The "I Hate Gamestop" Thread

[KeithTalent]

Ok, stop with the personal attacks. If you are going to discuss the topic, then discuss the topic, do not just attack the poster. If this continues, infractions will be handed out.

Thank you.

Anandtech Administrator
KeithTalent

 

[BikeJunkie]

So now promoting the business you work for is bad? Do you even go to the mall ever? Have you been in a men's clothing store? I bet you really hate it when they tell you "we have buy one get one half off." because human interaction between salesman and customer is unheard of.

Oh please Surely you're smarter than this, and surely you know your analogy is absurdly flawed, off-point, and hyperbolic.

The guy was "promoting" his business at the expense of basic human intelligence.

Read the exchange again (except this time, read it for comprehension instead of just waiting for your turn to talk):

Best exchange ever just had this weekend:

Sales guy: "Want to pre-order Titanfall, it's so awesome"
Me: "No thanks, already pre-ordered on the PC through Origin so it's ready"
Sales guy: "Oh why not here? We will have it ready to pick up on Midnight!"

Asked and answered.

Clearly you're just going to fight this to the death, common sense and obvious facts be damned.

 

[Lil Frier]

I must be a horrible person or something, because I don't hate GameStop. At the end of the day, they're just another retailer, and retailers are in it for the money. The employees aren't paid (or hired) because they're highly competent or helpful, it's because they're cheap. Yeah, GameStop gives you horrible deals, but that's most every business in the universe.

Personally, I don't mind them. I'm not one to like to buy things a lot. However, I like games. They're about the biggest and most-reliable game retailer around. So while I don't exactly love GameStop, they're one of the few retailers around here who offers things I want. I have no problem understanding that they're in it for the money.

 

[Sulaco]

I don't work for gamestop.

You used to though, correct?

 

[cmdrdredd]

You used to though, correct?

10 or so years ago but I still shop there because I know the employees by name as they do me. They help me out (like exchanging a worn out PS3 controller for me) and I return the business to them because they are good to me. They aren't dumb either, they know their games just as I do.

I like that I can ask about a game I happen across on the shelf and they might know something about rather than the impersonal feeling I get at walmart etc. I can't exactly browse amazon the same way. Sometimes I just browse the wall and say "hey you heard anything about this game?" and strike up a little convo.

The manager is honest too, he'll tell me if I can just go to amazon or somewhere and get something cheaper or if someone has a better deal. Like he says, he doesn't own the company so he doesn't take it personal. He would rather help someone find the best deal for them.

 

[OverVolt]

10 or so years ago but I still shop there because I know the employees by name as they do me. They help me out (like exchanging a worn out PS3 controller for me) and I return the business to them because they are good to me. They aren't dumb either, they know their games just as I do.

I like that I can ask about a game I happen across on the shelf and they might know something about rather than the impersonal feeling I get at walmart etc. I can't exactly browse amazon the same way. Sometimes I just browse the wall and say "hey you heard anything about this game?" and strike up a little convo.

The manager is honest too, he'll tell me if I can just go to amazon or somewhere and get something cheaper or if someone has a better deal. Like he says, he doesn't own the company so he doesn't take it personal. He would rather help someone find the best deal for them.

Its like people hate on it who have never been to one. Because this is usually how it is in a gamestop when I go. Its a different gaming culture than MMO and COD addicts. They actually play a wider variety of games and get 20 hours out of them or so and run through the single player as oppose to playing 100,000 hours of call of duty over and over and over.

 

[BikeJunkie]

They aren't dumb ... they know their games

It makes me sad that you think there's a correlation between intelligence and someone's knowledge of videogames :'(

 

[BikeJunkie]

Its like people hate on it who have never been to one. Because this is usually how it is in a gamestop when I go. Its a different gaming culture than MMO and COD addicts. They actually play a wider variety of games and get 20 hours out of them or so and run through the single player as oppose to playing 100,000 hours of call of duty over and over and over.

If you read this thread - and other threads in this forum - you'll see PLENTY of first-hand-account reasons why people don't like GameStop. Googling will turn up the phone book. Seriously, you don't have to look hard at ALL to see why many people don't like GS. You just have to be willing to see things as they are.

But don't let facts get in the way of your sentiments... carry on :thumbsup:

 

[OverVolt]

If you read this thread - and other threads in this forum - you'll see PLENTY of first-hand-account reasons why people don't like GameStop. Googling will turn up the phone book. Seriously, you don't have to look hard at ALL to see why many people don't like GS. You just have to be willing to see things as they are.

But don't let facts get in the way of your sentiments... carry on :thumbsup:

Other than nerds raging over a couple dollars savings difference because they are broke what is the big problem? Didn't check their disc for scratches before they left? Tripped on the curb going in?

What is this reality I'm apparently missing out on? What a joke.

You get burned on a used game that had an online pass or something?

 

[BikeJunkie]

Other than nerds raging over a couple dollars savings

I see you have conveniently/selectively omitted the factors of SPEED and CONVENIENCE.

because they are broke

Oh yes... anyone who tries saves money when possible is ALWAYS broke. Everyone knows this

I make about $150k/year. If I can spend $60 instead of $65, you can bet your ass I will do just that. I think it's funny that you think trying to save money is just for "broke nerds" and something to be ashamed of :biggrin:

What is this reality I'm apparently missing out on? What a joke.

You get burned on a used game that had an online pass or something?

RTFT and find out. It sure beats commenting on things that have already been discussed and then looking like an uninformed fool when the information you're contradicting is just a click away. But I suppose laziness isn't just a hallmark of overpaying...

A fool and his money, they say

 

[sze5003]

I don't hate GameStop but a lot of people do not like to do business there. I'll usually buy used games there if I can find a deal. I never trade games there because by the time im ready to trade them in, I don't get much. I prefer best buy's trade in program.

The GameStop near me used to be really knowledgeable about how good a game was. Now I see new employees there all the time. Its cool that they can talk to you about pretty much any game. When I went to pre order infamous the guy working there had both systems and never showed any favoritism towards one or the other which I guess is alright.

To me they are just another retailer and unless there are tons of games for the new consoles out I'll be buying new regardless at what store.

 

[OverVolt]

:\ <---

My face as I read that. Nice $150k brag so that translates to about $90k? Lol... anyway.

Its not anything I don't already know. Uninformed fool... lol. Yea cause steam makes you intelligent. Anyone can download steam good for you. I don't PC game much. I don't like buying games online for a couple reasons. You have to have a good idea of what you already want. I like buying games on a whim, but when it comes to online stores they are always pushing this game or that game and I'd like to search for a game I want to play without having to search a library of every game made.

The speed and convenience aren't there for me. I enjoy going out to the store.

 

[chimaxi83]

I see you have conveniently/selectively omitted the factors of SPEED and CONVENIENCE.



Oh yes... anyone who tries saves money when possible is ALWAYS broke. Everyone knows this

I make about $150k/year. If I can spend $60 instead of $65, you can bet your ass I will do just that. I think it's funny that you think trying to save money is just for "broke nerds" and something to be ashamed of :biggrin:



RTFT and find out. It sure beats commenting on things that have already been discussed and then looking like an uninformed fool when the information you're contradicting is just a click away. But I suppose laziness isn't just a hallmark of overpaying...

A fool and his money, they say

Bahahaha 150K, what a joke. This is Anandtech. Take your 150K to the welfare line

 

[Wingznut]

I must be a horrible person or something, because I don't hate GameStop. At the end of the day, they're just another retailer, and retailers are in it for the money. The employees aren't paid (or hired) because they're highly competent or helpful, it's because they're cheap. Yeah, GameStop gives you horrible deals, but that's most every business in the universe.

Personally, I don't mind them. I'm not one to like to buy things a lot. However, I like games. They're about the biggest and most-reliable game retailer around. So while I don't exactly love GameStop, they're one of the few retailers around here who offers things I want. I have no problem understanding that they're in it for the money.

Exactly. I go to Gamestop if they have something I want for a price that I agree is fair. I go elsewhere if I find those terms in another place.

Not unlike any other retailer.

 

[sweenish]

I think I posted it before, but I quit Gamestop completely after the story about them removing Onlive codes from new boxes of Deus Ex. If not for that, it would mostly be indifference. But that pushed me to the hate column.

Agreement or not, that was a douche move. I've also bought "new" copies that they had opened. Add in abysmal trade-in value for your games and the mediocre "savings" on used titles, and it's just groupthink keeping them alive.

I've been to some good branches, and I've been to some terrible ones. Instead of visiting around town to figure out which one is run decently, I'll just save the time and stick to e-tailers and Best Buy.

 

[exdeath]

Gamestop is only good for really old games that you missed and have long been forgotten, particularly if its out of print and not available anymore from the original publisher. Anything new, popular, well known, forget it.

Eg my last pickup was Infinite Undiscovery for $7 for example.

Used new game for $5 less? No, Ill buy new thanks. 5 year old Mario or Pokemon game for $40 used still when they are $39.99 everywhere else? No, Ill grab those new in buy one/two get one type deals that every store BUT Gamestop has from time to time.

But Gears of War 2 for 99 cents? Lost Odyssey for $6 because I'm lame and missed it when it was new, ok. Mint Metroid Other M 6$? K.

Anyone else enjoying seeing Metroid Prime Trilogy and Xenoblade Chronicles new reprints opened and sold as used for $90+ ebay prices not sell and them lowering the price almost daily now?

They have a copy of Fire Emblem for Wii locally marked at a eBay price around $60, completely ignorant of the fact that theirs is missing the manual and therefore worthless to the only target audience that would pay $60 for an old obscure used game in the first place.

Its been there for like a year. I would have picked it up with one of the last B2G1 Black Friday deals already if it had the manual.

 

[Tweak155]

I don't think I have a problem with them opening stock and selling as used. It's their property they can do what they want with it.

I do take problem with the fact (or at least what someone said earlier) they open a game and remove the online code and still sell as new? Wth? Sorry but anything you open is now used and not new. If they tried handing me an opened game as a new sale, I'd ask for a closed one or refuse the sale. The company only gets away with that crap if you let them.

 

[purbeast0]

any game that is not factory sealed is not "new" no matter how gamestop wants to try and sell it. whether people have a problem with purchasing their opened "new" games or not is on them though. but it's simply not a "new" game.

i personally won't purchase anything like that though. if they won't give me a full return on an opened "new" game i purchased from them, i won't purchase one from them in that way.

 

[TerryMathews]

any game that is not factory sealed is not "new" no matter how gamestop wants to try and sell it.

Is a test-driven car new?

 

[sze5003]

Is a test-driven car new?

Those cars are usually not sold as new. My friend used to buy and sell cars at auctions and dealers often. Usually the cars used for a test drive, if they decided to sell that one model to you, you would get some type of percentage discount.

 

[exdeath]

Is a test-driven car new?

You get a reduced price and ability to return a opened car.

 

[purbeast0]

Is a test-driven car new?

why is this even relevant?

cars wear down as they are used. digital items (such as games) do not.

oh, and video games don't cost 10s of thousands of dollars.

and cars aren't at a fixed price. if a "new" car has 500 miles from test drives vs 20, you can easily work that into the negotiated price.

terrible analogy.

 

[Tweak155]

Is a pack of Reese's cups out of a family pack of packs of Reese's cups still considered "new" if the family packaging was opened?????????

 

[exdeath]

Is a pack of Reese's cups out of a family pack of packs of Reese's cups still considered "new" if the family packaging was opened?????????

Sure, if we are interested in buying a single new factory sealed game from an open case of 24 of the same game from the distributor.

 

[TerryMathews]

why is this even relevant?

Its relevant because the law views "new" far differently than you do.

Its fine if you dont want to buy an opened game but arguing it isnt new is a losing proposition.