Game (UK Retailer) Discussion

[Detective Shadzter]

Just had a look at games facebook page looks like a few people are reporting that there were no new games in stock at several stores today.

And the lovely Lucky also told me that she had to go to several different Game Stores to find the pre-order bonus for Mario & Sonic 3DS today too.

.... hmmm yeah... I think it's time to spend those reward points.

Doctor MK has said on Facebook that his local GAME didn't have any stock of Mario & Sonic 3DS today, despite having cases out on the shelves with the price tag on and not the 'coming soon' notice they usually have on games not in stock. He said he went to HMV in the end and got it for £32.99.

I'm starting to worry about my PS Vita pre-order my parents have at one of our local GAME's now, even though GAME has said in public statements that those are safe.

[Chocolate Cookie]

Damn, things are not looking so good, I should watch out and maybe spend my points just in case things gets worse.

Edited February 10, 2012 by Chocolate Cookie

[Stacy]

I asked in Gamestation and they were none the wiser? (I know different store)

[Doctor MK]

Doctor MK has said on Facebook that his local GAME didn't have any stock of Mario & Sonic 3DS today, despite having cases out on the shelves with the price tag on and not the 'coming soon' notice they usually have on games not in stock. He said he went to HMV in the end and got it for £32.99.

Yep, this is true. They had the game up on the shelves with the £37.99 price tag on them, but when I went to the counter and asked to buy the game, the staff basically gave each other a blank look and said "we haven't had that delivered today". Yet, quite plainly, they had boxes for it on the shelves (really close to the counter actually), which is just plain stupid and misleading.

I did actually pre-order the game from them too, but I sure as hell don't think I can be bothered trying to chase around for a stationery set. My faith in GAME is dwindling, fast.

[Mollfie]

The GAME near us didn't seem to have Catherine in today either so we ordered the lovely collectors one off Amazon instead, worked out only a few quid more as well.

Sucks because I used to love working at GAME and I would hate to see my ex co-workers loose their jobs if they do.

Regarding boxes out but nothing in stock: boxes get put out the night before or sometimes even earlier depending on how they are being displayed. When stock comes in the coming soon stickers are removed. When the game goes out of stock the boxes are usually removed from the shelf or have the coming soon stickers added back on, sometimes people forget and there are actually some managers who prefer to leave the boxes out for some stupid reason that I've never understood. So yeah, it's not always the staff's fault. We had rules regarding the way shelves looked and our regional manager would insist we kept boxes out even if we had no stock while our store manager insisted that we removed them. We compromised by leaving boxes out but with coming soon stickers if out of stock.

Edited February 10, 2012 by Mollfie

[The Tenth Doctor]

As i said in the statuses, I'm sad cause Game seem to be the only place that allows you to put £10 vouchers for your Playstation. You think this is silly? Everywhere else has £25 ones. I kinda don't wanna put that much on at once.

as well as that it's sad for it is one of the only shop that sells Games. HMV is kinda expensive. heck, it'll be hard to find PS2 games after this...

[Detective Shadzter]

As i said in the statuses, I'm sad cause Game seem to be the only place that allows you to put £10 vouchers for your Playstation. You think this is silly? Everywhere else has £25 ones. I kinda don't wanna put that much on at once.

as well as that it's sad for it is one of the only shop that sells Games. HMV is kinda expensive. heck, it'll be hard to find PS2 games after this...

And GAME isn't? I find HMV often sells games at full price like GAME or sometimes a little less. As Doctor MK pointed out, today GAME had M&S 3DS priced at £37.99, while HMV has it for £32.99. GAME sometimes even sells some Xbox 360 and PS3 games above the usual £39.99 at £42.99-£44.99. The Call of Duty games I can understand since Activision upped the cost by £5.00, so all retailers charge within that price range, but I don't see why GAME would charge £42.99-£44.99 for other games when other retailers are selling them for £39.99 or less.

[Mollfie]

As i said in the statuses, I'm sad cause Game seem to be the only place that allows you to put £10 vouchers for your Playstation. You think this is silly? Everywhere else has £25 ones. I kinda don't wanna put that much on at once.

as well as that it's sad for it is one of the only shop that sells Games. HMV is kinda expensive. heck, it'll be hard to find PS2 games after this...

And GAME isn't? I find HMV often sells games at full price like GAME or sometimes a little less. As Doctor MK pointed out, today GAME had M&S 3DS priced at £37.99, while HMV has it for £32.99. GAME sometimes even sells some Xbox 360 and PS3 games above the usual £39.99 at £42.99-£44.99. The Call of Duty games I can understand since Activision upped the cost by £5.00, so all retailers charge within that price range, but I don't see why GAME would charge £42.99-£44.99 for other games when other retailers are selling them for £39.99 or less.

GAME we went into had Catherine priced as £42.99 and I got the Stray Sheep Edition for about £47.99 on Amazon, standard version was £37.99.

I don't know why the prices are so different, other than people are (were?) still willing to pay that much. It's pretty silly really. I couldn't fathom though how some customers would moan at me about how the prices were too high but still buy the game. I would just go and buy it somewhere else if I felt it was too expensive.

Edited February 11, 2012 by Mollfie

[Detective Shadzter]

GAME we went into had Catherine priced as £42.99 and I got the Stray Sheep Edition for about £47.99 on Amazon, standard version was £37.99.

I don't know why the prices are so different, other than people are (were?) still willing to pay that much. It's pretty silly really. I couldn't fathom though how some customers would moan at me about how the prices were too high but still buy the game. I would just go and buy it somewhere else if I felt it was too expensive.

Charging £42.99-£44.99 is just crazy and makes the £2.50 rewards redundant, which is why I've not shopped in there for ages. I know how you feel about the customers moaning at you (the staff) about the high prices. I used to get that when I worked at Sainsbury's and even more so now I work at The Co-operative Food. People should just go elsewhere, or if they really want to complain to a company about prices, then contact their customer service department. It's no good complaining to cashiers about it.

[Pawn]

A friend works at Gamestation in Exeter and she was saying last night how they failed to get Catherine in. Such a shame. GAME were starting up just as I was really getting into video games. It'll be sad to see them close down, despite the fact that I rarely buy games in store anymore.

[Your Vest Friend]

now I work at The Co-operative Food.

Oh deary me, I hope my dad doesn't come into your store, because you wouldn't hear the end of it.

[Badnik Mechanic]

I've been into 2 Game's today... and one Gamestation.

1st Game store. The top 15 chart now consists of 5 games! And they're not even the top 5. They consisted of Final Fantasy 13, Soul Calibur V, Skyrim, Catherine (a whole 4 copies) and Sonic Generations!

No metal gear collection on either PS3 or 360. No assasins creed. And I can't believe I'm typing this one... No Modern Warfare 3!

They did however have Darkness 2, but it was in a seperate area near the front of the store.

Everything else was pre-owned, and every pre-owned game was on offer, either 3 for 2 or they were under some 'more generous than normal discounts' Still not good enough to make me buy, but far below what Game usually charge. The pre-owned games they had out, we're talking stuff like Clive Barkers Jerricho and Avatar, really old games that nobody really wants.

Second game store, Exactly the same, the top 15 chart didn't actually have 15 games in it. Again Metal Gear solid collection was nowhere to be seen. And again the majority of the store was pre-owned stuff on heavy discounts.

The Gamestation, which is aparently one of their 'flagship stores' was in a very similar state, virtually no new games at all. In fact the one game they did have I took it to the counter and they didn't have it in stock. No Metal Gear again (bare in mind this is one of those titles that the name alone usually sells it).

Like with Game, they've also got pre-owned deals going on, 2 for £20. And I couldn't find a single pre-owned game that this didn't include, it was virtually the entire store and cross platform (something I've never seen them do before).

I've never seen any of these stores so void of new games, there was virtually nothing to buy new.

Oh and remember that issue with Catherine and the pre-order bonus? How they were not sending out Artbooks and there was the question of 'did they ever advertise they would?' Found out the answer, whilst I was at the counter, someone came over with the 360 version of Catherine, and he got an artbook with it. So it looks like they havn't been honoring everyones pre-order.

I also took note of a few prices, mainly because I've been after a new PS3 controller... Check this out.

Dual Shock 3. Game & Gamestation instore price: £50! Online: £40 (out of stock). Every other shop I went in (tesco/asda/hmv/grainger games etc) £35-£40,

Catherine: £42.99 (instore), £37.99 (online), Grainger Games: £30-£35 (online) Zavvi: £32.

It's a no brainer really why they're in so much trouble is it?

[Detective Shadzter]

Was just in one of my local branches of GAME at Merry Hill, Dudley where my PS Vita is pre-ordered about an hour ago. I went in to ask about what bundles they're offering, but they've STILL not got any details on those, despite it being released on Wednesday coming. I was told there was a company meeting recently where they discussed bundles, but they can't share any details from that. They said they will definitely have bundles on release day, though.

Like Hogfather's local store, this store also didn't seem to have many new games. There was a lot of advertisements and displays for a 'fiver' promotion they're doing, which included a lot of pre-owned games that cost under £5. One of the displays at the front of the store was filled with lots of guide books instead of new games too.

[Detective Shadzter]

GAME's woes continue.

It appears they haven't been stocking Tekken 3D Prime Edition, despite it being a Nintendo distributed title here in Europe.

http://www.eurogamer...king-tekken-3ds

GAME won't stock Ubisoft Vita launch games

http://www.eurogamer...ta-launch-games

GAME scraps The Last Story Special Edition days before launch

http://www.eurogamer...s-before-launch

[Jeffhog]

What in the flaming hole?

...I feel really bad for you guys in the UK. Seeing a huge video game distributing chain dying like this isn't easy. D:

[Velotix von Skruviktorrius]

Well, they'll be gone completely before the year's out.

It's their own fault for consistently trying to gouge the customer as much as possible over the years even as online shopping took off. I also wouldn't be surprised if people started to learn that the developers and publishers make no money on used games and this also affected customer attitudes to the store. If they literally cannot price the products they sell competitively, they're doomed.

Of course now that supermarkets everywhere have started carrying games it's not like they're going to disappear from the high street entirely. We just don't really need specialist games stores anymore - specialist retailers do their core business online these days.

Edited February 21, 2012 by Velotix von Skruviktorrius

[BlueTidalGamer]

This is probably GAME's final year. They've not been great as of lately and it's only getting worse. It's such a shame this is happening as i've had great online service from them in the past usally getting preorders 2 days early. Not the case anymore. Luckly i've preordered The Last Story Limited Edition elsewhere.

Gamestation and GAME are within the same group so i've heard, so if GAME is gone what does this mean for Gamestation? Will they go with them? I really hope not cause Gamestation is the only store in my area that sells any games after the GAME store here closed down last year.

Edited February 21, 2012 by BlueEagle21

[Detective Shadzter]

This is probably GAME's final year. They've not been great as of lately and it's only getting worse. It's such a shame this is happening as i've had great online service from them in the past usally getting preorders 2 days early. Not the case anymore. Luckly i've preordered The Last Story Limited Edition elsewhere.

Gamestation and GAME are within the same group so i've heard, so if GAME is gone what does this mean for Gamestation? Will they go with them? I really hope not cause Gamestation is the only store in my area that sells any games after the GAME store here closed down last year.

Yep, Gamestation was bought by GAME some years back, so they're part of the same group. Online retailer Gameplay is also part of the group.

http://www.gameplay.co.uk/

EDIT:

Oh wow again...

https://twitter.com/...136356289380354

Resident Evil Revelations on indefinite back order until at least the end of the month? O_O

[Badnik Mechanic]

*Shrugs*

Anyone particually care anymore so long as we can get collectors/limited editions from another source?

The prices for the accessories are too high, prices for the games are too high, bundle deals are more expensive than buying stuff seperately at other places. The reward scheme is a complete joke.

Also never seen this game instock at any store, yet it's been out since February 3rd.... Out of stock on games website... NeverDead... this isn't even that good a game!

[Velotix von Skruviktorrius]

Correction: gone by June.

Bloody hell. O_o

[Detective Shadzter]

*Shrugs*

Anyone particually care anymore so long as we can get collectors/limited editions from another source?

The prices for the accessories are too high, prices for the games are too high, bundle deals are more expensive than buying stuff seperately at other places. The reward scheme is a complete joke.

Also never seen this game instock at any store, yet it's been out since February 3rd.... Out of stock on games website... NeverDead... this isn't even that good a game!

[Badnik Mechanic]

lol! WOW! Take a look at this!

This is a link to the TOP GAMES Chart . I assume it's supposed to be the games that everyone wants.

Every single game on the first page is either out of stock or on 2-3 day back order!

The exceptions are as follows... Pre-orders... UFC 3, Fifa 12, Skyrim, Zumba Fitness (the only Wii game in the top games chart), & Rage (PC).

Edit: Skyrim PS3 out of stock! Wow, after all the fuss they made about that, how on earth did they get out of stock on that one =p

Edited February 21, 2012 by Hogfather

[Detective Shadzter]

This gets funnier every day. This is the worst defence argument I've ever seen.

GAME: "we can't stock absolutely everything"

http://www.eurogamer...tely-everything

[Detective Shadzter]

One down, two to go.

Got this e-mail this morning:

Dear Gameplay Customer,

We have some very important news for you - as of March 1st the Gameplay website is merging with our sister site, Gamestation.co.uk.

The gaming experts at Gamestation.co.uk offer the same great value and service as Gameplay, and they'd love you to shop with them. As a valued Gameplay customer we'd like to offer you a £5 voucher code to spend at Gamestation.co.uk*

Interested? Here is your code - (Removed)

We'd like to thank you for being a great customer over the years, and we've truly enjoyed delivering the best in gaming to each and every one of you. It's been a pleasure!

The Team

www.gameplay.co.uk

[Badnik Mechanic]

SOMEBODY TELL THE FAT LADY! She's on in five! /The Riddler Batman Forever.

If you've not done it already folks... it's time to spend those reward points. Who wants to take bets as to when they scrap the reward points/announce more store closures?