GameStop isn't worried about Online Pass

True words, GameStop's entire business model relies on an ignorant consumer. Goozex FTW.

and even if they do know better, what the hell's an extra 5 to 10 bucks gonna do to stop used game sales? hardly what i'd call a deterrent.

"oh no, i bought it used! now i have to pay an extra $10! where will i ever find that kind of money?!?" *sob*

if publishers really wanted to put a dent in used game sales, they'd charge at least $50 for these 'Online Passes'.

You'd like to think half their business was core gamers.

Work at a Gamestop for a couple months. It's mostly families and uninformed people who don't know any better.

Why do you care? What are you, heir to the Gamestop fortune? It's a lousy pawn shop that smells funny, generally has annoying employees and management, and overtly takes advantage of people who don't know better to squeeze a few bucks outta them.

Core gamers have the internet. Shop online for more convenience and a better price. My copy of Alan Wake from Amazon arrived day of release, came with a $10 gift card, and just this morning, amazon auto-refunded me $10 because the price had recently gone down since my purchase.

If this were a Gamestop, i would have had to pay a pre-order fee, drove there to get it, pay $60+tax, then have the neckbeard behind the counter try to shill some strategy guide or mag subscription on me; or would have probably lied to me to trick me into buying the SE instead, or the DLC that comes free with the game anyway.

Yeah, so far the majority I have seen in Gamestops are parents with whiney kids and a few hipsters that know someone who works at the store. That being said, they ARE a business and they ARE going to make money, and opinions aren't going to sway them, because a business that large looks at sales reports more than Joystiq posts. I don't do business with them often because I can get used games elsewhere for much less, but every once in awhile they have a promotion that fits the timing/pricing I might want on a new release so I suck it up and take in some trades.

I worked at a Gamestop for a little over 2 years.. majority of the gamers we got in were "Cheap" gamers. They didn't care about Online, DLC, or "Extras". All they wanted was a game to keep them preoccupied for a day and that they could return to get another title.. Gamestop lets you return a used game for full refund in 5 days.
Parents were hesitant to buy used games and yes they were VERY uninformed to gaming in general. This program from EA won't really change much.. the guys that want the online features will buy new.. It will affect someone like me that Rents Sport titles instead of forking over 60 bucks every year. 10 bucks for online doesn't add much to my over all cost with my Gamefly account.. so it doesn't really matter to me.

JUST KEEP THIS IN MIND.. if someone only offered you 25 bucks for a 60 dollar game a week after you bought it... WOULD YOU TAKE IT?

its funny to me also that mainly the people who bash a gamestop (which seems to be a vast majority) dont realize that most likely the stores are just poorly managed/operated, and just like most JOBS, you have obligations to fulfill. Trust if you go to a store that is run efficiently with competent employees that understand that sometimes you just cant get everyone to pre-order or anything (for various reasons) then your perceptions will change. I myself understand that as a GS employee I wont get pre-orders from everyone (even though I see more benefits from first-hand experience in doing so) so I wont get pissy, but its part of MY JOB. and ppl act like they will get assassinated if they dont preorder, get a hold of yourselves, just shop somewhere else, the businesses will get their money by other means.

As far as the investors' remarks I understand why he says that GS isnt worried, though I could quite careless whether a person buys new or used for these specific games cause they will get informed either way about the stipulations of buying new/used and such though I would try to save them money. Picture this: if a consumer of GS were to buy a game used and they were a member of the discount program of the store, their game would be dropped to 50. These passes are 10 dollars so from a consumer's stance they would still take advantage of the used return policy if they dont like the game and still come out cheaper/just about the same. For GS, their used sales are driven. I tested that theory with a BFBC customer the other day with the VIP code and they ended up coming out cheaper than if they returned the used copy to buy new. Everything just boils down to common sense and being informed on things.

Not hard at all. Just turn off auto renew and remove card....simple

Their practices must have changed, then.

the world economy revolves around stupid people...

Nearly has a monopoly? BS.

Walmart is the number one vendor of games. Not Gamestop, Walmart.

it's clearly a British dialect.
"Let's 'ave us some opportunity, eh Guv'nah?"

doesn't that mean you lose too? Why would you want to play less games?

Of course it means I lose, but then I don't have much choice in the matter now do I, I'm not saying the pass is detrimental to all games because that would sound like its the be all end all, so far, its EA and THQ, but if the idea was ever to spread, then it could be quite a hindrance and mean I'd just have the same disposable income to spend on less games, its a sacrafice I'd have to make, but it would also mean that games I would have bought, just to see what they were like would either have to wait for a purchase or never get purchased.

Not happy about it, but then I understand it from the developers and Gamestops point of view as well. They need to make money, I need to keep money :)

That's a shame that used = theft has cropped up. I always brought that situation up in the music piracy debate. I still buy CDs, but most of my favorite albums of the last few years have come from Sweden, Scotland, and Japan. So obviously I'm cruising ebay instead of forking for a wrapped $45 import. Somehow people who are crazy anti-music piracy don't see that as so bad. Maybe because there is no singular big retailer making a killing on the system.

Used game trading isn't all that evil. I used to do it back in the early 00's, but found I like having a collection to hold on to more. The way Gamestop does it though. It feels like the consumer is being ripped by the middle man. Just do it online, people.

While I understand the point that is made about the impact of used game sales on the industry, I fail to see why the argument is never made anywhere else at all. Absolutely nowhere - not music, film, cars, houses, mobile phones....

Seriously - wtf makes games so special that they alone are a problem when it comes to the second hand market?

Also, online pass is basically bollocks - the argument that the second-hand buyer has to pay for their online wouldn't be so bad to me if Mr I-Bought-It-New (who has apparently already covered an online slot) is no longer using his. What online pass says to me is "we'll milk multiple online accounts from one copy of the game".

This was an investor call. They need to hedge their bets in calls and filings or they'll get sued by shareholders. So this means they really aren't worried.

Whether or not that's foolish is a different question