Gamestop and EB Merge Finalized

[NoName]

We've had news posts about this before, but now the merger has been finalized. Next Generation has a good article (http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1277&Itemid=2) with some of the details of this.

GameStop announced its intention to buy EB, back in April, at a valuation of $1.4 billion in cash and stock. The company now has control of a quarter of all game sales in the U.S, as well as significant and growing interests abroad. It's the biggest specialist game retailer in the world.

Likewise, GameStop's moves into the high-margin used game business is not going to go away, no matter how much publishers squawk. The market is worth $800 million a year in the United States, much of which is going to GameStop; none of which is going to the publishers.
A quarter of all the US game sales? Who needs competition...

[fitbabits]

Dammit, you beat me to it!!!

[Doctor Setebos]

Likewise, GameStop's moves into the high-margin used game business is not going to go away, no matter how much publishers squawk. The market is worth $800 million a year in the United States, much of which is going to GameStop; none of which is going to the publishers.As well it shouldn't. They got their money once. They don't need to get it again.

[NoName]

Dammit, you beat me to it!!!
Har har, when I get bored at work there's a lot of game site browsing looking for decent articles. :D

Edit: Apparently I'm not as fast as I thought o.0

[Abednigo]

"Welcome to the suck."

[bapenguin]

Dammit, you beat me to it!!!

Actually, you WERE first...but since you had another article submitted I thought it was fair to post NoName's as well. :)

See...we promote sharing here at EA :D

Oh...and lack of competition sucks.

[fitbabits]

Actually, you WERE first...but since you had another article submitted I thought it was fair to post NoName's as well. :)

See...we promote sharing here at EA :D

Oh...and lack of competition sucks.
That's cool! Still won't stop me spanking NoName the next time I see him, though! We are neighbors after all.

[Inverarity]

I have to wonder how long the high-margin used game business will maintain its high margins. Money like that attracts competition, and we've already seen reports that Best Buy is getting into the used game fray. Someone's bound to decide that they can tolerate a bit less margin in order to hold on to business (or take it from the other guy) and at that point we're off to the races.

It'll be interesting to see whether trade-in values go up or used game prices come down. A little bit of both, I suspect, but I'm betting that the gain will mostly be in trade-in credit - and I bet trade-ins for cash disappear completely.

[Sloth]

I typically buy from Newegg or Gogamer. Newegg because its tax free and shipping is usually very cheap. And gogamer because they usually have some good sales.

[emperordahc]

I don't buy from EB Games at all. Won't give you anything on tradein, and half their "new" stuff is actually used.One nice thing about Gamestop.com is that they don't charge tax for me in TN.

I buy most my stuff, now, from Outpost.com. No tax, no shipping.

[abso]

As well it shouldn't. They got their money once. They don't need to get it again.

The complaint is more about NEW buyers that have NEVER purchased the title. Rather than buying a new copy of the game for full price, money which would go to the publisher, they get it for a used price. It's the potential for getting the new customer's dollar that is being lost.

There is a very simple way to solve this problem though. Reduce the cost of games at an accelerated pace to compete with used game prices. If the difference between new and used is only 5 bucks, most people will buy new. But when the difference is 10 or more, they will go used. At 50 bucks a pop though, buying a lot of games is hard. Lower the cost and more people will buy. And with the large amount of shit released over the last couple years, a lower price point would make that shit look better.

[The Radical Cleric]

I second that, Outpost.com and Fry's absolutely rock for games...

[NoName]

The complaint is more about NEW buyers that have NEVER purchased the title.
Compared to what, old buyers that felt like having a second or third copy of the game? True, there's various reasons why that might actually happen, but for the most part anyone buying a used game is buying it for the first time.

So, the complaint is about used game sales, even if indirectly.

[Sinistar]

Speaking of buying trade-ins. I happened to be visiting my local EB on Friday and there were two women (a mother & grandmother) buying used games for every system (N64, PS, PS2, Xbox & GC). They must have had close to 35 games in total and they spent only $52.

The Grandmother was telling the clerk how these games should keep her 22 grandchildren happy for the next month or so.

So to go with the Xbox 360 pre-order posting, if you could manage to wait a little bit (3-4 years) you could buy all of the best games and the system for a song ;) Patience is something that a gamer never learns.

[Bone]

I agree, when I worked at Gamestop the people I saw buying the most volume of used games were buying them for older systems... PS1, N64, etc. and they were usually lower income and wouldn't have bought new games at 50 bucks, ever.

I myself will buy one or two used games when I pick up a new game- normally I would have just bought the one new game.

[A-Team]

Oh Wal-Mart, how I love thee so much. You are indeed the white cumulous cloud that fills up my big blue sky.

[Ludoc]

The very fact that old games can be traded in helps sell new games. If EB didn't sell used games and thus accept trade ins, I wouldn't be able to afford as many new games as I currently purchase.

[fitbabits]

As well it shouldn't. They got their money once. They don't need to get it again.
And so say all of us.

[Magnanimous Gnome]

I think this is great! Two shitty stores merged into one. The best thing they can do for me is go under one name - that way I only have one store name to steer clear of.

"Would you like to buy teh game insurance??"

"Hell NO, for the last time!"

[Stormwatcher]

I've visited both chains when I was in NY, and they're pretty similar... I kinda liked the Gamestop close to my sister's home better than the EB. but they're really the same thing. They're not great, but I wish we had stores like that here. Console games are too expensive here.

[Acidpoptart]

I have really come to dislike Gamestop and EBGames over the past year or two...

If anyone is looking for a better place to trade games in, my local Blockbuster has been VERY GOOD to me. They have always given me much more money than EB or GS, plus they have specials for trade ins on a regular basis. Recently, the had one where if you traded in any two games, you could preorder any game for $29.99. So not only did I get $32 for the 3 games I traded in, the game I wanted was reduced to $30, and so I didnt have to pay any extra.
Look into it.

[fitbabits]

I have really come to dislike Gamestop and EBGames over the past year or two...

If anyone is looking for a better place to trade games in, my local Blockbuster has been VERY GOOD to me. They have always given me much more money than EB or GS, plus they have specials for trade ins on a regular basis. Recently, the had one where if you traded in any two games, you could preorder any game for $29.99. So not only did I get $32 for the 3 games I traded in, the game I wanted was reduced to $30, and so I didnt have to pay any extra.
Look into it.
Good call. Also, Best Buy has started experimenting with used games. They're likely to offer some pretty decent deals from the get-go, if only to attract the punters.

[abso]

I still say it's a problem mostly due to an abundance of high-budget shit packaged to look like food. Besides which, game sales have been increasing steadilly, so it's hard to have much sympathy for publishers. It's the developers that I feel bad for (at least most of the time).

[Kagger]

I got Spider man 2, Zone of the Enders 2, and Jak II for 20 dollars, juts discs though.

Cheaper then renting them..and I got to keep them


and I've hit up Ebay for alot of GBA games I own

15 dollars for FF:TA 20 for Dawn of Souls complete, and 30 for Metroid Fusion and Zero Mission, all with box, manual, and most inserts (I didn't get the registration card on one game

[Magnanimous Gnome]

I used to really like the Gamestop here. The guys who work there were friendly, helpful, and they had a huge PCGames selection.

Then one day last year I went and some big changes had occured:

The PC games had gone from having nearly one whole wall of the store to having one small shelf (both sides) on the store floor, barely reaching up to my waist - I didn't even see them at first.

All of the games were now gutted and empty boxes were placed on the shelf.

I went back once after that because I was desperate to find a title (can't recall which), and things were just like they were the time before.

I haven't been back since.

[GrinR]

I know nothing about Gamestop. I know that EBX/EBgames was the best video game store chain ever until about 3-4 years ago, when they got into heavy sales-orientation and used games, at which point they became the absolute worst store.

CompUSA has cheaper games... what. the. fuck.

So does this mean the new gamestop/ebgames whatever is going to be BETTER or WORSE?

[Heretic Machine]

You pretty much have three choices... Huge retail monster, like Wal-mart or Best Buy... Smaller retail chain, like EBgames or Gamestop... Or online stores like Gogamer.

I tend to side with EBgames or Gamestop, simply because Wal-mart is 3vil, and online stores have a delay in the time I can get my crap. I usually end up paying through the nose for overnight shipping...

[The Iron Weasel]

I dunno i've never had troubles with EB here in canada, the people there are obvious gamers, lots of them hardcore. Not just madden people. Seriously i love going into eb around here because they are never pushy and just kinda hang out and talk about games with you. Maybe my experiance is unique.

[abso]

It's cool until they start trying to sell you on all the other shit. Preorder this now and become a member of such and such. I realize it is there job and all, but save your breath.

I prefer gamestop over eb for the simple fact that they will actually sell copies of games on release day even if you didn't preorder it. Walked into EB to get star ocean 3 when it came out, they refused to sell it to me at first since I didn't preorder. Argued with the guy for 10 minutes and finally got a copy. Haven't bought something from them since. I prefered to drive 15 minutes to gamestop instead of 2 minutes to EB.

[Adewade]

I'm all in favour of people like Best Buy getting into the used game selling business...

Competition there should mean higher gains for people selling games to the companies...

[kizke]

Hooray for game developers and consumers getting fucked!

[Magnanimous Gnome]

You pretty much have three choices... Huge retail monster, like Wal-mart or Best Buy... Smaller retail chain, like EBgames or Gamestop... Or online stores like Gogamer.

I tend to side with EBgames or Gamestop, simply because Wal-mart is 3vil, and online stores have a delay in the time I can get my crap. I usually end up paying through the nose for overnight shipping...


I generally buy my games at Target, but I have a weird obsession with that store.

As for where to buy games, a great option here in Lincoln is Gamers. It's a small (two stores here) local chain based out of Omaha. Huge selection of new and used titles - they sell the used titles for a real savings, and they sell just about every system (US released) that you can imagine, and games for most of them. The staff is really friendly too. Great store, I really should start buying stuff there more often.

Obviously not an option for those living outside Lincoln/Omaha, but I'd imagine that since we have something like that here, there would be something comparable in the larger urban areas.