Not surprised TBH - in Basildon town centre there's 2 game Stores and a Gamestation, all within 2 minutes walk of eachother - that's got to be a fairly heavy overhead.
Prices are always insane for any new releases, and instantly undercut by either the ease of Digital Distribution (at pretty much the same price point) or Supermarkets running games as loss leaders.

Not surprised, I occasionally pop in my local in the hope their might be a bargain but the prices for pc games are always really high. I then go online and buy what I want from an etailer at half the price. Even game online is much cheaper than my local store.

Feel sorry for those who will get fired

company deserve what it gets though

I feel sorry for those out of a job, but I have no sympathy for GAME. They refuse to adapt to the changing market, make no effort to price match games, sell games that have been opened and even HMV has a better rewards card.

It's like they're trying to fail.

The best thing about game used to be the pre-owned section, but my local one doesn't do pre-owned pc titles any more so I'm done. Maybe it'll shut and I can pick up some bargains in the sale...

The trouble I've been finding with Game recently is that their prices for pre-ownded can conflict with offers in store. I've found multiple occasions where its cheaper to buy new from them than their pre-owned stock, and with amazon and play discounting older titles quicker, The online places new stock prices are often cheaper than games pre-owned stocks too.
Not two weeks ago I had one bloke in one of their edinburgh stores telling me that the second hand PS3 for £269 was a great deal, despite the fact that they couldn't do bundle deals with it and you could buy a new one with 2 games for £289, or the new console on its own for £275.

The last place I lived had 5 or 6 Game stores within a couple of miles of each other. One permanently seemed to smell like a tramp lived there. Prices are always very high - second hand even more than new sometimes!

If you're going to sell games have a damned "play" section like HMV with the Xbox and PS3 set up. Do demos, hold events to attract people - give them a reason to go to a shop rather than buy online. If they just rely on sometimes dirty looking overpriced stock on the shelves it's no wonder they fail. I swear half the people I see in there are mothers buying for their kids anyway and they wont have brand loyalty - cheapest wins!

I'll take my mint condition, 30% cheaper shrink wrapped game from play.com, thanks.

Game price for a game = £50
Amazon/play/gameplay price for a game = £30
Sainsbury's/Tesco Price for a game = £29.99

Gee, I wonder where their business model went wrong

The problem with pre-owned consoles and games is that it sucks the blood of developers corpses and in return the devs get fk all.

GAME and all pre-owned suppliers are vultures. Good riddance.

Where else are they closing up stores? There are a few GAME and GameStop stores here in Portugal.

doesn't surprise me. I don't even bother with game or gamestop anymore. Street figher 4 came out it was £79.99 and apart from the top 20 PS3 games chart they dont have any new PS3 games. I don't mind buying second hand but when HMV next door have the game for new at the same price its kinda a no brainer. Even asda and tesco are selling games new cheaper than game. Hope game rots in hell. same with gamestop

Originally Posted by leveller
The problem with pre-owned consoles and games is that it sucks the blood of developers corpses and in return the devs get fk all.

GAME and all pre-owned suppliers are vultures. Good riddance.

Bullshit. If there was no preowned market, the people who sell their games back to shops would have less money and would be less likely to buy a new game when it comes out, knowing they will have no way to recoup some of the £50 they're having to fork out.

GAME have fallen victim to changing markets and technology.

Their management failed to see where the market was going and failed to develop its business model. I feel sorry for the guys in the store sure, but without insulting them, they could apply their sales skills in any other shop and they should get a job relativly soon. It doesnt require a degree to sell stuff over a counter.

Don't know how they have lasted at all in the north east as grainger games have always been much cheaper. I don't think I have ever bought anything from GAME before.

Originally Posted by erratum1
Not surprised, I occasionally pop in my local in the hope their might be a bargain but the prices for pc games are always really high. I then go online and buy what I want from an etailer at half the price. Even game online is much cheaper than my local store.

sorry but some of the gaems are 4 times the price in game to other shops, i only go there if it is a last resort and the gaem i want is sold out everywhere (including online ill trying shipping from america first as its cheaper)

I never buy from the store as pc games are MUCH cheaper on their website. Only in store console prices are similar to the website's

Originally Posted by leveller
The problem with pre-owned consoles and games is that it sucks the blood of developers corpses and in return the devs get fk all.

GAME and all pre-owned suppliers are vultures. Good riddance.

Originally Posted by capnPedro
Bullshit. If there was no preowned market, the people who sell their games back to shops would have less money and would be less likely to buy a new game when it comes out, knowing they will have no way to recoup some of the £50 they're having to fork out.

That was certainly my angle during my teen years, when my game buying was at its height. If there was no opportunity to trade-in games I would've bought very few brand new titles (where everyone presumably makes the most cash) because I couldn't be sure I'd like it. A £30 game that you hate and can do nothing with is a total waste.

As others have said, many towns have a Game or two plus a Game Station - often only a few doors apart. I'm sure if they consolidated their stores, they'd save a bomb. Add to that the fact that Game are always the most expensive store, it's not surprising that they're in trouble.

I had to laugh at the quote from the Chairman about how they closed Borders in-store concessions - it's not as though they had much choice, really. Not with Borders going bust, an' all ;)

Steam did this.

Steam contributed heavily to this.

In Stockport, there is a Gamestation and a GAME next door to each other.

HA HA

said in a Nelson voice...

"Steam contributed to this"
Play and Amazon also contributed to this.
But most of all Game contributed to this - the number of times I've had a Game Voucher as a gift and held onto it for months because I couldn't bring myself to pay the inflated prices in store...! Especially as online with free delivery I could get it cheaper from Games own site if they only accepted their own vouchers! And their PC stock was laughable.
Still there was always a long line of console jockeys waiting to spend £50 a time in my local one so it's not like they weren't selling anything.

Indeed, it's ridiculous the number of stores GAME have open, it's no suprise they're gonna have to shut some of them down. Just near me there's two virtually next to each other in the Manchester Arndale Centre and another two within spitting distance in the Trafford Centre, with a further stand in Selfridges.

Have had 1 or 2 bargins in game (very rarely) but more often or not it's cheaper online or in supermarkets.

Originally Posted by capnPedro
Bullshit. If there was no preowned market, the people who sell their games back to shops would have less money and would be less likely to buy a new game when it comes out, knowing they will have no way to recoup some of the £50 they're having to fork out.

Yeah, seems like easy maths doesn't it.

Now count how many times trade-ins get re-sold and re-sold and re-sold with none of that money going to pubs and devs, and now re-do your maths.

There are children crying in the Steam forums as well, suggesting ideas to introduce digital trade-ins on Steam because they wan't brand new games at cheap prices. So to quote my response to the most recent one in there:

"If people think, and I mean really think about a digital trade-in/pre-owned system, it makes absolutely no sense apart from to those who want cheap games.

Here is a much better option:

Release month : game costs £29.99
2 months later : game costs £24.99
4 months later : game costs £19.99
6 months later : game costs £14.99
12 months later : game costs £9.99
24 months later : game costs £4.99

This way you hit everyones price-point and everyone is happy. Except all those who want brand new games for cheap."

Of course, it was a quick response and the months and prices need researching properly. Trade-ins have always and will always be a way for retail to squeeze as much money out of 1 item, re-sold as many times as possible.

I'm not surprised. Everything seems to be moving towards online retailing. I do still buy from Game occasionally but when I do it's via their online service. I can't remember the last time I walked into any shop to buy a game.

Originally Posted by badders
Not surprised TBH - in Basildon town centre there's 2 game Stores and a Gamestation, all within 2 minutes walk of eachother - that's got to be a fairly heavy overhead.
Prices are always insane for any new releases, and instantly undercut by either the ease of Digital Distribution (at pretty much the same price point) or Supermarkets running games as loss leaders.

Those 2 stores in Bas are a joke. 1 is pretty much 360 only, with half the store covered in green boxes and the other has more DS and Wii space than anything else. The PC sections have practically disappeared over the years aswell.

Gamestation isn't any better really.


I wont miss GAME if they vanished completely.

What I have noticed with these types of shops is you couldnt ever find what ever branded console accessories, you would always have to choose their own branded or third party stuff, so in the end I would order on line. Going to the shops would be good to have a look and if you wanted something go order it on line, I can wait.

Originally Posted by leveller
The problem with pre-owned consoles and games is that it sucks the blood of developers corpses and in return the devs get fk all.

GAME and all pre-owned suppliers are vultures. Good riddance.

And piracy doesn't? There's a proportionate difference imo.

/can of worms

/runs away

good
i am glad

i sent a game in for a refund at their online store [unopened]

they took FOUR WEEKS to book it in. didnt reply to a single one of my 14 emails

and then guess what they did. sent the game back to me even though it was down for a refund.

idiots, deserve to suffer financial loss. the worst customer service i have ever experienced
and from a complany i used to have a lot of faith in

i know that at bluewater they have 2 stores right next to each other, and in both you get maybe one coloum of pc games in each store, compared to the miles of other games, inflated prices + little selection = fail.

although i do still prefer the buy it and have it in your hands approach.

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi
And piracy doesn't? There's a proportionate difference imo.

/can of worms

/runs away

I never suggested piracy didn't!

... of which I am equally anti. Of course the problem occurs that once piracy and pre-owned have been killed, then Activision still won't reduce their prices and people will have to resort to burglaries to get their hands on Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in any sort of reasonable timeframe. ;)

I think they just need to be competitive, a sale at a small profit is still a sale, this is an example of when a company name is too big for its own good....

Everything they sell in store is nearly always RRP, anyone can undercut that....

There will always be a market for traditional boxed copies - you just need to adapt your business model to survive. Honestly, we have GAME stores here in Australia and i think I've only ever bought 1 or 2 games from them. They just aren't competitive enough price wise.

Originally Posted by leveller
Yeah, seems like easy maths doesn't it.

Now count how many times trade-ins get re-sold and re-sold and re-sold with none of that money going to pubs and devs, and now re-do your maths.

How many other markets get a cut when products get sold second hand?

when you buy a secondhand car, should the manufacturer get a cut?
when you buy a secondhand laptop, should the manufacturer get a cut?
when you buy a secondhand <anything>, should the manufacturer get a cut?

Why is it for okay for everything else except games?

They should stop whining and demanding special treatment IMHO

Originally Posted by badders
Not surprised TBH - in Basildon town centre there's 2 game Stores and a Gamestation, all within 2 minutes walk of eachother - that's got to be a fairly heavy overhead.

+1

Seems any town of reasonable size has at least 2 game stores from the time when they brought out competitors

Originally Posted by leveller
I never suggested piracy didn't!

... of which I am equally anti. Of course the problem occurs that once piracy and pre-owned have been killed, then Activision still won't reduce their prices and people will have to resort to burglaries to get their hands on Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in any sort of reasonable timeframe. ;)

I know I just like opening that can muahahahaha

Game have high prices and a poor selection.

I usually go to HMV.

In my city we have two Game stores within 15minutes walk of each other and a Gamestation in the middle. One of the Game stores used to be quite large on two floors but it was closed and moved to a smaller store that focuses more on console games. I miss the larger Game store as most of the 1st floor was full of PC games and they seemed to stock almost all available PC games. Now it's just whatevers in the chart and crappy budget games :(

These days I buy a lot of games from Steam due to convenience and cost, but I do miss the joy of going to a decent games shop and bringing home a game in a case with DVDs.

Game use to be alright when looking for a bargin but it seems that there pricing is way off than what it use to be.

I have never bought a new release from game as the price is way over the top but always use to able to find a bargin somewhere.

I can understand there overheads are way more exspensive than the likes of play/amazon, but if you want to survive in the current climate you beter off competing and selling something for less rather than nothing at.

Steam is awesome and hope they can keep providing decent prices in the sales they do.

What if steam did a Pre-Owned Market? Sell your games to another person at a lower price and steam take 20% of that money. Then you can use the rest a a discount on other games. Would be popular I reckon. Just automate the account to account transfer system. Would it be open to abuse? Maybe if an account was hacked. Maybe Email Confirmation?
What do you all think?

Originally Posted by Unicorn
Steam did this.

Steam contributed heavily to this.

I dont think steam would have affected game too much. Games PC choices are an absolute joke. They are 95% console stores.

Originally Posted by Unicorn
Steam did this.

Steam contributed heavily to this.

Ha I think you severely overestimate the amount GAME gets from selling PC games its all about the 360 and Wii and games being much cheaper on Amazon Play etc PC DD is merely a small drop for them.

Originally Posted by Madness_3d
What if steam did a Pre-Owned Market? Sell your games to another person at a lower price and steam take 20% of that money. Then you can use the rest a a discount on other games. Would be popular I reckon. Just automate the account to account transfer system. Would it be open to abuse? Maybe if an account was hacked. Maybe Email Confirmation?
What do you all think?

I'd prefer just being able to gift games away rather than sell them even if its just to get alot of the rubbish off my account. I doubt Valve will ever bother with this though they seem to be doing just fine on the current model.

hmm may see if i can pick up pokemon SS on th e cheap next week

Originally Posted by leveller

Quote:

Originally Posted by capnPedro
Bullshit. If there was no preowned market, the people who sell their games back to shops would have less money and would be less likely to buy a new game when it comes out, knowing they will have no way to recoup some of the £50 they're having to fork out.

Yeah, seems like easy maths doesn't it.

Now count how many times trade-ins get re-sold and re-sold and re-sold with none of that money going to pubs and devs, and now re-do your maths.

There are children crying in the Steam forums as well, suggesting ideas to introduce digital trade-ins on Steam because they wan't brand new games at cheap prices. So to quote my response to the most recent one in there:

"If people think, and I mean really think about a digital trade-in/pre-owned system, it makes absolutely no sense apart from to those who want cheap games.

Here is a much better option:

Release month : game costs £29.99
2 months later : game costs £24.99
4 months later : game costs £19.99
6 months later : game costs £14.99
12 months later : game costs £9.99
24 months later : game costs £4.99

This way you hit everyones price-point and everyone is happy. Except all those who want brand new games for cheap."

Of course, it was a quick response and the months and prices need researching properly. Trade-ins have always and will always be a way for retail to squeeze as much money out of 1 item, re-sold as many times as possible.

You sir, are on crack.

Computer exchange seem to have a big chunk of the town centre pre-owned market too, every time i go in there are always queues of people selling/part exchanging games. I assume that you could also trade in old laptops, phones, cameras etc and put that towards new games too.

Mmm, closing down sales...

Mind you, I'm not suprised they're having to shut stores - where I live there are two stores and a concession!

Still, they sell bugger all PC games anyway so bollocks to them.

Seems that the multiple store thing is pretty common, then. There's two in my local shopping centre, one directly above the other...

Game just had too many shops, esp considering the bulk of what they sell is just games thus they've no other markets and get hurt badly.

As for Steam I'm not sure why so many people use it in the UK but at the same time talk about rip off games since for all new releases Steam is always one of the more expensive places to purchase a game.

Originally Posted by badders
Supermarkets running games as loss leaders.

Sorry, supermarkets don't sell at a loss.... thanks

I do like Game, and having come close more than a couple of times to being made redundant I really feel for the staff laid off, it's a gut wrenching feeling when you're not sure what's happening to your security. The problem they have now is because histroically they have always been very expensive nobody bothers looking in there now. Honestly if I'm buying a game I'll go on play.com/steam or ebay for older stuff. Their prices aren't too bad anymore but they've made people form habits that are difficult to break. Granted if I'm making a big purchase like a console I'll go to Game for the points and peace of mind that I don't have to post it off if it catches fire. Never liked gamestation, the one in town smells funny and I'm not too sure if it's the customers or the staff :S

I have only bought from their stores a few times only because I couldn't find what I was looking for elsewhere.

'Sometimes' I had managed to get some excellent pre-order deals from their online store.

I hope they don't close my local store, games are usually overpriced but there's the odd bargain to be had and I like to drop in when being dragged out shopping with the family.

Originally Posted by fev
Sorry, supermarkets don't sell at a loss.... thanks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loss_leaders

I really think you need to retake that business GCSE you took.

Back on topic, GAME have dug their own grave. They thought that they could easily cash in on the rise in popularity of games and they would just sell themselves. Online etailing has crushed them and digital distribution means their PC game sales must have tanked. Plenty of times I've gone into GAME looking to be tempted by they sell stuff like Napoleon: Total War for £35 and Amazon was selling it for £17.99....

One time I preordered World in Conflict in a GAME store after seeing it on their website for £20. When I went to collect it they wanted £30 for it. Wouldn't even price match their own website...
You don't always get good preorder deals with them.

Originally Posted by Ph4ZeD
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loss_leaders

I really think you need to retake that business GCSE you took.

Hurr hurr hurr

x-x

I live in belfast....and the game stores are bad over here too,two game stores are a stone throw away from each other (idiots) most of the time very little stock for the pcs maybe one or two rows and thats it pricing is sometimes away off one game on a shelf is £29.99 and a couple boxes down the same game is £19.99!!! .

i know "digital" distribution is now the future,i rather go to the shop and buy the DVD instead and chat with staff and fellow customers about the latest releases and hardware and stuff. You do not get that anymore,its give us your money and go....

Originally Posted by fev

Quote:

Originally Posted by badders
Supermarkets running games as loss leaders.

Sorry, supermarkets don't sell at a loss.... thanks

You're quite right, *MAYBE* they don't. Sainsbury's, for example, sold MW2 for £26 on release day (console), that must be VERY close to margin to not really make a difference. So sure you're not making a loss, but you're not really making a profit either.

That brings me to your point.

Originally Posted by fev
removed at request

I think you are more interested in market share than anything else. Typical generalist retailer. Find a market and dominate it.

Hey when Tesco posts a profit of £3,000,000,000.00 for ONE year you get the picture that making a huge margin is NOT what the supermarkets are about. On average £1 of every £7 we spend goes to Tesco!

Most of you seem to want your games for as cheap as you can get them, fine, they've just become a tin of beans.

How many brands of beans can you get at your local supermarket?

I asked the people on TV about this, they said it was the pirates and that they even downloaded a car!

Originally Posted by Zut
Game have high prices and a poor selection.

I usually go to HMV.

Well my other half bought me Just Cause 2 (as a gift) from my local GAME store and she paid £34.99 for it (£10 more than it is on their website online!) but I got some satisfaction out of it knowing that yet another store might not get shut down!

As for HMV, some of their PC prices AND console prices are VERY high, in many cases just as high as GAME stores! So to say "I usually go to HMV" means nothing........

Originally Posted by fev
removed at request....

So when the British Medical Association asked the big supermarkets to stop loss leading on Alcohol promotions, and the supermarkets said no, that wasn't loss leading? Why would the supermarkets say "no" rather than "we don't loss lead"?

So when all the supermarkets were selling the latest Fifa at £19.99, they weren't loss leading?

You really must have your head screwed on wrong if you think the big supermarkets don't loss lead, because everyone knows they do.

EDIT: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7131198.stm - hmm, funny because the government thinks they loss lead, and again Tesco don't deny it. But supermarkets don't sell anything below cost according to you, right?

Below is a price comparison taken on Modern Warfare 2 today, just now. Not much in it these days.

I just don't trust the comment from the supermarkets "We don't loss lead" on release day.

Amazon (Online)

MW2 - PS3 £39.00
MW2 - XBOX £27.98

Asda (Online)

MW2 - PS3 £39.00
MW2 - XBOX £42.71
MW2 - XBOX £54.99 (WTF?) - Two listings, can I buy the one at RRP please.

GAME (Online)

MW2 - PS3 £37.99 (out of stock)
MW2 - XBOX £27.98
MW2 - XBOX £27.98 (with Gamerpics)

HVM (Online)

Mw2 - PS3 £39.98
MW2 - XBOX £44.99

The Hut

MW2 - PS3 £34.93
MW2 - XBOX £34.93

Morrisons

Gave up trying to get prices, there website isn't that user friendly.

Play (Online)

MW2 - PS3 £39.99
MW2 - XBOX £39.99

Sainsbury's (Online)

MW2 - PS3 £39.99
MW2 - XBOX360 £39.99

Tesco (Online)

MW2 - PS3 £42.80
MW2 - XBOX 360 Discontinued (WTF?)

Zazzi (Online)

MW2 - PS3 £39.95
MW2 - PS3 £54.99 (WTF?) - Two listings AGAIN!!
MW2 - XBOX £37.95
MW2 - XBOX £54.99 (WTF?) - Two listings AGAIN!!

Originally Posted by leveller
Release month : game costs £29.99
2 months later : game costs £24.99
4 months later : game costs £19.99
6 months later : game costs £14.99
12 months later : game costs £9.99
24 months later : game costs £4.99

It would be great if it went like that leveller, everyone (devs, pubs, gamers & cag's) win :).

I never liked the fact game opens sealed games, put the disc in the manual & bung them into draws & charge as much as legally possible for new games, good chance you will buy a new game from them & it could be scratched, you keep it in mint condition other than the scratch they gave it which devalues it for me & believe they should be classed as 2nd hand games, if I'm buying a new game I want it sealed (not tampered with) & competitively priced else there is no way I would buy from them.

Games online store is fine though, all games have been sealed as they should be, I have had many pre-orders a couple of days before release, never later than. Play on the other hand is garbage with pre-orders because they are not based on mainland uk so deliverys take longer & often miss release dates.

And anyway, all high street game stores seem to have an abysmal pc section these days that can make you feel like an oddball nerd lol, it's all about the consoles.

It would be great to buy straight from the publishers at much lower prices, but looking at ea's dd site they are overcharging, should be much cheaper because there are no other overheads, so it's steam or similar & online retailers FTW :D.

Tbh I get most new releases from supermarkets as they are 10-20 pound less.

Pc games are just not there in game and that's it's problem

I don't buy many console games. Prefer to rent from
boomerang, complete send back repeat. Last game I brought was new final fantasy limited edition

Originally Posted by Ph4ZeD
So when the British Medical Association asked the big supermarkets to stop loss leading on Alcohol promotions, and the supermarkets said no, that wasn't loss leading? Why would the supermarkets say "no" rather than "we don't loss lead"?

So when all the supermarkets were selling the latest Fifa at £19.99, they weren't loss leading?

You really must have your head screwed on wrong if you think the big supermarkets don't loss lead, because everyone knows they do.

EDIT: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7131198.stm - hmm, funny because the government thinks they loss lead, and again Tesco don't deny it. But supermarkets don't sell anything below cost according to you, right?

What has how supermarkets sell alcohol got to do with whether or not they loss lead on games? I think it was fairly obvious that fev was talking about the situation only with regards to how games are sold, not what other departments get upto or whether they loss lead the products they are responsible for.

When I used to work for Game, several years ago now and I believe this has nothing to do with digital distribution, PC game sales make up a tiny fraction of games in store sales, they have been steadily dropping the PC for years, effectively only selling new releases.

When Martin Long took over as CEO in Feb 04, the whole ethos of the company changed to being about maximum margins. They removed the lowest price guarantee from the price stickers, and the posters around the store. The policy still exists but there's no advertising for it. They also removed the 10 returns policy because they believed it was cutting into profits, what they failed to realise is that this was the only reason a lot of people shopped at Game, fair enough some people abused the system, but the majority didn't.

Wholesale price was normally £20-£24 for a new release console title, retailing at £39.99, if you take the VAT of that leaves £9-£13 in Gross profit. Now Game are a lot bigger now so probably get a better deal, as would the super markets I imagine. This means there's a broad scope of pricing before its making a loss.

Also I'd like to point out that most of the own brand stuff costs Game less than £1 to make, have shipped from China to the store.

x-x

I hope they dont close the branch on tottenham court road - they had some fit bird working there last time I bought a game & it would be a shame if a hotty such as her will be thrown back out in the the sea of dispear otherwise known as unemployment

Originally Posted by fev
Ph4ZeD - I only deal with Gaming. Beers Wines & Spirits isn't my bag, gladly consume... don't buy.

Fifa 10 was £25 on launch, did it make a profit... I'm not going to say

Can I just ask a question of the games buyer for Tesco.

You are currently more expensive than GAME on some items online at the moment.

If you can get *SUCH* good deals all the time because of your enormous buying power and great relationships with the publishers.

Why don't you sell games at £25 all the time?

If your margin is sufficient at release day to turn a good profit you could do it ALL the time surely?

x-x

Isn't the idea to encourage consumers to change their shopping habits, i.e. decrease prices on items enticing consumers to change where they shop (in this case from Game to Tesco), and then slowly increase prices?

like a few people have mentioned, where i live there are two different branches of game AND a gamestation, all within a couple of minutes of each other. two of them are almost next door to each other. it's insane.

i'd be a bit disappointed if the gamestation ever closed but i don't think i could care less if both of the game's disappeared. i've had nothing but bad experiences in both of them. not that it matters, i can't remember the last time i didn't buy a game from tesco or off the internet.

Originally Posted by Neat69
When I used to work for Game, several years ago now and I believe this has nothing to do with digital distribution, PC game sales make up a tiny fraction of games in store sales, they have been steadily dropping the PC for years, effectively only selling new releases.


Wholesale price was normally £20-£24 for a new release console title, retailing at £39.99, if you take the VAT of that leaves £9-£13 in Gross profit. Now Game are a lot bigger now so probably get a better deal, as would the super markets I imagine. This means there's a broad scope of pricing before its making a loss.

Too true, Game has been reducing its PC Games section heavily in the stores over the last few years, online they still have quite a lot of PC Games though.

Maybe, but they often sell stuff cheaper on their own website than in stores and a warehouse somewhere in the wilderness is just going to be much cheaper than a retail store in a city center (often they even have multiple in walking distance of each other), profit margins are bound to be higher if they sell more stuff online compared to retail.

Originally Posted by cyrilthefish
How many other markets get a cut when products get sold second hand?

when you buy a secondhand car, should the manufacturer get a cut?
when you buy a secondhand laptop, should the manufacturer get a cut?
when you buy a secondhand <anything>, should the manufacturer get a cut?

Why is it for okay for everything else except games?

Good points.

(You could also add second hand books and second hand clothes.)

However, I think games publishers make a big issue out of the second hand and third hand game market because it's so huge.

When a new Honda Civic Type R is first unleashed by the manufacturer onto the road, how many years would you be waiting to see a significant second hand market for these cars?

What about a second hand laptop? It's specs are probably old by the time it is sold on by the owner.

Compare all of those examples to the example of a dedicated enthusiastic gamer who buys a new console game on release day, clocks it within 2 days, gets bored and sells it on to the second hand market. 'Sometimes' you may have the same game sold around 5 times within a few months.

Whether the publishers are right or wrong to make an issue over the 'second hand' games market, ANY publisher will be tempted to look for ways to tap into that enormous market.

MW2 - PS3 £39.95
MW2 - PS3 £54.99 (WTF?) - Two listings AGAIN!!
MW2 - XBOX £37.95
MW2 - XBOX £54.99 (WTF?) - Two listings AGAIN!![/QUOTE]

There are two listings each as there are the normal and limited editions.

Anyway, Game bought Gamestation and then decided to do all the half decent deals through Gamestation and hike up all the prices in Game. I'm a console as well as a pc gamer and Game's second hand prices are normally higher than the brand new prices as one of the staff near me in Mansfield said "most people walk straight past the new games and go to the used section thinking they're gonna get a bargain but we have to put the prices up to cope with demand". I have a Game, GameStation, Blockbuster, WH Smiths, Tesco, HMV and three indepentant game stores all within Mansfield town centre, and Game is always £5 -£25 more expensive than the rest. In Gamestation, Bioshock was on their 3 for £30 deal but was being sold at £25 on it's own at Game. I bet they'll be bust inside three years unless they invest in online distribution and Downloads services soon.

As a PC gamer:

GAME does not cater for PC games. Less than 5% of the space is for PC games and out of that 99% are old, unpopular or overpriced.

GAME store seems unwelcoming with the bombardment of too many advertisements of "trade-in" and other crap that I care not about.

When I can buy a new copy of Pro Evo Soccer, just as an example, on the X-box for £14 from just about anywhere, and compare that to the same game, but second hand and £24 in Game, is it any wonder they're struggling