GAME (as in the shop GAME): Retailer Of The Year 2019

OrangeRKN wrote:Yeah HMV seem to have all but stopped selling games. They now only have a very, very small selection

Bit like the supermarkets as well. They'll have the really big releases like FIFA or COD, sometimes near the entrance in a cardboard stand, but other than that it can be pretty barren these days. I was in Morrisons a few weeks ago and all they had was Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled on PS4 and a few Ubisoft titles amongst the BluRay's and DVDs, which were also looking pretty unloved. Almost a token gesture of everything (music, books, magazines, vinyl), all of it looking half-arsed.

Yeah supermarket offerings can be pretty paltry these days. Our local Sainsburys has got an Argos inside it now which I had hoped would boost their selection but even then there still seems to be bugger all available.

Back in the day you could often stumble upon some bargains in the supermarkets, games that had only been out for a few weeks but were massively discounted and the like. Happier times!

Yup, digital selling is killing them all.

Our local Asda has substantially reduced it's video game stock levels. Xbox and PS4 have now been reduced to one section with Switch sharing another shelf with peripherals.

Yup, digital is wiping physical out.

It's not so much digital wiping out physical as online shopping increasingly dominating the physical market.

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I feel like a lot of physical stores are struggling. I wondered if maybe stores would work better as just a showcase of products. They don't hold any stock aside from what they're showcasing and then you just get free next day delivery if you order in-store as opposed to online. It's not quite just buying something and having it right then and there, but meh. I often enjoy just browsing stores and then usually find it cheaper online. But then if you throw in loyalty stuff as well, could be a good incentive to get people to buy in-store.

My biggest reasons for buying in store though are 1) paying in cash so my purchasing habits aren't being tracked and sold to target me with advertising, and 2) getting the product immediately and not worrying about delivery.

My biggest reasons for buying digitally are 1) Not paying in cash because it's very inconvenient and I'm not paranoid about tracking, and 2) getting the product immediately and not worrying about delivery.

Paranoia implies the worry in question is overblown or false, which in Orange's case it's absolutely not.

True, but how many CCTV cameras have watched you walk to the shop in the first place?

Trelliz wrote:True, but how many CCTV cameras have watched you walk to the shop in the first place?

Is the argument that I shouldn't be concerned about my privacy where I have control over it, because there are other areas where I don't have control?

It is a good point however that technology is rapidly improving and we are severely lacking in directly applicable laws and regulation around the use of facial recognition and person tracking by CCTV. I'm not aware of it being currently widely implemented, although I am aware of different approaches to achieve similar such as wifi/bluetooth beacons - which is part of my reason for turning off wifi on my phone whenever I leave my house.

Even with a physical disc you are being tracked. As soon as you put the disc into your console and start installing they know you have purchased or borrowed the game. Unless your console is not connected to the internet of course, but there can’t be many people left who don’t connect.

Yes of course, being concerned by privacy is almost always about limitation and the cost/benefit of that rather than complete avoidance.

OrangeRKN wrote:Yes of course, being concerned by privacy is almost always about limitation and the cost/benefit of that rather than complete avoidance.

That’s my point though, with physical discs you are being tracked in far more ways than you would be if you bought a digital game.

The cameras on the way to (and inside) the shop. Your phone tracking you when you are in the car/on the bus/walking. The credit/debit card transaction if you stop for petrol or if you pay for the bus or taxi using a card. The risk of a chugger signing you up to a charity direct debit forever. The credit/debit card transaction in the shop. Even if you pay cash then MS/Sony/Nintendo still know you have the game when you play it.

Digital isn’t much better from a privacy point of view, but you do avoid the CCTV and a lot of the tracking.

I wish the digital only future would hurry up and get there with consoles.

I don't. I like having actual games.

Why?

Moggy wrote:The risk of a chugger signing you up to a charity direct debit foreve

I suppose you're right the 200 credit cards I currently own because I buy physical games from shops is probably a problem

If you play online or connect to the internet for updates, the only unavoidable tracking is from the console itself (presumably reporting to both console company and game publisher).

With digital purchases you could buy a prepaid card with cash from a shop to prevent tracking from your credit/debit card, but that purchase (and related behaviour) is still going to be tracked by the digital storefront. With physical, the console can't know where you acquired the game at all so there is still less information.

With CCTV - the only unavoidable surveillance involved with buying something in store - afaik most CCTV is not used for tracking but only watched live for security or retroactively examined during an investigation of a crime.

I think it's almost certainly wrong to suggest that buying something in a shop involves more personal tracking than online storefronts!

OrangeRKN wrote:
Moggy wrote:The risk of a chugger signing you up to a charity direct debit foreve

I suppose you're right the 200 credit cards I currently own because I buy physical games from shops is probably a problem

If you play online or connect to the internet for updates, the only unavoidable tracking is from the console itself (presumably reporting to both console company and game publisher).

With digital purchases you could buy a prepaid card with cash from a shop to prevent tracking from your credit/debit card, but that purchase (and related behaviour) is still going to be tracked by the digital storefront. With physical, the console can't know where you acquired the game at all so there is still less information.

With CCTV - the only unavoidable surveillance involved with buying something in store - afaik most CCTV is not used for tracking but only watched live for security or retroactively examined during an investigation of a crime.

I think it's almost certainly wrong to suggest that buying something in a shop involves more personal tracking than online storefronts!

Yeah that sounds pretty paranoid. :lol:

I don't know what to tell you - online storefronts track a lot of information about customers (more than just their purchases), as do credit card companies, and none of those claims of data collection are controversial. In what way is acknowledging something that quite evidently happens paranoid?

GAME (as in the shop GAME): Retailer Of The Year 2019

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