Publishers and their used games gripes.

[swiftzx]

If the developers are complaining about used games hurting sales, well maybe they should make games with higher replayability

[jfrost]

@ZeroAX,

I think you're a nice guy and all, but it seems to me that in all these discussions (see, for example, the discussion about how many copies a game has to sell to be successful) you keep changing the terms of the discussion all the time.

You say Gamestop is inferior to online stores, people relate instances in which it isn't and you say "oh, but that's old stuff", and hence it doesn't count.

In the same vein, when people pointed out that lots of series with female protagonists were successful, you changed the definition of success to selling 5 million copies (a definition you claimed to be Activision's).

I think that it is difficult to follow a conversation like this if one person is constantly challenging the other like this.

[ZeroAX]

@ZeroAX,

I think you're a nice guy and all, but it seems to me that in all these discussions (see, for example, the discussion about how many copies a game has to sell to be successful) you keep changing the terms of the discussion all the time.

You say Gamestop is inferior to online stores, people relate instances in which it isn't and you say "oh, but that's old stuff", and hence it doesn't count.

In the same vein, when people pointed out that lots of series with female protagonists were successful, you changed the definition of success to selling 5 million copies (a definition you claimed to be Activision's).

I think that it is difficult to follow a conversation like this if one person is constantly challenging the other like this.

Fair enough. But on this topic, the developer is talking about new games, not very old games. And many people complained about gamestops policy of selling used games only for 3-5$ less than new. I don't think a used retro game will sell only 3-5$ less than a new copy of said retro game(just saw a copy of a brand new sealed Super Mario Kart on the snes for 150€ on the French ebay).

What I meant with my comment, those are old games, is that then yeah gamestop is good at those times when it really is cheaper than online stores, and from what I see it seams to be really cheap when it comes to retro games.

But I see soooo much hate towards gamestop online, that I don't understand why people will buy new games from it, since 95% of the time, in my personal experience, online retailers can be up to 10-15€ cheaper on launch day, than normal retailers.

[gtmtnbiker]

I looked at a new game like Pokemon Heartgold DS. Gamestop has it for $39 new, $33 used.
Amazon has it for $34 new. $5 difference for a new copy which is not too bad.
On the used side, amazon has prices ranging from $20 to $70. The bulk of the copies are around $26, a $7 difference. Again, it's not too bad consider gamestop is a brick-and-mortar store.

Not sure how much gamestop would give you for your used copy of the game. Anyone knows?

[yomomma1]

Pokemon HeartGold - $18 (8/3/10) http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/sho ... p?t=264859 (Trade in value)

Keep in mind that when you buy used it might be game only.

[ZeroAX]

I looked at a new game like Pokemon Heartgold DS. Gamestop has it for $39 new, $33 used.
Amazon has it for $34 new. $5 difference for a new copy which is not too bad.
On the used side, amazon has prices ranging from $20 to $70. The bulk of the copies are around $26, a $7 difference. Again, it's not too bad consider gamestop is a brick-and-mortar store.

Not sure how much gamestop would give you for your used copy of the game. Anyone knows?

Ok now I see why you people still buy from gamestop. Your online retailers are not so much cheaper compared to your normal ones.

In a pretty standard and cheap Greek store Heargold goes for 45€ and from the online store I shop from 36€. And that's a Nintendo game, which will never drop in price.


Mafia 2 on the PS3: retail store 65€ online store 45€. That's a huge difference right? And I'm talking about brand new sealed copies here (I didn't like it when I bought a game while I was in London and the game was opened and they put the disk in then. The disk didn't have a single scratch on it, but I do like opening up my games).


Let's see a game a bit older. FF13?

FF13 on the PS3: retail store 50€ online store 22€.


So now you see why I don't understand why people buy from gamestop. I'm sorry for bringing it up, it seams my experiences with game stores are totally different than yours.

[BlackDS]

One way is to do more outsourcing to China/India/Russia, etc.

That is one major reason the United States of America has record unemployment rates.



Also, I just bought two games from game stop today, 10 dollars total, and they didn't seem "evil" at all. Only buy things from game stop you see as a good/decent deal, and buy everything else either online or from Independant stores. You really are not going to get much done just bickering like this.

[Para]

Gamestop/EB games are parasites and thieves.

Its not that they resell used merchandise, its the amount that they sell it for. Any EB Games that I go to asks completely retarded prices for used games, and then they try to make even more money by offering you all these stupid warranties that you don't need. I have never bought a warranty for any game that I've owned, and I have several hundred and only one of them doesn't work anymore. I could of paid thousands of dollars for a shitty service that I don't need but luckily I have more common sense than that.

The used versions of games are only a couple dollars less than the new releases, but they are in worse shape and have tons of ugly yellow, impossible-to-get-off stickers on them. They offer insulting amounts of money for trade ins and then resell it for 500% profit. It really saddens me to see people trade in stacks and stacks of games only to get a couple dollars store credit for them.

When Call of Duty 3 was brand new, they offered me four dollars for it and on the shelf they were selling it for 55 dollars. I am aware that they have to mark up a bit to make profit but they take it to a whole new level. They also have virtually no selection of any retro games except for a couple of N64 and Gamecube games that they still want 20+ dollars for.

All in all I disagree with the the generalized statement that second hand retailers are leeches and whatnot, because thats just how the world works and there is nothing they can do about it. People have been selling, trading and rebuying second hand stuff since the dawn of time. I just prefer to support smaller local business rather that huge heartless corporations that rip people off.

I've bought hundreds of used games off of second hand stores, friends, pawn shops, the internet and so on. I guess I should write a huge cheque (yes that's how it is spelled) to this asshole for all of the games that he didn't get a cut for.

I find it very ironic that someone who worked at EA is going to call out other companies and call them parasites and say they are ripping people off. This guy needs to get his head out of his ass and stop being such a greedy fuck.

[gtmtnbiker]

Gamestop/EB games are parasites and thieves.

Its not that they resell used merchandise, its the amount that they sell it for. Any EB Games that I go to asks completely retarded prices for used games, and then they try to make even more money by offering you all these stupid warranties that you don't need. I have never bought a warranty for any game that I've owned, and I have several hundred and only one of them doesn't work anymore. I could of paid thousands of dollars for a shitty service that I don't need but luckily I have more common sense than that.

A warranty service for a console, I can understand. I've gone to GameStop many times and I never had anyone ask me if I want a warranty on a used game.

The used versions of games are only a couple dollars less than the new releases, but they are in worse shape and have tons of ugly yellow, impossible-to-get-off stickers on them. They offer insulting amounts of money for trade ins and then resell it for 500% profit. It really saddens me to see people trade in stacks and stacks of games only to get a couple dollars store credit for them.

When Call of Duty 3 was brand new, they offered me four dollars for it and on the shelf they were selling it for 55 dollars. I am aware that they have to mark up a bit to make profit but they take it to a whole new level. They also have virtually no selection of any retro games except for a couple of N64 and Gamecube games that they still want 20+ dollars for.

The only case I can see them offering $4 for a game selling for $55 is because they have too much inventory. So when you want to get less product, you offer less. Economics 101. Also, you're exaggerating on prices. I can go to their website and find lots of Gamecube games for under $20.

The other thing you need to consider is that some people value their time more than money. Yeah, they could go onto Craigslist or Ebay and sell their games to get more money. Many people can't be bothered. Recently I've been getting rid of games/puzzles/toys that are too young for my kids. Yeah, I could have a garage sale and make $40/$50. I can't be bothered. I'm just giving the stuff to my church for their tag sale.

[Jrecee]

They also have virtually no selection of any retro games except for a couple of N64 and Gamecube games that they still want 20+ dollars for.

If your gamestop carries N64 games it's already better than 99.9% of gamestops.