Game stores

[porushinobu]

MGS5 only comes with the steam installer on the cd in the box

haven't really played MGS since the original,

 

[ZG002]

With their points scheme and getting them to price match CEX on trade in. They ain't too bad for current gen console stuff. I use them anyway, but I trade pretty much all my finished games in.

 

[antijoke]

which HMV failed at because they were selling second hand titles at almost full price

That's exactly what game do.

 

[porushinobu]

That's exactly what game do.

yeah but still cheaper than HMV

 

[MadMouse101]

I have not step foot in a Game store for years now.

 

[uncle_rufus]

Nope... sometimes poke my head in there for a laugh, likewise with Cex... Both are comparable to when you walk into somewhere like "Lush" or "The Body Shop" or any women's hairdressers, just replace the distinct smell of soap and cleansing products with the exact sort of intolerable stench they are designed to cover up

Console prices are ridiculous, PC section non-existent, staff look how I imagine a younger version of myself would probably appear to me now - like a bunch of complete poser-ish unwashed tools... Display stands of a few consoles whose controllers are coated with layers and layers of McDonalds grease and other sweet-goop I'd rather not touch... While whatever the latest flavour-of-the-month Emo bullcrap the staff have put on blares out of the store speakers completing their goal of offending every one of my senses... (yes okay, I'm an old man - what of it!?)

Fortunately at the other end of town a new (non-chain) retro game shop opened up and it is absolutely amazing! Racks and racks of cartridges and discs and old systems all fairly reasonably priced in a nice clean shop with a normal friendly person behind the counter... That's a physical store I can get behind and hope manages to stick around

 

[JoeF1]

I miss gamestation

My local GS was a dark mysterious place were you went in and wasn't blown away by the crazy pricing.

Although when im in White Rose i always pop into game to see if there's any 2 for £20 offers etc.

 

[Scort]

Usually nip in hoping to find a bargain or two, but typically always walk out empty handed and laughing at the prices - both new and trade in; and yes, the whole flogging a second hand copy for a couple of quid less than new... mind boggling!

To me, the store has become pretty pointless - I don't go there looking for their reviews or help buying a game, as I keep my finger on the pulse enough to know what is out and when; and there's the internet! I don't buy any of their tat, I don't collect models or key rings etc... So, to me at least - I'd not miss them if they shut up shop.

In my home town there's no Game, only a Cex and a Purple(Pink?) Planet - who I think are still affiliated with Cex; but I mooch around those occasionally, and sometimes pick up a Blu Ray or two - rarely games and the prices still seem a tad high.

 

[Pixel]

Perhaps the rise of the gaming industry has been just enough to keep Game on the high street.

Personally I find car boot sales much more promising for finding decent games.

 

[Raumarik]

I haven't been in a GAME store for years, I rarely want a game when it's released, it's always cheaper to buy the physical copy online than GAME and if I'm after a game a few months later the digital copy will be cheaper anyway.

 

[gradyhawks]

Not been in years either. I rent my xbox games, £16 a month unlimited 2 at a time, and get my PC games off steam.

 

[fastwunz]

I bought a second hand N64 from game in 2006 - came with Mario Kart and two controllers.
Paid £40. They gave it to me in a plastic Tesco bag!

Didn't bother me - took it uni and my third year was one of the most enjoyable of my four years. We played Mario Kart drunk until we fell over laughing and I completed Zelda in between lectures. I used to play it until 3 in the morning with my mate whilst drinking waaaaaaay too much red wine ha!

 

[tintin82]

GAME have acquired Multi-play which run Insomnia, and are moving it to the NEC next year. I believe they are heading in this direction to push a lot of cross selling. The push into Esports could be very lucrative if it all works out.

I believe GAME 1.0 went belly up due to rapid expansion and many loss making stores. As far as I am aware all the GAME 1.1 stores are profitable, so they must be doing something right.

Just trying to pin down what they are doing right in this highly competitive segment of retail.

 

[spoffle]

I'm not sure how they stay in business, they almost died out completely a year or so ago as I remember going in as their prices were actually reasonable as they tried to get rid of anything possible to get a bit of money in the bank.

I went into my local one yesterday and took a look at their PC section which was about 4 shelves. ALL of their games were on the very bottom shelf just above the floor so if you actually wanted to look at them you had to sit on the floor as people walked past.
On the top 2 shelves were keyboards going for £180, what mentalist is paying £180 for a keyboard and even if they did why on earth would they buy it from there which is probably not going to have a decent return policy?
There were also keyboards for £120 and £80, snake oil!
Under that were advertisements for the steam controller and streaming device which you are pobably better off getting through steam itself rather than add an extra layer of complexity.

Had a quick look at their Wii games as I collect retro stuff, all crappy sports titles, XBox 360 games seemed to be 3 for 2 but the marked ones seemed to be ancient titles priced at £10 each so not really a great deal.

Other than that there were obviously stolen mobile phones and stupidly priced newer titles on the current gen consoles. Still it survives, somehow...

Uhh, expensive keyboards aren't the same as snake-oil. They don't purport to do anything "better", they're just fancy with fancy features and made from fancy materials.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Digital distribution has shot itself in the foot a bit by charging bonkers money for new releases. As a result I still buy most stuff retail.

 

[Aod]

They don't purport to do anything "better"

Well actually...

"Fancy" Mechanical keyboards are significantly better for typing on and sustained/long-term usage due to the lower key-actuation force, dramatically better consistency and better reliability.
As to any supposed benefit to gaming... I wouldn't say there's much of an effect, but the backlit keys certainly do make gaming in the dark (as well as typing OcUK posts!) much easier.

Since I got my mechanical keyboard my typing speed has increased fairly notably, but more importantly, my hands get significantly less stiff after a lot of typing than they used to with a conventional cheap keyboard.

 

[garak112]

Theyll die eventually, like everything else on the High-street.

Once Amazon can deliver a physical game to your door within a few hours of order (drone-delivery), it will deffo disappear.

Though tbh... at that point it would be more convenient to just download... bunch of luddites.

Amazon can already do this for some games if you live in London (I've just checked and I could get fifa 14 by 10am).

 

[spoffle]

Well actually...

"Fancy" Mechanical keyboards are significantly better for typing on and sustained/long-term usage due to the lower key-actuation force, dramatically better consistency and better reliability.
As to any supposed benefit to gaming... I wouldn't say there's much of an effect, but the backlit keys certainly do make gaming in the dark (as well as typing OcUK posts!) much easier.

Since I got my mechanical keyboard my typing speed has increased fairly notably, but more importantly, my hands get significantly less stiff after a lot of typing than they used to with a conventional cheap keyboard.

I don't disagree with that, but my point was about the gaming aspect. Most mechanical keyboards are fairly highly priced compared to dome ones.

 

[spudbynight]

yeah but still cheaper than HMV

Don't they make much more money from selling a second hand game than from selling a new one?

 

[Ogoshi]

For some reason we have two GAME stores in our town, one was previously Gamestation. I can't say I've set foot in either for a good few years.