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UK Retailer GAME is dead | Brera's Lament
- Thread starter CrunchinJelly
- Start date
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Pyrrhus
Member
Yeah, about this. I'm in America and I imported Xenoblade Chronicles from Game. However, things are looking really dicey, so I'm not sure about going through them for The Last Story. Is there another retailer that ships to America with a similar price and ease of use? Feel free to PM me if you've got a suggestion. Many thanks.
Samurai_Heart
Member
Seems like your best bet is to buy from Shopto from the views of the forums they seem to ship abroad and are really good within the UK, might be more expensive though or hmv maybe but they're in bad shape as well.... Could try zavvi but I heard bad things... Just search for the NeoGaf thread on the Last Story...
In relations to this topic, it's quite shocking to see Game in this state but I'm not surprised with the way it has been operated. They used to be very good or is it the nostalgia for me? Anyone in the UK remember when they used to give out £5 off vouchers with their catalog/booklets? Hopefully they'll pull through, too much people out of the job due to recession.
I would reckon thats its the following:-
- Revise the 'Reward' card scheme.
- Initially sell GAME France and possibly GAME Australia off
- Reduce the total Game group stores in the UK from 610 to around 300
- Sell off Gameplay UK Ltd.
- Hire Mary Portas to revise customer sales techniques(as it seems to be the range now).
- Rebrand Game to be the first and only place for Gamers.
But they have Lenders support also they are updating their overall strategy.
Did anyone from the US order the FFXIII-2 Crystal Edition from GAME? Has it shipped yet? Mine still says unshipped, and I'm getting nervous since so many others are already receiving their confirmations 
I ordered back in October so needless to say I'll be upset if my order is cancelled.
I ordered back in October so needless to say I'll be upset if my order is cancelled.So wait, when you say "pre-10am", that sounds like I can't turn up at 9am opening time at my local GAME and expect to grab FFXIII-2 and MGS HD?
Correct. Because of the credit assurance troubles earlier in the week, stock of new releases didn't arrive into the Distribution Centre until much later. Usually stores would receive all their new releases in the two days before launch, but because of that late delivery nothing has arrived, bar a few copies of Soul Calibur V.
All deliveries for Friday have been sent as "pre-10AM" to get them into stores as quickly as possible, but that means if you walk in there at 9AM tomorrow they aren't going to have your games. You'll have to wait until after 10AM before you can get them.
With the lending agreement now in place and credit assurances back, it'll be back to normal service for now, so further new releases (such as Darkstalkers II which is next week I think?) will arrive before launch and be available at 9AM Friday morning.
JustAnotherOtaku
Member
Correct. Because of the credit assurance troubles earlier in the week, stock of new releases didn't arrive into the Distribution Centre until much later. Usually stores would receive all their new releases in the two days before launch, but because of that late delivery nothing has arrived, bar a few copies of Soul Calibur V.
All deliveries for Friday have been sent as "pre-10AM" to get them into stores as quickly as possible, but that means if you walk in there at 9AM tomorrow they aren't going to have your games. You'll have to wait until after 10AM before you can get them.
With the lending agreement now in place and credit assurances back, it'll be back to normal service for now, so further new releases (such as Darkstalkers II which is next week I think?) will arrive before launch and be available at 9AM Friday morning.
I have an in-store Soul Calibur V preorder at one of the smaller stores. I was planning on picking it up on Saturday morning, they should have the stock in, right?
ScreenSplitter
Member
I've got to say, I used to work for GAME, and I'm not exactly upset with this. They're in many ways a very backwards, very greedy company that have some ridiculous business practices, e.g. a rack of obscure PS2 games nobody was buying taking up half of the store.
This is my first post by the way, nice to meet all of your acquaintances.
This is my first post by the way, nice to meet all of your acquaintances.
xxczx
Member
I always thought they bring out the PS2 games for when a new release is coming out/is out - I never see PS2 games after that.
but they are always so indecisive about how the shop floor is displayed, every time I walk in it's a different layout.
Welcome!
ScreenSplitter
Member
I was referring to the preowned ones; literally a HUGE shelf, of games you don't even want to buy. I'm talking your Fifa 2002, Pixar's Cars kind of games.
Sure, but it's cheaper to just buy it online if you're willing to put up with remote warranty services anyway.
I prefer to buy hardware from local shops because I can get it replaced the same day if there is a problem with it. That may not apply in GAME's case. It's ok, there are plenty of other shops.
ScreenSplitter
Member
Oh GAME won't return/replace/repair your hardware. You have to buy the £50 "GameCare" plan to do that. You get one free year of cover. See, it was shit like that that makes me indifferent to their financial troubles.
J Tourettes
Banned
Legally you don't have to buy anything but you'll need to be prepared to argue with whatever fuckwit manager runs the store if you do have a fault on your hardware.
It's nothing anyone could fix I guess, but there was literally like thirty new games on PS3, maybe double used. Just very poor stock.
Service wise I don't have any issues with Game or Game Station. I see people rip on them all the time, but they never seem pushy towards used games or anything, and they're usually nice and chatty about the game in question unless it's really busy. I was just in a bad mood yesterday because it's not like Infamous 2 is some obscure game, I assumed one of the two would have it.
Assuming your store is good, they will have checked through their pre-order list and put your copy to one side as it should be held for 48 hours. Just to be sure I would give them a quick ring to confirm it
Eh? GAME/Gamestation will return/replace your hardware if they can under the terms of your warranty. If a customer comes in with a faulty machine that's covered under the normal warranty then we replace it, unless we don't have any in stock, in which case we'll ask if they want us to source one from another store or a refund. You didn't need GAMECare for that at all.
JustAnotherOtaku
Member
Assuming your store is good, they will have checked through their pre-order list and put your copy to one side as it should be held for 48 hours. Just to be sure I would give them a quick ring to confirm it
Thanks for that
Pretty sure it was you who was answering all the 3DS UK launch GAME queries too so cheers again!Thanks for that
You're welcome
I knew I knew your name from somewhere - I tend to look at avatars to recognise people which has thrown me off on many an occasion with these avatar changing months going on
Put this in the cheap arse thread but perhaps more relevant here. My local Gamestation was only stocking PS3 pre-orders and had no 360 copies at all of the MGSHD collection & they had no idea if they would get any any time soon. Wanted to get rid of my gift cards before things could get worse..
This is exactly my situation. I'm considering either calling or emailing them this point because I'm so frustrated.
Did you order it before website if yes then it's probably been dispatched I remember my copy of inazuma eleven said unshipped until a couple of weeks ago even though I got the game on the Saturday after release.
lol, good luck
their call centre has been down and innaccessable all week. Your only bet is either email or going into the store.
I'm in the US
And I just checked and they charge you for calling them, fuck that. This is the last time I order something from GAME. You charged my card, the game is already out, just ship my damn item already. Whats making is all the more irritating is that they've shipped orders out that we're placed more recently.That's what we were told in store.
checkeredknight
Member
I'm pretty sure my store still has a couple of new Infamous 2's in stock. I guess it just depends how popular it's been in your area, hopefully they'll get some in soon. As for the pre-owned stock out weighing the new, I guess this is kind of expected. GAME and Game Station make more money this way, so they're bound to push pre-owned. Still, we have the new stock towards the front of the store in our shop. IMO, it doesn't feel pushed in your face.
ScreenSplitter said:
Well, you don't have to buy it. It's not £50 either, at Game Station at least (the most expensive is £34.99 for new hardware.) Most of our customers seem satisfied with the years break down cover, I don't see how it's a big deal. Nine times out of ten, even if it's out of warranty, we'll try to help customers out with it regardless.
We have a few pre-owned infamous 2 in stock - worst comes to worst I can buy one and send it your way.
You have a 12 month warranty as standard - 'GameCare' is an optional extra for an additional year of cover.
So just an update, GAME cancelled my order. I sent them an e-mail last night asking about the status of my item and why it hadn't shipped yet. This is the e-mail I received back:
Honestly, this is pretty upsetting, one because I don't I know if she's just covering up for the fact that they ran out of stock. And two, that no one had bothered to contact me about this. For almost four months I had my heart set on receiving this, and now I'm shit out of luck. If anyone in the US actually got this shipped, I'd very much be interested in knowing.
Honestly, this is pretty upsetting, one because I don't I know if she's just covering up for the fact that they ran out of stock. And two, that no one had bothered to contact me about this. For almost four months I had my heart set on receiving this, and now I'm shit out of luck. If anyone in the US actually got this shipped, I'd very much be interested in knowing.
checkeredknight
Member
Eh, that's a bit lame. I can understand their decision not to ship it, but why only inform you at last minute like this? Heck, they shouldn't have even taken the order for international shipping in the first place if they couldn't post it. It's even more frustrating when you have to enquire yourself to find out what's happening. :/
CrunchinJelly
formerly cjelly
They've announced layoffs at head office today. Sounds like it's the real deal.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-02-07-game-confirms-layoffs-at-head-office
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-02-07-game-confirms-layoffs-at-head-office
PlayerReady
Member
I don't think laying off 46 members of staff at their HQ is going to resolve the current problems. They need to address the inherent problems they have outlayed in this thread and others.
The 1 year mandatory warranty is a EU regulation and Norway isn't part of it. And it is not even 1 year, it is two: one year they fix; second year = they fix if you can show it is their fault.
awanderingsoul
Member
I'm sure there will be many more rounds of these redundancies taking place before Game turn themselves around, both Game and HMV are in very similar positions right now but Game are in a more severe situation due to their massive lease bill.
I expect we'll see them look for buyers for their international operations before making further redundancies in Head Office until they get to the bare minimum that they can function operationally with. As an employee with HMV I know that the more GAME struggle the more it will be benefit us however I wouldn't wish this working situation on anybody as it is not fun!
I expect we'll see them look for buyers for their international operations before making further redundancies in Head Office until they get to the bare minimum that they can function operationally with. As an employee with HMV I know that the more GAME struggle the more it will be benefit us however I wouldn't wish this working situation on anybody as it is not fun!
robotzombie
Member
So at this point should I be concerned about having the last story preordered from game to be imported into the US? It's just the regular version, I'm wondering if i should cancel and get it from somewhere else...
No. It's just over two weeks away from release (and about two weeks until they ship), and they're not going to go bust in that time.
show me your skeleton
Member
surely it's going to be very hard/expensive to close a lot of those stores because of the long leases they're locked into?
Nah, GAME will be around for a good while yet, and The Last Story is out only two days after Vita launch.
Edit: Beaten
You actually have 6 years in England - the Sale of Goods act.
That's the concern. Whether it's cheaper to close them or operate them until the leases run up is the big question.
Terbinator
Member
I popped in to both Game and Gamestation in the Arndale (Manchester) today and none of them had the MGS collection in - saying that, neither did HMV.
Feelsbadman.
Feelsbadman.
Tesco - £28 and lots in stock
Inside tip: Game are completely clueless and out of touch with reality. In their eyes this is a really good idea.
I'm going to share a story about Game's senior managers - they are fucking idiotic. We used to have KPIs for trade-ins against total sales. Fair enough, nothing wrong with that. Our store had zero competition in the area so we didn't have to price match trades with anybody (or very rarely). Other stores had competition from HMV/CEX/Grainger etc. So someone would trade in game X for £5 at our store and that would get sold for £10. That same game in Wigan may have been traded in for £12 at another store because they were price matching at CEX. But it would still get sold for £10
So...my store would make £5 profit and had a 50% trade in ratio. The other store would make a £2 loss but have a 120% ratio. So my boss got his ass kicked over our trade in being so much lower even though the obvious reason is that the other stores were losing money. So when my boss stood up for himself and mentioned this during a meeting, the area manager (I mentioned him earlier - a cunt called Shane) said "I don't care. Profitability isn't a KPI. Trade in, is."
So Game are the kind of people who follow misleading figures over common sense and logic. Probably the same logic that says one store in the town does well so three stores in the same town will do three times better. Idiots.
For what it's worth, I was in Cardiff Tesco Extra earlier and browsed to the games section. They only had one copy on 360. Was completely sold out on PS3.
Yeah, last week was the week they had the trouble with credit insurance, so titles that were not considered major releases (MGS HD, Neverdead etc) were only brought in for pre-orders, with a very small number of extra MGS sent to some stores as well. Our store had one order and got three. Unfortunately a lot of people assume stores will get stock in of everything so they just walk in on the day, but with the way things are going it wouldn't surprise me if they only sent a bare bones amount, especially if no-one bothers to order it.
awanderingsoul
Member
I know there is atleast one store where they have a 10 year lease on a very large store which they are struggling to sell, the shopping park has seen a massive decline in sales and footfall over the past 2 years and sales in most of the shops in that area have seen YOY declines of 40% and more.
This is just one example which i'm sure is replicated in a large percentage of their 600 stores in the UK alone.
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