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Jmustang1968 wrote:Don't buy a gutted game, it is that easy. Don't shop at Gamestop if you dislike their policiesm They are convenient and have the best selection of gamgames in a retail environment. You can also often find good deals. So knowing what GS is you can shop accordingly.

Agreed. Especially about the gamgames.

noiseredux wrote:

Jmustang1968 wrote:Don't buy a gutted game, it is that easy. Don't shop at Gamestop if you dislike their policiesm They are convenient and have the best selection of gamgames in a retail environment. You can also often find good deals. So knowing what GS is you can shop accordingly.

Agreed. Especially about the gamgames.

Damn phone. When the text box is full it is difficult to see what I am typing as it gets cut off if I don't keep scrolling it down.

dsheinem wrote:if it bothered you, why did you buy it?

Because I wanted Odin Sphere on release day and didn't want to wait for it in the mail. Nowadays I know I could have preordered it online instead, but this was years ago before I knew how to be savvy.

Jmustang1968 wrote:Don't buy a gutted game, it is that easy. Don't shop at Gamestop if you dislike their policiesm

I do not buy gutted games. I do not shop at GS. And I am not on a death to GS rant as you seem to think I am. We were discussing their opened case sales policy and its repercussions earlier and that is all I am discussing.

They are convenient

Only if you lack the patience to wait for better online deals to arrive in the mail.

have the best selection of gamgames in a retail environment.

GS used a systematic takeover to get rid of all the competition that they could possibly buy/muscle out. Remember Electronics Boutique, Babbages, Rhino games, etc.? Mom and pop game stores? GS practically has a monopoly over the brick'n'mortar game retail space nowadays, of course they have the best selection offline.

Jmustang1968 wrote:

noiseredux wrote:

Jmustang1968 wrote:Don't buy a gutted game, it is that easy. Don't shop at Gamestop if you dislike their policiesm They are convenient and have the best selection of gamgames in a retail environment. You can also often find good deals. So knowing what GS is you can shop accordingly.

Agreed. Especially about the gamgames.

Damn phone. When the text box is full it is difficult to see what I am typing as it gets cut off if I don't keep scrolling it down.

just get an iPhone. It just works.

I shop online as well, but sometimes it is nice to get games locally and in person. Those other places you mentioned didn't have a great selection nor were their prices competitive.

Jmustang1968 wrote:I shop online as well, but sometimes it is nice to get games locally and in person.

Right. Plus, a lot of dudes complained that their Shin Megami Tensei IV box arrived damaged when they ordered online. I went to GS and bought it where I could see the condition was mint (it was displayed behind the counter, sealed.

Those other places you mentioned didn't have a great selection nor were their prices competitive.

Exactly. People always talk about GS and the big takeover. There used to be two mom-n-pop stores around me. One of them had horrible prices. It's gone. One had flexible, fair prices. It's still here.

In my mind, these kinds of shops shouldn't be competing w/ GS anyway. They can sell all the stuff GS doesn't: NES, SNES, Saturn, etc. I mean even if they sell GameCube, or DS games that are complete, or (soon enough) PS2 games they've got a product that GS doesn't. So that's not really "competing."

I just don't see GS as forcing out a brick-n-mortar store that is specializing in cartridges that GS doesn't even carry.

noiseredux wrote:Plus, a lot of dudes complained that their Shin Megami Tensei IV box arrived damaged when they ordered online.

My special edition of SMTIV arrived from Amazon in 100% perfect condition. Just for the record.

Those other places you mentioned didn't have a great selection nor were their prices competitive.

Not my experience with those stores, but we all have our own experiences don't we. IMO Online > Offline, but I guess it depends on where you live and the quality of your local stores.

Exhuminator wrote:

noiseredux wrote:Plus, a lot of dudes complained that their Shin Megami Tensei IV box arrived damaged when they ordered online.

My special edition of SMTIV arrived from Amazon in 100% perfect condition. Just for the record.

Those other places you mentioned didn't have a great selection nor were their prices competitive.

Not my experience with those stores, but we all have our own experiences don't we. IMO Online > Offline, but I guess it depends on where you live and the quality of your local stores.

It took a 3rd shipment to get my SMTIV in acceptable condition. Many of us shop both on and offline, I actually buy more online and have amazon prime etc etc...

I see a lot of mom and pops don't make good business decisions and it is a tough retail space to begin with. This is true with hobby/comic shoos as well. GS doesn't kill them on their own, online does as well.

for the record, I order stuff online all the time. Probably more than I pick up locally. I just don't think one means of acquiring games is better than the other. I use various stores (online and off) to find the best deals.

And I don't think GS is the devil.

I see a lot of mom and pops don't make good business decisions and it is a tough retail space to begin with.

I think the hardest decision to make is how much you actually want to directly compete with your local GS. Most places I see that deal in the current gen titles typically advertise heavily that they'll "pay more than the chain store!"

Of course, this means they're going to have to sell the newer games quick (in most cases) to make any profit. If not, or they just get oversaturated with new stuff, they end up either taking huge hits while trying to remain competitive as the price goes down, or they appear to be "ripping off" their customers with their "high" prices. Those "high prices" in some cases are just their cost that they're trying to get back from games they "paid more" on.

I agree with the general sentiment that mom & pop stores definitely have to focus more on the retro stuff to stay afloat. But if they are going to pander to the current gen, they should focus more on what GS doesn't offer in this department, like in-store repair services, case/controller mods, and maybe even imports. GS already has a lot more money and inventory backing them, the last thing that small stores need to do is focus on getting the newest games and flipping them for minimal profit just to pay more and sell for less than GS.



As for the online vs offline argument, I probably buy more online, but it's simply because I don't have many local options. I'd much rather pay a small amount more to check the games condition in person and have an actual person accountable for a faulty product. Also, I really like looking at shelves and shelves of games and picking up stuff i've never heard of before. Some of my favorite games i've bought just because I saw the box art and it looked neat. I would've never found most of these if I were just shopping on Amazon.