Gamestop To Be Resupplied With PS3, Wii 126
GameSpot reports that GameStop will be resupplied with Wii and PS3 units within the next few weeks. They have some details on how the two console did in comparison (more games bought with the Wii than the PS3), and point out the best sellers for both systems. From the article: "The executives also recapped the launch performances of the two systems. For the PS3, Sony's Resistance: Fall of Man and Electronic Arts' Madden NFL 07 were the biggest sellers, while Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Ubisoft's Red Steel stood out from the pack of Wii launch titles ... While GameStop and its EB Games brand collectively account for about 25 percent of the US gaming market, the company believes it didn't receive that much of either system's day-one shipments. Executives said that they've never been satisfied with their launch day allocation of any new machine, but added their main concern now is the flow of follow-up shipments — which both Sony and Nintendo have promised will come at a steady pace."
Riiiight (Score:2, Interesting)
Gamestop is dead... It's only a matter of time. (Score:5, Interesting)
They won't get more than 25% of the ongoing shipments either. They used to be a specialty retailer that added excellent customer service to the product you could get elsewhere. Recently, the bent over backwards to please the game publishers under the mistaken impression that if they didn't give in to their demands the publishers would give preferential treatment to the big guys (Wal-Mart, Target, etc...). Now that they don't offer any additional value, the publishers not only don't need them, but they actually have incentive to push them out of the market to reduce used game sales. Now, they get crappy allotments, they have to take pre-orders on everything because they can't return unsold merchandise to the distributor, they can't take returns from their customers for the same reason, and instead of being helpful the employees are reduced to bullying their customers in order to meet the quotas that keep the company in the black. It's only a matter of time. In the meantime, you may as well shop for your gaming gear at Wal-Mart, because you'll get equivalent service, and Wal-Mart has better stock levels.
Re:Gamestop is dead... It's only a matter of time. (Score:5, Interesting)
Is that English?
I've had no problem returning anything, EVER. Even with no receipt.
Either you've never opened the package, or you've never tried to return anything.
I used to shop at EB frequently. I'd spend thousands of dollars per year in my local store, and had friendly conversations with the employees. Then it changed. The return policy changed to exchanges for the same title only if the package was opened. The PC game selection dwindled. The manager admitted they sometimes had to turn away customers on release days if they didn't have a pre-order even if they had enough copies in stock in order to help convince the customer that they should pre-order next time.
And I'm pretty sure preorders exist so people like me reserve Gears of War there rather than try my luck getting it at Fry's or Best Buy
I'm 100% sure that you're wrong. Pre-orders exist because, unlike with every other form of media, the store cannot return unsold copies. If they could, they'd order more than enough and send back the rest (probably just the discs, and trash the packaging. Similar to how bookstores just send back the covers). Since it costs between $2 and $3 to print, press, and package a game and the associated materials, there is no reason not to make extras and allow returns minus the $3 cost.... But they don't and thus you have to pre-order because a small retailer like Gamestop can't take the hit if a $60 title doesn't sell.
Pre-orders for consoles are different than pre-orders for games. The only reason they sell pre-orders for hardware is to get you in the store twice. You're very likely to buy something each time, and since they make almost no margin on the hardware itself they need the extra boost. Otherwise it doesn't matter to them if you line up for the release, or if you line up for the pre-order. Both would have sold out in minutes anyway. As an added benefit, if they don't get enough units to cover your pre-order, they've still got you locked in as a customer and prevent the sale (with the profitable associated add-ons) from going to a competitor.
Additionally, it is almost never the case that the bulk of a game's sales occur on release day. Only super-hyped games have front-loaded sales, and the super hyped games are exactly the titles that are in stock in large quantites at Wal-Mart and Target. (Why would you try Fry's or BestBuy? Pick a retailer with high volume, or in the case of BestBuy, one that doesn't suck.) To use your Gears of War example, my local Target had twenty copies in stock the day after release. Purchasing one was no big deal.
Not to mention I walked in to EB Games at 10:00 on Sunday to pick up my preordered Wii, rather than camp out at Best Buy.
How long did you camp out for the pre-order?