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

[coastercrazy10]

The only redeeming quality I can find about gamestop is the convenience factor. There are tons of legitimately used games for handhelds and PS2/GC that can be picked up for somewhat reasonable prices. My biggest gripe with them has got to be their trade-in policies. They will give you $25 for a brand new game...like if you bought Mass Effect 2 for PS3 brand new, played it and decided you didn't like it and went to trade it back, they give you $25. That's atrocious.

I understand Game Stop is a business but their profit margins are ridiculous. Multi-Billion dollar corporations don't need to take advantage of their customers to make money but the sad fact is they do, and they're too big of a company to do anything about it on a large scale. I buy my new games on Amazon now because of their amazingly quick price drops and the only reason I'll run into GS is to check for some PS2 RPGs or some DS/PSP used games. Their portable games prices are actually almost decent, and there are a crapload of affordable PSP titles to be had (I picked up 4 games under 7 bucks the last time I went in). Other than that and the buy 2 get 1 free sales I can't justify giving any of my business to game stop ever...they're sleazeballs and make a business out of ripping people off. At least the corporate people...the employees may be clueless but at least they can be nice at times...

-Ben

[Croooow!]

One thing I will say in their favor, though, is that when the PS2 and GC games do come with cases, the cases in my area are in fantastic shape compared with those in other game stores in town. Its a shame that the few times I do go in the store there seems to be fewer and fewer PS2 and GC games though.

[noiseredux]

yeah I've said this before, but EVIL EMPIRE aside -- I shop at GS all the time. I've found tons of rare GBA carts for amazing prices. And you can still go in and find plenty of CIB PS2 games for under $10.

[Gunstar Green]

You know... I never had a problem with Gamestop ever.

True story.

They've never even given me problems when I've had to return games.

Their staff is always kind and courteous to me. Their service is convenient and occasionally they have some good deals.

Yes their prices for trade in are very low but it works for some people who just want to get rid of a game without going through the trouble of selling it. I personally don't make use of this service so it doesn't effect me.

Yes their prices on some used games are high, I just don't pay the price when I feel it's unfair.

Yes they knocked out competition like EB Games and Funcoland but that's just capitalism in action. It doesn't make them some evil tyrannical force.

You also don't have to buy opened games if you don't want to.

They're just a retailer like any other retailer but they take a lot of flack since the gaming community is a highly critical bunch. If you don't like their business you can always go elsewhere.

If you want to hate Gamestop you can look at it this way though, if digital distribution keeps evolving the way it has been we won't have any need to go to a store for games in the future and Gamestop will cease to exist.

[dischord76]

I actually wonder if say, 10 years down the road from now all new release games will be digital.....Who knows?

[Specineff]

Judging on how the PSP Go has been doing, I would doubt that.

Yes, the PS3, 360 and Wii have all downloadable games too, but you can also play physical copies if you so choose.

Doubt a download-only console will fly well with Western consumers at least.

Holy shit, dude. You seem to have a lot of feelings that need to get out. Do you need a hug?

Not at all, but thanks anyway. Was just defending my point. (Not trying to reignite any argument, mods. Just respondin'. Carry on.)

[pepharytheworm]

Yes they knocked out competition like EB Games and Funcoland but that's just capitalism in action. It doesn't make them some evil tyrannical force.

They're just a retailer like any other retailer but they take a lot of flack since the gaming community is a highly critical bunch. If you don't like their business you can always go elsewhere.

So Gamestop bought out or drove off the competition, where can I go again? Do you know of another video game store. Play N Trade is all I can think of.

If I don't like Wal-mart, I could go to Target or K-mart. If I don't like Auto Zone, I can go to Pepboys, Advance Auto Parts, or Napa. If I don't like Best Buy, I could go to Fry's or Micro Center. If I don't like Family Dollar, I could go to Dollar General..... I am sure you get my point by now. You know I wouldn't despise Gamestop as much if they had more direct competition, in fact I am sure they would be a better company if they did.

[MrPopo]

Yes they knocked out competition like EB Games and Funcoland but that's just capitalism in action. It doesn't make them some evil tyrannical force.

They're just a retailer like any other retailer but they take a lot of flack since the gaming community is a highly critical bunch. If you don't like their business you can always go elsewhere.

So Gamestop bought out or drove off the competition, where can I go again? Do you know of another video game store. Play N Trade is all I can think of.

If I don't like Wal-mart, I could go to Target or K-mart. If I don't like Auto Zone, I can go to Pepboys, Advance Auto Parts, or Napa. If I don't like Best Buy, I could go to Fry's or Micro Center. If I don't like Family Dollar, I could go to Dollar General..... I am sure you get my point by now. You know I wouldn't despise Gamestop as much if they had more direct competition, in fact I am sure they would be a better company if they did.

You can go online and shop at Amazon. You lose out on the "gotta have it now" but they've been doing well with getting Release Day Delivery on the new items, and the prices are more competitive because of more sellers competing on the same detail page for used items. Plus, if you preorder a fair amount Amazon likes to throw in $10 video game credits. I've gotten a few hundred dollars worth of credit over the past year since I preorder everything from Amazon.

[Ziggy]

Pretty sure you need a Prime account to get the credits though. I've pre-ordered quite a few games from Amazon and haven't gotten any credits.

[dsheinem]

Pretty sure you need a Prime account to get the credits though. I've pre-ordered quite a few games from Amazon and haven't gotten any credits.

Nope. It is game dependent, though. Lots of their pre-orders last year had $10-$25 credit for preordering, I know I probably scored $50 or so in credits myself.