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

[Bradtemple87]

GameStop knows that there are a lot of people that hate them, just as Wal-Mart, Microsoft, or any other company that has a near monopoly on their sector of industry does.

Petitioning won't change anything - and really, neither will choosing not to shop there. The fact is, there are more people getting into gaming now than possibly ever, and most of these people are the type that throw away their CD & DVD cases and insert the music and movies into those horrible 'Disc Wallets/Books' that scratch the hell out of everything they touch. For every one of us who decides not to buy these games in sleeves, there are 3 others out there that say "Oh hey! I only have to throw the sleeve away. Saves me some space in the trash bin."

Truth of the matter is, until Wal-Mart, Best Buy and the rest of GameStop's competition have both midnight launches and carry special editions, I still have to shop at GameStop if I wanna get my special edition as soon as I can. That's pretty much the only reason I shop at GameStop anymore, honestly - Marvel vs Capcom 3 Special Edition and LittleBigPlanet 2 Special Edition were the only two games I've bought from GameStop at all in the past few months.

This is definitely true. What other physical store would sell my YS limited edition games I purchased over the last few moths?

[Evildeadmanwalking77]

Gamestop just seems to be focused on selling only next generation systems (PS3, Xbox 360, Nintedo Wii & DS) for the most part and it's understandable because that's what sells right now. Do you think the average 10 year old wants to find a copy of Ninja Gaiden or Castlevania for NES? Granted I introduced my nephews to retro gaming and they liked it for the most part but they lost interest pretty quickly when the latest Call of Duty, Madden, or Halo games came out. I think you can still get the occassional GBA cart, other than that you stuck with the internet or Play N Trade stores where I live to get your retro fix. They used to have a decent selection for retro games though. I bought most of my insane NES, SNES, Genesis, N64, & PS1 collection from them in 2000-2003 but those days are long gone. I just go there to try and find deals on the latest Xbox 360 & Wii games, maybe get a used copy to save a little extra. Honestly where else can you go besides the internet?

As for trading in anything there? I stopped a long time ago. I'm sorry but they should be giving you at least HALF of what they will be selling it for! It's not right and I don't care what kind of logic or business sense they have to TRY and justify this. That leaves either the internet or possibly Play N Trade retail stores, and even though while they have some great retro gaming going on there, they are no better with trade ins either. NOBODY buys back original Xbox games anywhere either which I never fully understood. Is that because not all of the games can be played on an Xbox 360? I have a few games that I'd like to sell but it seems like a difficult task to find any buyers, maybe the internet?

[CRTGAMER]

EDIT
Oh, I had to use this title! Where's Inazuma!


The way Gamestop is destroying PS2 games, won't be long before any can be bought complete.

On a side note, BookOff stores are now accepting used game Consoles. A move up from already reselling games. With Borders Books shutting down stores, I hope BookOff survives the bookstore shakeup. What I like about Japanese owned BookOff is 99 percent of the disc based games are pristine with cases, covers and manuals. No stickers and wrapped in protective plastic! A side benefit is all the great import games right on the shelf!

This is getting to be my favorite Retro Store:

[Croooow!]

The throwing out of DS cases bothers me even more than PS2 cases. Luckily they don't have a similar policy for PSP games, the nearest GS to me has a great collection of PSP games and they're all in great condition.

I don't think there's much to be done about the throwing out of cases though. Petitions don't accomplish much and shopping elsewhere will mean more cases could be thrown out. GS is in the video game business to make money and its likely they'll try to lower their costs even further by throwing out more cases due to the loss of revenue from people interested in cases.

[Inazuma]

EDIT
Oh, I had to use this title! Where's Inazuma!


The way Gamestop is destroying PS2 games, won't be long before any can be bought complete.

On a side note, BookOff stores are now accepting used game Consoles. A move up from already reselling games. With Borders Books shutting down stores, I hope BookOff survives the bookstore shakeup. What I like about Japanese owned BookOff is 99 percent of the disc based games are pristine with cases, covers and manuals. No stickers and wrapped in protective plastic! A side benefit is all the great import games right on the shelf!

This is getting to be my favorite Retro Store:

Book Off USA?! Wow, that's awesome. I need to see if there is a Book Off near me so I can go check it out.

*edit*
There is a Book Off USA fairly close to me! I think it's around 30 mins away, so I may take a trip down there soon to check it out. If they buy and sell import games, it would be really nice for me.

[Ziggy]

Damn, I can't believe what I'm reading. I'm not even exactly sure how I should word this. Explain to me the logic behind "a petition wont change anything". Does this mean we shouldn't bother creating a petition, because what's the point? GameStop is doing something that is pissing us off, but unless we TELL THEM HOW WE FEEL, how will they know about it? They're throwing cases and manuals away, and are selling some disc only games. The people that are angry about it aren't telling them, and the people that decide not to shop GameStop anymore aren't telling them, so how are they suppose to know this? They'll keep throwing away cases if they don't think any one cares, we should at LEAST tell them how we feel, no?

Will a petition REALLY get them to stop this practice? Well I would hope so, but I know it's a long shot. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. It takes no effort, and there's no negative consequences. There's two outcomes: GameStop doesn't care or GameStop decides to stop destroying cases. I can't see how creating a petition isn't worth the risk.

Even if they wont stop, I want them to know that they're pissing people off.

[Inazuma]

Damn, I can't believe what I'm reading. I'm not even exactly sure how I should word this. Explain to me the logic behind "a petition wont change anything". Does this mean we shouldn't bother creating a petition, because what's the point? GameStop is doing something that is pissing us off, but unless we TELL THEM HOW WE FEEL, how will they know about it? They're throwing cases and manuals away, and are selling some disc only games. The people that are angry about it aren't telling them, and the people that decide not to shop GameStop anymore aren't telling them, so how are they suppose to know this? They'll keep throwing away cases if they don't think any one cares, we should at LEAST tell them how we feel, no?

Will a petition REALLY get them to stop this practice? Well I would hope so, but I know it's a long shot. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. It takes no effort, and there's no negative consequences. There's two outcomes: GameStop doesn't care or GameStop decides to stop destroying cases. I can't see how creating a petition isn't worth the risk.

Even if they wont stop, I want them to know that they're pissing people off.

Nice post. I agree completely.

[Croooow!]

Damn, I can't believe what I'm reading. I'm not even exactly sure how I should word this. Explain to me the logic behind "a petition wont change anything". Does this mean we shouldn't bother creating a petition, because what's the point? GameStop is doing something that is pissing us off, but unless we TELL THEM HOW WE FEEL, how will they know about it? They're throwing cases and manuals away, and are selling some disc only games. The people that are angry about it aren't telling them, and the people that decide not to shop GameStop anymore aren't telling them, so how are they suppose to know this? They'll keep throwing away cases if they don't think any one cares, we should at LEAST tell them how we feel, no?

Will a petition REALLY get them to stop this practice? Well I would hope so, but I know it's a long shot. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. It takes no effort, and there's no negative consequences. There's two outcomes: GameStop doesn't care or GameStop decides to stop destroying cases. I can't see how creating a petition isn't worth the risk.

Even if they wont stop, I want them to know that they're pissing people off.

First off, I'm sorry that my comment offended you, that wasn't my intention. I'm just as upset about the practice as anyone else but I just happen to feel that more effective alternatives exist outside of petitions. The fact is that GameStop has found people who will buy the games without a case. Yes the practice sucks but someone in charge is convinced that they are making more money doing this than by leaving all cases intact. If their motivation for throwing away cases is purely monetary I don't have much faith that a petition would accomplish anything.

However I do think something can be done after thinking about it for a little bit. Does anyone remember when they started applying stickers on the spine directly to the artwork? Now I've noticed that they have a backing on the sticker to allow someone to take it off. If someone could find out what caused that change there would be a better chance to end this policy.

[Bikeage]

You should all be glad that Gamestop throws away so many cases and manuals, it will help drive up the collectible price of complete games.

Everyone getting all worked up about this never mentions one important fact: In most cases games having their extras discarded are being sold in the MILLIONS of units, or at least half that... thats alot... Gamestop can't possibly destroy every instruction manual for PS2 sports game out there.

I would think the only solution to this perceived issue would be a business proposal to GS to collect and recycle what they consider waste products. Realistically that would entail a lot of start up money, labor, investors, and legal fees before GS would even talk to you, so good luck with that.

Of all whats wrong in this world to get worked up about...

[Ziggy]

First off, I'm sorry that my comment offended you, that wasn't my intention.

Nah, don't worry. I'm not upset or anything. My post wasn't directed just solely on you, just any one that thinks there's no point to a petition and that a petition wont change anything.

I'm just as upset about the practice as anyone else but I just happen to feel that more effective alternatives exist outside of petitions. The fact is that GameStop has found people who will buy the games without a case. Yes the practice sucks but someone in charge is convinced that they are making more money doing this than by leaving all cases intact. If their motivation for throwing away cases is purely monetary I don't have much faith that a petition would accomplish anything.

Well according to Mod Man, the sole reason they're doing this is for space. They don't have enough room in their stores to shelf all the cases. Maybe money also has something to do with it, I don't know.

However I do think something can be done after thinking about it for a little bit. Does anyone remember when they started applying stickers on the spine directly to the artwork? Now I've noticed that they have a backing on the sticker to allow someone to take it off. If someone could find out what caused that change there would be a better chance to end this policy.

That's a good idea. I bet the reason they stopped is because they realized/found out that their pissing enough people off by doing it.

You should all be glad that Gamestop throws away so many cases and manuals, it will help drive up the collectible price of complete games.

But that's exactly what I would want to avoid! I don't want the prices to go up. Most of us don't. They're not an investment.

Everyone getting all worked up about this never mentions one important fact: In most cases games having their extras discarded are being sold in the MILLIONS of units, or at least half that... thats alot... Gamestop can't possibly destroy every instruction manual for PS2 sports game out there.

Yeah, I thought about that, but I don't buy into that kind of thinking. That is in no way any kind of excuse for what they are doing. They claim they don't have the room in their stores for the cases, so instead of decided to put a limit on the number of copies a store can hold of a particular game, they decide a better idea is to throw away the cases and manuals.

Of all whats wrong in this world to get worked up about...

HA! I've thought about that too, trust me. I almost feel guilty about caring enough to try and make a change in the used game market when there's more pressing matters in the world. Hell, in my own life. And if you wanna start going down that road, we're all wasting our time talking on an internet forum to people we don't actually know about completely pointless shit.

But seriously, I can't speak for every one but I'm not exactly "worked up" over this. I think what they're doing is fucking retarded and it pisses me off, but I'm not losing sleep over it. Honestly, I can put this out of my mind right now and live the rest of my life with out regretting it. But come on, a petition isn't going out of our way. Aside from decided exactly how they want to phrase the message, a petition takes all of a few minutes to create. And it will take contributors all of 30 seconds to add to it. A petition really isn't that big of a deal, and it can't hurt, so I don't see the point on saying "Who cares?" and "it wont change anything anyway" et cetera.