News - GAME announces that it must close 60 stores in the UK by 2013

[AGTDenton]

Personally I think they are going the way of HMV. If either are here in 12 months I'll be amazed. HMV have skillfully managed to get loans each time they cry but I'm not so sure they'll get any more. GAME and HMV, as has been pointed out already, should offer digital purchases & downloads in store for tablets, phones etc... covering music, films and games. Have a few kiosks in there so customers can "plug, buy and download".

Supermarkets have adapted to self service kiosks, they should follow suit, it would help keep the high st. open a bit longer.

[Unique]

Personally I think they are going the way of HMV. If either are here in 12 months I'll be amazed. HMV have skillfully managed to get loans each time they cry but I'm not so sure they'll get any more. GAME and HMV, as has been pointed out already, should offer digital purchases & downloads in store for tablets, phones etc... covering music, films and games. Have a few kiosks in there so customers can "plug, buy and download".

Supermarkets have adapted to self service kiosks, they should follow suit, it would help keep the high st. open a bit longer.

i don't think the kiosks are a good idea. how many people aren't able to download stuff at home that want to go to the hassle of going into town to go to a shop to download something, and then go back home again. you could do that in an internet cafe or somewhere else. it sounds like a crazy idea to me. maybe 10 years ago you wouldn't expect someone to download 4gb, but these days it takes about 10 minutes to half an hour on most ISP's. if you are out in the sticks with a crap connection you are likely to be more further away from a store. so by the time you've got to the store and back you still could have downloaded on a 2mb line

[j.o.s.h.1408]

GAME hardly sells any pc games either!

[Scribe]

They also brought out electronics boutique 10 or so years ago. Which is where most of there multiple stores came from.

Other way around, eb brought out game and assumed their branding.

[Pob255]

1) I got told (by someone in GAME) that Gamestation was their "budget" brand - more focussed on pre-owned. Certainly seems to be true to an extent from what I've seen - GAME seem to get the prime locations. That said more than one of each per town seems excessive.
3) That's exactly what I liked about my (now-closed) GAME - because I was a "regular" they'd often suggest a cheaper option, (e.g. a barely used "pre-owned" copy at a tenner less). Good to see that - with the transfer of staff - that the local Gamestation is continuing that tradition.

They turned gamestaion into there budget brand after they bought them out, to try to create a reason for having so many shops close together.
The real reason is that game actively chased gamestation custom, opening stores as close as possible to take their trade and force the buyout.
Then they where left with all these stores while the very nature of computer game sales was changing, followed by a general collapse in the high street retail market . . .

Don't think the staff where suggesting "pre-owned" titles out of the goodness of their heart or to give you a better deal, the staff are instructed to do that because GAME makes a good chunk more profit on "pre-owned" titles than on new copies.

I'm not a fan of the GAME group as they've set out to try to corner the market and become the single dominate player in UK high street games retail, apart from a few surviving independent
But at the same time it's not a good sign that they are having issues, without them the supermarkets would become the main store retailers and to them games, like books, are more of an after thought, with the range of titles being frankly and I frankly cannot see anything good coming out of the supermarkets being the only major retailers of games.
Luckily I think the growth of e-tailers and digital downloads is going to become the major player not store retail.

[OilSheikh]

So, does this mean both GAME and GAMESTATION will be gone ?

[Rob_B]

Assuming no one buys them out then probably yes.

[crossy]

GAME hardly sells any pc games either!

One thing I've noticed about this is that it's very dependent on the individual store - some I've been to (e.g. my new "local" one) have their top ten and that's about it. But go to the one in the next town and they've got a fair selection - at least the same top ten plus a goodly selection of older and "classic" titles.

I happened to comment on the PC paucity and was told by one of the staff that this was down to demand (or lack thereof) - him saying that PC folks tend to use Origin, Steam, etc these days rather than buy boxes. Anyone going to disagree with this assessment?

Don't think the staff where suggesting "pre-owned" titles out of the goodness of their heart or to give you a better deal, the staff are instructed to do that because GAME makes a good chunk more profit on "pre-owned" titles than on new copies.

Personally I don't care whether they make £10 or 10p on pre-owned titles. From my (admittedly selfish) perspective, if I can get the same game "experience" for less money then that's a result in my book.

Although, I've more or less transferred my buying from GAME to Gamestation - mainly because I want to support (in some small way) local stores. I get very worried by the amount of market power that supermarkets have these days.

[Rob_B]

Although, I've more or less transferred my buying from GAME to Gamestation - mainly because I want to support (in some small way) local stores. I get very worried by the amount of market power that supermarkets have these days.

Does anyone else want to tell him or should I break the news?...

[crossy]

Does anyone else want to tell him or should I break the news?...

I know that they're in the same group. The point I was trying to make (badly - I need more coffee in the morning) was that because of GAME's management I no longer have a "local" GAME store, but I do have a Gamestation.

And at the risk of being accused of staggering naivety I prefer to deal with a game specialist, rather than just slap the latest title in the basket with the bread and beans.

That said, if GAME decide to "rationalise" further by closing the local Gamestation too, then as far as I'm concerned they can take a flying leap off of a short pier.

[aidanjt]

Bricks and mortar will eventually go the way of the dodo, even grocers will likely go that way, perhaps later as older generations die off and old habits go with them. But it is inevitable none the less.

[Jasp]

Word on the grapevine is that capcom are stopping suppling games also and the spring clearance is a last ditch effort.

[Terbinator]

Word on the grapevine is that capcom are stopping suppling games also and the spring clearance is a last ditch effort.

Yep.

Whilst its sad Game/Gametation's fate seems inevitable (including their employees), hopefully HMV will step into the fray in a meaningful way.

[KeyboardDemon]

Game only pay people £24 for their (complete) Wii consoles. They then sell them for much, much more. How can ruthless business tactics like that make a loss??

What would you consider to be a more reasonable price for a pre-owned Wii?

They sell a pre-owned Wii for £39.99 which seems to work in the same way as the price they buy a pre-owned game for and the price they sell it for. Lets not forget that if a branch buy a pre-owned item at £24 and six months later the price drops to £20 that store will take a £4 hit on the value of the item if it hadn't sold before that time.

[abaxas]

How many people do you think sell them a complete Wii console @ £24?

Lots.

It's easy and they get their cannabis money paid straight into their hand.

[abaxas]

Bricks and mortar will eventually go the way of the dodo, even grocers will likely go that way, perhaps later as older generations die off and old habits go with them. But it is inevitable none the less.

There has been a bit of a resurgence in green grocers. Products is cheaper and better quality than the supermarkets.

There are people who like veggies that taste of something other than water.