast 6 years ago. Even if I'm not looking for a specific title, I'll stop into GS just to browse the PS2 titles because if I find something quality, it will likely be sold at sub $10.

Actually, I've often said that GS needs to resurrect the Funcoland stores and get back into selling retro games.

I drove my wife crazy because I was hitting every gamestop between two points every trip we made, anywhere. What sucks is easily 80% of PS2 games at Gamestop are not in original cases and I won't even look at them if they don't have the original case so I don't force myself to compromise.

If you're looking for a fun, cheap series to collect on PS2, the Armored Core games are generally an easy find at a gamestop.

Gamestop broke my heart the other day. I always want the "marketing" they throw away (posters and so on.) They told me to use a sticker and write my name and number on it and stick it on the marketing I wanted. I found a really cool Fallout 3 giant promo box and stuck my name on the back. They never called. I went back and they threw all that cool shit out.

[wip3outguy7]

^that story makes me wish I still had my Oni Konoko cardboard standee.

[yomomma1]

There support guys are fine. I called them to ask why try and see if my order for the new 360 was fucked up. Apparently Microsoft changed the name of the new 360 from Xbox 360 250gb to xbox 360 elite 250gb (see here: So.. gamestop support is really good, cleared things up.

[Hobie-wan]

For a brief amount of time I worked at a retro store called "Player One" in Friendswood TX. I had been a customer since they opened. He offered me a job in store credit and I worked there a few days. I felt really bad offering people pennies on the dollar for their games, but that's the business. Buy a game for $2, mark it at $11.99.

They've been posting like crazy on Craigslist recently. I'm never up that direction though. I wondered if they had a decent selection of stuff or not.

[the7k]

@the7k:

Who the hell cares what games they are throwing away cases for? Why should I only want to buy complete copies of the "expensive" games and not also complete copies of "cheap" games.

It is overreacting to want a complete copy of a game?

They were throwing everything away for games priced $10 and under.

Most GameStop locations are pretty much the size of a closet. As more and more people get rid of their PS2 games, they lose more and more space. Something has to give.

If you want complete copies of a game, there are alternatives. It's not like GameStop is the only place that deals games. If GameStop did have an absolute monopoly, perhaps I'd see an issue, but as long as Amazon, eBay, Goozex, Glyde and other places exist... meh.

Expecting GameStop (or Play 'N Trade, or any other nation-wide pawn shop) to keep their overflowing amounts of games in mint and complete condition is excessive to me. If you find a copy of a game in mint condition, that's great - but you shouldn't go in expecting it.

[Replica]

They've been posting like crazy on Craigslist recently. I'm never up that direction though. I wondered if they had a decent selection of stuff or not.

Yeah, they have a decent amount of stuff. It's probably worth the trip.

[CRTGAMER]

@the7k:

Who the hell cares what games they are throwing away cases for? Why should I only want to buy complete copies of the "expensive" games and not also complete copies of "cheap" games.

It is overreacting to want a complete copy of a game?

They were throwing everything away for games priced $10 and under.

Most GameStop locations are pretty much the size of a closet. As more and more people get rid of their PS2 games, they lose more and more space. Something has to give.

If you want complete copies of a game, there are alternatives. It's not like GameStop is the only place that deals games. If GameStop did have an absolute monopoly, perhaps I'd see an issue, but as long as Amazon, eBay, Goozex, Glyde and other places exist... meh.

Expecting GameStop (or Play 'N Trade, or any other nation-wide pawn shop) to keep their overflowing amounts of games in mint and complete condition is excessive to me. If you find a copy of a game in mint condition, that's great - but you shouldn't go in expecting it.

Problem is the biggest supplies of used games gets purposely trashed. Manuals, cases, and original covers, history in the dumpster! There are a tons of rarities.

http://www.gamestop.com/Browse/Search.aspx?N=139+59

Bears repeating. Voice your opinions, maybe it'll sink in! (By all means you can copy-paste this to your sale receipt survey)

Gamestop just received shipment of used PS2 games via UPS. Associate proceeded to toss manuals, cases and covers and then put only game discs in a yellow envelope in a cardboard display. Not just the Five dollar games either, what a waste of gaming history. All games should be sold with all material traded in, part of gaming experience, even the rare five dollar games.

PLEASE STOP DOING THIS! SELL GAMES WITH ALL ORIGINAL COVERS, ORIGINAL CASES (WHICH HAVE A MEMORY CARD HOLDER) AND ESPECIALLY GAME MANUALS!

As a side note the new Retro Racks are also shopper unfriendly. One has to flip thru cases to find a particular title. Old racks had ends showing easier to quickly scan.

NEW ROLLING RETRO RACKS DISCOURAGE LOOKING FOR A GAME, HURTING SALES. EVEN WORSE IS THAT DISC ONLY TRAY OF ENVELOPES, WHO WOULD WASTE THEIR TIME LOOKING THRU THAT?

[noiseredux]

instead of throwing the cases and manuals away they should sell em for a buck a piece on the website. At least they're not in a landfill forever.

[hardrrocker]

I feel your pain man though this is why everybody should support second hand stores and some pawn shops.