Luke wrote:So Gamestop is the ONLY place to buy games now?
Locally, kinda, yes. I can't speak for every area, but around here, GameStop bought out many other stores and opened their own in almost every town. There's a GameStop in almost every town, and that has put some of the smaller stores out of business. Is that so horrible in and of itself? No, I don't suppose so. But then when the chain does many things that you don't agree with or straight up anger you, it becomes frustrating. I can buy my games elsewhere, yes. But, I don't know, I just assume buy my games locally at a GAME STORE. That seems like the obvious first choice, so why has it become the worst?
Luke wrote:Plus, people don't NEED to buy a game.
Video games aren't a necessity. Check. So... we can't complain how shitty a company is?
Luke wrote:Stuff about buying something and not being happy with it, so then you shouldn't have bought it in the first place, don't shop there if you don't like it, etc.
I would have been MORE than happy to buy Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze at GameStop. MORE than happy to give them my money for that video game, it would have saved me the time and a trip elsewhere. But... yeah... They didn't wanna stock any copies.
Besides, I don't have to shop there to be pissed that they threw away PS2 cases and manuals. I don't have to shop there to buy my used video games, however, since they've pretty much cornered the market there's VERY few places around here to shop for used games. I don't have to shop there for them to negatively effect me.
And for the record, I rarely shop there these days. How many times have you seen me in this thread, guns blazing, all caps, ranting about how much I hate them? They continue to do things that I don't agree with, and I mostly keep quiet about it. I just figured that, since they're close to my house, and they're a retailer that specializes in video games, that I'd buy a new game there on the day it came out. But being that I can't even do THAT, I don't know if I'll ever shop GameStop again.
MrPopo wrote:I prefer "I haven't yet discovered Amazon".
I love Amazon, but I've been put off buying games from them after this happened...
Such a light and fragile item should not be shipped in a bubble envelope. Granted, that was the one and only time I had a game arrive in THAT horrible of condition. When I requested a replacement, the replacement was again mailed in just a bubble envelope, and although it wasn't damaged nearly as badly, it was still bent up slightly.
I ordered a Wii game from Amazon a few days ago, and it arrived in cardboard. Awesome! But I don't know what their deal is, and what (if anything) determines if a game is mailed in a bubble envelope or cardboard. So I'm kinda hesitant buying games from them these days. If they could guarantee me cardboard each and every time, it'd be a no-brainer. I'd buy all my new games from Amazon, and pre-orders too.
But it puts me in a pickle for new releases. GameStop doesn't want to stock copies, the above about Amazon, so I'm left with the other local retailers (Best Buy, Target, Wal Mart). The problem there is that there's only a Wal Mart that's close to my house, every other store is some what of a drive. And the Wal Mart by my house is notoriously known as "Ghetto Mart" by some of my friends. It's run down, and their stock isn't the same as other locations. Their game cases are mostly empty all the time.
So my choices are: Order from Amazon and risk getting it in damaged, go to GameStop and not being able to buy it because they didn't stock enough copies, go to my local Wal Mart and not being able to buy it because they basically don't stock anything, or drive out of my way to go to a store and get what you'd EXPECT to find in such a store.
/rant
Ack wrote:Luke wrote:If you don't want it, don't buy it. Buying something and then saying "That dumb store sold me something I didn't want" is in itself dumb.
Don't want it, don't buy it. It's not like the employees at Gamestop are great at being in sales. They read their script, and that's that.
I don't think that is necessarily it. Everybody wants to buy the games that they are buying(such as the guys who enter and discover there are only enough games available for the pre-orders and none for the spontaneous walk-ins). But Some of the guys here don't want to buy them in the condition that Gamestop keeps them in, such as games being kept separate from their case.
The biggest reason this would be an issue is because Gamestop has over the years managed to buy out most of their competitors and largely monopolized their market, meaning many consumers have the choice of purchasing from them or only a few select outlets(specifically Target and Walmart). The consumers want the games, they dislike how Gamestop goes about their business, but there are few local shops to turn to. It's partly why MrPopo is advocating online retailers, because they provide an alternate source for purchasing the same desired games without dealing with the business practices that many of the guys here are complaining about.
It's not a question of not wanting and not buying. It's a question of wanting but not being able to buy anywhere else even when you dislike the practices of a business.
I couldn't have put it better. Seriously, I tried above and I think you put it better.
But really, they set themselves up to be the only game in town so you're forced to go there. Then they pull all this shit like "Oh, no, it IS new, it's just opened, but it's still new!" and "Sorry, we only got enough copies for pre-orders." Oh, so what, did you have like 50 pre-orders to fill? "No, just 3."
I haven't shopped in a GameStop in a long while now. I mean, it's like Luke said. If you don't like what they do, then you don't HAVE to shop there. I just figured I'd be able to get a new came on release day being that they're a retailer specializing in video games. Stupid me. But that being the case, I don't know if I'll ever shop at a GameStop again. And this isn't coming from anger. They're just not offering me anything I want. I suppose that's a lie, I'll probably pop in there on a rare occassion to browse used games. They are, after all, the only show in town for used games.
Since I rarely shop GameStop, I never have a story to tell in this thread. And whenever I have in the past, I don't even care to come in this thread and bash them anymore. The only reason I brought up my DKC experience was because some one else had the same exact story only with another game.
But since I'm here, and speaking of their less than stellar business practices... The last time I was in a GameStop before DKC, which was some months back, I was just casually browsing used games. I noticed The Last Story on the new rack. While I was getting rung up, I asked the kid behind the counter if the shelf copy was the only new copy or if there where any sealed ones left. He said that was the only copy left, but it IS new. I told him that's OK, I'd rather not. Like Luke said, why buy something you're not happy with and then bitch about it. If I'm buying new, I want it sealed. Plain and simple. Anyway, I didn't have a tone or anything. I just said no, that's OK. The kid got almost angry with me. "Well it IS new, you're not going to find it sealed anywhere else." And I'm thinking... why the hell is he getting upset that I don't want it? So I again told him no, I don't want it. A few days ago, I bought it NEW off Amazon for the same price. When it came in the mail it was factory sealed.
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. As a rule of thumb if I buy items individually when possible if they are breakable. 
