Do you care if Gamestop stays in business?

I'm rooting for Gamestop to stick around. But it seems like every year sales aren't good. Even Reggie left the Board of Directors recently. Still, I like having a dedicated game store. I feel like that's becoming a rarity these days. Hopefully they can turn it around. I'm enjoying my Pro membership which gives me $5 a month and also Game Informer. They've been getting some of my business lately. Well anyway.

What do you think, GD? Do you care if Gamestop stays in business?

Nope, I'm on PC. They offer little to nothing for me. With that said, they do seem to offer a decent service for those that do use them. Though at the same time I've heard many bad stories about people getting new games that were opened, and frankly their store-credit-for-used-games system is pretty bad.

I've got a Fry's Electronics near me should I feel the need for hardware shopping and I gave up physical media about 17 years ago.

EB Games is what he have here, though I could have sworn Gamestop did exist before it. (Australia)

Couldn't care less. I buy mainly off of Amazon and JB Hi-Fi which is basically like Best Buy. Hardly ever buy physical media in-store anymore. Plus, EB Games is overpriced to begin with.

Yeah I would prefer that they stick around. I don’t frequent my EB Games store to often but being someone who prefers to get their games on a physical format having a dedicated game store that deals in that is something that I would like to have available.

No, I really don't care. Their prices are mostly terrible for used games. I also hate how they treat their workers.

The more places I can buy he's the better, so yeah hopefully they stick around. I've gotten some killer deals from them over the years, don't want that to stop.

@mrbojangles25: I hate to be the one to tell you this, but Fry's went under a few weeks back. Not even a store closing sale, they just Thanos snapped themselves.

I got weirdly sad about it.

I appreciate smaller, retro games shops.

Gamestop doesn't have anything to interest me.

Nope, since I'm not an American and GameStop never ever ever had any branches or agencies in my country.

I never shop there but I still care I don't want physical copies to ever die out. I know there's other stores that carry physical games but the death of Gamestop would really be a huge blow to physical gaming.

GS is a typical double edged sword. Is everything about it bad? No. While it does have some positives the negatives seem to be given center stage and maybe rightfully so. A big problem when it comes to the chain is that it can not be run completely in the mindset of a gamer nor completely in the mindset of big business. The solution is somewhere in the middle but it seems to be a pipe dream.

Now that Gamestop will start selling PC components and GPUs, I don't see them going out of business since PC gaming is way more popular than ever before. I don't wanna see places like Gamestop leaving as I hate seeing unemployment and everyone needs a job. That said, I rarely go to Gamestop if I needed something badly and they aren't that bad depending where you actually go.

That's too bad. I know their owner a few years bad was caught up in some shady stuff, I wonder if this was fallout from that.

Too bad. There was something really great about just walking around inside a giant warehouse of electronics. Plucking a motherboard off the shelf or finding outdated hardware somehow just sitting there or finding the right kind of speaker wire and so on.

Radio Shacks (at least near me) are also out of business. All we got left in my area are Best Buy's :(

@mrbojangles25: I’d hate to see the end of physical shops, but It’s the sad reality of the way people purchase games....GameStop has become outdated and basically obsolete.

They can’t compete with online stores price wise, and even the big retailers have more buying power than gs.

Haven’t been in one for around 3 years now.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.tweaktown.com/news/78397/gamestop-begins-selling-pc-hardware-lists-geforce-rtx-30-series-cards/amp.htm

Wonder if PC gamers will care.

Nah, not really. I didn't buy my PC games from Gamestop when they c arried them, and I never bought my hardware from Fry's and Best Buy. Nothing's changed.

We'll see if anything really comes if this, I don't imagine it will.

I mean, what's their supply going to be? Do they have some special deal where they'll get more units? How much are they paying for that special deal, and how much will we pay for that in turn?

The controversy might have contributed, but I think their business model really wasn't working anymore. They were know for terrible service, but you went anyway because of good prices and selection. But then online retailers brought terrible service with good prices and selection to the comfort of your own home. Fry's needed to give people a new reason to show up, but never really did.

I too would often wander the shelves, just to see if I would happen upon anything interesting. Even when I didn't, it would still be kind of a relaxing experience.

What sucks is I had recently started going there more often. When Toys R Us went under, Fry's became one of the better toy retailers in the area. My girls loved it. Last thing I bought there was a couple kites for them, and there was a pretty wide selection to choose from.

No. The stores I've been to have half games and half bobble-head-shit-things. Waste of space, inefficient. I prefer local shops that sell current and retro games. I always enjoy browsing through those shops, been awhile since Covid.

Nope. Everything they sell can be found cheaper elsewhere. And they still steal money from unknowing parents and grandmas who don't understand what things should cost, and why getting 10 bucks for trading in 10 games is a bad deal. GameStop going out of business and opening up the spot for a better store would be great for everyone.

I don't mind Gamestop at all. I've used the buy 2 get one free promotion on used games more than once and If you use the rewards card you can use points from purchases to get $50 and $25 in store credit toward anything. That's how I get a free controller every year.

Most people hate GameStop because of trade in values but they way I see it, you literally have to sign a paper saying you're okay with the price, so signing it and agreeing to the price, and then bitching about getting "screwed over" is a childish argument that doesn't hold any water. You have the option to say no, sell it on eBay for more money, or wait until you actually have the currency required for the purchase, but no.. You had to have what you wanted right then and there, agreed to take the hit, and then complained that you where conned after you agreed to the transaction.

I miss browsing, but considering I haven't been in GameStop in forever, I don't really miss it THAT much. With that said, I do know a lot of people go there simply because they don't shop online. There's a certain feeling to going into a brick and mortar store and leave with something you didn't know you'd get. I just wish the business was run much better.

@Litchie: Everything can't be found elsewhere cheaper, and if the trade in prices suck...don't trade games in there. Although I've heard of people getting some amazing trade in deals on certain days when they give you more credit for them, me I don't sell my games ever so it's a mute point.

@vfighter: they give decent prices for 1st party Nintendo games. At least $30. If you're not the type to sell it yourself, $30 is not bad.

Well I no longer reside in the U.S. but I would like for them to stick around because it supports gaming and also a good place to by used games. I remember I purchased a Gamecube from a third party and then got a ton of Gamecube games there for cheap and gave them away to some friends of mine.

I love my local game stores but if gamestops death just means less competition for them it's a slightly good thing. Don't really care much either way.

Note sure.

In Ireland Gamestop is the only game store with a street presence. Remove that and going online is the only option to buy stuff (or go to CEX for used stuff). For PC this doesn't matter but i do like physical copies of my console games where possible.

If they are getting into the PC hardware business then it could also be of interest. Here the street options for PC hardware are PC world and....er.....CEX for used hardware. otherwise online you go.

So losing what we have left of that would be bad.

On the other hand with no major power in that segment to just pull the rug under everyone else it could cause smaller independent retailers to sprout up again. There used to be quite a few small independent games shops years ago that would sell anything gaming related (oh gamesworld in waterford...i miss you :( ).

So yeah...hmm. I definitely want the option to buy games and gaming hardware locally though.

I think if EB left the market, it'd leave a big hole here. That would only leave JB really with a decent gaming range at a physical store (Big W etc have hardly anything anymore). Whilst I don't shop at EB as much as I used to, I do find their service quite good. Plus they price match & have change of mind returns.

At this point, I think my wife and I buy more merch than games from them (albeit EB Games, but same difference). So...nope.

I hope they do stick around I really do. I saw the negative news pop up about their sales and stock dropping. GameStop has been around for some time and it would be a crying shame to see them go. My question would be, how do people within the industry feel after stores in the past like EB games have closed already, do they feel like it's time to see them close or what. Having a video game oriented store should be helping the industry, but then again you can't force the sales to go up and then stay consistent.

No their business model is stupid, they should have comic bucks, Anime and so on to attract more customers