Penny Arcade - More Paint Chips

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I find it interesting that someone on the opposite coast is having the same trouble. Of course he also is having the same resolution (the Best Buy across the road is building forts in the aisles with the excess copies of the same game Gamestop/EB requires you to pre-order).

Downloads, DLC, media-less handheld consoles... better stop digging your own hole Gamestop/EB even faster...

Oh and before you point it out...

IMAGE(http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/duty_calls.png)

We don't have this problem over here...

*ducks*

You know, as time goes by I care less about the "Did you preorder?" question. Really, it just isn't that big a deal.

My only issue with Gamestop now is that of the three locations within 15 minutes of my house only one has employees that actually act like human beings. That location is in the local Mall. I hate the mall.

I avoid the other two because their hiring policy seems to preclude hiring anyone capable of rational thought.

And of course there's all the corporate overlord evil reasons. Those are reason enough for me to avoid buying almost anything there most of the time anyway. They do tend to rope me in whenever I have games I want to get rid of though. Their trade in value really isn't too bad relative to the other options and you can't beat how easy it is. I just wish I didn't have to go to the one in the mall to talk to people with a shred of intelligence.

This has been a problem for ages, people have been complaining about it for years, and it's partially part of their business plan: Carry as few new copies of games as possible, making the used section all that more enticing.

They will all be gone in a few more years anyway so just let nature take its course and it will all be sorted out eventually.

The funny thing is that Gamestops are terrible for preorders. Of the four games that I've preordered there in the last decade or so, two of them haven't arrived at the store until several days after the release date. The employees were surprised that I found this irritating. Maybe they've grown used to customers so beaten down that they're willing to accept Gamestop's utter disinterest in selling new games.

I've also read multiple reports of gamers pre-ordering Limited Editions and showing up to find that they didn't get enough in. Oh - and they can't/won't order any more copies. Would you like a regular edition to go with your kick to the balls?

I'm done with retail for new game purchases. Amazon's FSSS/release date delivery, better prices, no sales tax, and lack of $#@()#$@ upselling beats the crap out of the competition.

KillerTomato wrote:

The funny thing is that Gamestops are terrible for preorders. Of the four games that I've preordered there in the last decade or so, two of them haven't arrived at the store until several days after the release date. The employees were surprised that I found this irritating. Maybe they've grown used to customers so beaten down that they're willing to accept Gamestop's utter disinterest in selling new games.

I've also read multiple reports of gamers pre-ordering Limited Editions and showing up to find that they didn't get enough in. Oh - and they can't/won't order any more copies. Would you like a regular edition to go with your kick to the balls?

I forgot to mention this as well. The irritating thing is that I used to try doing pre-orders, but every single time I pre-ordered any title that wasn't so huge they were guaranteed to have a million copies anyways, the result was always: (a) they only had one copy in, which they already gutted and put on the shelf, instead of putting aside so it was luck that I got there in time; (b) they didn't order enough or any at all. This consistent experience pretty much shows that they have the ability for you to pre-order a game the very moment it's announced, and they deliberately push this on you as much as possible, and yet they haven't bothered to follow that up with a proper system for tracking them after they have your money. Like I said, the company actively discourages people from buying new games in every possible way. I'm not against the used market in general for any media, but I actually understand why publishers and developers make such a fuss about Gamestop, because the way they run their business is extremely distasteful.

Regardless, like others I either buy from Best Buy, order online, or in the PC case I just order it from Steam or a similar service. I stick to this almost without exception, because I find it rather hypocritical that people openly complain about how horrible Gamestop is but still provide them with their business on a constant basis. A retail establishment that clearly has a policy to not stock the only damn product they sell is baffling enough, but where their policy is also apparently to openly scold customers for not pre-ordering, only to be unreliable even if you do pre-order is too insulting for me to support.

On that note, there must be something else sketchy with their policy about providing retail support in general. When I go to any department store, I'm not surprised when a clerk is ignorant about something. They're being paid a crap wage and busy with school. But it's only at EBGames/Gamestop stores, and at so many of them it can't be a coincidence, where I constantly experienced the phenomenon of cashiers spreading complete falsehoods and misinformation to customers - involving everything from hardware features and restrictions to release dates to general industry information - and doing it with an air of absolute certainty in their voice.

You who never harasses me to preorder? The internet. Brick & Mortar sucks.

rabbit wrote:

You who never harasses me to preorder? The internet. Brick & Mortar sucks.

This for the most part. If ya can a small, family owned store, those rock.

I stopped pre-ordering at EB for new games when I realized what a scam pre-ordering is. Not just the artificial rarity, as pointed out above, but that they reap the interest on your deposit—that's why they push pre-orders, it inflates the profit on the sale. That's also why you can pre-order a game the moment it's even mentioned, let alone given a release date.

So for new games, like say Brütal Legend, I'll just stop at Future Shop on my way home from work Rocktober 13th. If it's not at FS, there's a Best Buy, Toys'R'Us, Rogers, two Blockbusters, all along my bus route. Goodbye EB. Your only value now is killing time at the mall looking at old titles while the miss goes clothes shopping.

Edit: Bah, read the other thread, interest mentioned there. Interest probably mentioned everywhere wrt pre-orders. Worth mentioning again though. If not, move along.

Wait a minute. We have a mobile GWJ site now?

The last two times I've even been in a GameStop (and bear in mind that there's one less than a quarter of a mile from my house) was a couple of years ago.

I went in the night before the release of Super Mario Galaxy hoping to get it a bit early, as I had heard that stores across the country had already broken the street date. The guy there said that (a) they were not breaking the street date, and (b) asked if I wanted to pre-order the game to make sure I could even get a copy on the release date. On the night before its release. I walked out.

I returned the next day, with my middle daughter, age 3 at the time. We went in to GameStop and asked for a copy of Super Mario Galaxy. When I indicated that I didn't have a pre-order, he told me that they were only filling pre-orders until that Friday. I sighed, turned around, and we headed for the door. As we left, my daughter asked me, "What did that man say?" to which I replied, rather loudly, "He said we have to go next-door to Target."

rabbit wrote:

You who never harasses me to preorder? The internet. Brick & Mortar sucks.

?

Norfair wrote:
rabbit wrote:

You who never harasses me to preorder? The internet. Brick & Mortar sucks.

?

Sure.. but steam doesn't pester you about whether or not you preordered after the game is already on shelves.

KillerTomato wrote:

I'm done with retail for new game purchases. Amazon's FSSS/release date delivery, better prices, no sales tax, and lack of $#@()#$@ upselling beats the crap out of the competition.

I discovered this this summer. I now swear by Amazon and Amazon Prime (NB: I live in the sticks just a little, so I'm always on Amazon anyway, so Prime is a better deal for me than someone living someplace with better stores).

CptGlanton wrote:
KillerTomato wrote:

I'm done with retail for new game purchases. Amazon's FSSS/release date delivery, better prices, no sales tax, and lack of $#@()#$@ upselling beats the crap out of the competition.

I discovered this this summer. I now swear by Amazon and Amazon Prime (NB: I live in the sticks just a little, so I'm always on Amazon anyway, so Prime is a better deal for me than someone living someplace with better stores).

I live in Dayton, OH. I have plenty of good stores local and STILL think Amazon Prime is one of, if not the best deals out there.

It's funny.

In South Africa we will generally only pre-order if there is a discount or swag as an incentive.

I have preordered a single game in my life. I wanted to be sure of getting a copy Sims 3 on the day it was out as a gift to my wife. No need to do that, of course, there were plenty of copies on the counter when I came to pick up my copy.

I actually like our local Gamestop. The staff know their games. But the price of new and "used" is so high that I take most of my business upstairs to an independent shop with some 10-20% off Gamestop prices.

jlaakso wrote:

I have preordered a single game in my life. I wanted to be sure of getting a copy Sims 3 on the day it was out as a gift to my wife. No need to do that, of course, there were plenty of copies on the counter when I came to pick up my copy.

I actually like our local Gamestop. The staff know their games. But the price of new and "used" is so high that I take most of my business upstairs to an independent shop with some 10-20% off Gamestop prices.

Turn in your man card at the door please...

Thin_J wrote:
Norfair wrote:
rabbit wrote:

You who never harasses me to preorder? The internet. Brick & Mortar sucks.

?

Sure.. but steam doesn't pester you about whether or not you preordered after the game is already on shelves.

In addition, Steam doesn't pester you, period. If you want to preorder, go look up the game and pick that option. Plus, it looks like there's an actual benefit to doing so, $5 cheaper.