Edited the title to remove abbreviations/acronyms and generally make it more comprehensible.

OT: It is, of course, sad when any company goes bankrupt and thousands of employees lose their jobs. GAME has been a titan of the industry for a very long time, and has long been our most popular gaming store.

But that had to change, one way or another. If GAME management had moved forward with the times, offered fair pricing for new and used games, offered better customer service and generally tried to entice customers with superior service rather than trivial preorder bonuses and nice colour schemes, it would still be alive and going strong today. The store was outdated and it needed to go.

I suppose it's possible, if not desirable, that GameStop will buy them out and begin the slow process of dominating our market. If we're luckier, however, some smaller chains (and even independent stores) will begin to thrive. Of course, the most likely is that Asda and Tesco and such will pick up the slack, which isn't fantastic, but when they offer the best prices, what can be done?

Tesco and Asda offer the best competitive prices for newly released games, so Game can't really compete as they can't afford to take a hit like the supermarkets do. In terms of used games market though they should be striving, their trade in prices are ABYSMAL.

Finally someone who says GAME is run in a shitty way, then doesn't say that being overpriced is how their shitty.

I never understood this either. There is a major shopping centre only a few miles from me, and up until about a year ago they had 3 stores there! Believe one recently closed, and at least one other was closed during the major shutdown, finally leaving them with the optimal number of stores (assuming they didn't close both, they didn't make that clear).

Was has surprised me is in my local town, there is a GAME and Gamestation right next door to each other (although I believe they have both been their since pre-2007, when GAME bought Gamestation) and neither one has been shut-down.

Ia there a list online anywhere which tells us what stores are staying open?

Not that I know of, but if you search 'list of closed GAME stores' in Google you'll will get a full list of all 277 stores that have been shut. You can then work out which of your local stores are still open.

Hmm sucks they're they are going under, but it does sound like inevitable with the way things were run there.

Hope all the employees manage to find a new job soon.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-03-29-these-211-game-stores-are-still-open-for-business

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-03-29-these-122-gamestation-stores-are-still-open-for-business

I've never bought antyhing in their stores but I feel bad for everyone who are losing their job.

That helps, able to clarify my earlier comments. Turns out there were 3 GAME/Gamestation stores in the Arndale Centre in Manchester (two of which have closed). At least the administrators could see that have multiple stores in a single shopping centre was a major pitfall.

That said, these two stores in Stockport remain open (one a GAME, one a Gamestation), can anyone else see what looks wrong?

67-69 Princes Street, Stockport, Greater Manchester, SK1 1RW

65 Princes Street STOCKPORT SK1 1RW

I wonder how much of this is the limited trading hours -- either by law or tradition -- of many high street retailers.

When you are open 9:00 to 17:30 (9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.) most days -- the same hours that people work -- it makes it difficult to make sales. People turn to the supermarkets and websites which are always open and available instead.

This mirrors the situation that most US downtowns/central business districts face when competing against "big box" stores -- namely Wal-Mart. The local store owner is often reluctant to do more than operate the hours he/she/they have always done -- which are the hours when people are at work: generally 10 a.m. to 5 or 6 p.m. (10:00 to 17:00 or 18:00). Since it is not convenient for most people, they look elsewhere to shop.

Mike from Morgantown