Job Cuts, Store Closures Hit Aussie Retailer GAME

14 years ago

June 7, 2010 at 1:00 pm

Specialist games retailer GAME has laid off up to twenty people, and lost several key executives, ahead of plans to close a number of its stores around Australia.

MCV reports that directors Rob Lukic and Tony Pagano have resigned in the wake of a poor year where GAME struggled to grow market share.

“The chain has reshuffled a number of key executive positions and has plans to close several of its outlets. MCV has been lead to believe that between 10-20 jobs have been lost in total.”

It’s not known which, or how many, retail stores will be closed. Anonymous sources within GAME have told Kotaku that the job cuts have so far only been felt at the retailer’s head office. Management has not yet informed staff of what cuts will be made at store level.

We’ll follow up with GAME and update you when we hear any more.

AUS: Redundancies at GAME [MCV]

Comments

131 responses to “Job Cuts, Store Closures Hit Aussie Retailer GAME”

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MrBS

June 7, 2010 at 1:05 pm

This is much the same as the big players of the second hand market closing down in the US. Gamestop/EB are the absolute best at robbing customers blind with thier trade deals/second hand market. With years of experience trying to go up against them particulary in Australia is crazy.

Reply
EzyLee

June 7, 2010 at 1:07 pm

This is interesting, I was in GAME in Tuggeranong, ACT a few weeks back and the staff there seemed to be gearing up for a ‘relocation’ or ‘takeover’.

So I would put money on this shop closing down. The whole shopping centre is a bit of a joke anyway. I doubt any shop would do really well in this particular shopping centre.

Reply
1. epilogue
  
  June 7, 2010 at 4:59 pm
  
  Tuggeranong Hyperdome is also my local shopping centre and it is very average. I had no idea that game there was struggling (But I wouldn’t be suprised).
  
  Ill ask my mate who works there if he knows anything.
  
  Reply
  1. Le_Gambit
    
    June 7, 2010 at 5:34 pm
    
    I wouldn’t expect Tugga’s to go. It is one of the strongest stores in the ACT. Gungahlin on the other hand…
    
    I wouldn’t expect too many store closures. The reason why there were so many terminations from head office was that they were aweful at what they did.
    
    Rob and Tony were two of the worst. They had no concept of a good game and as such bought huge amounts of chaff that we couldnt shift. Additionally the buying team (which I would expect to go entirly) managed to cause issues with oversupplying bad games whilst ordering none of the good one (eg. they didn’t buy any chrono trigger for the ds) They are also the ones who meant that we never recieved any good pre order bonus’or cusomer incentives.
    
    Reply
    1. rhurhu
      
      June 7, 2010 at 7:30 pm
      
      I have to agree with you. GAME has missed out on some premium deals that ended up going to EB because the upper management couldn’t get their act together.
      
      I’m wondering if any of the Melbourne stores will go? I’ve heard of a few that weren’t going too well, so they might be closed.
      
      But hopefully they’ll open one in Melbourne Central. They’d do well to have one there.
      
      To run a successful company, you need people who know what the people want….. hopefully, the people who are caretaking will be able to make some changes…. for the better.
      
      (Btw: I’m a current employee too, but that’s all I’ll say).
      
      Reply
      1. hows
        
        June 8, 2010 at 11:47 am
        
        I guess the boxhill GAME will close, the location is horrible (top floor in quiet shopping centre)
        and EB is locate right outside the train station exit.
        Beside, imo GAME is worse than EB since their staff hate you tradein games or price match.
        Once they don’t let me price match and told me take it or leave it lol
      2. Drubear
        
        June 8, 2010 at 12:48 pm
        
        Strange Le_Gambit, I though most large companies have a buying department, rather than leaving it up to the Managing Director to organise deals with suppliers.
    2. ragathor
      
      June 8, 2010 at 8:10 pm
      
      gunners would be a shock to close as its clearly a store set up for the future as its still a growing area
      
      Reply
2. Ryan
  
  June 7, 2010 at 10:32 pm
  
  I was just in there the other day to pick up Backbreaker and the guy was telling me there were some changes going on in Head Office, it seems odd that if he were mentioning that, that he wouldn’t mention if they were known to be closing. Unless the stores don’t actually know yet.
  
  Reply
Chuloopa

June 7, 2010 at 1:14 pm

To say this sucks is an understatement.. Game has really grown on me as i’ve been drifting further away from EB…

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1. Crazyguy
  
  June 7, 2010 at 1:30 pm
  
  Agreed. If GAME goes under because of EB, then I’m only getting my games from JB Hi-Fi.
  
  The unfortunate thing with GAME is, that their line-up isn’t as wide as EB, which is a pain.
  
  This is making me regret ever going to EB to get my games in the first place… 🙁
  
  Reply
  1. shimano
    
    June 7, 2010 at 3:00 pm
    
    Game have never been competitive in this Australian market. I don’t think I have ever bought anything from Game despite continually walking in to their stores in the hope that they might have something that would make me think twice about a purchase.
    
    Reply
    1. Chris Bobridge
      
      June 7, 2010 at 3:30 pm
      
      Out of curiosity, what have you been looking for? I’ve bought a few games (especially when my local store was a GAME) and accessories, and have started doing some preorders there as well.
      
      Reply
    2. matt
      
      June 7, 2010 at 5:10 pm
      
      The one thing I bought from GAME was a plush murloc when Wrath of the Lich King came out, I didn’t get Wrath from there as I got it cheaper elsewhere.
      
      Reply
    3. 706
      
      June 7, 2010 at 10:47 pm
      
      I have to agree. I really wanted to buy stuff there, as I do personally hate EB; but they just aren’t competitive. Every now and then I’d see a preowned game cheaper there than at EB but most of the time they were worse. These days I get my new games from JB as they have the best prices, or price match it at EB so I can take it back if need be.
      
      Reply
Simeon

June 7, 2010 at 1:17 pm

Our local game is directly opposite GameTraders in the mall, and 30m from EB.

I’m gonna guess it might be one to go. Shame, they do the best trade-ins.

Reply
1. Jarryd Stanley
  
  June 7, 2010 at 1:50 pm
  
  Robina town eh? if so i hope they don’t go D:
  
  Reply
  1. dzc12
    
    June 8, 2010 at 9:31 am
    
    I thought GameTraders @ Robina was gone!?!? If it’s still there that shop is worth the drive down from Brissy.
    
    Reply
gregorian

June 7, 2010 at 1:17 pm

It’s a tough gig trying to make money by setting up a store chain that’s pretty much the same as EB, selling the same stuff for the same price, and your stores are in the same shopping centres as EB.

Reply
1. Aaron Meacham
  
  June 7, 2010 at 1:26 pm
  
  pretty much. It was never going to be easy beating EB at their own game, especially considering EB has been around for years and is the first place the average consumer would think of when they want games.
  
  Reply
2. Asuron
  
  June 7, 2010 at 1:40 pm
  
  @gregorian: Hence why I buy most of my games from JB-HiFi
  
  70 percent of the time they’ll have the game I want and for a cheaper price at that
  The Game store and EB stores I have to visit are exepnsive and only have the most popular or newest titles and the the old titles they do have like COD4 are 90 dollars pre-owned
  
  Reply
3. Dominic Davies
  
  June 7, 2010 at 1:44 pm
  
  This is especially true when Game dont have a huge corporation backing them up from the States. EB can afford to run low/no profit stores while poor GAME simply cant.
  
  Reply
  1. noclue
    
    June 7, 2010 at 2:45 pm
    
    You do know GAME are a massive European company right? From memory they had almost 1B pound turnover last year with over 1100 stores……no company can sustain low/no profit stores for to long, eventually the question is asked why it is still trading.
    
    Reply
    1. Dominic Davies
      
      June 7, 2010 at 3:37 pm
      
      In that case I would suggest that Gamestop would have to be much larger than whatever European company GAME originates from.
      
      Reply
    2. Tom
      
      June 8, 2010 at 8:30 pm
      
      Besides, it’s actually illegal to operate at a loss to put a competitor out of business; anti-competitive y’know.
      
      Reply
Andrew Leong

June 7, 2010 at 1:23 pm

its a shame; the people in game know their stuff, and seem to be much happier to help you out than at EB. But that’s just my experience there, i recognize it wont be everyones

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Corey Lee

June 7, 2010 at 1:36 pm

The GAME store I sometimes visit in Hornsby is a ghost town.

I had a feeling this would happen sooner or later. Still, I only walk into video game stores nowadays just to look at physical copies of the game itself.

The convenience of importing is growing too strong to resist.

Reply
1. oggob
  
  June 7, 2010 at 2:31 pm
  
  Hey… that’s my local!
  
  It really is a shame, I was always a EB customer myself as I became friends with some of the staff there, but they move on and the new lot aren’t as approachable.
  
  So I moved onto GAME, who really have one of the worst positions within the centre (EB are right in front of the food court). The guys and girls there are great and the bonus of the reward scheme is awesome also.
  
  The weird thing is they will pricematch any store within the centre, but they wouldn’t even price match their own website. So I always felt they were trying to push consumers to the website rather than the actual stores. So they may have resulted in the management getting fired because it wasn’t working?
  
  They’ve probably taken about $1500 (minimum) of my money already this year, and there will be plenty more this year. Having just quit my job for something else in another suburb, hopefully they will stay open so I can come back to them in the future, otherwise will have to find another one.
  
  Reply
  1. Corey Lee
    
    June 7, 2010 at 3:07 pm
    
    You’re right about the new staff at EB. They’re unapproachable and I usually got average-shithouse service there. The staff at GAME though do seem pretty nice (compared to some of the annoying, always-there dicks at my local GAME in Hurstville) but then again, I don’t talk to them in the first place. And you’re also right about their GAME store’s position. It is terrible. Right next to Myer and the Games Workshop…
    
    Which reminds me, I have a GAME $30 voucher to use as well!
    
    Reply
2. Bish
  
  June 7, 2010 at 3:36 pm
  
  Weekends at Hornsby GAME is alright, isn’t it?
  Everytime I pass by on weekends, there’s seems to be a bit of flow between Games Workshop and GAME. Although EB has way better placement, in front of the food courts and escalators.
  The one at Macquarie Centre is also pretty awkwardly placed. I think they’d be pretty happy if there were more than 2 people in the store at the one time.
  
  Reply
  1. Corey Lee
    
    June 7, 2010 at 4:22 pm
    
    They might be in there during weekends but I don’t see too many people buying anything though…
    
    And the Macquarie centre is a maze. EB, GAME and JB Hifi are all positioned in stupid areas. Especially JB Hifi.
    
    Reply
Daniel Churcher

June 7, 2010 at 1:38 pm

I’m not surprised when they try and sell a 360 game for $109.95, when up the escalators JB sells the exact same game for $79.

Hell, even Dead Rising was $69 second hand in there a few months back.

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Steve M

June 7, 2010 at 1:46 pm

I can’t say I’m surprised, given the sorts of prices I saw from them. As others have said, in most cases where there’s a GAME there’ll be an EB Games or a JB Hifi, and even EB’s prices usually beat out GAME.

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plmko

June 7, 2010 at 1:52 pm

The management at GAME are absolutely bafoons, they have such great deals but their stalls are in very secluded areas. Would it kill to open one in the CBD? I mean EB games opened 4, so whats so hard about it.

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1. Brewer74
  
  June 7, 2010 at 2:20 pm
  
  Dude, there are store in the QVB, Broadway and Estgardens and Bondi. There are, or were, a few in the city.
  
  Reply
Bjergi

June 7, 2010 at 1:54 pm

As a GAME employee, this news disturbs me greatly, as I work at a small shop with only three employees. Although we do reasonably decently for our size, our turnover is still quite low… Bad news indeed.

Reply
1. Bjergi
  
  June 7, 2010 at 2:20 pm
  
  And as for the competition we face, it’s extremely tough. Next to JB, and in a centre that also has an EB, Big W, Kmart and Target.
  
  It’s sad, because so many people just go to JB, who really aren’t that cheap anymore. GAME price matches everyone, and most of the time will be able to beat their prices by at the very least a dollar. And our trade values are on average double EB’s, according to our customers.
  
  Reply
  1. Trjn
    
    June 7, 2010 at 2:42 pm
    
    The problem with price matching is that for a lot of people, they find out the prices by going into the store. So why bother going to another store to get the same product at the same price (or $1 less)?
    
    JB might not be as great as they were for bargain hunting, but between JB, Big W and KMart, I’m struggling to think of the last time that I’ve had to pay close to what stores like EB and GAME typically ask.
    
    Reply
    1. Bjergi
      
      June 7, 2010 at 3:22 pm
      
      It’s actually quite rare for GAME to be drastically higher in price these days. We have “competitive pricing” on most new releases, matching prices similar to JB, or sometimes have deals, where, although you’re paying full price for an item, you get something else with it, e.g. red dead, where you paid 109.95, but got 1500 free MS points, or where we gave away a free (if somewhat ordinary) game with God of War III.
      
      Although I agree that when GAME first hit the scene it was dramatically more expensive, it really has changed to become more competitive recently, and I’m not just saying that as an employee. With the reward card vouchers it’s more competitive again.
      
      That said, I know it’s extremely hard to change people’s perception of a shop price-wise, which is sad, because the people that do come to us swear by us.
      
      Reply
  2. Aaron Meacham
    
    June 7, 2010 at 4:11 pm
    
    Yeah JB HiFi has been jacking their prices up bigtime lately. They are definately not the cheapest option anymore. I’ve heard it’s because they are moving away from focusing on DVDs and games and concentrating on the TV market.
    
    Reply
  3. Mark
    
    June 7, 2010 at 11:44 pm
    
    Price matching against money-hungry rip-off artists like JB and EB is easy enough; if Game started to actually charge customers even remotely close to what the game is actually worth I’d start buying from there. When it costs me $20 less (sometimes even better) to order a game from the US (including shipping!) than it does to buy it in Game, it’s getting kind of ridiculous. I refuse to buy from Australian retailers; they are the reason that idiot game companies think it’s cool to jack up their Aussie prices on Steam. Screw the lot of them.
    
    Reply
2. Brewer74
  
  June 7, 2010 at 2:28 pm
  
  What part of sysney are you in?
  
  Reply
Mic

June 7, 2010 at 1:56 pm

Man, I love GAME, they’ve been a lot better than EB and even better than most GameTraders :c

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Dunnowhathuh

June 7, 2010 at 2:02 pm

My local GAME I would imagine is having a tough time. It’s in the same complex as EB and rarely ever has any people in it. Their stock doesn’t match up to the EB downstairs (the almost non existent PC section rubs me the wrong way). It also doesn’t help them that Dick Smith, Big W, Kmart, Target and Myer are also all in the same shopping centre.

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1. JJ
  
  June 7, 2010 at 2:20 pm
  
  Bankstown NSW?
  
  Reply
Brendan

June 7, 2010 at 2:53 pm

There is hardly anything in my local GAME, I’ve been in there a total of 2 times since it opened. I’ve never been much for EB either, especially their trade in deals. I can see right through those. I personally think JB HIFI has the best trade in deals.
But neither EB or GAME could compare to a privately owned shop I use to go to, it had the best deals, friendliest staff and the range of second hand games was enormous ($5 PS1 games you couldn’t go wrong).
Sadly this had to close down though because of EB and GAME.

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due

June 7, 2010 at 2:53 pm

im in my local game store alot there staff is great very good to talk to about games and they will get out on the floor and chat to customers unlike the staff at eb games who sit behind the counter and do nothing and dont help at all! this is a damm shame!

Reply
1. Casey2
  
  June 7, 2010 at 3:21 pm
  
  I go to the Belco, Woden and Civic stores and have found all of them far superior to both JB and EB. The guys there know what they are talking about and are usually good for a chat.
  The EB sales force I’ve seen at Darrel Lee and Gloria Jeans, although friendly, they are retailers, not gamers.
  It will be sad if any of those go. JB don’t offer the 7-day return if you don’t like the game.
  It’s difficult for any Aussie store to compete with $25 new releases from India though.
  
  Reply
David Fowles

June 7, 2010 at 2:58 pm

Been waiting on this news all year. I’m baffled as to why Game tried to enter an already saturated and naturally slow retail market like Australia with no significant point of difference from EB.

Most recently they opened a new store in an already dud shopping centre with an EB, JB, Big W and a perpetual-clearance-bargains Harvey Norman across the street. I can’t even understand how the local market share could support THOSE stores let alone another one, the place has tumbleweeds in it on late-night-shopping nights.

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1. Brewer74
  
  June 7, 2010 at 3:16 pm
  
  Likeany people have said already in this discussion, the GAME staff get out and actually serve their customers, and they also know their stuff, from my experience with them. EB does not do either of these points, and so thre is the point of difference, customer service. Just a pity that the average gamer dosent give a flying F*ck about what service they get, they just want the cheapest price, hence stores like JB. Go and ask them what the difference between a 360 and PS3 is, and then you realise why they are so cheap. A Shame
  
  Reply
  1. Aaron Meacham
    
    June 7, 2010 at 4:14 pm
    
    The only people that shop at Game are nerds with a grudge against EB. The average consumer would not pick a retailer like Game over EB – there is little to no difference between the two to the naked eye.
    
    Reply
    1. due
      
      June 7, 2010 at 4:59 pm
      
      thats a very nerdy thing to say sounds like someones a eb fanboy.
      
      Reply
    2. Thermal Ions
      
      June 7, 2010 at 7:21 pm
      
      So if “there’s little to no difference”, then wouldn’t it make people just as likely to go to GAME as EB, thus totally refuting your very own “nerds with a grudge” reasoning.
      
      Reply
      1. Aaron Meacham
        
        June 7, 2010 at 11:08 pm
        
        Err… it didn’t refute my reasoning at all. You are missing my point which is that the only people that shop at Game are those that have a grudge against EB because of the negative press they garner within the video game “inner circle”. To the average consumer, they are both similar game retailers, and they will always pick the store they are familiar with, the one that has been around in Australia for years and has the brand recognition which is EB.
lcb

June 7, 2010 at 2:58 pm

Serves them right! There is no excuse for them to demand 120 bucks for a new ps3 release when Big-W or Jbhifi sell it for 95.

Seriously, specialty game stores are a bloody ripoff.

Reply
1. Bjergi
  
  June 7, 2010 at 4:50 pm
  
  What new releases have you been buying at $95? If you shop about you can basically get anything for ~$85. And GAME price match. And often have awesome release deals, too.
  
  Serves a company right for charging recommended retail when all the other HUGE stores charge on cost, but make their money in other areas? I think that’s a little rich.
  
  Have fun with your customer service and support. Oh wait.
  
  Reply
Ren Finlayson

June 7, 2010 at 3:04 pm

Too expensive. Gamers are not that stupid that they wont go to Big W or JB or even get EB Games to price match.

I never buy from game as their selection is below par and their prices are too high.

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1. Andrew Leong
  
  June 7, 2010 at 3:47 pm
  
  I normally just make the effort to get the prices from Kmart, Big W, Ebgames etc etc and get game to price match/beat it. They’ve never had a qualm about it, and i reckon they deserve the sales anyway.
  
  Reply
  1. Ren Finlayson
    
    June 7, 2010 at 4:31 pm
    
    I didnt know they price matched.
    
    Reply
    1. Jay
      
      June 7, 2010 at 8:08 pm
      
      They actually beat the price – even if it is by $1.
      
      But yeah – they’ve always price matched as far as i’ve been aware. The only time I will shop at EB is when they have a Collector’s Edition that is exclusive to them. And the chances of them having the exclusive rights to game I want so bad that I would get the Collector’s Edition isn’t that high… Mass Effect 2 I got from there, but that wasn’t exclusive, they just had copies left.
      
      Other than that – its price matching to Game or JB or I just get from Big W and Kmart cause of the convenience of their stores being closer as they’re not always at large shopping malls.
      
      I do prefer GAME to EB though – although I agree that EB have a wider range, I have found GAME to have a stronger trade-in offering. It would be sad to see GAME turn into a Gametraders or demolish completely.
      
      Reply
Lineypi

June 7, 2010 at 3:07 pm

Our Game is right near a JBHiFi, GameTraders, EBGames, Kmart and Big W, and they came in last after all the other stores had established themselves, so I’m really not surprised that they’re struggling.

It’s a shame, though, because they have by far the best staff. GameTraders used to be great, but it’s since been overtaken by a bunch of staff who seem to know nothing :S EB is full of pompous 15yos and JB is really much more music-oriented.

I think they need to do more to stand out from the crowd of game stores. Either offer rare titles or do better bundles or something. Because unfortunately great service doesn’t bring people into the store 🙁

Reply
RufusLives

June 7, 2010 at 3:09 pm

Oh well, if one near me has a closing down sale I’ll certainly take advantage of it.

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Mercsal

June 7, 2010 at 3:10 pm

Oh man, I find this really sad. Call me biased as an ex employee but GAME had a really good policy of hiring people who both knew their stuff and wanted to give people great service.

They had trouble at times matching lowest prices, but always tried to get some awesome pre-order deals. Add to that (IMO) the best trade in deals and generally the most competitive console deals and they really filled a niche between the terror of EB and the impersonal nature of JB.

Best wishes for Tony and Rob and fingers crossed for all my homies in Canberra.

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-Naomi Pikse-

June 7, 2010 at 3:35 pm

I am SO SICK of people bitching about GAME! They have over 49 stores located in NSW alone! how many stores do EB and JB-HI FI have. Everytime I walk in to JB-HI FI there is NEVER anyone to help me, and when I finally find one they don’t know what their talking about, & EB is even worse. Their customer service sucks, my boss walked in looking for a 360 memory card and they told him there’s no such thing! guess what, there is I have 2. now if they don’t exist why do I own 2!! don’t bitch about GAME, they know more then ANYONE else & at least they can be bothered to actually help you!!! Always friendly and around, I will not be happy if they close down & will refuse to shop at JB-HI fi and EB…

Reply
1. Andrew Leong
  
  June 7, 2010 at 3:46 pm
  
  LIKE!
  
  Reply
2. Chuloopa
  
  June 7, 2010 at 5:24 pm
  
  Here Here!
  
  Reply
3. Crack between ur cheeks
  
  June 7, 2010 at 11:22 pm
  
  Wow – this coming from a wife of an employee! Biased much? Maybe head office at GAME should hire you for spruking some random shit at passer-by customers at the front of GAME’s low-performance stores. You could be all like ‘Step right in, folks. We are a purple/silver force to be reckoned with, full of games only EB get hard over on Thursday nights and on weekends. Eb sucks, you know. So does JB. And Big W. And Target as well as K-mart. And pretty much any retailer who sells computer games and whose name isn’t GAME’. BTW Gnomes suck hard -big time!
  
  Reply
  1. -Naomi Pikse-
    
    June 9, 2010 at 1:26 pm
    
    I’m so sorry that you think I’m being biased & FYI, I already have worked for GAME! Instead of ripping into me, how about you stop going on like a random spaz like seriously ‘gnomes suck hard – big time’ what the hell does that have to do with ANYTHING! Just because you couldn’t come up with anything decent to say [about GAME, or anything else for that matter] you had to talk about gnomes. hmm. You sound like a complete noob to me.
    
    Reply
Chris Gander

June 7, 2010 at 3:40 pm

I like the GAME brand and I think the customer service in-store is generally fantastic. However, as soon as I see the prices, I’m gone, running over to JB Hi-Fi. I was also given a $25 off voucher for GAME and when I tried to use it, it was a nightmare. The guy thought it was a fake. I haven’t been back since.

Reply
ChoM

June 7, 2010 at 4:07 pm

Honestly I am not suprised at all. I have tried to support GAME over the past couple of years, but everytime I walk into one the prices are always ridiculous, even on sale. I have rarely, if ever, seen a game offered cheaper at GAME compared to EB, which as others have said is generally no further than a few stores away.

The one saving grace perhaps is their website which seems to have decent specials every now and again.

Reply
1. Corey Lee
  
  June 7, 2010 at 4:24 pm
  
  I agree. Their websites have great deals on special editon games.
  
  Reply
warcroft

June 7, 2010 at 4:18 pm

Fuck Game.
They wouldnt even price match EB for me and EB was literally 50m down the mall from them.

Reply
1. Andrew Leong
  
  June 7, 2010 at 6:01 pm
  
  wow. but judging from the rest of the posts here, maybe that was an exception?
  
  even so, that’s a really crap situation :\
  
  Reply
  1. F3AR
    
    June 8, 2010 at 12:23 pm
    
    it’s not just distance to the store that counts, it’s also the actual price of the item, if a game is $20 under cost price due to a sale, if someone were to price match, they’d be losing money on the sale, sure the customer would get what they want but then the buisness loses money. Then whats the point???
    
    Reply
    1. JJJ
      
      June 19, 2010 at 5:49 pm
      
      you all have no idea, you actually get good and bad service at any stores you go to if its JB, Game, K-mart or whatever……the fuuny thing is the people that work at Game are the fish EB reject and thats why thier service is crap…….Game dont even give you your money back if you dont like the game and they make you put your traded games on a pre-order you dont want instead of giving you a gift card……..Game have got thiker just desserts and got one thing left to say BYE BYE..
      
      Reply
Ben Routledge

June 7, 2010 at 4:20 pm

I find it difficult to browse for games in my local Game.

They mix the pre-owned games with the new games so it’s hard to tell what I’m looking for.

There seems to be no order in how the games are displayed on shelf. So unless I am after one of the two or three blockbusters I have to really hunt.

I’ve always found the staff to be quite good, though that’s not always worth the extra $20 over JB HiFi, as I generally walk in knowing what I want.

Finally, I detest the “Find a better price and we’ll beat it” slogan. If I’ve gone to the trouble of finding a better price why would I go to a store who could have done better and didn’t. Give me your best price the first time and I’ll buy from you, with cheaper stores I’m not going to work for it.

Doubt we’ll see big closing down sales, the stock will just be shifted to other stores.

Reply
Ape

June 7, 2010 at 5:00 pm

I just went to EB looking for Alpha Protocol, but they had none in stock. I walk next door to GAME and they price match, despite knowing that the closest EB’s out of the game.

So reasonable!

I’ve been denied in similar circumstances by both JB and EB, based on either the stock levels or proximity of other stores.

Let’s face it; if the store has a 7 day return no-questions-asked policy and price matches, it’s already on par with EB. Range is largely a moot point when it comes to new release games, as everyone’s going to have stock (hell, from my own experience, EB’s generally the least prepared with new titles (“A ten dollar deposit would have guaranteed you a copy, mate. Game X is coming out next week though, would you like to pre-order that?” sound familiar?)).

Add the fact that GAME has a rewards program, and there’s not really any good reason it’s not your first stop when looking for anything.

It’s just as much a soulless corporate machine as EB or JB anyway.

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Wozza

June 7, 2010 at 5:02 pm

I preferred it when it was GAMESWIZARDS. They had good prices and great staff.
I do buy from the GAME at Hornsby every now and then though and it’s very good. They have even automatically put through a game at JB’s price without me needing to ask. I think it does quite well actually theres always a fair few people in there, and it’s much better than the EB.. that place used to be good, but it seems that all EB stores receive staff changeovers every month and every new wave just gets worse..

The Macqaurie GAME is another story the staff are rude and will rip you off. They don’t even know about their own deals, i knew more then them and had to argue to get my trade done..

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1. Corey Lee
  
  June 7, 2010 at 6:37 pm
  
  +1. I’ve had little kids to little emo kids to angry female chicks who don’t want to be there serve me.
  
  Reply
due

June 7, 2010 at 5:09 pm

gotta love all the idiots saying how bad game is Wake up ppl in the near future all thats gonna be left is jb eb and big w and then there will be no price matching no 7 day retuns i know eb does it but my mate who works for eb tells me that they are thinking of getting rid of it so in the end no one wins and all the shops will be the same!

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eddy96

June 7, 2010 at 5:12 pm

I very rarely buy from JB any more. Although i always go to JB first and see how much they are selling a game for then pop over to Game and get the m to price match it. Id prefer to buy from the little guy than a big chain store like JB. Plus Game rewards program is pretty good

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1. Aaron Meacham
  
  June 7, 2010 at 11:12 pm
  
  GAME is most definately not the “little guy”. In fact I’d argue they are a MUCH bigger company than JB HiFi (albeit not in Australia, but still)
  
  Reply
Tonara

June 7, 2010 at 5:18 pm

Game stores aren’t closing at all, only a management reshuffle at the top. Misinformation is so easy to believe.

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1. David Wildgoose
  
  June 7, 2010 at 5:20 pm
  
  If that’s the case, it’d be nice if GAME were willing to correct such “misinformation” instead of refusing to return phonecalls all day.
  
  Reply
  1. Ape
    
    June 7, 2010 at 5:43 pm
    
    Whoa now!
    
    “Refusing” or just not bothering? There is a bit of a difference between the super-dramatic and the likely.
    
    Reply
  2. j
    
    June 7, 2010 at 6:23 pm
    
    maybe they wont to make a formal statement to clear things up properly and not have it leaked out to a website ever think of david?
    
    Reply
    1. David Wildgoose
      
      June 7, 2010 at 6:38 pm
      
      That’s exactly what I’ve asked them for. It’s called journalism.
      
      Reply
      1. j
        
        June 7, 2010 at 7:38 pm
        
        and yet it got leaked out onto the website! funny that! im sure THEY! will come out with something when THEY! are good n ready! its called being sensible!
      2. David Wildgoose
        
        June 7, 2010 at 8:01 pm
        
        Awfully defensive here, J. What’s your connection to GAME?
2. JoB
  
  June 7, 2010 at 5:31 pm
  
  But the MCV headline is “Directors resign and store closures confirmed as retailer reshuffles territory executives”??
  
  Key word in that sentence is “confirmed”. There is a statement from management in England included in the article.
  
  Reply
3. Port
  
  June 7, 2010 at 6:32 pm
  
  I’m an ex-GAME manager and I talked to one of the re-shuffled Head Office staff yesterday, he told me there will be stores closing.
  
  Reply
Brett

June 7, 2010 at 5:23 pm

GAME’s online store is suprisingly competitive with online prices being alot more cheaper than EBs. I’ve purchased a whole lot of games this year with GAME online.

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Cerzel

June 7, 2010 at 5:28 pm

This sucks, especially seeing as since I got a job and actually had the money to buy all my games, I’ve gone pretty much exclusively with GAME. Their nearest store is a 20 minute drive, as with just about every retailer that isn’t EB who are way overpriced, so I used their online store which has the better prices anyway.
Even then, I think the only time I found a better deal than what GAME was offering was with Metro 2033, where while GAME and JB had it for the same price, JB also had a shirt with it.
Now I’m expecting that the WA stores will be among the ones to go…

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Q

June 7, 2010 at 5:46 pm

EB Games is the original and the best specialist game store. Good on them for taking out the competition.

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1. j
  
  June 7, 2010 at 6:20 pm
  
  r u serious? what a dumbass thing to say!
  
  Reply
2. JoB
  
  June 7, 2010 at 8:38 pm
  
  What a ridiculous statement to make! Any competition is always healthy and the consumer is the winner.
  
  Imagine a world where there was no Safeway/Woolworths/Aldi/etc and the only grocery provider was Coles. The would be taking us for everything that we had.
  
  You must be a EB employee.
  
  Reply
  1. Andrew Burdusel
    
    June 7, 2010 at 9:52 pm
    
    watch this
    
    Reply
Lucas Brown

June 7, 2010 at 6:00 pm

There’s a GAME in the Brisbane Myer Centre 20m from an EB. I’ve tried going in there, but their prices have NEVER been competitive with EB, and tbh they organise their games in a manner such that its a pain to look through them anyway (rather than small piles they’re in packed lines)

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Michael Barnes

June 7, 2010 at 6:55 pm

The only thing I like about GAME is the online specials and sometimes the online pre orders.
In store they are a shocking waste of time.
Basically just EB with a nice white and black tile scheme. It can die if it pleases. I mainly shop at Big W or Gametraders.

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Sampsanite

June 7, 2010 at 7:15 pm

Game Was founded by one of the higher ups of EB a lot of years ago im pretty sure thats why there such a copy paste. He splitered of from them and started in the UK.

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Darren

June 7, 2010 at 7:56 pm

I do not have a problem with EB. Been getting my games from there for a very long time. Having said that, I would hate to see Game go.

Competition is a good thing. Furthermore, I get my games from JB if I am near one at the time. I find that they have a good range and price…also, I can not stop my self from going to the cd or dvd section for a quick purchase.

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Tezz

June 7, 2010 at 7:57 pm

i feel sorry for GAME stores because their website pretty much ravages all their sales. e.g. most games on their website are 15-20 bucks cheaper online.

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Matt

June 7, 2010 at 8:00 pm

hope the one in rockingham city doesnt close, they’ve been really decent the past 12 months, and i think people who cant find a deal are usually the people who buy out on release, whereas most the deals benefit for those who havent bought it yet.

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Damo

June 7, 2010 at 8:04 pm

I shop at the Game in Broadway NSW all the time. They are the nicest bunch of guys (Hi Pat) that I have had the pleasure to be served by. They don’t rush you out the door, they take a genuine interest in you, get to know what you like and recommend games I wouldn’t have thought of trying. Game are not expensive, I got FF XIII brand new not a trade in for $43! The staff make it easy for me to choose Game over EB and JB. The Web pre-order discounts are amazing and great value as well. I honestly cant be happy with the staff, the trade-ins and the points for my loyalty card. God that EB one cost me $10 or something like that and they didn’t want to know about it after I got it o.O. Game all the way now.

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Matthew Buckner

June 7, 2010 at 8:32 pm

I’ve been saying for months that Game is up shit creek. They have expanded too fast and offer nothing extra to EB bar a few deals here and there. Their online store undercuts them on almost everything.

It’s funny, I was just walking past their store today at my local shopping centre and having a laugh with my mate at how they are always empty and just across the mall is EB which is always full of people.

They need to cut their losses and just concentrate on their online store.

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Daniel Roy

June 7, 2010 at 8:37 pm

When I heard there was going to be a new store in Westfield Helensvale, I thought it would make a good amount of competition for EB, and hopefully produce some wicked price competitions. I walked into the store, and it was just console games. No PC games besides a bargain bin of old old games. Not even WoW was in it. I can understand, cause consoles generate the most revenue, but really, no recent PC games besides Thief 2 and Worms 4?

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Tekai

June 7, 2010 at 8:53 pm

The important thing to notice here is that the job cuts are at the top, at the office and executive management. That means someone that knows better at an international level clearly thinks these guys weren’t doing their jobs. I’d expect to see a lot of changes in the near future, hopefully with Game coming out the other side in a more successful, competitive iteration. They’re not dead yet, I wouldn’t say, just pruning some dead weight and undoing some bad decisions.

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jim smith

June 7, 2010 at 10:23 pm

At my local game I never see people shopping in there.

I do however use Game to shop online. I’ve bought my last 5 PS3 games from their online store through pre-order- its free shipping and their online pre-order deals are cheap comparatively.

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picky

June 7, 2010 at 10:25 pm

has nobody else realised that game is the game wizards>??????

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1. David Wildgoose
  
  June 7, 2010 at 10:27 pm
  
  GAME is a UK business. They bought the Games Wizards when they setup operation in Australia.
  
  Reply
broad-whore

June 7, 2010 at 10:41 pm

I’m gunna be straight up….I am an ex employee of GAME, and i will say that all of us who have ever served at GAME strive for the best in service.

Seeing as i left GAME to go back to study (on extreme bad terms), i do understand how this has happened.

It all goes back to bad H/O management. They just didnt know what they were doing. With the exception of a certain few, the whole place was a mess.

Now, i worked for the major sydney stores, and it was not until late last year that there was a sudden shift into shit-storm. Over 15 employees (All full time) resigned within those last fews months of 2009 due to poor management. It was really upsetting.

i can brag on for hours about this but this is starting to get stale….

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Dire Wolf

June 8, 2010 at 8:14 am

I like game, it has good prices and friendly, helpful employees.

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Jason Clendenning

June 8, 2010 at 8:58 am

I am frankly saddened by this news. I purchase all my games and hardware from GAME at Canberra Centre. I’ve built a friendship up with Josh, Corey and Nathan there, and I am treated with respect, and if they were to close I would NEVER purchase from GAME again. I refuse to purchase from ANY EB Games store, as their prices are a joke, their staff are hopeless and the stores (and I mean ALL EB stores) are dirty and poorly laid out. Listen to what I am saying GAME management, close Canberra Centre and I WILL NEVER PURCHASE FROM YOU AGAIN.

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1. Zhave C
  
  June 8, 2010 at 9:17 am
  
  While I am not as hard-core as my comrade JC, The guys at CC GAME have been the best and find it hard to believe I’ll find anyone as enthusiastic and competent in what these guys do anywhere else. I don’t wonna go back to EB… ITS A TRAP
  
  Reply
Kato

June 8, 2010 at 9:13 am

I’ve found the service in GAME to be excellent, the trade in prices better than anywhere and whats more, I can get served in one within a few minutes unlike the twenty minute wait you have at EB (admittedly that’s a sign of the EB brand dominance as that wait us usually while Muffy Badparent ties up a staff member while her two point four brats pick every MA15+ game on the shelf, bring them to the counter, then change their minds and go and start again).

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1. Zhave C
  
  June 8, 2010 at 9:39 am
  
  Wait.. are you saying you can get service at EB… I’ve always had to ask for service… LAME..
  
  Reply
Andrew Leong

June 8, 2010 at 9:37 am

What i don’t get is everyone saying “I always go to JB it’s cheaper there!” Urh… they price beat…? (even by a dollar on a 30 dollar game)

Unless of course geographically jb is nearer than game…

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Ros

June 8, 2010 at 5:00 pm

It’s a real shame. EB are a bunch of douchebags that rip people off and I vowed never to give them any of my money again and since then I have always bought my games from GAME. GAME has exceptional customer service well beyond EB. I dont know what warcroft is on about, they have price matched for me every time but most of the times it hasn’t been necessary because their prices have been the most competitve.

EB has sold me dud games on multiple occasions and refused to refund or exchange them when I tried to return them. Absolutely ridiculous.

Don’t even start me on their dodgy refund system when you buy a faulty product from them.

I’ve never had to do a return from GAME and never been sold something that didn’t work.

GAME stores opening here was a very welcome new addition. I’m very sad to hear this news.

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Tom

June 8, 2010 at 8:46 pm

I’ve only had one negative experience with Game – they wouldn’t price-match a store because it wasn’t in the same shopping center. If that’s their policy then fine, but I’ve had EB price-match a store on the other side of the state.

Otherwise Game has been a relatively positive shopping experience for me, I’ve bought a few games from them, and a number of those were pre-order deals.

As many have said, they used to be quite expensive but they’re heaps better now; unfortunately it’s not so easy to shake the bad rep.

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Andrew Coker

June 9, 2010 at 9:22 am

Just about every GAME store I’ve seen is in a shopping center with an EB and JB-HiFi, where you can often find the same products for $10 less. And as long as the Aussie dollar is strong, it’s a lot cheaper to buy from Steam online instead.

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Ray Luu

June 10, 2010 at 8:02 pm

i know that GAME were in trouble when my local store (Lidcombe NSW) closed down earlier in the year, wasn’t really surprised as it wasn’t really near any major shopping centers and was always pretty much empty when i visited.

but now that my closest store is the one in bankstown, i find that their service is pretty damn good ! Michael the manager knows what he’s talking about and will go out of his way to help you out.

hopefully the bankstown store won’t one of those that close

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noprophet

June 11, 2010 at 12:49 am

Lidcombe closed because of break-ins and its poor location. No big deal.

Only stores in bad locales closing, plenty more to open.

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S

June 16, 2010 at 11:08 pm

This is becoming old news, but reading through this article and the comments has me thinking that both the author and alot of the people commenting against GAME seem to be die hard EB fans.

Brainwashed methinks.

GAME absolutely LOVE to beat EB at any chance, just ask them.

As far as i know, GAME will price match any store close to them, provided the other store has the game in stock, which is entirely reasonable.

If you cant get a game for $89 at JB, or EB, or anywhere because they dont have it in stock, Why should GAME match that price?

In my opinion GAME is easily the much better store.

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UNHAPPY

June 23, 2010 at 5:20 pm

Glad to see the end of this business. Can’t wait till it ceases to exist all together.
GAME = THIEVES.

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JJJ

June 30, 2010 at 11:51 pm

Hmmmm it seems like all the good response are from current GAME employee’s and maybe some of thier big guys, what I find is really funny is that they try and I mean try to copy EB and fail so wonderfully, are GAME and GAM TRADERS using the same painter again another failure……cant be your own and the reason why LAME I mean GAME are failing is they have a really bad buisness model…..thats why people are jumping ship…………….goodbye wanna be EB and GT pretenders…..just be happy you have the ashes and not for long……hahaha

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supr

September 2, 2010 at 2:14 am

I used to be a manager at an EB Games store in Sydney, and we were extremely big on customer service – it’s what I trained all my staff members to focus on. As for knowledge, we had at least 4 people in the store who were very knowledgeable in nearly all aspects of gaming, and where one person lacked, someone else was there to provide information, all the time. The problem with an employee being knowledgeable or not was an issue of experience and motivation to learn – most staff are hired on their customer service skill as opposed to knowledge about gaming, but the majority of staff I trained picked up the knowledge very quickly.

When I go into a JB, there is no one there to serve you. You have to hunt down an employee, and when you find one, they aren’t very helpful because they most likely aren’t specifically in charge of the games section.

As for GAME, the staff there are usually friendly and most often knowledgeable, but like JB, they don’t seek out customer interaction. They will usually be talking amongst themselves behind the counter or to one of their regular customers. Now, I don’t have anything against maintaining relations with regular customers (my store had many, and I had some one my own who even came to wish me farewell when I finally quit my job), but you have to manage how much time you spend with them in order to talk to customers who want information.

As for pricing and trade deals, I know EB generally has the RRP for all new release games and our trade deals weren’t really beneficial to the customer, but I was always happy to match prices and trade deals. I could go on about cost price and how JB doesn’t make any money when they sell a game for $79 and how they use their low game prices to get people into the store to buy other items, but I would be here for a while.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t really surprise me that GAME is having problems – their trade deals and sales were indicative that they were clutching at straws, and weren’t going to last long.

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joseph

September 7, 2010 at 1:02 pm

I like to shop at funlandgames in bankstown sydney
EB and Game stores are next to funlandgames but they have every thing old new and you get better value in trading for you games import games too

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eztgr

September 12, 2010 at 9:39 am

The GAME store at Keilor Shopping Centre has closed. I nearly walked into a ladies shoe store where GAME use to be…
I can understand why the doors closed as it was hidden in the back of the Centre. Good work to the person who signed off on the location :/
However, GAME here had fantastic staff and bloody good deals. Picked up a pre-owned copy of Demon’s Souls BP Edition for…$18! You’d mistaken it for a brand new copy! IMO these guys smashed everyone during the July sale. I better use my $33 voucher before they kneck all the stores.

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JJJ

December 15, 2010 at 3:43 am

EZTGR your a dousch bag….demon souls was that price cause they were closing down, why do you think you nearly walk into a ladies store!!!

Prediction for next year is that lame oops i mean game will close more stores, the reason why the havnt pulled out of australia yet is they need to save face and protect thier shares in the UK…..if they pull out of australia now there share price would plummit and they would shut down in the UK for good…….right now game are bleeding money at a rate of knots

Hey for the record i met there perth area manager Beau and he is dumb as bat poo…..no wonder thier going belly up.

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zinger

August 16, 2011 at 8:51 pm

im pretty sure my local GAME has closed… macquarie centre store… it’s not where it used to be and i didn’t see it anywhere else in the centre…

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DED_DEAD

March 23, 2012 at 4:39 pm

Well its all over, Game reportedly went into liquidation last night, interestingly 2 out of the 3 EB stores in southern TAS have relocated in the last two days. the Northgate GAME store went years ago and the EB Northgate store yesterday relocated to a temporary stand space in the food court usually reserved for Baby photo mobs and Austar when they are in town! I wonder if we are looking at a structural problem across the entire gaming industry rather than a competitive one!

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