GRcade

Gemini73 wrote:Went into GAME yesterday where I picked up a surprise bargain. Dragon Quest Heroes II & Warriors All-Stars on PS4 for £9.99 each new.

What was funny, though, is that next to each copy of said games they had pre-owned copies in the 3for2 offer for £19.99 each! I double checked with a staff member who, themselves trying not to laugh, assured me that was the correct pricing as per the store system for both versions, (new and pre-owned).

The company is bonkers.

Yeah I picked up Dragon Quest Heroes II last week as well. It was the Explorers Edition too for £9.99.

Changed topic title as per news being at most 7 years old

Gemini73 wrote:You'd almost believe that the brass at GAME absolutely believe they're the only games retailer available to UK gamers.

On the highstreet for a lot of games they are, unfortunately

I am quite lucky in the fact that my nearest game has a Grainger directly across from it and a cex a few doors away, despite this you wouldn't believe how many people go straight to game as if there is no choice.... I have politely told loads of people stuff like "you know that same games like £15 cheaper across in Grainger right"" to then be asked if it's safe to buy from there etc for some parents grandparents etc they just seem to go to game through some artificial feeling of safty.

Buying from the high street in general is becoming less appealing to me even in the rare occasion it's the cheaper option. Whether it's Game or Grainger Games, unless you're buying the latest hugely marketed AAA title then you're not going to get a sealed copy, you're going to get a gutted copy where the disc and enclosed leaflets are kept in a drawer behind the counter. And that's when buying brand new.
So you're brand new game has already been opened and manhandled and the box has been through a few dozen sets of hands before yours. And then Game put their shitty 'seal' on that you end up damaging the box to pick at and remove.

Unless there's a mega bargain to be had I'd rather pay 1 or 2 quid more for an actual new sealed copy. If I wanted second hand I'd buy second hand.

Never ever buy from a shop. I think its probably 10 years since I bought a new game in a shop.

I went in to game (mainly to see if any of the stuff I've worked on is still on shelves) and I saw BOTW for switch labelled at £40! I'm actually going to impulse buy a game AND it's from a shop.... until I read the label more closely and it's only 40 if you buy it with a console, otherwise it's £50

Lagamorph wrote:Whether it's Game or Grainger Games, unless you're buying the latest hugely marketed AAA title then you're not going to get a sealed copy, you're going to get a gutted copy where the disc and enclosed leaflets are kept in a drawer behind the counter. And that's when buying brand new.
So you're brand new game has already been opened and manhandled and the box has been through a few dozen sets of hands before yours. And then Game put their shitty 'seal' on that you end up damaging the box to pick at and remove.

That was the downside of my bargain I picked up in GAME the other day. Both games were unsealed and stuffed in a drawer. I did ask to check the discs though which were fine, but your point stands, its not a good practice of GAME.

Lagamorph wrote:Buying from the high street in general is becoming less appealing to me even in the rare occasion it's the cheaper option. Whether it's Game or Grainger Games, unless you're buying the latest hugely marketed AAA title then you're not going to get a sealed copy, you're going to get a gutted copy where the disc and enclosed leaflets are kept in a drawer behind the counter. And that's when buying brand new.
So you're brand new game has already been opened and manhandled and the box has been through a few dozen sets of hands before yours. And then Game put their shitty 'seal' on that you end up damaging the box to pick at and remove.

Unless there's a mega bargain to be had I'd rather pay 1 or 2 quid more for an actual new sealed copy. If I wanted second hand I'd buy second hand.

This.

I absolutely hate the idea of buying something "new" for it to have been opened before hand. It seems obvious to me, but game really need to keep their copies of games sealed and undercut Amazon. If they can't do these two things minimum, then there's really no reason for them to be around anymore.

I have no problem with the disc and manual (lol) being added in to a box, they're indistinguishable from new once you open them anyway. So unless you're actually wanting to keep a sealed copy, I don't see the difference.

I wish there was a Grainger Games down here, I liked them when I was up at uni.

OrangeRakoon wrote:I have no problem with the disc and manual (lol) being added in to a box, they're indistinguishable from new once you open them anyway. So unless you're actually wanting to keep a sealed copy, I don't see the difference.

I wish there was a Grainger Games down here, I liked them when I was up at uni.

Staff at Game and Grainger Games gutting the box means there's an increased likelihood of the disc being scratched and DLC pamphlets being lost/forgotten/just stolen by the staff.

Grainger seem to have actually been putting some of their prices up lately. Whereas before they could easily be £10 cheaper than Game, these days it's usually £2-3 or maybe £5 if you're lucky.

Lagamorph wrote:

OrangeRakoon wrote:I have no problem with the disc and manual (lol) being added in to a box, they're indistinguishable from new once you open them anyway. So unless you're actually wanting to keep a sealed copy, I don't see the difference.

I wish there was a Grainger Games down here, I liked them when I was up at uni.

Staff at Game and Grainger Games gutting the box means there's an increased likelihood of the disc being scratched and DLC pamphlets being lost/forgotten/just stolen by the staff.

Grainger seem to have actually been putting some of their prices up lately. Whereas before they could easily be £10 cheaper than Game, these days it's usually £2-3 or maybe £5 if you're lucky.

Look, I understand the philosophical objection to buying unsealed copies well enough- I would always ask if one was available whenever I bought a game from GAME, and remember the weird look I got from staff on Mario Sunshine launch day, who simply couldn’t understand why I would care (as they were furiously gutting dozens of the things).

But I think that suggesting skullduggery and incompetence as standard is a little unfair. I have no love for GAME but when I was an employee I took the care of games seriously. And as a manager I went out of my way to protect discs/carts, buying disc envelopes to protect both disc and inserts from harm. I would have treated staff theft of inserts as a disciplinary offense, and, should a customer express desire for a less tired box, I would routinely swap the case for whichever crap-but-sealed game came to hand, thus ensuring that, as far as possible, customers didn’t leave with shop-soiled products. I appreciate that not every staff member would do the same but there was not a company-wide drive towards giving customers seconds.

Lagamorph wrote:Staff at Game and Grainger Games gutting the box means there's an increased likelihood of the disc being scratched and DLC pamphlets being lost/forgotten/just stolen by the staff.

Sure it increases the likelihood, but what are the chances of it actually happening? I've never had a defective disc or missing download codes from Game

OrangeRakoon wrote:I have no problem with the disc and manual (lol) being added in to a box, they're indistinguishable from new once you open them anyway. So unless you're actually wanting to keep a sealed copy, I don't see the difference.

I wish there was a Grainger Games down here, I liked them when I was up at uni.

I suffer from OCD so it can be an issue for me - which I know is a little neurotic.

I can appreciate that. I used to buy the majority of my games pre-owned so I think I never got into the always wanting perfectly new habit. I guess the staff putting the disc in an empty box is like buying pre-owned apart from its guaranteed mint

I guess the cynic in me just always gets suspicious at Game offering to flog a scratched disc warranty for a pound with every game they sell.

I used to manage a branch of GAME many years ago and one area where GAME have always been lacking is in store security, and for the simple fact the company didn't want to spend anything on said security. From CCTV to decent tagging systems for new games and peripherals, if there was a cheaper way of doing things then GAME would always opt for that. HMV, for example, have store security on all their inventory, including video games, as do many other retailers dealing in entertainment medium and electronics. Even at the height of their retail prowess GAME would much prefer to cheap it out when it came to security rather than ensuring the customer would always receive a sealed and un-tampered product. There really is no excuse for GAME choosing to gut new games and stuff them in a drawer, or in the case of peripherals, pull open the box and stick the contents out the back unboxed on a dusty shelf. They're just cheap bastards. Always have been.

Game keep changing their pricing and it annoys me. At the start of the week I went in and Street Fighter V Arcade Edition was £17.99 with the normal purple and white sticker. Go in on Friday and all of a sudden they have the big red stickers normally given to sales items saying NOW £29.99. I'm going to assume they made a pricing error but after talking to a few other people I know apparently this happens there all the time.

Using a “now” sticker is a blummin’ nonsense. It was always £29.99. Eedjits.

grog monster 64 wrote:Using a “now” sticker is a blummin’ nonsense. It was always £29.99. Eedjits.

It's the "only" followed by a ridiculous price sticker that annoys me.