Gamestop selling off older games-Buy2 get2 free sale Sunday!

[Michi]

My local store gave me a list of what gba games are in stock. I'll look through it and see if there's anything worth going after once the prices get lowered.

I'm looking forward to the price drop myself, but I'm still going to snag a few games while the gettin' is good. Especially at the stores that usually have a crappy selection of GBA games. (Though I did notice one store had an increase in selection not too long after they announced they wouldn't be carrying them. Perhaps that is a good sign.)

[Ack]

Ok, I checked in with one of the stores in my area. While the thing becomes official on April 3, it turns out two of my three local stores already don't carry GBA titles anyway, so I have only one to check.

Also, I asked about the PS2 collection. The clerk said the rumor he'd heard was that PS2 would be phased out in the Fall, before the end of the year. So we're looking at both the GBA and the PS2 leaving Gamestop in one year.

The end of an era...

[Bradtemple87]

I have a list ready myself. I know the sales should really start up maybe a week or two into April.

[Michi]

Ok, I checked in with one of the stores in my area. While the thing becomes official on April 3, it turns out two of my three local stores already don't carry GBA titles anyway, so I have only one to check.

Also, I asked about the PS2 collection. The clerk said the rumor he'd heard was that PS2 would be phased out in the Fall, before the end of the year. So we're looking at both the GBA and the PS2 leaving Gamestop in one year.

The end of an era...

Great. So you're saying I should pick up a PS2, or at the very least some games for it by the fall. *sigh* So many things to get....so little money

[FerretGamer]

Great. So you're saying I should pick up a PS2, or at the very least some games for it by the fall. *sigh* So many things to get....so little money

I can see myself buying PS2 games for the rest of my life since there are so many worthwhile games to buy and play.

I'll miss scoring that great (complete) PS2 find since the Gamestop used price tends to be much lower than the eBay/online used market.

[Bradtemple87]

I saw them marked down to $84 new at Target, not a bad price!

[Evildeadmanwalking77]

I just don't get Gamestop. I guess they just don't see any market for older games and consoles? Trade N Play does though and I actually prefer them over Gamestop, including for next gen console gaming. It's nice to know I'm not just limited to auctions & other online only stores to get my retro fix as well. I've basically boycotted Gamestop for myself.

[s1mplehumar]

I checked in with my 4 local Gamestops and inquired about a potential sale. In short, what sale?

[Purkeynator]

I saw them marked down to $84 new at Target, not a bad price!

Yeah, I saw that at my Target in Ohio too. It was the Toy Story 3 holiday bundle. It may be that they are just phasing out that particular SKU and going to receive more consoles of just the system with no games bundled in.
As for Gamestop, I would bet they won't phase out the PS2 games until next year when no more games are coming out. WWE Allstars and Madden are still coming this year. Remember they didn't phase out the Xbox games until well after the last game, Madden 09 came out in August of 2008. The Xbox games were phased out in summer 2009. They will keep buying and selling PS2 games as long as they are profitable and I am sure they sell a lot more PS2 games than GBA games. Plus they seem to phase out one system per year and will still have room for PS2 games until the next generation of consoles comes out. Here is my prediction:
2003: Phase out Saturn games
2004: Phase out retro games (NES, SNES, Genesis, Dreamcast all at one time)
2006: phase out PSone games
2007: phase out N64 games
2008: phase out Gameboy games
2009/10: Phase out Xbox
2011: Phase out GBA
2012: Phase out Gamecube
2013: Phase out PS2 games
2014: Phase out DS games
2015: Phase in flying cars

I will need to bookmark this thread for a few years to see how it plays out...

[Michi]

Yeah, I saw that at my Target in Ohio too. It was the Toy Story 3 holiday bundle. It may be that they are just phasing out that particular SKU and going to receive more consoles of just the system with no games bundled in.
As for Gamestop, I would bet they won't phase out the PS2 games until next year when no more games are coming out. WWE Allstars and Madden are still coming this year. Remember they didn't phase out the Xbox games until well after the last game, Madden 09 came out in August of 2008. The Xbox games were phased out in summer 2009. They will keep buying and selling PS2 games as long as they are profitable and I am sure they sell a lot more PS2 games than GBA games. Plus they seem to phase out one system per year and will still have room for PS2 games until the next generation of consoles comes out. Here is my prediction:
2003: Phase out Saturn games
2004: Phase out retro games (NES, SNES, Genesis, Dreamcast all at one time)
2006: phase out PSone games
2007: phase out N64 games
2008: phase out Gameboy games
2009/10: Phase out Xbox
2011: Phase out GBA
2012: Phase out Gamecube
2013: Phase out PS2 games
2014: Phase out DS games
2015: Phase in flying cars

I will need to bookmark this thread for a few years to see how it plays out...

I'd switch the Gamecube and PS2 games. I keep hearing from people here and Gamestop employee's that it's the next to go. They just have too many PS2 games. The Gamecube games will probably follow, but since they don't take up as much shelf space I don't think it's top priority. But this phasing out thing is really starting to hurt. I sort of understood when they got rid of the much older games, but I was surprised when they got rid of the Xbox games. I just personally thought it was a good idea to at least sell current gen games and the previous gen games since most current gen consoles are backwards compatible (except of course the new PS3...stupid Sony).