The big? game store in the UK happens to be called GAME and they also own Gamestation and did own Gameplay.co.uk which this week was shut down. Turns out they can't afford to stock Mass Effect 3 this week and look to lose a few million in profit from this. Are we about to see them go bust? http://www.computerandvideogames.com/337724/game-wont-be-selling-mass-effect-3/ http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/02/analyst-calculates-games-loss-from-not-stocking-mass-effect-3/ It says that they won't be stocking any EA games in March. I have been saying for a while that when you go into one of these stores now they only have a few new releases and everything else is massively overpriced second hand games. They don't even bother to stock games that are 2 or 3 months old anymore, just the new stuff and MW3 + BF3. Is the writing on the wall? That would be a lot of people losing their jobs and would be a massive shame for them. I used to really like Gamestation before GAME took over, they had good stores, good staff and good stock. It would be nice to think someone could buy out the Gamestation name and return it to its glory days but I expect the industry is too far gone for that to happen, no one buys games in shops anymore, it costs too much. GAME on the other hand can go to hell, never liked them even in the EB days. EDIT: There is more to this story, Ubisoft Vita games AND Nintendo published games (such as Mario Party 9 this week) are not being stocked either, things are really going wrong it seems.
I'm surprised that any brick and mortar places can compete with the likes of Amazon and Steam. The only people I know of who still shop at Gamestop are console gaming Joe Sixpacks who don't know any better.
It was inevitable in the long. GAME are a shambles and either rip you off or charge over the odds. Once they took over Gamestation that future was there's too. Gamestation was awesome before GAME took over and ruined them.
Apparently they're really discounting stuff at the moment; even had 320gb PS3s in-store for £99 but they're going fast. They need £6 million for their quarterly rent so they're really going for it. Think the writing's on the wall now.
Dang. I don't want to buy my controllers online, the last one I got was shit. I reckon it had been sitting around ceasing up since 2009.
Re: Re: GAME/Gamestation in trouble? Really? I went in about 2 hours ago when I saw the sale signs. Nothing special and the same crap selection. Would have picked one up at £99 for a bit of profit.
Things are getting worse. When the 600 stores are forced to close this isn't going to help employment numbers at all. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17455742
The last two games I went into game to buy (MGS HD and Street Fighter X TEKKEN) because they claimed they'd sold out, more like they never got any in in the first place. I'd heard they couldn't afford to stock ME3. And now this, it's game set and match or game and game shops in general.
They aren't getting any EA games, any Nintendo published games, an Ubisoft Vita games. This is a whole lot worse than just ME3.
Well when you consider it would take me a good ten minutes to wander there and then ten minutes back if I wanted to waste the same amount of time I suppose I would have to go to the shop opposite.... Which just happens to be Ann Summers......
The page has been updated... Should we start the Bananarama rendition now or is that cruel? Don't like GAME or anything it does but feel sorry for the staff.
Have they started shutting down they're stores now? If not, you best start using your saved points before they do.
If they go into administration I reckon you will probably find that all points and gift vouchers will become null and void.
It's official. Went into Administration this morning. I only buy my games from the indie stores like Grainger Games anyway but still, be weird to see all those empty shops if they don't find a buyer..
Yeah I heard that they couldn't find the £21Million for their rent bill yesterday so it was inevitable that this would happen today. Might be worth going in over the next few days, see if they start selling off stock at crazy prices. I saw something last week that said game sales now made more money in the UK than DVD/Blu ray sales so it isn't the industry that is the problem.