Or just buy one from the many online retailers which often deliver stuff before release never mind day one.
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UK retailer GAME likely to close 40 stores amid 'challenging retail market'
- Thread starter Arthands
- Start date
I used to love GAME back in the day, even ordered my Xbox One through there and racked up a sweet amount of points. Prices now are not competitive and there is even a payed membership where you get better trade prices, the writing has been on the wall for ages.
I was going to order my Series X through Amazon anyway
I was going to order my Series X through Amazon anyway
Unless they go online-only, they can't be competitive with ShopTo etc. because otherwise they'd be undercutting their own retail business. They have to keep price parity between online and physical stores (outside of some one-off deals) because they want to incentivise people to actually go into the stores.
I've never actually ordered a console via delivery but I'm not sure I'd trust it unless they deliver with DPD tbh. Is an option so I may try find one that does deliver with them.
Here's all that I could find so far
Their online store already undercuts retail. I know it is hard to believe but their in-store prices are often even higher than even their online prices. When I last went in they were selling popular newly released AAA titles for £51.99 (£49.99 online).
Edit: Apparently £54.99 vs £49.99 for popular newly released AAA titles now.
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This is what drives me mad about GAME. They had Fallen Order on the website for £49.99...went into the store....£ 54.99?!
I like the staff in my local GAME...I even have one of them on my friends list...but they are going under, probably a year or so after next gen console launches.
for me the retail experience for this kind of thing isn't convinient.
I don't want to to take the time to go to the town centre on launch day
Pay £3 for parking
Take the game home and spend a minimum of 45 minutes installing an downloading patches.
This is why I don't buy physical anymore, even if I can buy a game online and save £6 , the experience of disc based games is poor.
I often end up spending more/the same on a digital preorder, because of the time saving.
And for everything else, I literally own all the games I could possibly want or have access to them via game pass, PS+ or Gwg, so even the experience of browsing is non existent.
This isn't game's fault, this is just the world we live in. They have diversified in many locations, by opening e-sports cafes and expanding more and more into mechanise, but I would imagine fo many of the stores listed, the locations aren't conducive to doing this.
The store that has closed in the town I live in (Northampton) has got another store there too.
I don't want to to take the time to go to the town centre on launch day
Pay £3 for parking
Take the game home and spend a minimum of 45 minutes installing an downloading patches.
This is why I don't buy physical anymore, even if I can buy a game online and save £6 , the experience of disc based games is poor.
I often end up spending more/the same on a digital preorder, because of the time saving.
And for everything else, I literally own all the games I could possibly want or have access to them via game pass, PS+ or Gwg, so even the experience of browsing is non existent.
This isn't game's fault, this is just the world we live in. They have diversified in many locations, by opening e-sports cafes and expanding more and more into mechanise, but I would imagine fo many of the stores listed, the locations aren't conducive to doing this.
The store that has closed in the town I live in (Northampton) has got another store there too.
Yup, I'm right there with you. as an ex gamestation employee I used to love my Job. I dreamed of the days i could show my kids around and we could geek out at stuff, the High Street is in such a bad way that, i've never really had, or will have that opportunity. Tis a shame.
They sell vinyls now again I think. Maybe they always did but if so the space they take up is expanding at least in that Manchester store I went into a full sixth of the rather large store was vinyl records.
I worked at HMV and Gamestation when younger and both those companies ran their online and physical stores completely separately. It was mad. People would come in asking why they couldn't get the same price in store as online or if we could price match and we just had to say we had no overlap with online. Even the manager couldn't come and over ride the prices.
People were checking for prices online then expecting the bricks and mortar store to be the same, then just coming away confused.
In a way they can't win. Either their online store matches online only retailers and that makes their physical operation completely obsolete, which would be a major cost to them.
Alternatively they match online prices with in store and no one will ever buy anything from their website because they will always be the highest.
The high street can not compete against the internet shopping boom,shops are dropping like flies now.
Can't believe Game are still trading tbh.
Can't believe Game are still trading tbh.
Can't remember the last time I went in Game. When I went PC-only a decade ago there were maybe 1 or 2 shelves for PC games, and my local shop ended up having more space allocated to PS2 and Xbox games. Eventually they just ended up with a display for Steam cards and had the rest of the shelves for Funko Pops and other assorted merchandise and I didn't even have a reason to have a quick look inside out of interest. Steam really took a bite out of the physical PC game market.
The issue for me with GAME really comes down to the pricing. £49.99 for a typically unsealed copy of a game when it's usually £39.99 or less online? And I'd have to spend bus fare to get to the store on top of that? Really not worth it.
Their special edition exclusives have also been lacking lately, and the store near me does almost no midnight launches either.
It really does feel like an inevitability that they'll close down entirely within a year or two, there are only so many miracle buy-outs that can happen. My only hope is that the employees swiftly find jobs elsewhere and that independent game retailers finally get their chance to shine again.
Their special edition exclusives have also been lacking lately, and the store near me does almost no midnight launches either.
It really does feel like an inevitability that they'll close down entirely within a year or two, there are only so many miracle buy-outs that can happen. My only hope is that the employees swiftly find jobs elsewhere and that independent game retailers finally get their chance to shine again.
The only game store I know that's always busy is in Kingston, because one half of the store is full of PC's where you can go and play games at an hourly rate. More of them should try that.
yeah let's hope so.
the business rates, rent and wages are going to be killers
how many games do you think they need to sell in a day just to keep the bills paid?
Especially in somewhere like the chapelfield centre on Norwich, the rent is going to be thousands , if not 10's of thousands per month.
and there is a 2nd store just 5-10 minutes walk from that.
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exactly and the reality is they can not afford to sell the games at the price you describe.Capitalism at it's finest.
Game did the same to all of the indies in early 2000's when they started competing with supermarkets and selling £40 games for £25 at launch, who were paying closer to £30 at cost for games.
It's why we are heading for service models for games, as consumers simply want as much as they can get for as little as possible.
GAME won't be missed. The 4-5 different ones I was in, delivered a really bad experience. Used games nearly as expensive as new ones online, staff clueless and trying to force stuff on you (like insurance etc). Unable to purchase consoles on their own at launch and forced to buy bundles etc. Sorry for people losing their jobs, but not sad if GAME disappears.
This is me, haven't bought something out of Game this whole gen, the prices compared to Argos, Smyths, Asda etc etc is just insane, it's a shock they lasted this long.
Moved to the UK early 2008 and was shocked how big gaming culture was, considering there were 2 Games and a Gamestation, along with an HMV, within a 10 minute walk of each other in a small city.
Now I gotta go 2 towns away, and i'm not far from London.
Now I gotta go 2 towns away, and i'm not far from London.
Ah thanks! Well, no mention of ours yet surprisingly. Fingers crossed it stays that way
I'll be shocked if my local store doesn't close... it's in a dreadful position that used to house Gamestation and the staff there are generally thoroughly unpleasant know-it-alls aside from one nice guy who's worked there for years.
Pre-Christmas I decided to trade in my launch PS4 Pro for an updated model with the better cooling. I went through the process of trading my old one, then once I had the credit I said 'i'd like a new one please'. The guy who served me stared at me for a second and said 'why?', I said 'why does it matter to you?', he said 'well you've just traded a Pro in'.
I said 'well, not that it matters, but I want the updated model with better cooling and silent fan,' he said 'I should just give you the old one back'. I said 'excuse me?!' He said 'consoles just get louder as they get older, it's no different'.
Trying not to get drawn into a debate with him about it, I said look with respect, this is how I want to spend my money, so could you please get me a new PS4 Pro. At this point he carried on being difficult, so I said look i'll go to the store in the next town over, then walked out.
I won't miss Game.
Pre-Christmas I decided to trade in my launch PS4 Pro for an updated model with the better cooling. I went through the process of trading my old one, then once I had the credit I said 'i'd like a new one please'. The guy who served me stared at me for a second and said 'why?', I said 'why does it matter to you?', he said 'well you've just traded a Pro in'.
I said 'well, not that it matters, but I want the updated model with better cooling and silent fan,' he said 'I should just give you the old one back'. I said 'excuse me?!' He said 'consoles just get louder as they get older, it's no different'.
Trying not to get drawn into a debate with him about it, I said look with respect, this is how I want to spend my money, so could you please get me a new PS4 Pro. At this point he carried on being difficult, so I said look i'll go to the store in the next town over, then walked out.
I won't miss Game.
I was about to post saying I can't believe anybody buys from there anymore, but realised I actually bought my ps4 Pro there as they were the only place stocking the RDR2 bundle.
Other than this I cannot think of a single reason why anyone would go to shop at Game
Other than this I cannot think of a single reason why anyone would go to shop at Game
Last game I actually bought from GAME was Half Life 2 back in 2004 for my PC, when they still had PC titles on the shelves.
On one hand, it's a shame, GAME has been a UK videogame institution as far back as my earliest memories and it's the only high street games retailer left, and I feel very sorry for all of the staff. But it seems inevitable at this point that they're doomed.
Considering other types of media, record stores tend to be independent (or small localised chains at best) and run by true enthusiasts, focusing on the most dedicated music fans and typically vinyl media, and I can't remember the last time I saw a film-specific shop of any kind.
I don't know if there's any potential future in videogames as a high street presence outside of dedicated fans opening independent stores like you see as record stores today, but even then I can't see them being huge, elaborate stores, and certainly there wouldn't be many of them. Maybe if GAME leaned into locations to play games together as an "activity space", with retail being a side-hustle, but that would require a huge transformation of the business that they won't do. These PC rental areas they're trying out are a nice idea and a step in the right direction, but way too little and far, far too late.
Considering other types of media, record stores tend to be independent (or small localised chains at best) and run by true enthusiasts, focusing on the most dedicated music fans and typically vinyl media, and I can't remember the last time I saw a film-specific shop of any kind.
I don't know if there's any potential future in videogames as a high street presence outside of dedicated fans opening independent stores like you see as record stores today, but even then I can't see them being huge, elaborate stores, and certainly there wouldn't be many of them. Maybe if GAME leaned into locations to play games together as an "activity space", with retail being a side-hustle, but that would require a huge transformation of the business that they won't do. These PC rental areas they're trying out are a nice idea and a step in the right direction, but way too little and far, far too late.
It was up to £109.99 on their website at one point. Joke of a company.
Thankfully managed to snag an Amazon order Saturday.