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

[flamepanther]

And really, you shouldn't shop at Gamestop ever, for any reason.

this is false.

That depends on how ideologically opposed you are to their business practices, I guess.

[noiseredux]

And really, you shouldn't shop at Gamestop ever, for any reason.

this is false.

That depends on how ideologically opposed you are to their business practices, I guess.

that depends if you still believe opting to not buy a used PS2 game for $2.99 will somehow change the world.

[irixith]

In Canada, you can get games just about everywhere -- big boxes like Future Shop, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Zellers, Sears .. the there's little game shops, pawn shops, Play 'N Trade, Blockbuster, Rogers Video .. even Shoppers Drug Mart sells games for goodness sake! Then there are your online shops (like say, vgp.ca, amazon.ca, etc) ...

There really is never a reason to give GameStop any business at all here. They're just a very small fish in a very big pond. Me, I don't shop there (or Wal-Mart), but it still leaves many, many options open.

[flamepanther]

that depends if you still believe opting to not buy a used PS2 game for $2.99 will somehow change the world.

The $2.99 games at my local GameStops are all either total crap (games I would never buy), or they're in yellow envelopes in the "no case" boxes on the front counter. If I've got to provide my own case, print my own cover, and do without the instructions, I might as well burn my own disc too. It won't change the world, but it's not much of a reason to shop there either.

Hell, if I *did* want to pay money for a disc-only PS2 game, I could get the same price at a pawn shop.

[brunoafh]

that depends if you still believe opting to not buy a used PS2 game for $2.99 will somehow change the world.

It will, man, it will. You just don't get it.

[isiolia]

In Canada, you can get games just about everywhere -- big boxes like Future Shop, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Zellers, Sears .. the there's little game shops, pawn shops, Play 'N Trade, Blockbuster, Rogers Video .. even Shoppers Drug Mart sells games for goodness sake! Then there are your online shops (like say, vgp.ca, amazon.ca, etc) ...

There really is never a reason to give GameStop any business at all here. They're just a very small fish in a very big pond. Me, I don't shop there (or Wal-Mart), but it still leaves many, many options open.

Same deal here in the U.S.

There's just not a whole lot that they do to make themselves stand out as a boutique style store. While the focus on preowned is a debate in itself, at the very least, it means having a lot of duplicate inventory - and given the generally small footprint of those stores, it only makes things worse for a specialty retailer, IMO.

[CRTGAMER]

I haven't opened my gutted "new" copy yet (they put that stupid seal sticker on it) in hopes that another gamestop might let me exchange it. If 30 days runs out and I haven't found a legit new copy by then i'll suck it up and open this one.

Try my advice I mentioned back on the first page about doing the even Exchange for your "Defective" game. As far as I know new games cannot be refunded, only an even exchange if defective.

The Gamestop round sticker placed on "New" gutted games at time of purchase makes no sense since there is no refund option and the glue is hard to remove.

There are other stores
Why would anyone buy a NEW game that was already opened and maybe missing something inside like an attached flyer, or club points and download code that might have already been "tested" by an employee?

I hit any source that will get me the best price including Wallymart and Gamestop. I'm not one to shop at the more expensive stores just to make myself feel rich and being more poor from the money wasted.

At Gamestop even some of the used $2.99 games are a pretty good catch.

[AppleQueso]

I hit any source that will get me the best price including Wallymart and Gamestop. I'm not one to shop at the more expensive stores just to make myself feel rich and being more poor from the money wasted.

Uh... what?

Usually when we're talking about other stores they're often pawn shops, locally owned places, even franchises like Play-N-Trade. Most of the time these places are actually CHEAPER than Gamestop on average.

Where on earth did you get the idea that we were being snooty and preferring to shop at 'more expensive' places?

[CRTGAMER]

Uh... what?

Usually when we're talking about other stores they're often pawn shops, locally owned places, even franchises like Play-N-Trade. Most of the time these places are actually CHEAPER than Gamestop on average.

Where on earth did you get the idea that we were being snooty and preferring to shop at 'more expensive' places?

A lot of members are smart shoppers. Just saying some avoid certain crowded stores due to the extra effort of trying to find a title. Work around is shop early in the morning.

[flamepanther]

Uh... what?

Usually when we're talking about other stores they're often pawn shops, locally owned places, even franchises like Play-N-Trade. Most of the time these places are actually CHEAPER than Gamestop on average.

Where on earth did you get the idea that we were being snooty and preferring to shop at 'more expensive' places?

Hell, even if I'm shopping for brand new games, I can usually get a better deal at Toys 'R' Us or Fry's Electronics than at GS--plus I won't have to worry whether it's been opened.