GameStop's world takeover continues with 5,000th store

I believe Microsoft got into all that trouble because they were using their ~90% marketshare to leverage people to buy Microsoft Software in a package deal with Windows OSes, and that was when they got hit with antitrust threats in the case United States v. Microsoft

So it would only occur if they started trying to get exclusive rights to sell certain games, say

i thought i heard recently that gamestop would exclusively have some game, i can't remember the name though

and i think i heard about walmart being the only place to pick up some other game too


man i hate both of those chains

EB games and GAMESTOP are dummy companies owned by the same company... all they did was change the name.

I think the UK's GAME stores are also part of the same group, as they all used to be EB games stores once upon a day

GAME is a different company they just licensed the eb name when they got started

But if they sell more new games, they can't reap the 100% profit of reselling used games.

I don't see what everyone's problem is.

I walk into a Best Buy, Target, or Wal-Mart, I have one choice: buy a new game.

I walk into a GameStop, I can CHOOSE to buy a new game, or buy a slightly less costly used game. I can even sell my games at mediocre prices. I can also buy really old games sitting on the used game shelves.

When you buy a used game, the developer and publisher get no compensation.

it's stealing to buy or sell used games, because it robs developers of much needed compensation for games that cost millions to develop.

unlike a song which can be written in spare time and played on a 100$ guitar, video games actually need massive compensation to pay off the massive production costs.

You forgot the part where you can choose to buy an opened, beat-up copy of the game for the same price as a pristine, factory-sealed copy.

So, by your argument, it's perfectly fine to pirate music, but if you BUY a used game, it's illegal. God, I guess I'm a massive thief. But wait, didn't they already make a profit off the game I bought? And don't people actually have to buy the game before it becomes "used"? Your argument is somewhat foolish in that there is always a limited supply of used games while new ones can be reproduced at a whim.

Stop selling used games?! WHAT TEH HELL ARE UU SMOKNG MAN!

How is it stealing? Games work on licenses just like all other software. When you sell a game your are transferring the license to someone else. You don't have a copy of the game anymore and you can't play it. I see your point, but you could make the exact same argument against used cars and even homes... pretty much about any used market items. Are you against sale of all used items? If not, why should software be treated differently than something else... like a used car?

I went to EB games once to get rid of brand new copy of Quake 4 that came with my system.

They offered me 6 dollars.

I then told them to fuck off.

@colossal

... you don't support the developer when you buy a used game... you don't help them fund the next big game that they want to make.

if the developer can't make profit, they shut down.

that's why buying or selling used games is morally wrong, because it cannibalizes the gaming industry.

@ vidicrun...

look, it's just the simple economics of game costs x million $ to make, thus we must sell X million copies not to go bankrupt.

by buying used games, you don't help developers and publishers meet that quota, and if they can't, that development studio is going to shut down.

you aren't buying a disc when you buy a game, you're compensating the artists who made the game, and supporting them in making more great games.

it's morally wrong because it in the end robs us, gamers, of new great games because publishers and developers can take less risks and make less ambitious games because they aren't making enough money to fund them.

I know what your point is, but what I want to know is why software should be treated differently than anything else.

Going back to my used car example... When someone buys a used car the original manufacturer isn't getting any profit from that sale. The exact same thing can be said of just about any item that can be bought used. So, are you against the sale of all used items and, if not, what is your rational for thinking software should be treated differently than other used items? After all, it takes millions to develop vehicles and lots of other consumer items.

dpad, that's what I did a couple times too. They would've turned around and priced it at like $55 too. Fucking assholes

@gonk

No doubt. I hate how most recent games are sold used for $5 under retail. WTF? I may as well buy new at that price. That's why I don't ever buy any used games there. I usually by new anyway, but if I ever buy/sell used games I generally do it through a forum and often try to get a straight trade with someone else. Both parties come out way better than going through Gamestop.

@vidikrun

good point, but remember it only costs 1-2$ to produce the dvd and case for a video game...

it costs honda thousands of dollars in parts and labor to build each honda.

every game that sells, manufacturing costs are only a tiny fraction of the cost of producing the disc itself... the real cost is in, as you obviously know, development and design.

this isn't the same for items like cars and other consumer products... yes, there are definitely design and development costs for every product in existence, but in the video game world, the development cost and the production cost is a 50-1 ratio...

if everyone threw away their old cars instead of buying new, it'd be a tremendous waste of the massive cost the car was to manufacture...

it's not the same for a video game and many other IP based products...

where video games are differentiated from music and movies is another bullet point here.

music isn't expensive to create. it requires some cheap instruments, and the spare time of a few people to create music...

what development or design costs are there?

musicians can easily make a wealthy living off concerts alone, and movies can easily fund themselves off box office ticket sales alone.

video games aren't like this. there are no stars in the video game industry, no media darlings who get paid billions to work on a game, no brad pitts or george clooneys...

simply put, of all intellectual properties, it is more morally wrong to buy or sell used video games than any other IP.

It is much more wrong to buy a used game, rob the developer and publisher who spent millions making it of any compensation than it is to illegally download a song online that cost virtually nothing to create.

it is more morally wrong to pirate a movie off the internet than to pirate a song, because again, music costs virtually nothing to create, while movies again cost millions.

musicians can live like kings based off concert ticket sales alone. sorry, i said it.

At some point, people have to understand that they sucking the blood out of the industry every time they buy or sell a used game...

How is using a game for a month and then returning it any different then game rentals from GameFly or Blockbuster?

We don't owe the developers anything and last I checked they made a profit. They are more than welcome to change the license but get ready for a backlash.

@ Fullmetal Salchemist

the only way to buy a sealed pristine copy of anything at gamestop is to buy into their pre-order hype

We have a similar situation where we have a Gamestop and an EB Games in adjacent shopping centers. They were both there before the companies merged. When the merge happend I thought one would be closed, but both have remained open. Both seem to be doing good business too.

Thats awesome! Thanks for posting.

Those comics are made of win, and by the law of syllogism, so is your post. +++

More likely, the Starbucks will be inside the Gamestop/EB Games store. Hell, I'm waiting for the day when Starbucks starts putting coffee machines in phone booths.

Phone booths??? What is this thing you speak of? Is it a sound proof place where you can talk on your cell if it's noisy/windy outside??

ugh... well my dad actually works in the car industry, so i think i can explain it.

car manufacturers like honda have created ways to continue profiting off sold cars...

by making them break over time.

yes, the machine shops run by various car manufactures are merely ways to continue profiting off cars long after they've been sold.

most people don't know this, but a big part of the reason our transition into waste free fuels like hydrogen energy has been so slow, is that those kind of machines need less repair and break less frequently.

i mean... how would you have profit making emissions and inspections tests if the vehicle you drove could only emit water as a byproduct?

you couldn't.

Car companies like Honda, Ford, Toyota, BMW manufacture cars to break over time so they can make more money off having you repair them =)

they also get paid not to develop non gasoline based engines by oil companies =)

video game discs don't break down over time. on my 70th play through of halo 1 on xbox, it still hasn't broken.

counterstrike source, which exists only on my hard drive distributed via steam doesn't break down over time either.

Microsoft loses billions of dollars from the xbox 360 breaking, it doesn't make millions.

the video game industry isn't like the car industry :)

What about Bush, the C4 and WTC7??!

"You can't even buy a used PS3 in a Gamestop because that would require someone to buy it in the first place."

or

"Man, there are like a million used PS3s at my Gamestop cause PS3 sucks."

sad thing is... judging from your post history you really aren't kidding and have nothing to say but "PS3 Sucks" in as many ways you can find.

While we're at it let's shut down Oxfam. Those vile thieving pigs.