GameStop accepts inevitable, creates digital media executive position

Digital downloads sound great in theory. But I hate the idea of giving the publisher complete control of the life of the product. You won't be able to let a friend borrow a game or re-sell it yourself.

I'm sure step one for this guy is trying to figure out how to pressure the publishers into not adopting digital delivery as quickly, or undercutting their money crop in the process as quickly.

VP of Copying Whatever Amazon Does In This Space. Look, I can make up titles, too!

Long live Gamestop! Though I almost never shop there any more I hope they and other companies like Walmart put off the complete digitalization of the games industry as long as possible. What's the difference between Halo 4 bought at Gamestop for $60 and Halo 4 downloaded from XBox Live for $60? No I don't care about instruction booklets or space marine dog tags. The difference is that I can turn around and sell Halo 4 for $50 on eBay the week it's released or $40 a month after it's released, etc. If I'm not selling it I'm trading it on Goozex. If it's a game I love then I'm keeping it in my library. Basically the way I look at it the cost of a Halo 4 disc in my hand is $25 with a flexible extended value. If it's digital it's $60 period and my only option is deleting it. No thanks!

These people are scum, and game in the UK is as bad. Not only do used games dominate the new game sections, its also aa collossal ripoff with the second haand stuff barely a few quid cheaper.

Gamestop needs to transform themselves into a go-to web portal if they are to survive the digital transition.

I feel bad for the mom n pop game stores, thought there's few left. I'm lucky enough to have one in my neighborhood, and it'd be sad to see them go out of business. :/

Yes!! Another reason to embrace digital downloads- the collapse of Gamestop. Good for you, good for me, good for devs, good x3! The only people I dare say HAVE to worry are current Burger King employees.Ex-Gamestop employees are comin' for your jobs, kids!! I know you've had a rash of ex-Circuit City invaders to fend off recently, but it's either your job or Walmart they're after- and they won't let you pick your nose at Walmart...btw your fries are beeping;)

So...here's a thought that's probably going to geta fair share of TL;DRs; Gamestop's terrible business practices only happen because people keep giving them money, but at the same time, this doesn't actually absolve them of moral responsibility.

The thing about capitalism/free market/Corporate America is, the whole thing is a giant game. Business isn't about some upper-echelon board of sinister businessmen cloaked in shadow trying to figure out how best to rip off the customer. It IS about business-minding, profit-minded, the-actual-product-is-secondary-because-profit-is-all-that's-important minded businessmen who, more than most people realize, spend the majority of their workday figuring out how to convince people to spend their money.

It's one thing to have ten people talking about this, all of us from a very specific demographic that doesn't just comprise the people the business in question is targeting, but people who have enough common sense to pay attention to the world around them and research before making purchases instead of buying into advertizing the instant we see it.

Nine thousand, nine hundred ninety nine people out of every ten thousand don't do this. For various reasons different for every individual, the mindset of most people is very, very easily predictable: "I will buy the product I want at the cheapest price available because I do not see any level of business above the point of sale and therefore the only difference is to my wallet." The vast, vast majority of anyone you can call a consumer in any country simply do not understand that it's even possible to take responsibility for their disposable income purchases.

I'm sure we all know other gamers who shop at Gamestop exclusively. Here's the kicker; pay attention to their attitude. How many of them like it even though they fork over their cash to it? This year, I made one, single purchase at Gamestop; I couldn't find what I wanted anywhere else (being a reliable last resort is an actual positive thing about them being a second-hand pawn shop, shockingly enough,) and the kid up at the counter before me was trading in games. I listened as the clerk gave them all a scan, told him he'd get a whopping eight bucks total, listened to his shocked "that's all?" and then I listened to him say, "Yeah, okay." He actually knows it's a ripoff, and does it anyway. I wonder how many times I'd see this if I went in there every day?

Not long ago I tried to be a great, melodramatic savior to my fellow gamers at work, all of whom shop exclusively at Gamestop, all of whom express endless epic rage at how much of a rip-off it is. So, I tell them about alternatives. Hit up Gogamer.com, or try Gamefly or Hollywood Video where their used product prices are generally lower; Hollywood Video will even price-match. Use Steam, or, hell, you can get retail boxed games even on Newegg.

Every single one of them stared at me in awe of this basic consumer common sense (there are alternatives and exploring them may give you better deals, to say nothing of supporting better business practices that won't implode sometime down the line,) and then...every single one of them went right back to Gamestop. It takes effort to change, even if the change is just about where you buy your videogames. It takes effort to price-hunt. People are resistant to change, and people are even more resistant to accepting the idea that paying a few more dollars is better for everyone. Most of Gamestop's used titles are only marked down five bucks, maybe ten. But as soon as anyone sees it's five dollars LESS, they're instantly sold. There is no good reason you could ever use to convince a majority of consumers that this slightly lower price, even if it's an obvious rip-off, is undesirable compared to the price of it new.

Believe it or not, businesses pay attention to these things. They pay attention to the way people behave, how that behavior changes when it's in small groups (us commenting on this article) compared to the demographic as a whole (the general millions they target their advertising to.) Gamestop's business practices are terrible because they know they can get away with it. This is how any for-profit business works; you charge the absolute maximum amount of money you can for your product, unless it's a loss-leader intended to motivate the buyer into buying other things. Because of the attitudes people generally have about game purchases, Gamestop (and they know this) can get away with a much more ludicrous skew than some other businesses can. So they do, because there isn't any good business-related reason not to. It's taking advantage of people not by forcing them into something, but by manipulating the expectations of consumers.

We can preach all we want about how no one is forced to do anything with their money, but try convincing Gamestop regulars of this, and you'll get nowhere, because Gamestop plays into their mentalities. If they wanted to be in the moral right, they would, after recognizing how much they could get away with, offer much fairer trades at the expense of their raw profits.

But that's bad business, so who wants to be morally right?

I hope to avoid digital distribution for as long as possible I like owning and collecting games. It will be a sad day indeed when the only way to get a game is to push the button and download a digital copy.