Help me explain how GameStop is screwing over gamers and developers alike

[KP Shadow]

So, could you give me an explanation of how GameStop is screwing over both Gamers and developers. I know how they're screwing us over, but I can't really put it into words without looking like a total prick. I only have one requirement: It has to be in only one paragraph. I'm going to be posting it in an IRC Chat, and the applet that I use doesn't let me have multiple paragraphs in a single post.

 

[BlumiereBleck]

The unnecessarily high game prices. 5 years ago it was 50 bucks per game now its 60. The amount of "hardcore gamer" employees who will make fun of you because you are not buying some mega tbs game. These reasons hurt developers more because of the high prices i wont buy a game unless i know i will like it, and i will buy somewhere else or not at all because of the employees.

 

[RedRussian]

The unnecessarily high game prices. 5 years ago it was 50 bucks per game now its 60.

10 dollar raise in 5 years isn't that much

OP: I don't know if game stop is really screwing us over. Now that Best buy and other retailers are getting into the used game business, gamestop should start giving you more money when you give them used games.

If you want to help developers, you have to spend more and buy the game new. If you want to save money buy the game used, but you give gamestop your money instead of it going to developers. You have to choose which is more important to you.

 

[MikailCaboose]

The unnecessarily high game prices. 5 years ago it was 50 bucks per game now its 60. The amount of "hardcore gamer" employees who will make fun of you because you are not buying some mega tbs game. These reasons hurt developers more because of the high prices i wont buy a game unless i know i will like it, and i will buy somewhere else or not at all because of the employees.

Everywhere sells new games at around 60. With the SNES, Chrono Trigger went for $70 at Walmart. $60 isn't as bad as you're making it out to be.

 

[Something Amyss]

The unnecessarily high game prices. 5 years ago it was 50 bucks per game now its 60. The amount of "hardcore gamer" employees who will make fun of you because you are not buying some mega tbs game. These reasons hurt developers more because of the high prices i wont buy a game unless i know i will like it, and i will buy somewhere else or not at all because of the employees.

Wait, what? Gamestop didn't jack the prices on games, the industry did. PS3 and 360 titles are up because of licensing for the consoles, Wii titles are still generally 50, and the only PC titles getting jacked are due to corporate greed.

Used prices are set by them but that's not related to base costs.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

They screw over customers because they have the used games market cornered, and are able to knock $5 off the new cost of a game, call it used, and actually get people to buy it. Before they bought out EB games, the highest cost you would see on a used game was about $20, with the average being somewhere between $5 and $10. This is barring, of course, extremely rare games sold at specialty shops and through auctions. A lot of people also claim that they're screwing the industry over by not giving the developers a cut of the used game profits, but that's a load of bull, and as far as I can tell is a piece of PR spin coming right from the mouth of the publishers.

 

[RedRussian]

They screw over customers because they have the used games market cornered

Amazon has used games for way less.

 

[GeorgW]

People seem to complain about prices. But that's the developer's fault, not Gamestop's. The cost of games have simply gone up, as they've gotten more complicated. Gamestop sell the games with minimal profit margin, less than 10$. What they're doing to screw over developers are selling used games. The developers get nothing and it's all profit for Gamestop. But that's good for the gamers, so how are they screwing us over? Well, that would be pre-order exclusives.
/thread

 

[Evilbunny]

We all know why used game sales hurt developers. When you buy a used game the developers do not see a penny of that money, and when games are so expensive to make, it really is difficult for them to recover the money invested in making the game when over half of the sales are used game sales. Now, you can't really blame customers for buying games used as it is a good way to save money but if you are going to buy used I highly recommend you do not do business with gamestop. Gamestop will take your used copy of Halo Reach, give you less than half of what it is worth, and then sell that same used copy to somebody else for only a few dollars less than a new copy would cost. If you simply buy the game used on ebay or craigslist you not only will get more money from it but it will also be cheaper to buy. What screws over both customers and developers alike is the fact that they push these used games so hard. Whenever a customer comes into gamestop asking to buy a new game the computer tells the employee to ask if they would like to buy it used. They are then instructed to try to sell a subscription to game informer (a piece of shit magazine which is owned by gamestop and therefore completely unbiased and fair) and an edge card that gives you a tiny bit more money in trade ins thus further encouraging you to buy used. At the end of the day each employee is told his or her numbers for the day (how many subscriptions sold, how many edge cards sold, how many pre- orders ect). Employees with higher numbers get more hours (not higher wages, god no) and so if you're wondering why you're being hassled every time you go to gamestop for a subscription for that shitty magazine and a card that lets you get fucked in the ass slightly less during used game trade- ins it's not because the people that work there are evil they just want to eat. It's the system that is evil because it makes them do that.

 

[Serving UpSmiles]

We don't have gamestop here in the UK, Scotland to be specfific, we do have GAME and gamestation and GAME overprice their preowned shit and gamestation overprices everything else.

Now here's some snacks for you all.

 

[Polaris19]

The unnecessarily high game prices. 5 years ago it was 50 bucks per game now its 60. The amount of "hardcore gamer" employees who will make fun of you because you are not buying some mega tbs game. These reasons hurt developers more because of the high prices i wont buy a game unless i know i will like it, and i will buy somewhere else or not at all because of the employees.

It's 60 at Best Buy, Walmart and other retailers as well (oh, and Amazon!).

Thats just the going rate, unless you find the smaller stores that do good deals.

 

[BlumiereBleck]

The unnecessarily high game prices. 5 years ago it was 50 bucks per game now its 60.

10 dollar raise in 5 years isn't that much

OP: I don't know if game stop is really screwing us over. Now that Best buy and other retailers are getting into the used game business, gamestop should start giving you more money when you give them used games.

If you want to help developers, you have to spend more and buy the game new. If you want to save money buy the game used, but you give gamestop your money instead of it going to developers. You have to choose which is more important to you.

It is when you are broke.

The unnecessarily high game prices. 5 years ago it was 50 bucks per game now its 60. The amount of "hardcore gamer" employees who will make fun of you because you are not buying some mega tbs game. These reasons hurt developers more because of the high prices i wont buy a game unless i know i will like it, and i will buy somewhere else or not at all because of the employees.

Everywhere sells new games at around 60. With the SNES, Chrono Trigger went for $70 at Walmart. $60 isn't as bad as you're making it out to be.

Ive been to walmarts with 360 games for 50 bucks. I would go in but im to scared to be at walmart.

 

[Thunderhorse31]

You buy a new game for $60, then sell it to Gamestop for $25. They sell it to the next guy for $55, and then when he sells it back they give him $20. They re-sell it again for $50, and then buy it back from THAT guy for $15. A fourth guy buys the copy for $45, and when he sells it back Gamestop pays him $10.

- The gamers who sell their games to Gamestop could probably get 100% more than they offer (i.e. sell it on eBay for $50 instead of accept the crappy offer of $25).

- Net profit to Gamestop in this scenario: $150 + the game.

- Net profit to publishers/developers: < $60 (some of the cost goes to the original retailer).

Multiply this by thousands of games, and you have some idea of Gamestop's negative impact on the industry.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

They screw over customers because they have the used games market cornered

Amazon has used games for way less.

This is true, but Amazon obviously isn't taking up enough of the used game market for Gamestop to care -- I guess it gets lumped in with the mom and pop retailers, which still exist, but just aren't prevalent enough for Gamestop to have to adjust their prices to compete. We'll see what happens when Walmart and Bestbuy start selling used games -- something tells me we'll start seeing some actual competition in the prices of used games again.

We all know why used game sales hurt developers. When you buy a used game the developers do not see a penny of that money, and when games are so expensive to make, it really is difficult for them to recover the money invested in making the game when over half of the sales are used game sales.

I just wanted to quote this, because the viewpoint represented here is an absolute load of crap, it's nothing but a piece of PR spin that far too many consumers have swallowed. Resale is a pretty basic consumer's right, and any industry that sells products with a reasonable level of permanency has to deal with it somehow. The publishers are not entitled to a cut of profits on resales, period. They make their money on the first sale. Also, this is not a personal attack aimed at you, Evilbunny -- it's a general rebuttal to your viewpoint, which has become disturbingly common over the last year or so.

 

[Hiphophippo]

They aren't. They provide a very real want for many, many consumers. If someone sells something new, you can bet your ass someone else will sell it used.

Don't be pretentious.

 

[MikailCaboose]

The unnecessarily high game prices. 5 years ago it was 50 bucks per game now its 60.

10 dollar raise in 5 years isn't that much

OP: I don't know if game stop is really screwing us over. Now that Best buy and other retailers are getting into the used game business, gamestop should start giving you more money when you give them used games.

If you want to help developers, you have to spend more and buy the game new. If you want to save money buy the game used, but you give gamestop your money instead of it going to developers. You have to choose which is more important to you.

It is when you are broke.

The unnecessarily high game prices. 5 years ago it was 50 bucks per game now its 60. The amount of "hardcore gamer" employees who will make fun of you because you are not buying some mega tbs game. These reasons hurt developers more because of the high prices i wont buy a game unless i know i will like it, and i will buy somewhere else or not at all because of the employees.

Everywhere sells new games at around 60. With the SNES, Chrono Trigger went for $70 at Walmart. $60 isn't as bad as you're making it out to be.

Ive been to walmarts with 360 games for 50 bucks. I would go in but im to scared to be at walmart.

Why are you scared to be at Walmart?

 

[Cid Silverwing]

Legitimate whistleblowing does not make you a prick.

Deepthroat can explain this better than me. [http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6wnow_zero-originality-episode-1_videogames]

 

[Singularly Datarific]

It IS the middleman.
Say you buy a brand new game, and return it for the cash tradein.
The best you can possibly get is 20-30 dollars, out of the $60 purchase 5 min ago.
Now, say you want to get a used version of that game-
$55 dollars for used, without a case, booklet, etc.
Where does all that money go? Straight to the monopolistic gamestop.
On Amazon, you could find the same game new for $40 or $50, much more reasonable. Also, if you sell over amazon, YOU set the price, and amazon takes a small percentage of the profits if it sells.
EDIT:
just watch zero originality, he'll tell you why.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6wnow_zero-originality-episode-1_videogames