Gamestop Q2 financials anchored by strong used game and digital sales

@PSN StaticShock Am I the only one who thinks, at least in concept, Project Ten Dollar is a good thing?

@Epoque

Am I the only one thinking "Digital Sales???" ?

@Epoque

I also think that Project Ten Dollar is, conceptually, a step in the right direction. They're rewarding behavior that they want to see propagated, i.e. buying games new, which is good psychology. Unfortunately, they're also simultaneously punishing behavior that they don't like. They way that GameStop prices used games, a used game is usually only $5 off the new price. Add in a $10 online pass or what have you and now the used game is pricier. If GameStop played along then this wouldn't be such a bad thing ... but they don't. Not now that they can also sell you a card to pay for the online pass. In my opinion, the real culprits here are the used game stores.

@A Sandwich

Selling games helps people buy new games that they may not otherwise be able to afford. And yes, the majority of people who sell their games do so to buy new games.
How is this bad?

@SuperStition

I didn't say it was. I'm saying that GameStop is price gouging on newer used games and trade-in values. Which, fair enough, turn and turnabout, right? Devs declare that used games are the enemy and that's GameStop's bread and butter. So GameStop fights back by not reacting to Project Ten Dollar and not altering their prices accordingly. Now everyone thinks that the devs are the assholes.

@A Sandwich
But they do lower their prices. Any EA Sports from the last year is $47.99, as opposed to the usual $54.99. It may not seem like much, but one still ends up paying less even if one does buy the online pass separately. And Mortal Kombat? They actually printed the online code on customer's receipts for free when buying a used copy.

@PSN StaticShock

Project Ten Dollar is a total sham.

Sure you get some cool stuff when you buy it new, but think of it this way: These companies NEED Gamestop. Otherwise they would have a code you would need to enter to play the game at all. Just like PC games.

But this is why they need gamestop: Lets say someone hears about uncharted 3 coming out. Well they never played the first two. They go everywhere but no one is able to find the first two games. Oh, you can get them used, because they are impossible to purchase them new. At this point, someone purchases them, if they like them they will most likely get the third one. Otherwise if they hate them, they hate em. Off to a new game. It's a simple market and as much as you hate this company, I'm sure you would be saying much different if you were the one making all this money off of a concept that you wish you thought of.

@A Sandwich
Another thing that changed with Project Ten Dollar is the trade value of the games that contain these codes. They dropped even more than their already low trade values because they have these one-time use codes. So now, regardless of whether or not one used the code, they aren't getting as much for it as they could have for their game trades. This not only hurts honest consumers who may be trying to buy new games, but the publishers who now lose sales from broke consumers, as well.

@SuperStition

It doesn't really apply to sports games because there's a yearly update. They always fluctuate in price the quickest. Also, you're right about the trade-in values being less now. That's GameStop, buddy. But do they turn around and sell them for less? Nope! They're passing the costs onto you. Devs aren't doing that because they don't determine how much GameStop trades-in games for. Only GameStop can do that.

@Deftinwolf

You would have been right ten years ago, but not anymore. I can find any game I want at Target, Walmart or on Amazon. Nobody NEEDS GameStop.

@A Sandwich
I don't really see your logic on sports games not counting, but I'll play along. How about Dirt 3, which was also $47.99 for a used copy when the game first released? Dead Space 2? $47.99. Battlefield: BC 2? Medal of Honor? NFS: Hot Pursuit? Alice: Madness Returns? All $47.99 to make up for the fact that the online code in a used copy MAY have already been used.
And as I stated earlier, yes they DO lower the used price for the games they give less value for. That's kinda my whole point..

@A Sandwich

Dude, you kinda remind me of this guy;

http://www.joystiq.com/profile/3333775/

D:

@SuperStition

They might do that at your GameStop but they sure as shit don't do it at mine.

@A Sandwich

LMFAO!! OMG....
you've no idea how ignorant you sounded just now right?

"They might do that at your GameStop but they sure as shit don't do it at mine."

seriously? like I said you remind me of this guy;

http://www.joystiq.com/profile/3333775/

I'm sure GameStop isn't completely out there to suck you dry. Unless you're in an area where like millionaires are bunched up together as a village cult and no middle-classed residents are allowed to reside (I doubt they'd even allow GameStop to open in such an area anyway) that they feel the need to jack up the prices in such an unreasonable matter. GameStop is corporate, dude. They kinda have to follow suit with the same rules all around. If what you said is true then not all the products would be the same prices elsewhere, and I've been to plenty of GameStops within my area...

BUT of course you being well YOU you'd argue about it blah blah blah..if it's so bad, then stop going there. I stopped going to ANY STORE that I feel as if I was getting ripped off. Simple as that.

@RaNiiTH

Hey look, you have exactly one joke and you've already used it twice. And no, GameStop's prices aren't universal across the board. Different games do better in different areas and they adjust their pricing accordingly. And I don't feel ripped off when I go there because I don't buy used games.

@PSN StaticShock

*sighs*

It's not project $10 people. You can buy the best selling DLC on the 360 and ps3 at gamestop now. Why buy a $20 points cards and have left overs you can't really use when you can buy CoD map packs for what they're really worth, $15.

@A Sandwich

Yeah, bud, they are nationally set prices. I've worked there.

@type2red they're*

@Tradio

That's what reviews are for but as soon as people read a review they don't agree with they get pissed off and start complaining. See the comments from the Brink review.

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/05/10/brink-review/

@ProfessorBonkle It's okay, for the people that work there, they feel dirtier.

@SonicGA Top earner, as in, what else really came out this past quarter besides the other ones listed?

@jiggypoo

Maybe they get bored of their games and can't see just keeping them or most of the people that trade in games don't have income to purchase newer games. I do agree on what you said, but I think the best time to trade in is when GS has those specials where you 50% trade in credit or $10 extra for every three games you trade in.

@Art84
I completely understand that everyone situation is different, and money doesn’t grow on trees. I guess I just hate the corporate way of preying on the weak or the wallet deficient guy. It wouldn’t be so bad if they gave little more on the trade ins. I also hate when you try to buy a new game, and they come and say “Sir we have it used. It’s $5 bucks cheaper. And if you don’t like it you can bring it back.” For some reason that statement always gets under my skin.

Now developers are getting so upset now about used games, they have resorted to making us gamers pay to play! It’s getting utterly ridiculous. Any way it goes, developers want their share on a used game.

I like the fact that GameStop only makes a buck or two off a new game versus $50 plus dollars of a used game. Wonder why they push used sales. That why I buy new all the time.

To be honest with you guys; the only reason I shop at GameStop is because they have those nice little pre-order downloads that I fall for all the time.

@jiggypoo

Because people are stupid. They could be getting up to $35-40 for the games if they just paid attention to the trade in offers.

@jiggypoo

For the trade in value to be decent the game has to be relatively new. Some games trade in for shit because the game is shit. It doesn't matter how much you paid for it, it matters how much the game is worth.

Games and cars operate almost exactly the same. Will that stop me from buying used cars? No. And why would I buy your game for 40 when I can buy it at GameStop for 45 and it has a guarantee? I sell used stuff all the time, but not for nearly as much as gs can get away with. Same as if I was selling my car. Can I get more than the dealership offers me? Probably. Is the time and work worth it? Chances are they will give you a deal if you buy with that dealership. So no.

@OldsXCool

12 years olds don't have credit cards to buy digital stuff. So they have to go to gamestop to buy the points cards.

Don't you think gamestop employees are going to ask what they're buying and when the 12 year old tells them CoD map packs, the employee will tell them they can save $5 by just buying the map pack for $15 instead of the points card for $20.

@OldsXCool

No one has been forced to sell stuff at GameStop. Most people are too lazy to do any of the options you listed, so they go to GameStop.

Buy a new game. Buy a used game and a burger with the five bucks you saved. In six months, will you even remember which on you bought used? In my experience the answer is no. And you got a burger. Win.

@SirUrza No you're right. But kids often times have a parent or guardian that have credit cards.

@threpac Those are the excuses I hear, and none of them hold up. The fact is that too many people are just plain stupid and lazy. Too many people don't care about getting raped on a game they spent 60 bucks on only to get 5 or 10 bucks if they're lucky in CREDIT not cash to buy something else. Gamestop then turns around and sells the game for 4 to 5 bucks under the new price. No, Gamestop didn't force them to do that, they did it willingly. Over time because of moronic people like that Gamestop became a giant and started putting legit game stores out of business just because of saturation. There are almost as many Gamestops around the corner as McDonalds now.

So you say that stupid people who support Gamestop have only hurt themselves and nothing could be further from the truth. Gamestop's behavior has no only destroyed real game stores, inflated used game prices, and threatened the availability of retro games (PS1 and down), but they have also brought upon the whole new era of countermeasures by developers to keep people from buying used games because of Gamestop's record profits every year that are made buy screwing over stupid people day in and day out.

Enjoy your 4 or 5 dollar burger that you purchased with the little you saved from buying your used game at Gamestop. It has cost you more than you apparently know, and will cost you even more in the future as you have made Gamestop just a little more powerful. Eat it up. Your ignorance must taste wonderful.