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Gamestop to stop gutting (some) games
- Thread starter Curler
- Start date
GameStop already did this when I worked there back in 2008. This isn't really new. Some stores get large allotments of "blank" cases and preprepared box art that they use to make generic boxes without gutting, but as they said, not every game gets this.
It sounds like what this means is GameStop is shredding their shelf space even more in favor of only prioritizing top titles, while lower-priority and older titles sit behind the counter in a drawer until someone asks for them. This is going to be really bad for niche games.
It sounds like what this means is GameStop is shredding their shelf space even more in favor of only prioritizing top titles, while lower-priority and older titles sit behind the counter in a drawer until someone asks for them. This is going to be really bad for niche games.
sounds kinda like a pain in the ass to not be able to just see if a game is on a shelf or not, curious if any retail workers can fill me in on what the benefit of this is? Shelf space?
That's basically it. You minimize the number of real cases on shelves which saves on shelf design and arrangement (let's be real, most GameStops do not prioritize alphabetization the way I used to at mine) and cuts back on customers complaining about "gut" copies, but also has the side effect of basically anything that isn't a marketing-heavy "top title" vanishing from the store almost entirely unless a customer walks in already knowing they want to buy it.
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I worked at GS around this time, and I remembered all those shelves, where currently sits lots of merch, was just bloated marketing full of these display cases of new/upcoming titles. Everything was still gutted just the same, for when they did release, though, so maybe was a regional thing with not gutting some stuff. It WOULD be nice if they gave the stores cover art for everything, but that was never how it worked :/
I never look at the shelf at gamestop. Always straight to the counter usually to pick up an online order or pre-order something exclusively sold there.
But yeah I can't stand when they give me a 'new' copy of something.
But yeah I can't stand when they give me a 'new' copy of something.
The fact that they gutted games was always a nonsense policy.
That is selling a used game as new.
That is selling a used game as new.
Sounds like this is meant to make things easier on the actual workers. That means less loose discs behind the counter and less individual titles to sticker.
The last time I walked in Gamestop (admittedly over a year ago) they had a poor guy stocking the racks and racing back to the register to accommodate us.
The last time I walked in Gamestop (admittedly over a year ago) they had a poor guy stocking the racks and racing back to the register to accommodate us.
Yeah, the generic cover art and blank cases were always prioritized for marketing-heavy titles where the publisher or GS corporate sent us that shit in advance. There was no concerted effort toward ensuring every bit of product was accurately represented.
Wait so doesn't this pretty much negate one of the biggest gripes people had about getting sold a brand new game that was gutted because it was the only copy in the store? Not seeing the issue here.
I feel like this was a mess to begin with. Why would you not put glass cases. New releases are in boxes in the back for pre order launch nights. But for products up front. Either have them behind a newly formed counter for safety. Or in glass closed and locked.
I think I tried getting a new game once and they took the disc out from the drawer and took an open case and put it in. I gave that purchase up when I saw that and went and got a new copy. Sealed is always better. Unless sold used.
I think I tried getting a new game once and they took the disc out from the drawer and took an open case and put it in. I gave that purchase up when I saw that and went and got a new copy. Sealed is always better. Unless sold used.
200 per console or 200 in total? Cuz in total would suck. It's nice stopping in and looking at the switch cases just to see if any lesser known titles have come out for it/gotten a physical release.
I only just found out tropico 6 is coming out on switch and getting a physical release last week by looking at GameStop's website.
I only just found out tropico 6 is coming out on switch and getting a physical release last week by looking at GameStop's website.
The issue is that only the "top 200" titles will be represented, meaning niche titles will disappear from shelves entirely and only people who walk into a store already knowing they want a niche game will even know they exist or not. And they still won't have any indication of whether said niche game is IN STOCK until they ask.
Happening at other retailers like Best Buy also. They'll maybe get 1 or 2 copies depending on the store incase walk ins do happen.
Yeah, not that this method of shopping is thriving these days anyway, but as a kid I definitely would not have played some of the random-ass games I played had I not found them at the bottom of one of the shelves.
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Every now and then, I would see some niche stuff, like those big foldup boxart displays they used to do, from like NISA and companies like that. Would be nice to see some niche marketing continue, as some large stores to get banners to show off some niche stuff.
This year especially most stores were given allocations mainly based on pre-orders, Tsushima and Tony Hawk were super limited until recently
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I'm sure it's mostly COVID-related, but maybe also a bit due to wanting to focus more on digital sales and possibly printing less physical copies.
As far as niche stuff goes, most of what GS already gets in, ends up being pre-order only, with maybe the chance of getting in 1-2 copies extra (and it's been like that for many years).
Toys R Us did it the best with the box art insert placed in a plastic sleeve you could flip to see the reverse side.
Hopefully this means they're only going to use the generic cases for games that have released and stop using them for marketing games that haven't come out yet. There were countless times people would bring me a box for Cyberpunk or the like and I would have to explain the game hasn't released yet, only to be questioned why we had a case for it if it wasn't available yet. Just needless complication.
Maybe one day electronics/gaming stores will have full wall interactive displays where you can tap a cover to see the backside or screenshots/trailers. Even pharmacies have them on refrigerators here to show what's inside.
Except they would argue with you endlessly that the game is still new. Even though it has been opened, and the disc removed, and often times taken home to play by an employee. I think they tried to apply car rules to it where it is technically new until someone takes on the title? It was gross and I heard stories of pack-in codes going missing too.
I guess this just clinches that pretty much whatever games I buy from them going forward will be store pickup or through the site.
Sounds to me that their cynical marketing bullshit of putting an empty box on the shelf to trick the customer into bringing it to the counter to then be roped into pre-ordering it is working splendidly.
What's the complication?
Wait were you supposed to bring the cases to the counter when you bought games there? I always just asked for the game.
I mean... good? During my run as a teenage GameStop swamp rat ages ago, we strangely rarely heard complaints from customers when things were gutted so we could keep online passes (remember those fuckers?) behind the counter. I always raised a stink about it, though. New should mean untouched plastic wrap and innards, dammit!
I worked there from 2006-2010 and we did not do this. New games were always gutted at least one copy. Never had generic cases for new games :( but customers didn't really seem to care.
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You don't need to, but people do anyways, which works out if it is the last gutted copy.