See that's one thing I could never do. Nintendo has full control over my games that way.
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Best Buy GCU (20% off) seems to be coming to an end, reports of in-store and online takedown
- Thread starter Brandon
- Start date
I'm fully digital (pc and switch) and have Comcast with datacaps but I don't buy many games and it sucks you always to consider if you should buy something and use your data...I hate Comcast.
Welcome to the club. I went 95% digital a while ago (I still get the physical versions of special games like BotW and Odyssey) and frankly I can't go back. Granted, my circumstances don't apply to everyone, so I can see how physical can still be appealing to some.
If more folks were like you then the program would not have been eliminated but unfortunately that is not the case. These stores have so much data on consumer behavior that it is truly staggering to think about.
The bigger question is why, why would Amazon keep doing it? They have already cut back on the 20% off program within the past year, now that BB is dropping GCU what reason do they have to keep the program at all. When they drop the 20% off pre-orders I'll drop Prime.
I wonder if some game publishers are pressuring outlets to stop these programs. A bunch of stores/storefronts use to do a lot to incentivize game purchases, but have since stopped as well. Dell use to give $15 gift cards with every non nintendo pre-order, Microsoft store similiarly gave $10, etc. It seems weird so many stores did stuff like this if it was to their finacial detriment.
With Sony games vanishing from Amazon to pre-order and hell, last I checked Days Gone wasn't on Besr Buy's site anymore, along with Red Dead being on neither, this seems very possible.
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I would doubt that. These savings for the consumers were a loss for the company providing them. It was used as a tactic to get more individuals to purchase other items once they get you in their doors.
I mean even if Dell gave you 10 bucks, you are still using that 10 at Dell. I think their hopes are that maybe you'll add an extra thing you need to the cart for convenience.
I believe it was simply a marketing technique that, over the years, didn't pay off in the long run.
Huh on the first part, damn didn't notice but you are right on the second.
Then why not offer it for nintendo products and games? Also, you'd think they'd not bother in the first place since it's obvious that a $10 or $15 coupon would not be adequete to make a person purchase a $400+ computer when they wouldn't prior. It would obsiously go to lower cost purchases where the $15 has more significant deduction.
Also, as pointed out, titles have started disappearing from BestBuy as well, yet stores that offer no discount such as gamestop retain the ability to pre order these titles.
When the new online-only Circuit City finally launches, they should steal this program. Instant money.
This would not make them money haha.
Maybe at the original price.
Mine finishes November 2020, which will be a natural end for me given parenthood and a mortgage will sap most of my monies by then.
It doesn't sound like it's solely Best Buy or Amazon's doing, but the game publishers in an attempt to drive digital sales. Seems like there's much more going on. Someone should make a new thread for the Newsweek article, because it doesn't sound like ending GCU was entirely Best Buy's decision. I wish the game press had more leverage on getting answers, because I'd love for some light to be shed on this with E3 coming up.
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Yup, this makes perfect sense - it's the publishers who might be forcing the issue because it's eating into their digital sales. And we all know digital sales' margins are much, much greater than physical sales. And if all publishers had it their way - they'd want all digital because of the margins.
Game developers/publishers can get bent if they think people are going to go full digital. It 100% isn't happening at all in the foreseeable future. All this does is mean people will buy less new releases and/or rely more on the used market.
Well this just sucks lol. My GCU expires Nov 2018, after that, I will probably just go all digital. The discounts were the only thing keeping me buying physical, so once it expires, I will just go digital with whoever has the best deal. Will also mean done with Bestbuy unless they have a deal better than other storefronts.
I really like my BBGC account and it'll expire in February, 2019. Fortunately, my friend just signed up in April of this year, so at least that'll ensure me good discounts into 2020.
Perhaps someone else will pick up a comparably valued program. Target, Walmart? Someone step up!
Perhaps someone else will pick up a comparably valued program. Target, Walmart? Someone step up!
In terms of that Newsweek article - be very careful on anything you read out there that doesn't cite sources.
The talks and business deals/strategy info between retailers and publishers is incredibly tightly guarded, and without a solid reporter with actual sources, anything you're reading is purely (likely incorrect) speculation
The talks and business deals/strategy info between retailers and publishers is incredibly tightly guarded, and without a solid reporter with actual sources, anything you're reading is purely (likely incorrect) speculation
Yep. I'm probably gonna go all digital on my switch though. I rarely buy more than a game a month and they're usually small in size.
It's just those ps4 games that are 50+gb and god knows how large patches that I can't go all digital there.
When you don't have an option, you will buy digitally.
It's inevitable. Target is remodeling and reducing physical media space (Movies/Games/CDs) by almost 50%.
Best Buy has already heavily reduced space. GameStop is pretty much all toys and clothes now.
There won't be a used market.
The Newsweek article is just assumptions. Why is it even being included? BB has tons of data on consumers. They were likely losing tons of money as those GCU members were not buying enough other things to allow the GCU to continue to be a loss leader.
How it lasted this long is beyond me.
Some might, but I won't for the most part. Digital games have no value to me.
Physical isn't going away man, not in the foreseeable future at least. Not everyone has access to reliable broadband internet, large swaths of broadband customers are dealing with data caps, plenty of individuals are vehemently opposed to an all digital future (ask Microsoft), etc.
Gamestop is just going to vanish like a fart in the wind I guess.
Going all digital just isn't an option for an increasingly large number of gamers, if that is the future then I guess I'll find another hobby.
Very true. No sources names in the article, but where there's smoke there's fire. Hoping that enough fervor over a very consumer-friendly program being ended could drive journalists to sniff out what's actually going on.
Because it's not just that the GCU program isn't accepting new members, but that Amazon doesn't have Sony preorders right now and neither Best Buy or Amazon (only retailers that offer preorders discounts) have Red Dead Redemption 2 (arguably the biggest release this year) for preorder. Meanwhile, Gamestop, Target and Walmart (no discount programs) have the game available for preorder.
It could be a bunch of nothing, but it feels oddly timed. Again, if anything, it serves as an opportunity for more questions to be asked about these odd differences in consumer game buying options.
Just speculating but I wonder if publishers are thinking of raising the RRP to $70 next gen and the optics of a jump to $70 while people are being conditioned to pay $48 are making these schemes more hassle than they're worth for the long term.
Why does it matter if not EVERYONE has access to broadband and/or data caps? Technology just won't stop because some people live out in the forest or refuse to use an internet connection.
As publishers continue to struggle to make a profit, this will help. No used game sales to eat at a potential sale. More profit from digital overs physical. People moan and groan about DLC and loot boxes, but its easy money for publishers.
Well, you will eventually need to find a new hobby I guess? Somehow Steam has it all figured out.
Yup. It's funny thinking back to when digital was first becoming widely available and some were saying digital would be cheaper because of not having to physically package, ship, pay a cut to the retailer...still waiting for that to kick in!
Because publishers want to make as much money as possible? If they can make money selling a physical copy they wouldn't be able to make via digital, they will continue to offer physical. CDs are still being sold these days.
Maybe not on day 1 releases but I've purchased many games for Switch on discount. Nintendo AAA might not go on sale right away, but nearly everything else does.
I mean, people are paying $40 for Thimbleweek Park on Switch for a physical cart and the digital one was $9.99 (the same day the pre-order went up).
Good thing we stopped making DVD/Blu-Rays because streaming became a thing. You have no idea what you are talking about.
Not talking about sales. Talking about where the extra money they saved from not having to physically make the game, ship it to retailers, and pay those retailers a cut of each purchase. They said it would bring the cost of games down but evidently not.
GameStop is all toys and clothes? People just making stuff up here, I see.
Physical will never go away. It should shrink, but there is no way that companies are going to lock out major markets like the U.S. by going all-digital in the near future. The very myopic "people who live in the bushes or refuse to use internet" characterization is dead wrong. People live in cities. Data caps exist, and because the telecoms are monopolies within their regions, that's not going away until and unless there is widespread competition from fiber companies or municipal ISPs become more common.
But by all means, if Nintendo and Sony and Microsoft can break up the telecoms here so that they can get the digital future that they want, more power to 'em.
Physical will never go away. It should shrink, but there is no way that companies are going to lock out major markets like the U.S. by going all-digital in the near future. The very myopic "people who live in the bushes or refuse to use internet" characterization is dead wrong. People live in cities. Data caps exist, and because the telecoms are monopolies within their regions, that's not going away until and unless there is widespread competition from fiber companies or municipal ISPs become more common.
But by all means, if Nintendo and Sony and Microsoft can break up the telecoms here so that they can get the digital future that they want, more power to 'em.
That would be super interesting. I say of games go to $70, we get our manuals back.
Nah, you are just some Luddite who is trying to stand against the fully digital distribution future.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but in the case of PS4 installs, aren't the install sizes literally exactly the same as downloading the game entirely?
Yeah I'm pretty sure they are.
My problem isn't space though.
While not shipping a physical helps you still pay a large cut to the digital storefront
Do they? You can buy all the hardware on Amazon and Microsoft sells hardware on their own Windows Store. I know some of you don't want to hear this but retail is scaling back every year. The PC market has also proven digital is more than feasible now.
It's not people living in the forest and refusing to use the internet. There's many parts of the US where the best option available is like 1Mbps. And there's many parts of the world worse than that / no options at all. It's a worldwide market that has to be considered.
This last qouted paragraph is why I'm kind of confused at the "all-digital" chanting. This would give the publishers almost full control so the only option would be buying points at a discounted price, the bottom line is that conusmers would absolutely be at the mercy of the publishers.
Just seems like a slow-boiling frog situation, where the frogs croak in delight as the heat rises and their flesh begins to melt.
Reminds me of a Jim Sterling video about how Publishers and Retailers have to work together, but are constantly trying to screw each other over because each one wants ALL of the money.
I honestly would support all digital if the following were true:
Data caps weren't a thing.
Data speeds weren't atrocious.
Digital was cheaper than physical.
I had ownership of the product I purchased, which allows me to loan it to a friend, re-sell it, etc.
Data caps weren't a thing.
Data speeds weren't atrocious.
Digital was cheaper than physical.
I had ownership of the product I purchased, which allows me to loan it to a friend, re-sell it, etc.