Game Retail Stores: Love/Hate?

This was brought up in another thread- about the lack of love for EB of late - but I think it deserves its own. Are they great places to shop or a necessary evil.

My perspective borders between getting worse and hate. They've lost interest in their customers, and increasingly treat their customers as poorly as any retail outlet. A constant litany of crappy suggestions of sh*t I don't want: Take your customer cards, magazines, strategy guides, and prereserves, and shove them straight up your ... well anyway. Abyssmal return policies disguised as fake piracy protection. A blatant lie that's a direct result of publishers not accepting the returns from the retailers.

I hate going into most retail outlets now. It's a shame, because they used to be a fun sidestop.

Yeah I normally buy my games a bestbuy now, not because they love their customers more than EB, but because I don''t get fed a load of crap or asked to buy anything else. Typically I feel dirty going into EB now.

The only real use I have for the stores anymore is the used rack, or if it''s a game I know I''ll keep and I can''t-get/won''t-look-for a better deal online. Like in the other thread, the guys I deal with aren''t that bad, but I also don''t cross them.

The used rack, on the other hand, kicks ass for games that may have been on your backlog, but you can inpect them before buying, as opposed to buying on ebay or Amazon

I generally do all my PC and console-type shopping over the internet. And its getting more and more where the only thing I buy at a store is food. And if I could get food delivered by Fed-Ex I''d have trouble saying no.

I think you are missing a category, I do not love nor hate the store... it is just a place to go and pick up a game I know I want. I think you should add a niether hate nor love

However, last Christmas I bought a used GameBoy colour for my 5 year old son. I also picked up a couple of used games and a new Harry Potter game. I thought the Harry Potter game would be a side scroller, but it turns out that it was an RPG which his low level of reading skills did not allow him to play. I took it back to EB hoping to exchange it for something else, but assuming since it was open I was stuck with it. The guys at EB were really good. They initially told me I could not return a functioning opened game, but when I explained the situation and that I wanted to exchange it for something else, they said as long as it was for equal or greater value... no problems.

So, no I do not love the store, but they have never done anything to piss me off.... and unlike Future Shop, they have never tried to sell me something I do not need, do not want, is under spec or a $60 warranty for a $10 toaster.

Off topic, I have most of my groceries delivered through a local grocery internet service. Great quality food, no hassle. Thank you, Simon Delivers. I love you.

The guys at EB were really good. They initially told me I could not return a functioning opened game, but when I explained the situation and that I wanted to exchange it for something else, they said as long as it was for equal or greater value... no problems.

I think that''s an instance of getting some decent guys behind the counter. That''s going to happen, but I gurantee that such a return would never be corporately sanctioned anymore. There''s something, however, to be said for developing a good relationship with your local EB/Gamestop manager if you plan to keep buying games there.

"Zedian" wrote:

Yeah I normally buy my games a bestbuy now, not because they love their customers more than EB, but because I don''t get fed a load of crap or asked to buy anything else. Typically I feel dirty going into EB now.

Actually I asked the following in the other thread:

"I" wrote:

That being said, what is it with ""electronics"" stores (EB Games, Best Buy, Radio Shack, you name it) having their cashiers try to sell you something before you leave? I''ve only noticed the trend over the past couple of years, and it is mucho annoying.

I''ve found Best Buy to be the worst about it. No I don''t want a credit card, I already have a cell phone, and I don''t need a ***damn satellite dish, thank you very much!

The folks at my local EB Games are usually really good about recommending good stuff and warning customers about bad games. I remember the glory days when you could return a game for being ""too short"", as I did with one of the Might and Magic games, but that era is looooong over.

Off topic, I have most of my groceries delivered through a local grocery internet service. Great quality food, no hassle. Thank you, Simon Delivers. I love you.

Damn you! They don''t deliver down here... We never get cool stuff in the south...

It all depends on people working the store. If you have people who have been working there since before the big return changes they will usually accommodate you within reason. If the person is brand new to the store and had the return policies (or lack of) drilled into his or her head you''re pretty much screwed I think.

Eventually ALL game shops will have nothing but ""new"" people so I''d say it''s only going to get worse. Thankfully at my EB only the new guys bug me with the corporate pushy BS and I usually make it perfectly clear it shouldn''t happen again

I''m tired of the whole pre-order schtick.
""Do you have this game""
""No you should have preordered""
""You know your right, how bout I pre-order a copy of Me Shoving My Foot Up Your Ass:Anal Discomfort""

I refuse to vote because my feeling is not an option.

Both.

Love to ""shop"" in Game Retailers. It just feels good. Like browsing in B.Dalton for books. Or Victoria''s Secret for tarts. You don''t really plan on taking anything home, but you want to have a voyeuristic good waste of time.

Hate to actually do real, man-style ""shopping-with-a-purpose"" there. If I know what I want and where it lives, I''d rather do it in the most efficient manner possible. And it doesn''t get much more efficient than a 5-minute (travel-time included) shopping spree courtesy of Algore''s Intarweb thingy, whether it''s games, books, or the aforementioned tarts.

God bless you, Algore.
So I vote for option E. Both Love and Hate.

"phragged" wrote:

I''m tired of the whole pre-order schtick.
""Do you have this game""
""No you should have preordered""
""You know your right, how bout I pre-order a copy of Me Shoving My Foot Up Your Ass:Anal Discomfort""

hahahahahahahahahahahahaha

"Lester_King" wrote:

We never get cool stuff in the south...

Weather sure would be nice...

Me Shoving My Foot Up Your Ass:Anal Discomfort

I didn''t have to preorder it, they had plenty of copies in stock.

I think they''re getting better now that there is one on every corner. They used to be able to act a bit elitist when they knew that they were the only place for miles. Warning me that I better pre-order a game if I wanted to be sure I got it used to be a legitimate threat. Now I can just smile and say ""no thank you"", since I can fall down drunk anywhere in Baltimore and at least one limb will find its way into a retail game outlet.

Of course it all depends on the employees, including the store''s manager. Some are followers of the Penny Arcade''s Frank school of store management. Those stores are just not fun to be in. Others are staffed by gamers who generally enjoy an intelligent conversation about games, as they are all-too-often starved of it. I imagine you can only field so many parents'' questions along the lines of, ""Which GBA color is the best?"" before you start building walls around yourself.

Love, and complete hate. Games cost twice as much here. Even old, ""Player''s Choice"" or ""Greatest Hits"" console games, which by all accounts should go for 19.99, cost 60 dollars. Nothing ever goes below 45 dollars. EVER.

A local Office Depot has a copy of Warlords 2(among other old, old games) for 350 pesos (35 dollars). Starship Titanic, Tribes 2, etc etc etc. When you see something below 19 dollars, it''s supposed to be a ""bargain"".

Ugh. Also, there are no returns on anything, ever. Game doesn''t work? Well... It''s not my problem. Sometimes I read about you guys taking a game back to a store and exchanging it for a new one, because ""It was total crap"", and my head explodes.

You know, it''s a marvel PC games sell at all here in Mexico.

I think it depends on the store and the employees. I have two local gaming stores just down the block, EB and GameStop. If I need to buy a game, I would go to the EB, only because GameStop always trying to sell me a used game as new. May be its not labeled as used by them but I think If the store is using the game to demo and then trying to sell me it. I''ll say it''s a used copy. However the funny part with Gamestop is, if there is female employee, then she would not try to pull anything and actually be polite. If an employee is a guy, I have to triple check to make sure it''s not a used copy or I can as my girlfriend to buy the game. EB on the other hand, I kind of developed a friendly relation so if the game is bad, they would take it back next day for exchange for a different game. Although as of late I became so picky with buying games that situation of returning games no longer happens.

[edit] ...spl!

Ugh. Also, there are no returns on anything, ever. Game doesn''t work? Well... It''s not my problem. Sometimes I read about you guys taking a game back to a store and exchanging it for a new one, because ""It was total crap"", and my head explodes.

Sounds like a car rental experience I had in Cozumel

So I assume gamestop.com gets all of your business, Mex?

"Zedian" wrote:

Yeah I normally buy my games a bestbuy now, not because they love their customers more than EB, but because I don''t get fed a load of crap or asked to buy anything else. Typically I feel dirty going into EB now.

Me too. Best Buy isn''t the best outlet, but you don''t have much other choice here in Boston.

We have the Gamestop/EB pair in the Copley/Prudential mall, they pretty much suck.

When you want something, its always on its way, and when you don''t want it anymore (because you walked over to Virgin Records, which had a copy), they want to pre-sell, their pre-order of strategy guide for the game you just played last week.

They have good used/bargain bins though, often mispricing or underpricing things to sell, so you can''t exactly bypass them. You have to check, just in case.

When they make a mistake, its really good: fallout tactics for $10?

Fine, just put it in a plain brown paper bag, ok?

I generally don''t like the EB over at Ford City mall, mostly becouse of the ammount of lies and sleaze that oozes inside that place. You can bribe the EB employes with twenty bucks to get someone elses pre-ordered PS2. Thats how a friend of mine got his when they were just coming out.

Well, here EB is not only upto trying to suggestive sell everything Ely mentioend, when they don''t have something I wanted to *look* at, they tell me to goto ebgames.com. Screw ebgames.com, screw them up their...

Anyway, I guess we have a good Best Buy. Cause they''ve never tried to sell me anything, and everybody there is helpful and if not knowledgeable will go get the person who is. Really only problem with Best Buy is sometimes limited selection, and anything on sale (reason for going there) is almost always sold out. But for your general browsing and impulse buying, I''d take Best Buy everytime.

My favorite place to shop online for games was a Canadian site, that sold everything at least $5 (U.S.) cheaper than any other site. And then one week they started a big ""moving sale"" because they were expanding into a new warehouse. Turned out to be bankruptcy/liquidation sale in disguise, cause they disappeared without a trace.

I think it was dragon.ca or something like that. I live so close to Canada that even ground shipping reached me in a couple days. Scuse me while I go cry into a Canadian lager...

"Roo" wrote:

Anyway, I guess we have a good Best Buy.

You mean you don''t get the lovely 30 second pitch about how you should purchase an extended warranty at the low cost of $7.84 for the $25 mouse you just purchased?

"phragged" wrote:

I''m tired of the whole pre-order schtick.
""Do you have this game""
""No you should have preordered""
""You know your right, how bout I pre-order a copy of Me Shoving My Foot Up Your Ass:Anal Discomfort""

That''s sig material right there.

I guess I hate them when they mess up pre-orders, but other than that I don''t have a problem with retailers. I have a Bestbuy right down the street, so I pretty much always get my games there. They seldom hassle me about anything when I buy a game. When you buy a computer or TV that''s an entirely different story. Plus, I like it when I can use those rewards points.

I''m indifferent to most of ''em. I love EB because they sell used PC games, however, but don''t care about the rest. There is ONE game store that is my all time favorite, close by in Pasadena called Interact. They sell stuff you can usually only get online, like stuff from Matrix Games. MAN I love those guys.

"buzzvang" wrote:

Sounds like a car rental experience I had in Cozumel

So I assume gamestop.com gets all of your business, Mex?

Ahh, Cozumel. I''ve not been there for about 6 years, but last time I went it was great.

Actually, I order from Outpost.com and EBGames. I began buying games from them last century (When Outpost.com was new and Fry''s hadn''t yet gotten to them). I''d never had a bad experience with Outpost.com except for last time that City of Heroes came in an open box.

EBGames is pretty good all around, although their prices are usually higher than Outpost. No bad experiences with them at all.

I''ve not bought anything at Gamestop yet. Are they supposed to be good? International orders seems to be a hassle for new customers. Also, holy crap, 30 bucks for shipping. Outpost usually goes for 21 international, UPS or something.

"Veloxi" wrote:

I''m indifferent to most of ''em. I love EB because they sell used PC games, however, but don''t care about the rest. There is ONE game store that is my all time favorite, close by in Pasadena called Interact. They sell stuff you can usually only get online, like stuff from Matrix Games. MAN I love those guys.

Oh wow! Interact. Is this their website?
http://www.interactcd.com/

If so, they are freakin'' great. For some reason I forgot about them, but I used to shop with them when Grim Fandango and Planescape came out, they had great deals, and shipping was the lowest I could find.

In fact I see they still seem to have great prices all around. Definitely a good store in my experience.

Yes, Mex, that''s them, and they frigging rock. I''m gonna go there tomorrow to sell some games for GC2 and cash. They have an awesome selection of used games and used DVD''s as well. Overall, they''re THE BEST pc gaming store I''ve ever been to.

My overall view of game retail stores is that they''re getting worse. My local EB is the exception to that rule and I''m sure there are others, but for me it all boils down to who''s working behind the counter and what their attitude is.

At my local mall there are 2 game stores, EB and Gamestop. The EB employees always have a great attitude, are fun to talk to and seem to know their stuff. I never get the crap sales pitches but that could very well be due to the fact that I''m a regular customer and know what the buzz is about games before they do.

The Gamestop store sits at the other end of the spectrum. I will go in there occasionally to see what they have since they sometimes get obscure budget games that EB doesn''t carry, but the employees always act like they''d rather not be bothered with customers. They consistently act like drones who take your credit card, ring you up, and don''t cut you the slightest bit of slack for anything. No smile, no chit-chat, and a get-the-hell-out look to send you on your way. I just never get any warm fuzzies when I''m in there.

One thing I have noticed about EB this year, though, that concerns me is the effect of their aggressive expansion plans on employees. My local store lost an awesome manager earlier this year after he spent months traveling around opening new stores and training employees, something he didn''t really want to be doing. Another awesome person took his place and they are now doing the same thing to him. He''s been on the other side of the state opening new stores for the past 2 months. It concerns me that the rate of expansion they are trying to accomplish will cause a dillution of employee quality over time as they spread their management staff thin for all these new stores.

I said getting worse mainly because of the tiny little shelf PC games have been relegated to. I used to love browsing half the store for PC games, just looking at the various titles and occasionally finding a rare gem like Typing of the Dead. Now everything has been released in the last 3 months and is on one shelf in the very back of the store. It feels like buying porn.

It feels like buying porn.

No it doesn''t, one makes you feel bad, yet excited. The other makes you feel depressed, yet hopeful.