Ail said:
Yeah, the Best Buy gamer club is basically an exact copy of Gamestop's Powerup Rewards program at this point, and it is really useless unless purchasing used games. Sometimes you will get lucky with their magazine (which comes with the card now) and get a good coupon, but even those are geared more and more towards used games in recent months. Otherwise I despise used games because : - I rather my money goes to the publisher and the developer. This is understandable, but from my perspective as a consumer I am looking to get the best deal for me and not for EA or Activision or any specific game company. - I think something is wrong when retailers make more money than the people actually making the games ( compare Gamestop revenues with most gaming companies, except Activision). I don't see anything wrong with what Gamestop and Best Buy are doing exactly for the same reason I don't frown at used Bluray and DVD sales or used music cd sales ... there is nothing wrong with people selling their property secondhand. Someone had to purchase those games in the first place in order for Gamestop and Best Buy to sell them. Developers have every right to find new ways to make a greater profit. I would just suggest to them that screwing customers over in the process by offering them an inferior and broken product is not a very effective means of doing it. - I develop software for a living. Then you understand just how important it is to make a product that is user friendly which does not put absurd restraints on the consumer ... such is the case with draconian DRM and things like online passes which hurt even the loyal paying customer (I hate putting in codes every time I buy a game). Objectively speaking, a consumer is getting far less with a digital only product as a physical product could be resold, collected, borrowed out to a friend ect. A digital game looses all of these advantages which is fine, but I don't understand how any developer could expect anyone to pay the same price for it as though we were buying a physical game. - The amount of my games purchase isn't really constrained by their price. ( and to be honest my credit card rewards pay for more than 50% of my gaming, it used to be Rewards Zone, now it's Amazon Rewards) Price is a concern for a lot of people though and that is exactly why used games are appealing. Everyone would rather have a new copy, but they can't necessarily afford it. Used games open up video games to more and more people which means that those consumers may decide to purchase a new game. - In my experience the retailers that sell used games are the worse at providing deals on new games ( compare Gamestop, Best Buy and Amazon, sure Amazon does used too but not on the same scale and it doesn't affect their new games stock and they have the best deals..) Amazon does have great deals, but I would not sell Gamestop or Best Buy too short. When I got the Best Buy reward card (which I got in order to get the magazine coupons for a year ... one of those coupons payed for my membership immediately at purchase) I also got a buy 2 get 1 on new games sent to me in the mail a few weeks later. I would say that the best time to buy at Gamestop is when they have a buy 2 get 1 free on their preowned. You can basically get a bunch of games brand new (just tell the clerks you want to see the disc before you buy the game and make sure that everything is included) for dirt cheap. - The argument that the used games industry finances new games purchases isn't a 1 for 1$ as most chains that sell used games actually have programs that encourage people trading their games to buy used games with the money instead of new ones... I have worked at a Gamestop part time for 2 years now while I am in college (just putting any potential bias out there), and I must point out that we almost always have a trade bonus towards new games that are yet to come out (30% extra credit on trades towards a new preorder, or 40% if you have the power card). We ALWAYS encourage people to put the money towards new games that are coming out. That means more reserves for us, and better numbers which makes the store look better to management. There are times when we have a bonus towards preowned games, but there are plenty of incentives for preordering. We always try to tell everyone about preorder bonuses, midnights, collector's editions or anything else we can think of to get people to preorder and then pick up the game at release. There is also the power saver sale in the summer which discounts a bunch of new games (some of which are actually good). - I really hate Gamestop ( maybe because I am 40, it's not my age group...) I can only speak for my store, but I would say that most of my customers are in the 20-35 range with a few teenagers here and there and Moms/grandparents with their children that come sometimes. The vast majority of our customers (and most of our good regulars that do a lot with us) are in their late 20's to early/late 30's. 40 is not too far outside that range. It is not like Toys R Us at least with toddlers and grade school children running around all over the place. |
