BattleMonkey
Member
The windows of my local one is covered in Xbone posters, so the store has no windows you can see through, it's just big green wall now.
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GameStop sure seems to be pushing the Xbone hard...
- Thread starter jaaz
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Uno Venova
Banned
That is interesting, both consoles were readily available on shelves but I don't retailers ever tried this hard with the WiiU.
Bingo, this is similar to the one near me too. Also has that Gamestop News video playing constantly in the background with an Xbox One Ad every other commercial and a segment dedicated to saying Xbox One way too many times.
Neuromancer
Member
I actually think December NPDs for MS will be fine, I won't be surprised if they're better than PS4 for supply reasons.
Next few months will be very interesting too.
Poor guy, haha.
IHaveCandy
Banned
It's really not a big deal. At most, he or she would just have to get approval of it. It's not some huge deal to make a sign.
Neuromancer
Member
You mean the information Microsoft themselves put out? I agree, it was ridiculous.
Edit: oh you mean stuff about crashes and things not working right? Well some of it was true, isn't the party system pretty bad?
WeAreStarStuff
Member
That is so sad; wow.
I doubt most retailers like the Nintendo home platforms. Attach rates for the Wii were pretty poor, and they're barely making anything on each console sold. Why push something that isn't worth the effort?
I just don't see the reason why Gamestop would push one system more than the other. I guess maybe it would be a good thing to have equal sales (so if the X1 isn't selling as well, they would want to bring the X1 sales up to the level of PS4, or vice versa). Since they make their money on Software. But unless you believe in some conspiracy where MS paid them money to push more, I just don't see it. This is just a case of X1 having a lot of stock, and Gamestop trying to move them.
Maybe demand isn't as high as they want, and they are seeing the consoles sit too long at their stores. *shrugs*
Maybe demand isn't as high as they want, and they are seeing the consoles sit too long at their stores. *shrugs*
I'm wondering if I was dead wrong in my prediction that Microsoft was going to dominate Sony in the US this round.
I'm seeing Xbones everywhere. Almost never see a PS4 in stock however.
The situation is giving me Wii U vibes all over again, ugh. So curious to see the drop off for all three platforms in January.
I'm seeing Xbones everywhere. Almost never see a PS4 in stock however.
The situation is giving me Wii U vibes all over again, ugh. So curious to see the drop off for all three platforms in January.
Agree
Stores need to clear inventory to order new units of whatever is selling, so they can sell that and make more money. There is nothing worse for a store than have a slow moving stock, just taking space and not making them money.
Its not like this is the first store in the world that seems to just have Xbox..boxes laying around, we have seen a dozen or so pictures of stores all across America and Europe. This has lead to "stuffing their channels" theories, but the exact same excuse was used for the Wii U last year, how Nintendo "is able to keep up with the demand". Come January and the real truth came blazing in.
The "stuffing the channels" theory is plausible but under scrutiny does not make much sense. We are suppose to believe the reason you see Xbox Ones everywhere is because MS is better able to produce more units, yet if that was the case why only launch in 13 countries this year? Why lack of even dates for second tier European countries? They were able to get 1 million sold in those 13 countries day 1. If they can produce the same, or even MORE as implied by this theory, then why not launch in even more countries than Sony?
If we are suppose to believe Sony is producing less units, then how come they can sell 1 million unites in just US + Canada on day 1? If they cannot produce as many units, Sony should have just launched in NA alone right? And unlike MS, they have a date for Japan that is in 2 months, 22th february. Surely a company that cannot keep up with demand would not just announce to launch in markets when they are behind? Yet MS is rumored to launch late 2014..
I am somewhat entertained by this "stuffing the channels" theory, when there is a far more plausible theory: The PS4 is in more demand and is selling more as we saw in november NPD, UK charts, France numbers and recent Spain numbers + the online player count in every multiplatform online game.
When stores had ghetto ass PS3 adds in 2006-2007, it was clear as daylight that they werent selling well and just wanted to get rid of the stock, but there were Sony fans who insisted on "massive demand", no different than last year with the Wii U and Nintendo "stuffing the channels".
TLDR: Stuff, also we will finally know come NPD
I expect the worldwide gap to grow pretty quickly once Sony launches in Japan. LTD numbers as of 3/31/14 would be the first big test of that theory, so hopefully both companies release them.
The Albatross
Member
If it was $400, I'd be happy to help deplete their overstock.
Friend of mine works as the assistant manager for one near me and got his old assistant managers job from a situation much like this when they were trying to move copies of Xcom, the Bureau. Granted I don't know what was on the sign and that particular employee had some issues before this situation happened, AND was an assistant manager not a manager...
My thoughts exactly.
Suzushiiro
Banned
I try not to be too much of a fanboy, but an evil part of me takes pleasure in the fact that retailers still have to tell people that they 180'd on the DRM and mandatory Kinect. Karma's a bitch, eh, MS?
Best guess would be that they overestimated XBone demand, at least moreso than they did with Wii U demand. Everyone expected that both consoles would be equally hard to find through the end of the year, so retailers probably ordered as much of both as they could.
Best guess would be that they overestimated XBone demand, at least moreso than they did with Wii U demand. Everyone expected that both consoles would be equally hard to find through the end of the year, so retailers probably ordered as much of both as they could.
Do people think that if MS can supply the US demand so amply that it might make sense for them to enter additional countries ahead of schedule?
Im not aware of the demand across all the launch countries but if those are already adequately covered then this 'oversupply' could be targeted at countries that missed Tier 1 status - when/where is the next XO launch?
Just seems silly to have such a problem when no doubt other parts of the world are frustrated in not being able to get a XO as easily
ps3ud0 8)
Im not aware of the demand across all the launch countries but if those are already adequately covered then this 'oversupply' could be targeted at countries that missed Tier 1 status - when/where is the next XO launch?
Just seems silly to have such a problem when no doubt other parts of the world are frustrated in not being able to get a XO as easily
ps3ud0 8)
Neuromancer
Member
I was wondering about this myself.
By the time MS finally gets around to the tier 2 and 3 countries, will anyone there care? Is it already too late?
BattleMonkey
Member
Besides the entire store front being plastered in green posters, it's walls of empty xbone boxes, it feels like the ps4 doesn't exist in the local gamestop.
It's a bit late to be changing launch plans, it's not a simple thing to coordinate a launch when dealing with so many stores, distributors, and unit numbers.
It's a bit late to be changing launch plans, it's not a simple thing to coordinate a launch when dealing with so many stores, distributors, and unit numbers.
TonkuySlon
Banned
Do you have a link to support your position that both are shipping even pace?
I'll wait...
Professor Renegade
Banned
It's funny, I remember someone made a thread a few months ago about some Gamestop employees giving a customer shit for pre-ordering an Xbone, though this was before they changed all the DRM issues and whatnot.
Im not saying they should do this immediately, but perhaps start to stock the US less sooner rather than later, while holding stock in readiness to launch in an additional set of countries - I cant see how, for example, the rumoured Q3 date for parts of Europe couldnt be bumped up by a quarter at least...
I dont understand the mass of logistics, but it doesnt seem impossible to contemplate such a movement starting now considering how well supply is covering demand.
ps3ud0 8)
Ha ha! Thats hilarious!
"Going for nothing! Literally nothing! Someone take them! Please!"
One gamestop employee isnt quite the same as a bunch of gamestops seeming to have xbox one plastered everywhere (unless all posters with this claim live near the game gamestop
)von Stroheim
Member
Time for a price cut! Gotta move that product!
IHaveCandy
Banned
A sign definitely wouldn't get you fired, assuming it isn't something obviously bad. I'd guess the person that got fired was somebody they've been wanting to fire for a while but needed some kind of excuse to have written down in the books.
TheOohChild
Member
It looks more like an FAQ than an advertisment
Yeah, even if MS sell more Xbox One in the US Sony will still be ahead worlwide mainly because of Japan/Europe.
MAX PAYMENT
Member
IVIEDICATED
Banned
Exactly.....They've flooded stores with units that aren't selling. Also wasn't GameStop one of their original "approved partners" to trade in games back during the DRM fiasco? Its not surprising Microsoft is (probably) paying GameStop for extra exposure in stores in an attempt to capitalize on the PS4 shortage.
The Ps4 Looks Great
Banned
What's the argument here? Gamestop wins no matter what system is selling
FranXico
Member
I bet that if both systems sell, Gamestop will win the most.
I went in during lunch since they had a sign saying their DVDs and BDs were 50% off. I saw the following, it reminded me of this thread, so I thought I'd click pictures and post them here.
They had the PS3/PS4 in the very back of the store, as far back as they could be in the shadows, and they had the Xbox 360/One right up front as soon as you walk in there in the shining light...
They had the PS3/PS4 in the very back of the store, as far back as they could be in the shadows, and they had the Xbox 360/One right up front as soon as you walk in there in the shining light...
Why do you sign all your posts?
Suzushiiro
Banned
Yeah, realistically MS will probably outsell Sony in the US due to better stock and Sony might catch up once they can keep units stocked for more than five seconds.
If the NPD for this past month comes around and shows that MS couldn't outsell Sony in the region where they're strongest despite Sony not being able to meet demand, they're probably going to go into panic mode and either drop Kinect or pull a 3DS (drop price, give early adopters free stuff to compensate.) Again, though, I don't think that's very likely.
Little Green Yoda
Member
Are we still perpetuating this myth? Isn't its tie ratio a mere game or so behind the PS3, despite many more hardware units sold?
bu-bu-but retailers knew the Wii U would flop and acted accordingly
Sony is going through a real supply and demand problem right now. From what can tell the Xbox one is in abundance and the ps4 when it does come in stock gets sold out extremely quickly. I don't think Microsoft will have better numbers in U.S but if they do it will most likely be because of not being able to meet demand.
gioGAF
Member
I have to agree with the content of these pictures. Gamestop certainly seems to be prioritizing Xbox brand sales again at this time. My local stores had x360 at the front, then as time went on, both systems had a more or less equal space (probably since MS didn't care towards the end of last gen).
The past month or so, for some magical reason, the Gamestop stores suddenly rotated all PS merchandise to the back of the store and all MS merchandise to the front of the store. There OBVIOUSLY has to be a marketing deal of some kind. Why on earth would all the managers decide to simultaneously re-organize their store layout and move one product to the back?
UberTag
Member
Nothing wrong with Microsoft having a deal with the top gaming retailer in North America.
After all, with PS4s selling as soon as they're in stock, it makes sense for GameStop to be pushing the system that they have in ample supply.
Has supply already outstripped demand for the Xbox One in the United States? Probably.
I suspect this will continue to be the case until Titanfall gets plastered all over every retailer and gaming site in the country in late February-early March.
After all, with PS4s selling as soon as they're in stock, it makes sense for GameStop to be pushing the system that they have in ample supply.
Has supply already outstripped demand for the Xbox One in the United States? Probably.
I suspect this will continue to be the case until Titanfall gets plastered all over every retailer and gaming site in the country in late February-early March.
This is a very depressing pic. At the very least for the employee.
Megatron
Member
It may not be about clearing stock, I would not be surprised to find out Microsoft is paying Gamestop a bonus to sell consoles, the more consoles they sell, the better the bonus for Gamestop (Remember consoles have no markup, so something like this is the only way Gamestop will make money on the units themselves)
I think the problem is the PS4 is supply constrained across all territories it launched in, while Microsoft is likely doubling down on the US and UK markets right now. It works fine in the short term for Microsoft meeting demand in their important markets, but when it comes to world wide I imagine Sony is going to be doing much better with regards to units sold through to consumers.
Harry Dresden
Member
They are trying to sell their stock any way possible.
Also -- With this Holiday Season passing it has now been three-years since I stepped foot in a gamestop.
Also -- With this Holiday Season passing it has now been three-years since I stepped foot in a gamestop.
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