Dr Zhivago
Member
The Game in Sheffield Fargate is closing tomorrow, so the new one will be the only one in the city centre. Guess they did learn.
Just off the top of my head, books are probably a bit easier to market as a luxury item. Books appeal to readers of all ages which helps with high-street passing trade, whereas gamers are a bit more concentrated in demographics. You have elderly readers who want physical editions with large type, and readers who value the design and typography throughout which is different to a disc in a box covered in logos. Large-format physical books for toddlers/children are expensive to post, don't have much digital competition and make great gifts for almost any child. The postage costs on a new hardback mean that buying at launch in a bookshop isn't that much more than buying online as books aren't expensive enough to hit the free delivery point on Amazon but virtually all retail games are.Ah, sorry, missed the sarcasm there.
I think the number pre-ordering games is still there (for the most part), but they're now moving to Amazon. The fluidity Amazon gives you with orders - no hassle cancellations/returns, not charging until dispatch - plus the fact that Amazon sells so much other stuff means it's becoming a one-stop shop.
Yeah, agreed, which is why I keep banging on about footfall. They don't need to make their prices as cheap as Tesco, just cheaper than they are now. Lower the prices by 4 or 5 quid, and the sheer number of people that go into the stores would (should, anyways) give an uptick in overall revenue. As it is now, I'm sure they get a lot of people going in and just walking out again empty-handed, because the prices are just a bit too much, even for the average Joe, or parent buying a Christmas present..
Game/retail game sales are a weird one, though, so you can't tell. Waterstones almost lost it when Amazon started to make it big in the UK, but they're doing really well now. Their prices on books are more expensive than online, so you'd think they'd be dead, but not a bit of it.
Amazon is the exclusive retail partner of this year's EGX, which means that attendees will be able to buy and pre-order games and hardware from Amazon at the show (other things that aren't games and hardware, like Insert Coin's fine T-shirts, will be available from other stands). For its part, Amazon will be hosting an EGX hub and giving away free tickets to up 100 Amazon customers in the run-up to the show.
Bumping the thread because this is interesting news that could point to troubles at GAME:
EGX partners with Amazon for 2016 show
This was basically GAME's turf, they had their own retail hub at EGX last year (and years prior? I forget), and now Amazon is confirmed as the exclusive retailer for the expo.
Pretty major blow.
Eurogamer were pretty pissed that Game is hosting its own event quite close to EGX and even in the same venue, so that's probably the reason.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/game...ingham-nec-just-four-weeks-before-egx/0163656
Bumping the thread because this is interesting news that could point to troubles at GAME:
EGX partners with Amazon for 2016 show
This was basically GAME's turf, they had their own retail hub at EGX last year (and years prior? I forget), and now Amazon is confirmed as the exclusive retailer for the expo.
Pretty major blow.
Eurogamer were pretty pissed that Game is hosting its own event quite close to EGX and even in the same venue, so that's probably the reason.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/game...ingham-nec-just-four-weeks-before-egx/0163656
Eurogamer were pretty pissed that Game is hosting its own event quite close to EGX and even in the same venue, so that's probably the reason.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/game...ingham-nec-just-four-weeks-before-egx/0163656
Eurogamer were pretty pissed that Game is hosting its own event quite close to EGX and even in the same venue, so that's probably the reason.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/game...ingham-nec-just-four-weeks-before-egx/0163656
Because really their presence in the retail market being confined to a small kiosk next to the DVDS and Blu-Rays in Tesco is probably not a good thing.
People buying from retail stores seems almost dead here in the uk from my perspective.
If you buy online you save £15 or more!
Who wouldn't do that?
CeX is second hand though.
Which publishers hate
There's Grainger Games, but they've been becoming more and more like Game recently - they started off a good £10 cheaper than our local Game for new releases, and that gap has slowly closed until now they're £1 cheaper at best, usually the same price.Because really their presence in the retail market being confined to a small kiosk next to the DVDS and Blu-Rays in Tesco is probably not a good thing.
Sure, but for consumers it's absolutely fine. The new copies will continue to enter the market through Tesco / Amazon / ShopTo and the like - then CeX mops it all up. Lack of competition may be a little worrying, but GAME have hardly been keeping them on their toes for the last few years anyway.
There's Grainger Games, but they've been becoming more and more like Game recently - they started off a good £10 cheaper than our local Game for new releases, and that gap has slowly closed until now they're £1 cheaper at best, usually the same price.
They've even gone down the route of stocking all manner of second hand gadgets like Game tried, going so far as to rename our local store "Trade Nation". Now it's basically a CeX that sells the odd new game at full price.
You were replying to someone who was explaining why so many publishers were throwing exclusives GAME's way - that's why.
For them it's not about competition so much as having a viable bricks & mortar retail presence. Of which GAME is the last bastion in many parts of the country.
Yeah but they haven't been exclusive for a while. Cdkeys have been selling them for about a year odd. GMG started selling them earlier this year.I just got an email from shopto that they're now selling nintendo eShop download codes - these were previously Game exclusive, right?
Nintendo's online store also had them. Very glad about this GAME and Nintendo rarely if ever discounted below eShop prices. Shopto already have done. Fire Emblem DLC is cheaper for instance.I just got an email from shopto that they're now selling nintendo eShop download codes - these were previously Game exclusive, right?
Why would EA cut ties with them?
Game were consistently cheaper than Nintendo for a long time. And you still got the Nintendo Network Premium points as well. Good times.Nintendo's online store also had them. Very glad about this GAME and Nintendo rarely if ever discounted below eShop prices. Shopto already have done. Fire Emblem DLC is cheaper for instance.
Hang on, several years ago HMV was occupying this space. And I'm not sure it's a massive blow. They just had some temp staff loitering around demo kiosks saying "do you want to pre-order it with us?"This was basically GAME's turf, they had their own retail hub at EGX last year (and years prior? I forget), and now Amazon is confirmed as the exclusive retailer for the expo.
Pretty major blow.
I just got an email from shopto that they're now selling nintendo eShop download codes - these were previously Game exclusive, right?
No idea about digital full games on the website (or Kirby), but the add-ons for Fates are available and I'm pretty sure the full game download was being sold in-store.
Looking at GAME now there are a few games that are cheaper by £2 but most are the same price. Certainly not consistently cheaper.Game were consistently cheaper than Nintendo for a long time. And you still got the Nintendo Network Premium points as well. Good times.
Cheaper on Shopto though. Don't think Nintendo have dropped GAME for digital codes though.
Cheaper on Shopto though. But yeah I don't think Nintendo have dropped GAME for digital codes though.
Looking at GAME now there are a few games that are cheaper by £2 but most are the same price. Certainly not consistently cheaper.
Indeed that is their problem their prices are insaneThe prices they charge in store are insane. It's no surprise they struggle outside of impulse buyers and non-educated ones.
At the very least they should charge the same in store as online, not £50+ for a new release.
Why would EA cut ties with them?
Great find!
So here's the story: I didn't pre-order Fire Emblem Fates, and wanted the game digitally at a markdown. So I remember going to GAME's site and not seeing the digital version for sale, indeed, the option to "download" the game is absent for this game. I thought maybe this was because Nintendo of Europe wanted to see what the full effect of their My Nintendo promotion for the eShop version of the game (20 gold coins for a tiny 10% off the £40 RRP) would be.
But it turns out that GAME isn't selling Kirby: Planet Robobot as a download, either.
Meanwhile, Shopto is selling digital Planet Robobot for £27, about £8 less than the RRP. And Shopto has Fire Emblem Fates as a download code for £30, for £10 cheaper than the eShop price of £40.
So here's the main point: I think Nintendo has ditched GAME as a supplier of digital codes for new games, and have adopted Shopto instead.
GAME continues to sell download codes for games older than FE Fates, probably because Nintendo's download-codes-at-retail system works differently to other publishers': The retailer buys the codes at wholesale from Nintendo, but shoulders the admin and billing costs themselves, which has meant that both GAME and Shopto have sold their codes at a price below the eShop RRP. Other platform holders shoulder the billing costs themselves, the retailer acting as an intermediary of sorts.