@peAr_nectAr: Um, yeah it did. Hence my comment, "makes you feel better about yourself." Reading comprehension FTW.

KagaSakai

wow, big surprise. it's a slow day at kotaku, so they post a random, uninteresting story about gamestop to drum up some hate.

you can hate the company all you want, but to insult the store level employee is offensive. i'm a manager for gamestop, and i'm damn good at my job and my customers (except for the elitist hardcore game nerd assholes) love me and my staff.

i guarantee half of you guys that hate gamestop so much would love to work there, and you're just bitter.

SoulPunch

@Modus_Operandi: "Pay as you play" could definitely be a viable option, but I'm just afraid by how much companies would charge you to play. Probably a lot. I think we're in a console era now, and so far, digital distribution, besides with smaller games, does not work on consoles, mostly because the amount of HD space is still pretty limited on the "average" console. Obviously, if you had a 120 gig Xbox Elite, then you wouldn't have an issue with downloading a bunch of games, but we still have problems with this data being lost, with the hardware being unreliable, and I don't know if that would ever change. Personally, I feel a lot safer with being able to hold a game I paid $60 in my hands, and not just trust that it was on my HD.

Still, that's all besides the point, because once digital distribution becomes the norm, GameSpot will still have a hand in it, and all the issues people have now with GameStop will remain.

@KagaSakai: And I'm sure your comment made you feel better about yourself. Double standards, ftw.

peAr_nectAr

I love these GameStop topics. Nothing like a bunch of self-righteous assholes jumping out of the woodwork to spend all their time whining about the company on Internet message boards. Makes you feel better about yourself.

KagaSakai

There's not many other choices for buying games in the city (not talking online orders). Gamestop kind of slurped up the alternatives.

And besides, they give swag for pre-ordering.

Still, that their return business actually hurts developers in the $$ region and that Gamestop is getting fat of its virtual monopoly, at least here on the west coast, hmm...

sir_carrot

I like gamestops for one reason only. pre order. I have decided at age 32 that my time is actually worth something so rather than stand in line for the latest release or 18 hours again like I did to get a wii I pre order from gamestop. I pre ordered the next WoW expansion and wii fit so no more standing in line.

tawni

Local businesses are just as hit or miss. The bf found a local store near where he lives (we live in different states currently) and they were completely awesome...low pressure, knew what they were talking about, well stocked. I just moved to where I am living now, and I was happy to discover a local game store around the corner. However, I was greeted by two of the most condescending, idiotic employees I've ever seen in any game store, big chain or otherwise. They didn't know a damn thing about games...the one guy even admitted he only used his 360 to watch movies. I was digging around the SNES games, asked almost half-jokingly if they had Earthbound, and the manager was like "oh yeah! Yeah! We get that all the time!" He had no clue what I was talking about...he had that vacant "pretend to know what you're saying" look on his face. Their selection was pretty poor, and they were very disdainful towards me. I suppose that could also be the Girl in a Game Store effect, but I obviously was a much more seasoned gamer than they were.

That being said, I don't like going to Gamestops anymore. I used to work in an EB, so I'm aware of what I'm likely to get. I tend now to just bargain hunt and buy where I find the lowest price. These days I'm basically just getting things as they come out, so my interest in used games is pretty low, esp since there is no significant markdown. I've also found that sometimes places like TRU are quite good for getting games for ridiculously low prices new. Good games like RPGS or M-rated titles drop like a rock since parents buy a lot less of them. Sometimes you can find some stuff that has long since disappeared in other stores too...sitting for 5 bucks in the clearance bin.

teraphony

All I have to say is, this is the kinda news that makes me angry when we get 50 bucks in gift cards for Barnes and Noble for our year end bonus

azthegame

@levelupent: I think the concern with some of these people is not being able to return the game if they dont like it. It might not be true for you but alot of small shops give people a hard time with returns. When I was younger, I bought a used copy of resident evil 2 for the playstation at a small shop. The service was horrible but I really wanted the game. When I opened the case the 2nd disc was missing (Claire Redfield's storyline). I went with the receipt 3 days after the purchase and got ignored. After that I stopped shopping at small shops because at least with these larger companies you can go over the manager or whoever is taking care of you. I know this isn't the case in a small shops but the fear of having this happen with a $60 game is what keeps ppl going to these big companies where they can complain until they get their way.

wrathofzeus

check out [stopgamestop.com] and find a local game retailer other than EB/GS.

Gadgetron

I buy all my games from an independant store so it doesn't really affect me, but grats to them :P

-AS

Archaic Stigma

I own a video game store. I used to work at Gamestop and thought that all of this hate would translate into a customer base. Guess what? Ultimately, people will complain about GS till they're blue in the face but very few will actually stop shopping there. There is extreme brand loyalty going on. We try to do a lot of things differently, but for the most part people stick with GS. We even have a few regulars for our retro games that buy all of their new releases at GS. Or, another good example, we had Smash Bros Brawl two days early and people still passed up a shot at buying it early because they had it pre-ordered at GS (keep in mind deposits are refundable). Explain that one.

levelupent

@HootieMac, The Somewhat Less Angry Twins Fan: I just noticed the abbreviated names in the headers. I am now "HootieMac the Somewhat Less", which makes me sound like a rather unimpressive monarch. Awesome.

HootieMac, The Somewhat Less Angry Twins Fan

I've never had much of a problem with Gamestop.

I understand that their buyback prices piss people off, and I agree that sometimes they seem pretty low, but people need to understand that it's a business- they'll buy anything, even if it's gonna sit on the shelf for 2 years. I know you'd love to get $40 for your 6 month old shooter that you're bored with, but if they have 6 other copies and it's going to just sit there, it's not worth it. If you can sell it for more on e-bay or craigslist or somewhere else, do it. Me, I'm kinda lazy, so the few games I do actually want to sell, I'll bring in, get whatever credit I can get, then move on. I subscribe to Game Informer so I have their card, and make good use of the extra 10% on trade ins and 10% off on used games. Their weekend specials e-mails have some good deals from time to time too.

I have 3 Game Stops within about 5 miles, and all of them seem to have good staff. (Example: I went to pick up a used copy of Crackdown last weekend, and the clerk saw me walking around w/ the box. He told me that their used copies weren't in very good shape and were missing manuals, so he called the store 1/4 mile away and asked what kind of condition theirs were in and had them set one aside for me.) I'd love to support a local game store, and would do so in a heartbeat if the opportunity existed, but the kiosk in the local mall just won't cut it.

I must have been born under a lucky sign, as I've never had bad luck with either Game Stop or Comcast, two of the most hated companies on the interwebs.

HootieMac, The Somewhat Less Angry Twins Fan

@Nitroid: yeah dude, didn't you know? I hate EA too and MS. But in all fairness some people will say that they hate a company and never say why or what they would prefer the company to do. Well...with Gamestop, I just wish the service was better for all the money they are supposed to be making. Like I (and many others) have mentioned, there are too many times that I've gone into EB or GS and the retailer behind the counter didn't know what they hell they were talking about.

I've been in the store to witness on employee tell a guy that there was no difference between the 40GB PS3 and the 60GB ps3 except for the HDD drive. I heard another employee tell a customer that CoD4 on 360 is a lot better on 360 because of the graphics. Then another employee tried to tell me that the 360 HD-DVD drive could run Blu-ray discs. If I could walk into a EB or a Gamestop and respect the knowledge of the average employee that worked there, then I wouldn't complain.

If EA could release quality games on a consistent basis then I wouldn't hate EA.

If MS made an operating system that wasn't beat to hell at launch and a console that didn't suffer from RRoD with a high failure rate then I wouldn't hate MS.

Striderhayasa - Phillyyakk on PSN and Live.

I liked EB back before they got bought by gamestop back then if you bought a crappy game you could exchange it.

clintonskneecap

@TKWarrior: Anyone else remember the 'Babbage's' and 'Software Etc.' days? Just seems that they actually cared about their customers and knew the product they were selling back then.

I loved Babbages. The one in Saratoga NY is still called Babbages. Once they dropped older gen sales I lost a lot of respect for them.

battra92

@battra92:

Agreed. Also, tangible software is nice.

Knuckler

Man, there's a lot of unbridled GS hate in these comments.

Nobody is being forced to work or shop at GameStop, you guys. But I'll bet that hating a big corporation feels cool, doesn't it?

Nitroid

@ghnvt: They will always be in business, even when digital distribution becomes more popular because there are always gonna be idiots who want the box.

I like my cases, manuals, etc. Doesn't make me an idiot.

battra92

@AntiZERO: Well, if you buy something that's new, do you want it to be something other people have opened and played before? It isn't "new" anymore when you return it, so why should you get a free rental? Of course the store isn't going to take it back.

June

@RET_Ghost: I have 4 Gamestops near me in 3 highly populated areas, so 99.5% of the time they have the game on release day.

The average amount of time I spend in a GS is about 3 minutes. I always call ahead to make sure they have the game.

Walk in - slide card - grab game - walk out.

They know when I go in there that I know exactly what I want and they don't try to sell me anything else. It must be the way I look & act.

Collapse The Control

@Phazonmasher: Well at the EB I like alittle better than the rest, the guys are informative, but they still look like they'd rather have another better job, all the stupid question they get I guess.

Plus I was being calm and kind to the guy who argued with me.

AntiZERO

This is all partially due to their shitty return policy, if the game still work you apparently can't bring it back for a refund. I was offered 17 bucks for Galaxy a month after release, and 21 bucks for Battle Revolution last week?! :S

@mva5580: Hey, this one guy at EB Games Canada (the exact location I hate, but I still found a Wavebird and rare game at) didnt know Indigo Prophecy came out on the PS2, and further more, he argue to point even with my damning evidence, a couple weeks later I asked for another game which he denied existed, I walked over to the shelf, pulled it out after a minute of looking and showed it to him.

AntiZERO

The three GameStops that are close to my proximity are all great places to shop because the employees are great people who know their stuff. I'm sorry if you all have had bad experiences (and I bet some are just making shit up to jump on the GameStop hate bandwagon)but all the employees that I know, I know them personally and they're good friends of mine.

Have you all ever thought that the reason that you never got along with the employees at GameStop is because of their affiliation with the store, you treat them like shit and they return the favor.

Be kind and courteous and see what kind of reaction you get.

Phazonmasher

I see alot of hate for GS versus local shops, but in my area the people at the local game store are usually kinda douchey themselves, ala the Comic Book Guy on The Simpsons. I have a GS near my house and the Manager always goes out of her way to be nice to people, they're not always the best informed people about games but thats what Kotaku and such are for, IMO.

DaiMacculate

@ghnvt: I'm an idiot who still likes the box thank you very much. I only download PC games. Console games I still want the case for. It's the collector's spirit and it's never going to die.

Phazonmasher

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh Funcoland/Babbage's. You guys are taking me back.

Anyway, whatever. They prey on young people/parents, I'd certainly wager that's where the great majority of their sales come from. People who aren't aware of alternatives. I'd shop there more if their employees weren't so infinitely stupid/annoying. I have about 20 Gamestops within 20 miles of me, I kid you not. And there is only one of those where I can actually tolerate the employees. The manager is knowledgeable and very nice, and the main employee that's usually there is a girl. She's nowhere near as annoying and nerdy as all the male employee's. What a shock!

mva5580

WHERE'S MAH MONEY BITCH?! WHERE'S MAH MONEY?!

ManjiKengo

@Collapse The Control: Sometimes they get it on time, most of the time the ones I go to get it a day after its released. I do agree with you on some things though. No one who visits this kinda site regularly should have any need to ask employees at gamestop any questions aside from "Do you have this is stock or can I use your bathroom?"

RET_Ghost

there used to be a shop in my area called the Gamerary. It was independently owned and was THE place to buy games in Philly in the late 90s. Gamestop and the current version of EB (which is really just Gamestop) pales in comparison. At the Gamerary, the employees knew about gaming. They were fans of it with skills and not some jerk off douche fanboy retail monkey like many of the employees I see in Philly's EB and Gamestop now. If a game sucked, they told you it sucked and made no excuses for it. Not like the EB and Gamestop clowns that I've watched time and again recommend garbage games to unsuspecting consumers because it happens to support their console of choice.

I really do wish for an alternative. A place where I can go to buy the latest games and not have some retailer asking me for my birth date, my address and my phone number.

Striderhayasa - Phillyyakk on PSN and Live.

It is so funny that a bunch of gamers on a gaming blog site has so much hate for a store that sells video games.

Yeah they may rip people off with buying/selling used games...

Sure they may have the dumbest employees who don't know shit...

But they don't overcharge the retail prices of games & they do get them on release date, that's all that matters to me in the end.

Collapse The Control

Whats really wonkey to me is that a company that posts that kinda number has the most devote and loyal employees, because they feel like "they work in the game industry". And they all paid minimum wage. Oh yeah, and they wanna collect interest on my 5 bucks.

Narynan

@MURDERFACE: Not many places have "local videogame stores." If they did, I'm sure man more people would shop there as well.

bangbangblah

Good to see I'm not the only one with fond memories of Funcoland or Babbage's/Software Etc. To me, Gamestop is nothing more then a bunch of video game pawn shops now.

Not to disrespect any of the employees that visit the site, but the staff at the locations I try not to visit (NJ-Phila area) are either brain-dead or just don't give a f-uck anymore. Try asking any of them a question about a game, or ask if something is in stock. You get the 'hate stare' for making them actually do some work. It's probably because Gamestop pays them like any other retail-fastfood chain, so now they are acting the part.

At least with the growing popularity of the industry, we can get just about anything they sell in other stores or on-line. I just miss the days when you actually knew the people in your local store and actually looked forward to going there. If places like Walgreens/CVS killed the old-school pharmacist-patient relationship, Gamestop is killing/ed the video game store experience we all went to them for in the first place.

TKWarrior

WTF? 7.1 BILLION?!!!!!! goddamn do people still shop there? i have not been in a gamestop/ebgames in ages i just go to my local videogame store cause it's less driving time and it's cheaper than EB and the clerks are not stupid brainless 15 year old idiots who don't know their ass from a hole in the ground. Seriously i went in there to buy some classic conrtolers and he keep on thinking i was talking about the original NES ones and not the ones for the Wii. The kids who work @ gamestop should be the poster children for Planned Parenthood.

MURDERFACE

maybe now they can pay their managers more than a taco bell employee earns on the late shift (personal experience), and that's only the beginning; they're shady practices are going to catch up to them sooner than later.

swamptrunk

@hunter8man:

Actually on this matter I can speak with more experience then with the FuncoLand thing as I used to work for Blockbuster when Gamerush first started. Of course this was awhile ago, but even when I left BB, Gamerush was seen as a colossal failure. They offered a lot more money for games because they were struggling to bring in more customers. I guess they still are. It is because they aren't doing as well that they offer more money. Gamestop doesn't have to because they are making tons of cash.

lonecow12

@hunter8man: Blockbuster as always given higher trade in values verses EB/Gamestop it is just that they only accept newer titles, not older ones. Not saying its a bad thing, just pointing it out to those who didn't know and might be trading something new-ish in.

StopTheOncoming

@hunter8man: It's because know it's not the best selling title ever on the Wii, and the odds of them reselling all the copies they got for trade-in isn't as great as more Wii-friendly titles. It's common business sense, and their used games department isn't as stupid as you think. They know when they can barely move new product of a certain title, when games get bad reviews, when it's being traded in frequently in your market.

There's a reason they made 7 billion dollars.

jynxycat

Ah yes, the days of Funcoland, Babbage's, and Software Etc where the good old days. Shame to see what it's turned into now. I might have more respect for the company if they treated their employees better. And the trade-in values are still ridiculous.

True story: I wanted to purchase No More Heroes while trading in Madden 08 for 360. The Gamestop near my house offered me $13 trade-in value, but the Blockbuster even closer to me gave me $23 trade-in value. If they are doing so well, then they can afford to give a little more back to the customers as well as paying their employees a little better.

hunter8man

@LittlestLamshi: Definately. I mean I can see and mostly agree with why people hate how the company works, but don't assume all workers at them are "money-clawing-pirates". All of the Gamestops around me have people who are generally interested in the field of videogames, enjoy talking about them, know what they are talking about, and so long as you treat them with a little respect, they will return it 10x. I just wish other people had as good experiences as I do at them. Believe me, I wouldn't still give all of my business to the one near me if it didn't leave a good impression all these years.

StopTheOncoming

Being an ex-GS ASM for about 6 years, I can say that the store changed drastically since the Funcoland buyout.

Starting pay for the basic employee used to be a dollar or two over minimum wage. Now it's minimum wage with the only exeption being if the employee meets criteria on a chart, most of which makes them overqualified and stupid if they take the job anyhow. All the other brackets have dropped as well. When I got promoted to ASM after a few years as a 3rd key, I was making the most out of any ASM in the district, since most of the others had been hired within the Gamestop monarchy.

Employee discount used to be 25%, it shrunk to 20% with no real excuse other than saving money. Then it shrunk to 15% with the excuse of outfitting the stores with laser printers instead of dotmatrix/ink jet.

Their used market is honestly one of the only facets of their business which I can somewhat stand by.

People think every game they trade in should be worth X+10$, when we sell it for X+$15. Well, you can only understand how long certain titles sit in a store, when you work there for a year or two. Some stores sit on multiple copies of crappy titles for months or maybe even a year+, before it sells. In that time, the price has dropped one or more times. So when they gave $Y for the title and sold it for $Y*2, maybe a months down the road when it sells, it only sold for Y+$5.

Other than that, I had a hard time accepting lots of their policies, but that's human nature.

jynxycat

Please, stop buying from these people. But I suppose cocaine is a helluva drug…

-EDGE-

@StopTheOncoming:
not bad dude, not bad... once you get a few friends in a game store... the gaming world opens up...

LittlestLamshi

I swear I've seen this before.

Clarke

@StopTheOncoming: Well then again one time an employee gave me his "Gamestop Card" or whatever, the one you get with the magazine. Since I couldn't get one at the time and you can't stack that and your employee discount. So since he only had it due to wanting the Magazines, he gave it to me. /shrug. Really nice guys at my local one.

StopTheOncoming

@LittlestLamshi: Not quite. Just mainly a "first-name basis" with most employees and the manager at my local store.

StopTheOncoming

"world's largest video game retailer" - And the world´s worse costumer service ever. Pity.

Well, I guess that with bad service you cut costs and raises profits. That´s reality for you...

Wyld

@StopTheOncoming:
like the level of friendship where they buy stuff using their employee discounts... then sell the game to you?

LittlestLamshi

Whoever invented pre-ordering is a brilliant person... they take however much you put down on a game and invest it immediatley. Therefore, collecting a massive profit... Oh and store credit was a great idea too.

LittlestLamshi

Oh dang, I'm late for the totally unexpected Gamestop hate comments!
Eh whatever, I can see why some people hate how the company operates, but employee wise, I have never had a problem with them. We hold actual conversations about videogames, they never "force" me to buy anything from them, etc. I usually will preorder a game or two to help an employee out since I am on that level of friendship with some of them. And yes, I intend to apply there next week.

StopTheOncoming

Microsoft won't make money from digital distribution, not on the 360 anyway. What percentage of 360 owners have a hard drive. And how many games can you store on 20gig? Looks like MS dig themselves into a whole when they made all those different versions. What are they going to do, send every 360 owners a hard drive...free, not likely.

nxp3

@peAr_nectAr: There's a business model where this works. With storage and memory getting larger and cheaper it isnt far off when games can be had online. True there will be your massive games that most be store brought but more and more I see DD becoming the norm. As for the inability to sell a used game online I see this being potentially countered by 2 things.
1. Pay as you play models. Sorta like an extended rental you would pay a fee to play a game until you were done with it or decided to stop.
2. An online auction where gamers could trade in games they have downloaded for credits towards other downloads.

Modus_Operandi

More oil for the machine I suppose.

InEffectMode

@TKWarrior: yeha I bought from Babbage's when I was in my early teens. If they had a new game in stock they always broke street date, nice. Every one there recognized me, it was kinda like Cheers.

SAKY

@TKWarrior:

Guess I was wrong. I just assumed because all the Funco Lands around where I grew up have changed into GameStops.

Yes I remember both Babbages's and Software Etc. I got my first Evangelion figure at Software Etc lol. That is really my only fond memory there.

lonecow12

@nxp3: The advantage is they are everywhere. When a mom thinks where should I buy a game for my son they would think GAMEstop.

NotAZombie

@ghnvt: Wow, "idiots" is a bit harsh, as I'm one of them. I love having the box and the manual to read through as I take a celebratory crap for my new purchase. My room is an impressive collection of Xbox, Xbox 360, Wii, DS, PC, and Dreamcast boxes. All the older stuff (Genesis, NES, N64) are in my closet, waiting for the day I have a basement.

Barob

you guys need to see idiocracy. Gamestop's employees are heading right down that evolutionary slide.

Parapraxis

@lonecow12: Ah yes. I remember hanging out in Funcoland and playing the original Resident Evil on a Saturn they had set up. Remember the days when Sega was still relevant and Microsoft was more concerned with their Windows OSs?

Funcoland, come back!

njhardcoreguy

Funcoland was a separate company that was bought out by Barnes & Noble. Had to make sure because I LOVED Funcoland, but HATE Gamestop.
[en.wikipedia.org]

Anyone else remember the 'Babbage's' and 'Software Etc.' days? Just seems that they actually cared about their customers and knew the product they were selling back then.

TKWarrior

I been to gamestop maybe once or twice...what is the advantage of going there again? I don't get it. Their games aren't cheap, they buy game back at low prices and sell them expensive. I can get games cheaper elsewhere. Fry's, Target, Walmart, Best Buy. Do people know they're getting ripped off?

nxp3

@Modus_Operandi: They're nerds. They'll bitch ineffectively and then lie down and take it. I think that's what you meant to say.

There will always be warm bodies to fill the positions, so no. No pay raises.

Setzer IIDX

@Modus_Operandi: "Seriously its all rosy now but just I want to see what happens to all those stores when digital dist. becomes the norm."

I'd say, if they're making so much money from people buying used copies, digital distribution will never be the norm. What I'm saying is, people won't pay $60 for a game they can't sell back. A lot of people are willing to pay full price knowing that they will get money (and/or store credit) for selling it back. There's no way (as of yet) to do that for digital distribution. And if a way to do that comes, I'm sure GameStop will have a hand in it.

GameStop is here to stay, unfortunately.

peAr_nectAr

@lonecow12: they may have sucked as Funcoland, but it was worlds better than what they've become...
perhaps my memory doesn't serve me that well, but i can't recall ever wondering if a Funcoland employee had any idea what he/she was talking about

Unfortunately, i can't say the same for any GameStop i've ever wandered into

mAaron

@Vargas:

lol yeah, I was trying to imply that I still hate them. Mostly because of customer service.

And it also spawned "Handsome" Tom from screwattack.crap

lonecow12

@Vargas: Absolutely agreed with you, how come a pre-order from 2006 didn't have any problems with the 2 first games charge on the same credit card and for the third and last game to finish the order I have it delayed since this guys refused to use my credit card number again!!??

Gamestop = EA on Video Game selling business.

Dumad

They will always be in business, even when digital distribution becomes more popular because there are always gonna be idiots who want the box.

ghnvt

$6 billion of that were from resold copies of Madden and Assassins Creed.
Seriously its all rosy now but just I want to see what happens to all those stores when digital dist. becomes the norm.
And Gamestop, how do you think your employees feel seeing all these earning figures and still earning barely more than a guy working McD's? Cut them a slice. Theyre nerds. They will rebel.

Modus_Operandi

How about that?? I still hate them to this day.
They're credit card website policy is an absolute piece of crap. And they have no international policies whatsoever. They still have a lot of growing up to do.

Vargas

I remember when they used to be called FuncoLand... How they have grown...

And I even hated them way back when....

lonecow12

Reserve my ass for $5

The-Joker

@lonecow12: Actually Funcoland was created buy a guy from Minnesota and it was quite possibly the worst game store ever... ever... ever. Babbages bought funcoland around the time they started selling used games.

God funcoland sucked!

warf0x0r

@SoulPunch: Kudos to you, man. I get a wee bit cheesed when random people start calling people who made a small mistake "idiots, retards, mistakes of life, etc." NEWS FLASH: people aren't perfect. So, I give you a firm high five for your customer service and your exceptions for the "elitist hardcore game nerd assholes" who don't deserve it. Also, your last sentence: FREAKING FUNNY. (cause I can say that that is true on SO MANY LEVELS.) :P

HeartlessOmega

Wow, it surprises me that so many people have had such a crappy experience shopping at a GameStop/EB Games. but, I think the thing people most people don't understand is that you have to look at it from the employee's point of view as well. You gotta wear the other person's shoes before you can talk shit. I'll cook up a couple of examples that MIGHT shed some positive light on this super-negative GameStop-bashing party.

1. Some people state that the employees are complete idiots. Now, think of it like this: would it be fair to say that a employee is an idiot for not knowing information on EVERY SINGLE GAME that will be released or let alone for different platforms? That's like if I went to a Home Depot and asked any random employee if they can tell me all the different things I can use to build a house. They would either 1.) Send me to different people who have knowledge on said problem or 2.) if lucky, they can tell me all I wanna know. So, if an employee just CANNOT tell you what you wanna know, their is bound to be another employee who will be able to help you. If all else fails, use the internet. Simple, right? If not.....I got nothin'.

2. The whole "how come I get such shitty values for trade ins blah blah blah" deal. People, it's called BUSINESS and ECONOMY. You just cannot be in a state of mind that if I bought something in 2001 that was $50 I'mma try selling it in 2008 for $45. It's JUST NOT GONNA HAPPEN. The truth is, if you buy something that isn't that popular and will just sit in the shelves for months on in, it ain't gonna be worth much. Like, say you bought a game that's big in 2001-2003 like Marvel VS Capcom 2 for PS2. Believe it or not, the game is hard to find in retail stores for used or new for less than $80. but, if you trade it in, you still get like $25 bucks (last time I checked, which was a while now.) So, if you don't wanna trade your vintage games in at GameStop, why bitch, moan, fuss and complain? There are other ways to get rid of your old stuff for a quick buck. So, please, before you go saying, "GameStop sucks hard lolz," you gotta remember that there is "more than one way to skin a cat"....so to speak.

3. -Totally Unrelated to my Thesis- the whole "GameStop is evil and a tyrannical company blah blah blah". guys (and girls), I have to say this now: if you think GameStop is composed of a bunch or evil business men in suits, you are DEAD WRONG. it works and operates just like any normal company whose bases is to sell video games. Simple. It's like trying to say that McDonalds is an evil company cause it sells Big Macs. Hey, it sells because people buy it. Same deal with GameStop; if you don't like how MickeyDs serves you, go to Carls' Jr (or Hardees) instead. Same ideas, but different names. so, yeah, if you don't like how the company operates, move on to the next one. but don't fuel a nation on anger video game nerds (I'm not excluded, so don't flame me.) by spewing hateful things about a company just cause your weren't treated "nice". it's like you're trying to FIND an excuse to hate a company.

With that said, try to think about your hatred towards a company that has its customers in their best interest...most of the time. Other times they just want your five bucks. :D

HeartlessOmega

Digital Distribution will have absolutely zero effect on Gamestop as a retail chain. You can argue until you are blue in the face but it will not change the fact that GS is riding the crest of the casual gamer's wave. Yes, the people who need a GBA or DS game for little johnny's car ride, or Wii AMF Bowling for your elderly uncle jimmy, or Halo 3 for your teenage son's friends Birthday (or whatever), are now Gamestop's main target audience. PC gaming is such a small (probably insignificant) portion of their profit, that if PC gaming vanished the bottom line would not change. Lets also consider the fact the DD just simply is not feasible with current console technology, and as people above mentioned, consumers WILL ALWAYS need hardware, accessories, and hard copies of games (yes, people really do like to have osmething tangible after spending lots of money). Digital Distribution means nothing to Gamestop (well they actually offfer Direct Downloads off their site btw).

As far as shopping there, you dont have to like it, but they reallyt do offer good deals if you are patient enough to wait for them (or actually sign up for their internet coupons and Game Informer mags [which is actuallyt a damn fine mag]). Most of their promotions stack and you can often make out like a bandit if you are smart about it.

VulgarII

Ha! Gamestop giving raises is a load of bs....digital downloads....gs will eventually start that up and also even maybe a gamefly alternative. As for the idiots workin in a gamestop. Ha there are a lot of ppl out there that dont play games and work there. I find that hilarious and redundant. The best way for a game to sell is for a gamer to sell it. At gs for a year and a half and still waitin on a raise. I know of atleast 2 stores that actually know what they are talkin bout with games. My store is one of them cuz all of us are gamers except our boss (redundant). All in all gamestop does suck but as for makin money as a company they destroy any store for some odd reason. Also i hate rude ppl at gs also. from an active gs employee

Jnkzm4

In Canada, Gamestop is still known as EBGames... and I believe there are still a few EB's in the states as well. Does anyone know if they plan to take over the EBGames name and convert them to Gamestop's in the future?

Personally, I've never found EB to be a great place to buy games. The stores are typically small, packed, and convoluted. Instead, I hit Best Buy. That's saying something.

Gonzopia

so many people hate & boycott this business - yet they continue to make a killing. i don't get it.

ultraViolence