Using only words, man steals nearly $7000 of GameStop merchandise
by Ben Gilbert 
{ Nov 13th 2009 at 2:00PM }
Okay, first things first – how did he carry them out? 100 copies of the game, all by himself?! Those cellophane-covered boxes can get slippery when they're all stacked up! Assuming the games are in a box, that'd still be awfully cumbersome to maneuver out of a store. Second of all, where is this GameStop that has plenty of extra copies of any game on launch day? This whole thing stinks! Stinks, we say!
[Thanks, Yahya]
Get a WordPress.com Blog
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Frivolous @ Nov 13th 2009 2:04PM
After watching Fringe this week, I would also give up the money to just words... not like its your company anyways.
T @ Nov 13th 2009 2:58PM
When I worked jobs that involved me being at a counter or register, I was actually told by management that if somebody actually threatened to do something unless I handed over product/cash...I was supposed to just go ahead and do it.
The idea being that they'd rather lose product/cash than have an employee getting hurt.
A friend of mine that works the counter at a bank is under similiar instructions. You could theoretically rob the place by saying "I will shoot you if you don't hand over $1000" and they will simply hand it over without protest.
psn: ijustw1n @ Nov 13th 2009 3:00PM
The upside? If he returns those copies within a month, gamestop will give him $40 dollars a pop with their "bend you over a barrel" promo!
Brodo @ Nov 13th 2009 7:52PM
It was probably just some real pissed off pc gamer
"no deticated servers!!" "9 v 9"?
Im gonna go steal 100 copies and burn them, that will show them
DarkXane @ Nov 13th 2009 2:05PM
That makes it 4.7million copies - 100. Still is a lot.
Captain Planet [Planeteer | Power of Captain Planet] @ Nov 13th 2009 2:15PM
Someone is not good at teh mathz.
DarkXane @ Nov 13th 2009 10:55PM
At least someone does not spend his lifetime in Joystiq. =] no troll intended since you started it.
KFelon @ Nov 13th 2009 2:07PM
Did he walk out with them on a dolly? Perhaps he asked if the clerk would kindly help him carry them to his car?
charlie b. @ Nov 13th 2009 2:47PM
the thief pre-ordered a wheelbarrow for only $5.
mortegro545 @ Nov 13th 2009 2:08PM
Flamingo LAS VEGAS!
Preston @ Nov 13th 2009 2:09PM
Maybe this is a silly question, but if this happened at a Pittsburgh store, how come the picture in the OP is from a EUROPEAN Gamestop?
JustAn0th3rFace @ Nov 13th 2009 2:17PM
..its just a picture..
did you want Joystiq to go to the actual GameStop and shoot a pic for ya?
Preston @ Nov 13th 2009 2:19PM
It's a consistency thing. The least they could have done was make sure it was an American Gamestop.
acefondu @ Nov 13th 2009 2:20PM
I liked the keen observation myself.
JustAn0th3rFace @ Nov 13th 2009 2:22PM
This is a video game blog, not CNN, or Hannity (get it.. get it?) or whatever. Its a picture of A GameStop somewhere. If it were a GameCrazy or K-Mart or something, that would make no sense. But, damn, give them a break dude.
Preston @ Nov 13th 2009 2:26PM
@JustAn0th3rFace: We get it. You're easily butthurt. If you can't handle people pointing out inconsistencies maybe you should stay off the internet.
Ben Gilbert @ Nov 13th 2009 2:34PM
You're right. I honestly didn't see the difference, but it's a good catch. The reason I chose the picture was because there's only a handful of pics available in the right size and I picked one we hadn't used in a little while. A better story would be to say that this is a particularly cultural GameStop in Pittsburgh. Duh! :)
Ross P. @ Nov 13th 2009 2:44PM
Actually, it was about 90 miles north of Pittsburgh, closer to Erie. But thanks for playing.
RageOverdose @ Nov 13th 2009 2:40PM
If you can't handle irrelevant inconsistencies, then maybe you should...
Uh...
I have no wit.
Still, the point of the picture is GameStop, not a nation, to fall in line with a GameStop being robbed.
Lurkero @ Nov 13th 2009 2:45PM
You have a good eye, but jeez, Joystiq just needed a pic of a Gamestop
GewurztraminerX @ Nov 13th 2009 2:54PM
Euros are the new Dead Space Girl.
Didn't you know?
Preston @ Nov 13th 2009 3:02PM
Turns out pointing out facts is the best way to troll Joystiq? WHO KNEW!
eugaet @ Nov 13th 2009 3:02PM
Sir Lancelot: Look, my liege!
[trumpets play a fanfare as the camera cuts briefly to the sight of a majestic castle]
King Arthur: [in awe] Camelot!
Sir Galahad: [in awe] Camelot!
Sir Lancelot: [in awe] Camelot!
Patsy: [derisively] It's only a model!
King Arthur: Shh!
Massmass @ Nov 13th 2009 3:14PM
HOW CUTE!
Here I thought I'd never see another Junior High conversation but alas, here it is!
Call me sentimental but it's just so endearing.
Y. Kurokawa @ Nov 13th 2009 2:12PM
I'm stumped on how a person could say "my friend outside the store would shoot you". How on earth would someone outside - in plain sight of others - shoot me. He'd better have some good aim, or be really fast, or something. That would have prompted an eyebrow raise from me. Likely would've still handed them over - but the eyebrow - still up.
Yeah - "give me all the money in the safe - or my friend outside the bank will shoot you".
Seriously?
RanWitScissorz @ Nov 13th 2009 2:17PM
He loaded out with FMJ so he could pierce walls.
devilsei @ Nov 13th 2009 2:22PM
Ran, he also had the Bling perk, so he loaded up Akimbo on top of that.
JustAn0th3rFace @ Nov 13th 2009 2:26PM
When your a part-time employee at a retail chain and dont exactly care. You hand over the merchandise or whatever else the person wants. They even train you to do this at every retail chain ive worked at atleast.
You think GameStop is flinching at this loss in merchandise? 100 copies in the grand scheme is less than pennies of what they made alone in preorders.
Erluti @ Nov 13th 2009 2:39PM
Yeah, if it were a 100 used copies, GameStop would be pretty upset.
T @ Nov 13th 2009 2:58PM
It doesn't matter what the threat is. Cashiers are instructed to comply with any demands that come with a threat of harm.
If somebody said "I will shoot you if you don't give me this game." I would rather hand them over and find out I was duped as opposed to calling it BS and getting rewarded with a bullet in the head.
Captain Planet [Planeteer | Power of Captain Planet] @ Nov 13th 2009 2:13PM
It was Kotick. He sells them to little kids after school.
Stevetrop @ Nov 13th 2009 2:15PM
He is slinging stolen games to kids outside of their school when they get out.
For shame
uncle jesse @ Nov 13th 2009 3:29PM
So if you see Kotick all alone in an unmarked, white van, parked by the school, just open the sliding door and hop in. He promised he'd give you a copy of Modern Warfare 2. He just has to drive you to it, that's all. It's fine. No need to tell your parents...
That Burning Sensation @ Nov 13th 2009 2:56PM
Were the words, "Louie Vill Slugger" on wood?
That Burning Sensation @ Nov 13th 2009 2:17PM
"the man told the store clerks that his friend outside would shoot them if they called the police."
... cause that's what 'friends' are for.
martyfarty389 @ Nov 14th 2009 8:47PM
Friends are actually like banks, except you only make withdrawals.
ThornedVenom (of the Fidlious Clan of Wong) @ Nov 13th 2009 2:18PM
Looks like someone had really high charisma stats.
B3astofthe3ast @ Nov 13th 2009 2:19PM
No doubt inspired by the pulp fiction scene where "ringo" talks about robbing a bank with nothing but a phone and a threat to shoot a little girl, who probably never existed.
Nomorewow @ Nov 13th 2009 2:21PM
Question is how did he know they had a hundred copies?
Hmmm Ebay probably has them all LOL.
R @ Nov 13th 2009 2:25PM
Gamestop always did push you to the EDGE.
charlie b. @ Nov 13th 2009 2:49PM
*Roger Daltrey scream*
phillipsteak @ Nov 13th 2009 2:26PM
wasnt it this tuesday?
eight @ Nov 13th 2009 2:30PM
"Second of all, where is this GameStop that has plenty of extra copies of any game on launch day?"
most reasonable question ever asked by anyone ever.
FantomRedux @ Nov 13th 2009 4:29PM
Safe to say there wasn't one for long, nor will there ever be one again.
Jaydrool the damager @ Nov 13th 2009 2:35PM
The story fails to mention what aided the criminal in this hold up: the promise to preorder all future releases through Gamestop, while also purchasing the optional disc protection.
Faceman @ Nov 13th 2009 2:44PM
I'm not surprised. Gamestop employees are the most apathetic breed of peoples roaming this planet.
T @ Nov 13th 2009 3:01PM
Moron, most employees that work the counters/registers are under direct instruction to obey any demands that involve the threat of harm.
They'd rather lose the money/merch vs. the life of an employee. And that's fine with me, because I'd much rather go look for a new job than get shot.
RAD Moose @ Nov 13th 2009 2:47PM
Sounds like a replay of the Elk Grove, CA Gamestop PS3 theft if you ask me.
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/11/24/gamestop-employees-fake-ps3-theft-face-charges/
freaparn @ Nov 13th 2009 4:22PM
@Lurkero
When people say "don't try to be a hero" what they really mean is "don't try to be a complete fuckwit and get people killed over your idiot ego".
So if you ever find yourself in this sort of situation... don't be such a hero, Lurkero.
freaparn @ Nov 13th 2009 4:23PM
Arrgh, I was a hero at reply-fail!