Gamestation - Closing stores?

Brumboy · 22 Jun 2011 at 19:08

They can't expect much else, I mean online stores are selling the same items as high street stores but for far less money and without the hassle of travelling to the store and buying it. The only way they can compete is to drop their prices.

I also find it hilarious how much they offer you for games/consoles. I got offered £40 for my Xbox Elite 120GB, I know it's a few years old but someone would have to be a bit stupid to get rid of it for £40..the price of a Xbox game.

wannabedamned · 22 Jun 2011 at 19:23

It's common practice for there to be a Gamestation in the vicinity of a Game. They use it to boost sales via "competition"

As for Gamestation closing down, My friend works at ours and there's been no mention of anything...

I miss Electronic Beautique

Vonhelmet · 22 Jun 2011 at 20:03

CeX and other trade in places will put Game et al out of business. The market is re-adjusting for the price differential between online and offline stores.

buchtis · 22 Jun 2011 at 20:24

Since a CEX opened up in Derby i've not bothered with GAME/Gamestation, they're just too expensive compared to the competition.

RedStarRiot · 22 Jun 2011 at 20:31

Snograt said:
The best bit of the Gamestations I've been into in the past was always their stock of retro stuff. Old GBA games, Gamecube games - even as far back as N64 stuff.

Sure, it was owned by Game, but they kept their own unique identity.

No they really didn't. There prices went up and the trade in deals became awful. they became a little puppet of game

RedStarRiot · 22 Jun 2011 at 20:34

vonhelmet said:
CeX and other trade in places will put Game et al out of business. The market is re-adjusting for the price differential between online and offline stores.

Yeah but digital distribution will in turn put them out of business also when you can no longer trade games. more and more games will use online codes also making it even more of a pain to buy pre owned. My mate bought fifa and mortal kombat not long ago pre owned, suprise! having to buy online codes!. and thats not the cheapest. Publishers wont stop as its costing them to much. it will be online and supermarkets

Kurisu Makise · 22 Jun 2011 at 21:15

i hope they all dont get shut down, when im near to gamestation sometimes i like to just go in to have a look even if i aint buying anything at that time.

Fr0dders · 22 Jun 2011 at 21:22

Wouldn't be surprised if this happens in our local town centre. All within about 500 yards we have:

Game
Game Station
HMV
CEX

and now a new independent shop has opened, that basically specializes in buying and selling traded games. I can't see how they fund game and gamestation in the same high street when competition is this fierce.

Brumboy · 22 Jun 2011 at 21:23

Are you talking about Merry Hill ^?

Vonhelmet · 22 Jun 2011 at 21:25

RedStarRiot said:
Yeah but digital distribution will in turn put them out of business also when you can no longer trade games. more and more games will use online codes also making it even more of a pain to buy pre owned. My mate bought fifa and mortal kombat not long ago pre owned, suprise! having to buy online codes!. and thats not the cheapest. Publishers wont stop as its costing them to much. it will be online and supermarkets

Yeah, it'll happen, but I think it'll take a while before UK broadband can really handle that sort of digital distribution. I reckon the next gen consoles will have disc drives, but I wouldn't be surprised if the ones after that didn't, or at least didn't depend on it.

Fr0dders · 22 Jun 2011 at 21:25

no wakefield city centre.

But the fact you guessed wrong indicates just how bad this problem is for them. This situtation is replicated up and down the country.

Its a wonder they still have 3 identical stores in medaowhall in sheffield, as one was the old Electronics Boutique store, and the other was Zavvi i think.

K1LLSW1TCH · 22 Jun 2011 at 21:44

Is it just where I live, or do most of the Gamestation stores absolutely stink of stale air or sweat? I go into HMV, GAME or Zavvi and it smells clean, walk into Gamestation and it's pretty pungent.

VeNT · 22 Jun 2011 at 21:54

tbh gamestations not even cheap anymore locally. costs so much for anything 2nd hand it's still cheaper to get online!

Semiskimmed · 22 Jun 2011 at 21:57

as long as game honour the gamestation customers wrranties they can do what they like with their shops, in nottingham, theres already 2 games and a gamestation all within 5 minutes walk of each other.

Phatjayunoi · 22 Jun 2011 at 21:59

K1LLSW1TCH said:
Is it just where I live, or do most of the Gamestation stores absolutely stink of stale air or sweat? I go into HMV, GAME or Zavvi and it smells clean, walk into Gamestation and it's pretty pungent.

Probably just you then.

Still, from my experience, all the stores I've been to always have staff members to be the Rock and Gothic types, along with their music as well.

I mean it is like some sort of cult or something?

Demoniser · 22 Jun 2011 at 22:15

Is it just where I live, or do most of the Gamestation stores absolutely stink of stale air or sweat? I go into HMV, GAME or Zavvi and it smells clean, walk into Gamestation and it's pretty pungent.

Still, from my experience, all the stores I've been to always have staff members to be the Rock and Gothic types, along with their music as well.

I mean it is like some sort of cult or something?

Mmm it's like that in my local CEX. All of the staff i've seen look to be rock/punk/goth types, which usually entails some loud music with someone screaming their head off playing over the speakers, which is a bit off putting. I dunno, i like to browse the shelves without heavy metal etc screaming in my ear. Each to their own though..

It's also a really tiny store, you get allot of scruffy types in there (a plentiful supply of chavs, which makes me question how much of the stuff on the shelves might have been stolen goods traded in

), so the BO can get pretty bad when it's crowded. The local Gamestation is also quite small, so it can get a bit stuffy as well.

At least the local GAME and HMV are spacious where you can browse the shelves without being deafened in both ears and breathe without a choking reflex.

Just a few observations

.

Semiskimmed · 22 Jun 2011 at 23:18

Demoniser said:
Just a few observations .

youre nto on your own, i often walk past the CEX in town and its full of jeremy kyle applicants

Rising · 22 Jun 2011 at 23:34

Think they are closing/closed the Game store and keeping the better positioned Gamestation in Cumbernauld. Not that I buy anything in the stores unless I have a gift card from a birthday.

gothic_hobbit · 23 Jun 2011 at 00:20

wannabedamned said:
I miss Electronic Beautique

I personally miss Future Zone

biron_w · 23 Jun 2011 at 00:30

RedStarRiot said:
Yeah but digital distribution will in turn put them out of business

That won't happen for a long time yet.
A few factors will stop it:
1)broadband speeds. People won't want to wait hours for a game to download when they can pre-order it online and have it posted to them for release day. And even sometimes a day or 2 earlier. Or if you're a few mins away from a shop where you can just drive down - my local game shop is 5 mins away and I usually get new games on the wed or thursday of the week they're out(assuming the game is supposed to be released on a friday)
2)Broadband usage limits. This will stop people downloading games as nobody will want to use all their monthly usage for a few games.
3)The cost of games. Currently both the 360 and PS3 stores sell games at a much higher price than you can get them from in shops. This will need to change first.