Buying Games in your country: What's it like?

[Frybird]

Hi,

Just today i once again stumbled upon other forums where people rant like hell about US-Gamestore-Chains like Gamestop, Gamecrazy and EB Games.

Being a german, i am pretty horrified about the stories they tell there, and i find it hard to even imagine things like the absolute need to preorder in a STORE, among other things.

In Germany, there are about 3 ways to get a game when it's out.

1. Mailorder: Pretty much THE way to get new games in Germany, due to the fact that many games don't really come out here because of the whole violence issues. While not every Game-Order-Website is great, my experience with many of them is generally very good. For example:
- If you preorder a game, it will arrive usually a day before the actual release
- If you don't, and the game is in stock, it's being sent very fast, so that it generally arrives one to three days after ordering it.
- Support still works very well. I had my Halo 3 Disc slightly damaged due to a broken case, and it was replaced immidiately without additional cost, or having the need to buy the game with a extra "guarantee"

2. Electronics Stores: Generally has enough games in stock at relase day, and none of them are "reserved" because they usually don't take preorders, unless the Game sells "Preorder Packages", like GTA IV, Stanglehold and Crysis. Not as cheap as game stores or sellers on the Internet, but reliable.

3. Game Stores: There are not much of them. About 2 or 3 in a bigger city. Due to the fact that almost none of them are storechains, they unfortunately get games later than electronics stores, but you can save a few Euros and the clerks and storekeepers are willing and able to order games for you directly from thier dealers (if you want an import, for example) and generally have a great service.
The only bad experience for me was at an EB Games, because half of the Games around there were empty boxes that stood around there to advertise preorder (of games that were not out yet), and the other half were used games. Also, i wanted to sell games there, but they only wanted to give me store credits instead of cash.


Well, that's what is generally like around here, from my point of view.

So,

1) What is it like buying games in YOUR country
2) If you are american and all those horror stories on the internet about Game Stores are true, why the hell don't you order by mail?

 

[PaintChips]

Preorders are only necessary on high-profile releases, like Halo or Brawl.

That being said, preordering at, say, Gamestop is nice enough. I buy the game a month or so ahead of time, and walk in on release day and just pick it up. And if something else catches my eye, I can grab that too.

Trading in is not as nice, since they give you an embarrassingly small amount of in-store credit for even the newest of games.

 

[stompy]

In Australia, it's a pretty big rip for games. Games are priced at around AUD$110, which is actually quite close to the American $100. Um, service, is quite nice. Most sales clerks I talk to in the stores know the stuff. I suppose my real big complain is are the prices... that, and the time it takes to get them.

- A procrastinator

Edit: I used XE on 24/04/08, and $AUD110 = ~$USD104. Yes, it is this big a rip here.

 

[esposch]

In Australia, it's a pretty big rip for games. Games are priced at around AUD$110, which is actually quite close to the American $100. Um, service, is quite nice. Most sales clerks I talk to in the stores know the stuff. I suppose my real big complain is are the prices... that, and the time it takes to get them.

- A procrastinator

GTA IV (one of them, PS3 of X360) I saw for $120, $20 off.

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

I'm a big Digital Distribution guy, most game stores are a huge rip-off, but Frys and Steam are usually my "best buys"...some online shops have great deals too but, I can't trust them anymore after one of the sites I used had hackers get through their servers and steal our info. which we luckily caught before it got really bad.

 

[stompy]

GTA IV (one of them, PS3 of X360) I saw for $120, $20 off.

If Xbox 360 games aren't regionally locked, I'm importing my games from now on. (PS This is a question: Are X360 games regionally locked?)

- A procrastinator

 

[Caisu]

Well I'm in England and we seem to have a really mixed bag when it comes to buying games.

Firstly we only have two major chains that everyone knows about and they're GameStation and GAME, whenever you start talking about them or go shopping with a friend it can get like the whole Microsoft vs Sony fan argument over which is better for whatever reason and you end up going to both cause they're usually within a few doors of each other. Then you have all the little shops that're tucked away somewhere and are only full of people who like games as much as you cause you have to like them pretty much to ever actually find the places! After you find a shop there tends to be one of two experiences:

1) You walk out wanting to slap someone cause you got bugged to death by some idiot who didn't have a clue what he was on about and was more interested in telling me that my boyfriend would really like GTAIV when I don't *have* a bf and don't particularly care what that person thinks I'm in the shop for because they're usually wrong. You had to stand in a line a mile long while some guy with three screaming kids bought half the store pre-owned (which they have to get the books and games one at a time from separate draws behind the counter or go out back to the stock room which I can only assume must be badly organised since it takes them about 10mins, and stick silly stickers all over the boxes that everyone rips off the second they get out and don't look at again) or they just plain old didn't have what you wanted or it was at an exorbitant price. £60/120USD Is a bit overboard and no way am I paying that.

2) You walk out grinning ear to ear having managed to have a really nice chat about whatever with a attendant who actually plays games and can give you recommendations or you were just left alone, the shop has what you wanted and possible something else nice and there were no arseholes present. Depending on special offers or if the shop had what you wanted pre-owned you can get a good game for about £20/40USD, which is brilliant when you look at game prices these days.

When it comes to ordering online though I use Amazon religiously. GameStation has a website that seems to have last been updated 10 years ago and never has very good stock and GAME has a history of messing up my pre-orders and getting things lost in the post. Like that half of a BOGOF offer I ordered over two weeks ago. Amazon at least gets stuff to me in under a week, usually only two days, and you can get games for anywhere down to 0.99p/2USD new if it's a really old title.

As for imports... well, when you *can* get it imported to the UK, the P&P is usually so expensive that it works out cheaper to wait and pray for a PAL release. I've found that if a game's not slated for release in Europe then you can't import it from the US, and don't even get me started on the fiasco of trying to import anything from Japan.

All I can really say is that although I don't have any horror stories to match the ones you hear from people in the US, it depends on a lot of things what your experience here is like; half the time it's just you getting unlucky if you have a bad experience, although I shall forever gripe about GAME's pre-order service.

 

[Iffypop]

I find it's quite good in the UK. Our electronic good websites are fast and cheap, our games stores are plentiful - Hell when the 360 was out Gamestation organised a Taxi rank outside the store so people could get home safely. I've never HAD to pre-order, although I usually do, seeing as Game reward a lot of people who do with money off, extra goodies or just extra points on your card.

Price-wise I do feel ripped off by the highstreet stores however. We pay in the region of £40-£50 for new console releases, although PC titles are usually more reasonably priced around £29-£35. It would appear it's cheaper than Australia here, as our prices reach about US$80 - US$95. Having said this play.com is fantastic at getting things to you on time and cheaply, but that's because they're in that old tax haven of Jersey.

 

[GrimRox]

I too am a Brit and I will admit that I don't buy games as regularly as I used to but when I do I tend to buy online, normally from Amazon or Play. It's pretty reliable and as I work all week it's nice to know that I can wake up on Saturday and find a new game on the doormat. I only really do this for old titles (I only bought Bioshock a fortnight ago) but then there hasn't been much in the way of new ones that interested me. I tend to get new release games from the stores as if you look in the right place you can get it just as cheap as online (after P&P) plus you get it there and then, I'll have GTA4 at at 00.01 Tuesday morning for example. Pre-ordering is pretty good at Game and Gamestation though there isn't a reward scheme at Gamestation.

On a side-note I used to have a pretty sweet way of getting brand new games in their 1st week of release for under £20 / $40. My house-mate at the time used to work in a local supermarket and was pretty good at smuggling things out in the home delivery crates! I'd pay him between a tenner or a score and get a brand new sealed game! Plus a free pack of Jammie Wagon Wheels with each purchase!

 

[richasr]

I'm also British and have somewhat pushed the GAME/Gamestation places into 3rd place behind HMV in 2nd place and ordering online in 1st.

The stores in Stockport and Manchester are fine but you will often find games cheaper in HMV or on the internet. Also if you choose to buy a PC game there are no refunds, due to the fact that they all have a minimum requirements section on the case, so if you can't run it then don't buy it, this is a bad thing because some times, games won't run despite having way over the recommended requirements, it simply won't run like Company of Heroes, i've had serious problems with that game.

Pre-ordering is ok, usually a deposit is involved and you still have to pick it up, although some places offer free delivery. I like to pick up my game physically but in recent years online ordering has become the better alternative.

Speaking of which, Amazon is where I usually go, and I pre-ordered GTA4 last year sometime now, hopefully it will arrive on the day, it's the first pre-order since CrackDown(which arrived on the day so fingers crossed), generally the service is very quick, and they do offer a very quick express service for some extra money obviously.

The site I use for pre-orders nowdays is GamePlay, due to the fact that games arrive before the release (usually the day before) plus free delivery and the price of the games is fair, never overpriced. There are other places but these are the mainstays.

In the UK at least, ordering online is much better than going to a shop, and why would you when you can wake up to the sound of the game crashing through your letter box? no effort required, just unpack the game and play.

 

[DMShade]

I'm Canadian, and Retail Gaming Stores are really my only option. My roomies have ordered games online only to have them arrive horribly later than told (As in WEEKS horribly), nevermind the cost to get anything over the US/Canada border seems illogically high.

My Younger Sister has regailed me with tales of going in knowing what she wanted and, if her clerk were a man, would try to heap every virtual puppy/kitty/horse game on her (She's TWENTY, by the way). I've also found it difficult to get what I want at any store I don't frequent, as clerks try to hawk the FPS/RTS of the moment on me at every opportunity. (I despise both genres, with rare exceptions).

The one I frequent is a Godsend as they have a diverse staff from which I can get more than one honest opinion with ease, long as they aren't swamped.

We have those Rent-As-Long-As-You-Like sites here, but no one I know has ever bothered to try them, I guess we're all skeptical. A view on them, no matter where you are, would be appreciated.

 

[Fire Daemon]

GTA IV (one of them, PS3 of X360) I saw for $120, $20 off.

If Xbox 360 games aren't regionally locked, I'm importing my games from now on. (PS This is a question: Are X360 games regionally locked?)

- A procrastinator

I'm sorry but they are.

*whispers* If you can get a thermware upgrade (against the law, very naughty) then this overides the region code and lets you play Burnt games at the cost of no xbox live.

This is illegal and I DO NOT recomend doing this but it is the only way to avoid the rip off prices of EB.

Back on to the topic:

The EB staff is usually nice and thats where I get my games from but unless I walk into the store and then walk off (with paying ofcourse) then they try and sell me things that have no connection to what I want. I once talked to one of them about some old xbox games.

they tried to sell me a PS3.

 

[PaintChips]

The EB staff is usually nice and thats where I get my games from but unless I walk into the store and then walk off (with paying ofcourse) then they try and sell me things that have no connection to what I want. I once talked to one of them about some old xbox games.

To be fair, they have to do this. Or at least I did when I worked at Gamestop.

 

[Ultrajoe]

I once talked to one of them about some old xbox games.

they tried to sell me a PS3.

a testament to salesmanship, if the transition was smooth, then i applaud them

EDIT:

on topic... in australia

i bought a PS3, reveling in its muscle armed awesomeness, i gazed longingly at my jet black monolith of power as i glared with hate at the $130 price-tags on the games... i got orange box for $100 for sheer game per dollar (very worth it, i hadn't played any half-life previously)
and assasins creed with the death star itself... but now it sits forlorn as i cant bring myself to fork out another $100 for the first wave games that don't even use the engine to its full potential...

it serves as a bookend until programmers start using every inch of that beast so $100 is worth it. A BOOKEND!

it makes me sad...

 

[Deviltongue]

I'm canadian and in MY country it's like paying 10 bucks more even though our dollar has currently surpassed the US...

 

[AnGeL.SLayer]

In my area(USA) if you want a game it really only comes down to how popular it is. New releases your never going to find...for months. We have a ton of those jack asses who buy the place out and try to sell on ebay. So as long as no one is talking about it they are most likely over stocked in both the used and new. If you don't have a friend who works in electronics of whatever department store then your out of luck. I don't buy on steam mainly because I'm a big paper trail kinda gal. I need my CD to have and to hold. When it comes to ordering offline I tend to always get screwed. I put an order in and well release day comes and they are sorry to inform me that they had over sold copies and I'm now on the wait list. This is about when I start to get trigger happy with my shot gun. For pre-orders from stores I usually don't pay close enough attention to new games coming out to get in in the 2 months before when you have the option to pre-order. Pre-ordering isn't forever here, theres a small gateway of opportunity. If a store doesn't get x amount of pre-orders then they can't pre-order the games. They will just set aside a game for the people who did pre-order from the x amount the company sent to them. So if 6 people pre-ordered ordered and they only got 12 games in that leaves only 6 for public people to jump on because they didn't get enough pre-orders for them to send a set amount just for those people. Sometimes they wont even send enough for the pre-orders and the store has to ask you to come back. Retail is a horrible horrible world here in the USA. >.<'


^_^

 

[Cousin_IT]

I havent bought a major release title since I made the mistake of renting Bioshock; thinking it was awsome; rushing out to buy the full version (£50!!!!!) only to find I had 1/2 an hour left before completing it >:-(.

I sometimes go into my local GAME (I dont go to the gamestation much, its kinda grubby) to look at the 3for10 etc offers but if Im buying something there its usually the case ive already decided what im looking for & ensure I only have enough money for just that title. I tend to avoid talking with the staff because a) im a misanthrope & b) they tend to either know nothing about games or know too much to be seen talking with them. I also insist on bringing my younger brother so I can act like im just going there because he wants something not vice versa

As for which methods I use. Amazon/metaboli I use for older/more obscure games. Blockbuster rentals for most console games (after the bioshock fiasco its a rare game that I pay £40-£50 for, helps that my bro is still young enough to have games bought for him though ). GAME/PC World (everything mundane about computers under one roof) for new games I wanna buy.

 

[Fire Daemon]

I once talked to one of them about some old xbox games.

they tried to sell me a PS3.

a testament to salesmanship, if the transition was smooth, then i applaud them

No it was not smooth because this sales "dude" was clearly a PS3 fanboy made manifest. When I asked him what original xbox games work with the Xbox 360 he nearly went ape shit and then started foaming at the mouth, screaming something about the PS3 having unlimited backwards compatibilty or something. He then started to destroy all the xbox products before the police....ok I'm getting a little bit silly here.

Apart from this lunatic the guys at EB are nice people. However not all of them know much about videogames. Sometimes I feel like slapping the stupid those that sell Gears of War to minors. I mean look at the fucking title, is this stuff good for 12 year olds. the same goes to parents. I think I will have much more respect for Game Stores when they start dishing out the law.

 

[WingedFortress]

I'm canadian, and I often just go down to an EB games to grab stuff. I like to pre order, but more just to have the piece of mind of already having payed for game, than to beat the rush. I also like to do a midnight pre-sale whenever I can, or an early morning pickup. Total anticipation. I think getting games has always been super easy, and only since I've been of age have I had the I/D question pulled on me. I think it's also nice that Canada reaps of the benefit of the earliest release date possible on all my favorite games, and that the crumbling US dollar has made all of our games 10 bucks cheaper.

 

[Trollkien]

In India, chances are if the game is released, it's going to be the cheapest it will be anywhere in the world. Most new PC games retail for around Rs 1,299 ($30 approximately) except Microsoft which charges global prices and so is the MOST pirated publisher/developer in the country. The cheap prices are a function of a huge and well established network of piracy where in most large cities like Bombay (where I live), Madras and Delhi, you can get a recent release almost the very next day at around Rs 25 (a little more than 50 cents).

You get legitimate games at most stores that sell books and CDs and at certain informal 'tech hub' streets in stores that also stock computer supplies and books on programming. Most of these guys generally throw in a 10% discount and are reasonably clued in about what they have on offer.

Unfortunately the Indian publishers make you extraordinarily conscious of the fact that you are a 'budget' consumer; frequently 'forgetting' to put in CD key numbers or selling discs that don't work (I think an entire batch of The Orange Box was DOA). Also a few developers (Blizzard for instance) are not represented in India anymore. I'd rather pay more for quality and so do end up buying games from stores like amazon, shipping them to friends in America and waiting for them to make a trip back home ? it's a helluva long time to wait but beats paying an astronomical amount for shipping only to have the corrupt postal department steal your parcel.

With console games, the prices are generally at global levels ? around Rs 2,000 to 2,500 ($50 to $62) for most titles -- except PS2 which sells for Rs 999 (around $25). Console games are widely pirated as a result.