Tag: gamestop

GamerSushi Asks: Why Do You Preorder?

Preorder

One on the unquestioned traditions for gamers is preordering. No one asks if you preordered something but where you preordered it. What bonuses did you get, etc… Amazon, GameStop, Best Buy and even Steam will routinely shower gamers with gifts in order to secure those advance sales. Some of the bonuses, like early access to a shotgun, are dumb extras that aren’t worth the effort. Others, like a free copy of a related game, are enough to make you question your own intelligence if you DON’T preorder the game.

But after the disappointment of Assassin’s Creed 3 and the still-ongoing disaster that is SimCity, my question to you is this: why do you preorder? What drives you to spend money before you can use the item that you bought? Is it the aforementioned bonuses? Is it simply a habit now, ingrained in our buying rituals so much that we don’t even question why we are forking over money before we can confirm the game is actually worth it? Continue reading GamerSushi Asks: Why Do You Preorder?

GamerSushi Asks: Where Do You Buy Your Games?

Video game store

There are so many outlets to get games these days. Amazon, digital and all the various retail stores that are still left standing. Although the number of places to purchase games is shrinking, there are still plenty of options, all with different sales, bonuses, trade-in credits and promotions to lure your hard earned dollars to their specific business. So rather than wonder any longer, I thought I would ask you guys: where do you buy your games?

It’s a simple question, but an important one. And it can vary, depending on what game you are buying and what platform. If buying on the PC, we all will likely say Steam, but what console games and other times when physical media is the only way to go? Personally, I am all about Amazon. Their trade-in deals are better than GameStop’s and their prices are usually more inexpensive as well. Not to mention that supply is rarely an issue. If I go into GameStop or Best Buy, they are going to have Call of Duty, but what if I am looking for something a tad more obscure? Amazon fixes that issue for me. Continue reading GamerSushi Asks: Where Do You Buy Your Games?

Rumor: Anti-Used Game Component in Next XBox

Used GamesWell, this is quite a whale of a rumor. It seems that Kotaku recently heard some supposed details of the next generation XBox (we refuse to call it the 720) from an inside source. While these things tend to happen quite a bit and only have a small chance of actually being true, this rumor goes beyond traditional hardware specs.

On top of a rumored Blu-ray disc drive in the next XBox, DVR capabilities and the launch of Kinect 2, Microsoft is supposedly including some sort of anti-used game component into its next system. Yes, you read that correctly. According to this source, there will be some kind of system in place to keep the next XBox from playing used games.

If this is true, it would make a pretty big splash on nearly every side of the gaming industry. Continue reading Rumor: Anti-Used Game Component in Next XBox

GameStop Laments the Second-Hand Sales Business

gamestopIt’s no secret that GameStop does some serious business with its used-game sales racket; even in an industry that is seeing a steady decline in this rough economy, the sales giant is actually seeing a profit spike. Normally people don’t like to choke the golden goose, but recently a GameStop “spokesperson” named Niall Lawlor spoke very candidly about the company’s stance on its lucrative practice.

“We discovered the used business was a way of preserving our margins,” Lawlor said. “We don’t like being in the used business, it’s very difficult to manage. If we hadn’t got the used business, we wouldn’t be there.”

That’s sort of an odd position for a GameStop spokesperson to take, isn’t it? For a company that single-handedly started the trade-in scheme, bemoaning the method by which you pull in ridiculous amounts of cash is a little strange. GameStop quickly tried to stem the comments by maintaining that Lawlor was an impostor, but that would be kind of hard to pull off at an industry event. What do you guys think? Any opinion on this strange bit of news?

Source: 1up via GamesIndustry.biz and Kotaku

GameStop Actually Offering Good Trade-In Value

GameStopYes, you read that right. The video game superstore giant is currently offering a ridiculous trade-in special, and everyone that’s even remotely thinking of parting with some games should go take advantage of it. As Anthony pointed out the other day, this Spring is actually ripe with games for us to pick, and everyone should experience them together.

What’s the trade-in deal, you ask? Well, GameStop is actually offering 50% more than normal for trade-ins. If you are an Edge card member, you get an additional 10%. The best part of all this is that the deal is going to last for the next 3 weeks. You can do what Nick did today: trade in 2 games to purchase Heavy Rain, which he plans on beating this week, and then trading back to get Final Fantasy XIII. With the additional trade-in value, such schemes are more than possible.

So, who else is going to take advantage of this? My plan is to trade in Modern Warfare 2 to purchase Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

Source- GameStop

GameStop to Launch Redundant DLC Service Next Year

gamestop
Let it never be said that GameStop isn’t willing to try something new every now and then to stay fresh and “with it”. Because DLC is becoming hugely popular (Battlefield 1943 is an excellent example), GameStop is planning to launch an in-store DLC service where consumers will buy the content at their local shop and download it once they get home.

Getting DLC with your games from GameStop is not an altogether unfamiliar practice for those who have pre-ordered games and gotten bonuses, but this strikes me as a little strange. You can already buy Microsoft Space Dollars and PSN and Wii point cards in store, so those of us without credit cards can get our DLC at home anyways. So, unless GameStop discontinues the sale of those cards, I don’t see any real way that this will succeed.

Of course, this is all speculation right now, and it will probably end up as yet another selling point that the person behind the counter has to bombard you with before you purchase your game. What do you guys think? Is this destined for failure, or will it hook those gamers afraid of the natural progression of the industry?

Source: 1up

GameFly Thief Brought to Justice

gameflyI love me some video games, but probably not enough to go to prison. Apparently that’s not the case for some people. Take postal worker Reginald Johnson, a former truck unloader for a Philadelphia area post office. Recently, the office became the center of an investigation after many GameFly packages started to be reported as missing.

It seems that Mr. Johnson loved to lift these GameFly packages and then resell them to a local GameStop. So much, in fact, that he stole over 2,200 packages, amounting to about $86,000 of video game merchandise. How’s that for store credit?

Hilariously enough, the guy crashed his SUV when the cops showed up, and took off on foot, ditching a backpack and duffel bag that had about 160 games total between them. The dude has now been apprehended and faces 12-18 months in prison. It seems to me that if you were going to try and pull this scam, that surely someone would notice after game, I don’t know, 500. To steal a total of 2,200 just wreaks of idiocy. But I will allow it since it ends with my amusement.

Source- 1UP

5 Things Hurting the Video Game Industry

One look at my entertainment center or my favorites in Firefox reveals that I am in love with video games. It’s really not that hard to hide. On top of being in love with the games themselves, though, I am also madly in love with the culture of gaming and the history behind it.

Looking forward to the future, I continually fall in love with this lifestyle even more. However, there are a few trends that are starting to emerge that I am simply not a fan of. While these ultimately won’t break gaming, they are definitely detrimental to the overall community. Here are 5 things that are currently wrong with the video game industry.
Continue reading 5 Things Hurting the Video Game Industry

Little Big Planet Has Arrived!

Went to the mall today to see a movie. The Duchess, for those that care. Not bad, I liked it. As we passed by Gamestop, I felt a great disturbance in the Force. I went inside and asked the clerk when they would be getting Little Big Planet in. She replied that they had them come in today! That sound? Was my mind blowing!

So yes, been playing for an hour and it is FUN! Have not gotten to make anything yet, as you have to watch the tutorials and stuff, but just playing it is a lot of fun. Go out there and get this game!

A Pleasant Trip to GameStop

Wow. After all these years of loathing GameStop, I think they may have softened my heart of stone. Tonight, I finally decided to bite the bullet and trade in a big pile of games in order to save money on some of the upcoming Winter releases. I figured full well that I might get ripped off (last year I traded in 6 games for a total of like 35 bucks), but that I needed to save wherever I could, lest the wife take out her vengeance.

I was pleasantly surprised.

Continue reading A Pleasant Trip to GameStop

GameStop Woes

I don’t know about you guys, but almost every experience I’ve had with a GameStop store has been a negative one. At this point, between GameFly and MicroCenter across the street, I’ve pretty much been able to avoid stepping into a GameStop for months now, much to my delight.

Here’s a new video from a former GameStop employee, calling himself WhistleBlowerZero, done in the style of Zero Punctuation, the fast-talking game reviewer. It’s awesome.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byJSoWl476I[/youtube]