The Eternal Sadness of GameStop - aka GameStop MegaThread

[_blank_]

GameStop isn't so much one foot in the grave, but more squatting in the grave during Hurricane Irrelevancy. It's only a matter of time before they are a memory of yesteryear.

In 2018, GS reported they had $500 million lost in earnings.

In April of this year, they shuttered Game Informer Australia

In June, they shut down Think Geek

Last month (July 2019) they laid off 100 district managers

And today, they have laid off half of the core Game Informer US staff.

This thread is dedicated for us to watch GameStop as it slowly drowns and dies. Post any stories you come across or thrill us with your stories of a happier time of shitty game returns and shitty customer support. Or, if you actually had a decent experience, props to ya, post it here too, why not.

 

[Mediocre]

Reminds me of when "Game Station" in the UK closed, they mainly focused on used games and would always go to the one near my house and flick though to find some old gems but couldn't withstand the dying market and got bought out by "Game" which I would assume is also slowly dying which is a shame...

I have some feels for GameStop too since I was in the US at the time of the PS3 launch and it was obviously sold out everywhere but I randomly walked into a store in a mall and just asked and the guy said they had 1 left that was reserved for an employee but they couldn't buy it anymore so snagged one and had it a good while before it launched in the UK.

Now instead of waiting outside of a store at midnight it's "hope the delivery guy comes early!".

 

[An Ghost]

One time I was picking up a friend from his shift at GameStop. I jokingly asked the manager for a copy of battle toads because it was so hilarious like 8 years before then to prank call them with that.
Well somebody brought in a copy of snes battle toads earlier that day, which the store couldn’t give the guy any credit for so the manager gave it to me for free.

I went to gamestop, asked for battle toads, and got it.

 

[Gordon Cole]

Whenever I passed a Gamestop at a mall, it always smelled way worse than any of the other stores. Even as a kid it kind of sucked, and I can't imagine how awful it was for my dad.

The world turns, technology moves forward and they'll all be vape shops in the end.

 

[Imperial Guardsman]

I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up closing down soon. Whenever I go into any gamestop near me it is always completely dead and there are never any used games that weren't there before.

I do have one memorable story though, before I switched over to PC gaming I would go into gamestop fairly regularly and I generally had always been helped by the same guy (I went in recently and dude is still working there and he is in his mid 40s). I was super hyped for Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 in the lead up to when it came out. I went in and pre-ordered it a couple months before it came out. I had to have one of my parents with me because I was under 18 at the time and was promised by they guy who I had been helped by regularly for 3 years that because I wouldn't need a parent with me to pick up the game. On launch day I go in that afternoon to pick it up and that guy wasn't working that day. Fortunately for me, some middle aged woman came up behind me and said that I was her son and it was okay for me to buy it. I didn't deny it and they let me buy it and I went on my way.

Moral of the story: don't trust GameStop employees and sometimes random middle aged moms will help you out,

 

[oldTireWater]

I miss the days of buying PC games in a brick and mortar store, based off nothing more than a few screenshots on the (large) box.

Gamestop sucked back then too.

 

[Exuvia]

My most positive memory relating to Gamestop is when I bought the special edition of Bioshock 2 when I was a teenager. The artbook and vinyl version of the first game's soundtrack brought me much happiness. Come to think of it, that was essentially the only time in my experience where the SE of a game was actually worth buying.

 

[Exorbital Columnations]

I miss the days of buying PC games in a brick and mortar store, based off nothing more than a few screenshots on the (large) box.

Gamestop sucked back then too.

The first Tomb Raider had a hell of a box, in my ten year old eyes.

 

[Cod of War]

The mall I frequent had 2 Gamestops and a EB Games. I pre-ordered GTA: San Andreas for Xbox at one of the Gamestops and went in to pick it up. I usually go with EB Games but I went with Gamestop this time. I can't remember if they said it didn't arrive yet or they can't open them but I waited around for hours. Visited the EB Games ask them about GTA:SA and they said they had it. I go back to GS after more waiting and they were finally ready They then proceeded to ask if I had a parent or guardian with me because I was clearly underage, I was butthurt. I thought about it for second then I cancelled my pre-order, got my cash and when to EB Games. The guy said since hes seen me around the store often he was fine with selling it to me, made my day.

 

[Sperghetti]

I watched the one in my local mall change from an Electronics Botique to EB Games to GameStop.

Guess I shouldn't be too surprised, but I am kind of saddened by the death of physical media.

 

[Peachy]

It's kind of sad watching game stop die if you don't think about their shady practices. It used to be the place that kids who played games wanted to work at in their future.

 

[MetalDeathFish]

ahh good ol Babbage's and EB. Never tried to upsell or pawn off useless trash; go in,purchase game,go home,play and profit. Never had any high pressure,bullshit sales tactic used while buying from there. good times where had there at Babbage's and EB.

Gamestop...that place can suck my taint; sign up for the power up card! save a grand 5% on all our marked up shit! Using your power up card we'll give you an extra 2.5 cents in store credit when you trade in your old games.Act now and get a years sub to our magazine that IGN rates 10/10! would use for asswipe. Bought a new title and didn't like it? we'll buy it back for $10.21 and then proceed to resell it at $49.99 instead of $59.99 - proverbially butt fucking you and flipping you off as we finish on your face.Bought a scratched up disk from us? we'll deny we sold it in that condition,wear you down until you buy it new from us. Still not enough? sign up for our e-mail alerts; we'll spam fuck your inbox like it has an inflation fetish. We'll make your inbox pregnant with how many pointless and stupid offers we spooge into it.

 

[An Ghost]

Another story from friend who worked there:
When Diablo 3 came out it wasn’t available in China. Two guys flew from China, funded by some company that resells iPads and stuff, to a rinky dink game stop with the intentions of buying every copy, getting the codes and tossing all the boxes in the dumpster behind the store. They were told to go screw but staff probably should have sold those guys whatever they wanted.
Other than that friend mostly complained about people who would hang around the store just to talk to the workers about vidya because they couldn’t leave.

 

[Foxxo]

I really enjoyed being in a Gamestop, but I wouldn't be the one paying for the games in the first place. I still remember when they had display cases for playing the newest Nintendo remakes and stuff.

 

[Slowpoke Sonic]

I remember getting one of my first Pokemon games there and honestly I would play that shit all day long. One time my brother sold one of his games and decided to buy Splatoon 2 for only $60, which isn't that expensive to be honest but still is alot.

It's sad to see one of your favorite stores go bankrupt unless they have pretty rigged transactions. Oh well, I might sell my DS cartridges on Ebay or whatnot.

 

[InvertedDickEnthusiast]

Last gamestop memory would be when I went to buy the only copy of MGS HD Collection near me listed as new and the bitch pulling out a disc in an envelope and having to tell her "If you're going to sell me a used copy as new you can at least go get the real case off the shelf there and put that disc in it" and her reacting poorly to it.

Last good one would be getting Dark Souls about 6 months after it launched for $12 with a coupon and the guy behind the counter being impressed for some reason.

 

[Burning Fanatic]

Will this be radioshack and blockbuster all over again?

 

[NOT Sword Fighter Super]

Whenever I passed a Gamestop at a mall, it always smelled way worse than any of the other stores. Even as a kid it kind of sucked, and I can't imagine how awful it was for my dad.

The world turns, technology moves forward and they'll all be vape shops in the end.

Which makes me wonder what will replace the vape stores after that bubble bursts.

 

[Shaved Kiwis]

The first Tomb Raider had a hell of a box, in my ten year old eyes.

IIRC didn't all EIDOS games from that period have those trapazoidal boxes?

Last gamestop memory would be when I went to buy the only copy of MGS HD Collection near me listed as new and the bitch pulling out a disc in an envelope and having to tell her "If you're going to sell me a used copy as new you can at least go get the real case off the shelf there and put that disc in it" and her reacting poorly to it.

Last good one would be getting Dark Souls about 6 months after it launched for $12 with a coupon and the guy behind the counter being impressed for some reason.

Fuck Gamestop for selling used shit as new with a box of rakes. The one and only time I tried to shop there was back when they sold PC games. These fuckers not only had the gall to try to sell me an open boxed copy of Battlefield 2142 as new but they even offered to shrink wrap it for me when I protested. They did refund me though which took like twenty fucking minutes.

Your last story reminds me of something similar that happened to me in a Toys 'R Us when I was young. This was before the super cheap 10 dollar PSX games like Martian Gothic came out and the cheapest you'd see a game for was 20 bucks. I was dicking around in the store looking at all the games on the shelves when I saw Fear Effect with a sticker in front of the stack that said 9.99 I thought someone fucked up so I tried their scanner which confirmed it. I then went up to the employee behind the counter and asked him if this was indeed ten bucks. Dude told me it was 39.99 in a condescending tone. He wouldn't even scan the fucking thing until my pops came up to the counter. And then with equal amounts sheepishness and amazement he said something like "Wow, it really is ten bucks. I'm gonna have to grab me a copy". The actual game was pretty meh and the only reason I bought It was because gaming magazines at the time played up all the gore and hot lesbo shit that was supposed to be in the game(there wasn't any). Which in turn reminds me of the US previews for Mr.Mosquito on the PS2 that all featured that one level with the chick in the bathtub, but I've already strayed too far and am starting to ramble.

 

[Samoyed]

I remember returning a couple games to GS over a week span years ago and the dude working there said to me "If you return in one more game I'm going to get fired haha."

Gamestop - power to the life support