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Re: GAME (as in the shop GAME): Retailer Of The Year 2019
Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2019 3:36 pm
by BID0
OrangeRKN wrote:BID0 wrote:In both scenarios Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo/Steam/etc know you have bought a game. They will track what you do with your game.
In the physical scenario Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo/Steam/etc know you
posses a game, not that you bought it or for how much (which they do know in the digital scenario). In the digital scenario, that knowledge also extends to your bank (or whatever you used to make the purchase).
The bank would only know you spent £X amount on a transaction. They wouldn't know what products exactly you purchased. Only the console store front would keep this data (which they also would hold if you put a disc in your console).
It seems you like to spread you information around multiple organisations so nobody knows the full picture. You could use PayPal for example so there's an additional layer between your shop and your bank.
OrangeRKN wrote:BID0 wrote:On top of that by purchasing a physical copy from a physical store then your face/vehicle registration plates will be stored across a number of CCTV systems from the point of leaving your home, to visiting a cash machine, to sitting on a bus/parking your car, walking through a town centre and inside the store.
1) AFAIK, and as I previously stated, the large majority of CCTV is not used for the mass tracking of individuals, but only for live security monitoring and as a reference for the investigation of specific instances of crime. It is dissimilar to browsing the web, where trackers are very much near constantly in use recording and analysing your individual journeying around the web - and I'm sure such tracking is done within the gaming digital storefronts too. That isn't to say CCTV isn't a concern - it is! But to suggest that CCTV makes physical purchasing less private than online is not a reasonable claim to make.
2) I don't have a car
1) As I work with CCTV I can tell you that any camera set to records at around 2.5 pixels per centimetre (which isn't particularly high) or greater will have enough data to run analytics to achieve things like facial recognition. It doesn't matter what system the footage is recorded on it's something that can be done post capture.
2) I didn't say you did have a car it was more a hypothetical thing. I'm sure you've taken a taxi or bus or train etc at some point which nearly all have cameras recording at a resolution good enough to achieve identification of the people being captured by the cameras.
OrangeRKN wrote:BID0 wrote:If you have a smart phone on you then your entire journey will be recorded by the device manufacturer as well as any apps you happen to open during your day or have running in the background. If the store runs a loyalty scheme then they will track which stores you visit, what you buy, if you have used their website then they will know which pages you have viewed and if you leave things in your shopping basket.
These are all avoidable (the last point being moot, we're talking about physical purchases from brick-and-mortar stores). I don't use loyalty cards and my phone will not have wifi, data, bluetooth or location turned on in most situations. Regardless, for the purpose of advertising, that data is somewhat less valuable and certainly much harder to tie together to give overall insight into my activity (my journey is doubtful to be in isolation for a single purpose and is more difficult to collate). Again though, as with CCTV, you're not wrong to say that this kind of tracking is certainly concerning!
Again they were just hypothetical situations. I had taken a guess you didn't have a store card if you didn't use a bank card. And I wasn't sure if you had a smart phone and if you did if you kept it at home at all times.
Still we can argue about how much technology you or another person may use, just by virtue of walking through a town you will have been caught by at least one CCTV camera which now equates to more data being captured about you than you sitting at home in your pants downloading a game from a console store front.
Re: GAME (as in the shop GAME): Retailer Of The Year 2019
Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2019 4:29 pm
by Jenuall
OrangeRKN wrote:Jenuall wrote:The only difference with buying physical is the data held about your purchase habits is now shared by more than one organisation.
With physical there can be no data on your purchase at all.
What? You think that MS, Sony, Nintendo etc. don't add data to your personal profile when you activate a physical purchase?
Re: GAME (as in the shop GAME): Retailer Of The Year 2019
Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2019 4:33 pm
by OrangeRKN
@BIDO that's all fairly put. I don't disagree with the
potential for CCTV to be highly invasive, I am just not aware of it being used in such a way.
Jenuall wrote:What? You think that MS, Sony, Nintendo etc. don't add data to your personal profile when you activate a physical purchase?
Information of the transaction, I mean. They don't know how much, if anything, you spent on the game, where you bought it from, or when.
Re: GAME (as in the shop GAME): Retailer Of The Year 2019
Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2019 4:42 pm
by Jenuall
OrangeRKN wrote:@BIDO that's all fairly put. I don't disagree with the
potential for CCTV to be highly invasive, I am just not aware of it being used in such a way.
Jenuall wrote:What? You think that MS, Sony, Nintendo etc. don't add data to your personal profile when you activate a physical purchase?
Information of the transaction, I mean. They don't know how much, if anything, you spent on the game, where you bought it from, or when.
Yes, which is what I acknowledged in my original post.
But you said you were worried about someone building up a profile of your habits, that absolutely will still happen when you activate your purchases. You just also have the bank/physical store building up a profile as well as the console manufacturers!
Re: GAME (as in the shop GAME): Retailer Of The Year 2019
Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2019 1:56 pm
by Trelliz
So I thought i'd bite on that £30 Hitman 2 Gold Edition in the branch in town over lunch, turned out they couldn't find the innards with the DLC code on it. Classic GAME
.
While i was in there some absolute dickhead was kicking off at the staff saying they were calling him a thief because he was going to buy a PS4, but they have to put the box behind the counter and wouldn't let him hold the box as he was asking to do until he'd paid for it. I think he got his phone out and was all "do you want to say on camera about that" and threatened to kick off at someone else who was asking him to calm down. From experience anyone who kicks off like that is either thinking about nicking it/has nicked things in the past, wants some sort of discount for the "inconvenience" or some gooseberry fool, is just an argumentative prick or maybe he was trying to bank some Big Dick Points with a girl he was with, I don't know. Either way, I don't envy the staff having to deal with the thick end of the public or fucklord big-G 'Gamers'.
Re: GAME (as in the shop GAME): Retailer Of The Year 2019
Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 8:38 pm
by KK
GAME threatens to close 40 UK stores unless rents are cut
Retailer says 'landlords need to work with us'
GAME says it plans to close 40 stores throughout the UK.
The firm has already informed 27 outlets of the intention to close them, including stores in Mansfield, Canterbury, Watford, Glasgow Fort, Leicester, Derby, Norwich Chapelfield, Lakeside, Bexleyheath and Carmarthen.
Further sites will be informed in the new future, the retailer says.
The company operated 274 UK stores as of July 2019. It also operates stores in Spain, and combined has 540 outlets across the two markets.
The move is an effort from GAME to convince landlords, primarily Intu and New River, to offer better rates.
A spokesperson said: "We are working closely with landlords throughout the UK to ensure that we do not have to vacate the 40 locations which could lead to a number of job losses. However, we are facing a challenging retail market and GAME with its extensive retail footprint, needs to restructure and landlords need to work with us in setting realistic, fair rents."
The UK retail market suffered an almost 20% drop in physical game sales last year, according to GfK. GAME has been responding to the challenging retail market by launching a new esports initiative called Belong, which are special stores and areas dedicated to competitive gaming.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/ ... -uk-stores
Re: GAME (as in the shop GAME): Retailer Of The Year 2019
Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 8:40 pm
by Lagamorph
After it worked for Mike Ashley I'd expect more and more retailers to start making this threat.
Re: GAME (as in the shop GAME): Retailer Of The Year 2019
Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 8:46 pm
by KK
This year’s holiday period should in theory be massive for all retailers that sell video games with at least two new systems launching (probably for the last time with digital sales only increasing further). This is basically the last chance for them to have their biggest sales period in recent times before it really is all downhill.
Re: GAME (as in the shop GAME): Retailer Of The Year 2019
Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 1:40 pm
by Jenuall
I'm prepared to believe that landlords are probably overcharging on rent for commercial properties in town centres.
The problem for someone like GAME is that they have limited clout as the kind of stores they occupy are relatively small and therefore there are plenty of other businesses that would snap up that space and who may be prepared to pay what the landlord wants. This tactic might work for Ashley with something like House of Fraser or for the likes of Debenhams - those are massive outlets that he landlord will have huge problems filling if they are forced to close, but GAME is a very different prospect.
Re: GAME (as in the shop GAME): Retailer Of The Year 2019
Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 2:00 pm
by OrangeRKN
Retail rents are ridiculous and still based on the clearly untenable assumption that they can get raised significantly above inflation every year. The amount of otherwise profit a store has to take just to break even on rent is insane.
Re: GAME (as in the shop GAME): Retailer Of The Year 2019
Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 2:04 pm
by Dual
Jenu-All I Want For Christmas wrote:I'm prepared to believe that landlords are probably overcharging on rent for commercial properties in town centres.
The problem for someone like GAME is that they have limited clout as the kind of stores they occupy are relatively small and therefore there are plenty of other businesses that would snap up that space and who may be prepared to pay what the landlord wants. This tactic might work for Ashley with something like House of Fraser or for the likes of Debenhams - those are massive outlets that he landlord will have huge problems filling if they are forced to close, but GAME is a very different prospect.
Would depend on the location. My town centre has loads of empty units.
Re: GAME (as in the shop GAME): Retailer Of The Year 2019
Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 2:09 pm
by Jenuall
Dual wrote:Jenu-All I Want For Christmas wrote:I'm prepared to believe that landlords are probably overcharging on rent for commercial properties in town centres.
The problem for someone like GAME is that they have limited clout as the kind of stores they occupy are relatively small and therefore there are plenty of other businesses that would snap up that space and who may be prepared to pay what the landlord wants. This tactic might work for Ashley with something like House of Fraser or for the likes of Debenhams - those are massive outlets that he landlord will have huge problems filling if they are forced to close, but GAME is a very different prospect.
Would depend on the location. My town centre has loads of empty units.
Oh yeah location is very important and I can't remember the last time I went around a town centre which didn't have a large number of empty units. But there is still a challenge here for GAME to try the same "drop the rent or we walk" tactic when compared to larger businesses that are dealing with units that are invariably more challenging to shift and therefore far more costly to leave empty for any length of time.
GAME tend to have their shops in pretty decent locations as well, not the arse end of towns where you are more likely to see empty units. Even if it's not a major nationwide business that would move in to a vacated GAME unit I imagine their locations will be coveted enough for the landlords to get someone in there.
Re: GAME (as in the shop GAME): Retailer Of The Year 2019
Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 2:09 pm
by Trelliz
KK wrote:This year’s holiday period should in theory be massive for all retailers that sell video games with at least two new systems launching (probably for the last time with digital sales only increasing further). This is basically the last chance for them to have their biggest sales period in recent times before it really is all downhill.
I remember the fire sale from when they were close to collapse about 8 years ago, I wonder if that would happen again.
Re: GAME (as in the shop GAME): Retailer Of The Year 2019
Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 2:11 pm
by Gemini73
This has to be one of the longest death throes in UK retail history.
Re: GAME (as in the shop GAME): Retailer Of The Year 2019
Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 2:11 pm
by Cumberdanes
I'm always amazed that GAME are still going, haven't they gone bust at least 2 times? I'm not even sure when I last went in to my local branch, although I did at least buy something.
Re: GAME (as in the shop GAME): Retailer Of The Year 2019
Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 2:12 pm
by Jenuall
I went in to GAME for the first time in over a year during the Christmas period. It was just full of second hand shite, mobile phones and crappy Gamer™ merchandise. I can't imagine why they are struggling really!
Re: GAME (as in the shop GAME): Retailer Of The Year 2019
Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 2:14 pm
by Dual
I used them recently to trade in a load of old mobile phones and games against Mario and Zelda for the Switch. Would have got more elsewhere but the process was painless and I left with what I wanted.
Re: GAME (as in the shop GAME): Retailer Of The Year 2019
Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2020 10:30 am
by kerr9000
Cumberdanes wrote:I'm always amazed that GAME are still going, haven't they gone but at least 2 times? I'm not even sure when I last went in to my local branch, although I did at least buy something.
I know they went into administration during the Xbox 360's prime, my local was selling games for practically nothing so I got loads, days later they were saved and everything was back to top price
Re: GAME (as in the shop GAME): Retailer Of The Year 2019
Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2020 10:41 am
by Pedz
Walking in a Winter Winckleland wrote:Why?
It's just something I like having. Most of my Switch games are physical, but most of my games in general are digital (I have about 2400 on steam.) Maybe its habbit or something, but I feel like I actually own something when I have a physical product, I dont with digital.
Re: GAME (as in the shop GAME): Retailer Of The Year 2019
Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2020 10:47 am
by Pedz
Reading the thread and I would just like to know why OR cares that anyone knows he bought a game? The bank arent going to close his account and take all his money because he bought Mario Odyssey on his Switch via digital.