🤔 If you were GameStop’s CEO leading the company through its second era of struggle in the mid-2010s, what and how would you have invested the $470M+? It may be tempting to answer esports or streaming as low-hanging fruit, but consider that esports (including the leading brands like TSM and Cloud 9) are unprofitable businesses subsidized by millions in venture capital. This episode builds off the live services episode from Season 1, which covered that making video games in themselves are expensive and unpredictable bets that take years of development and millions in costs. That episode analyzes titles like Witcher 3 alongside studios like Rockstar and Square Enix. Good games do not always sell while games that do sell are not always good. kzitem.info/news/bejne/o21n05aJe5mLZno
@gruntlord6
Жыл бұрын
A greater emphasis on the in person experience, which is something people enjoy but can't be replicated online
@skatlag
Жыл бұрын
I would reduce the trasparancy of any financials while trying to preception manage to my advantage like Uber. And would sell this sinking ship the fuck out until its too late 😅
@TheMysteryDriver
Жыл бұрын
@@SB-mg1wyso GameStop becomes a RadioShack type place.
@drdann2251
Жыл бұрын
Shut it all down and give the money back to the shareholders.
@iandakariann
Жыл бұрын
@@TheMysteryDriver that would be a crazy great niche for them and they have the coverage and brand awareness to do it. I just don't think they have the personell. Being able to get into the pc hardware market will require a very strong knowledge as it's not a casual market. I can see them trying to over price whatever graphics cards they saw was popular and getting 1 underpaid guy with no pc experience to run the place, then drop it once it fails to double their revenue need year.
@joshuakolton9955
Жыл бұрын
My friend is a manager at my local GameStop and our Zelda launch was awesome. We had pizza and played Mario kart for about 3 hours until everyone got their game at midnight. Really sucks that corporate seems to crap on all their stores and employees. None of their CEOs for the last 10 years have known anything about video games and can’t figure out how to compete with the direct buy online market or digital stores.
@thekingofkingsrp
Жыл бұрын
We are entering a era where these pompous college educated only book smart ceo's are going to be replaced by people with real world experience and smarts.
@jandrex007
Жыл бұрын
Idiot CEOs are smart and prepared people you know nothing about bussines or life pizza and mario kart ? Hahaha
@lukylex
Жыл бұрын
All they had to do was be the place for experiences like these on releases , that would be a good reason why i would go and buy something from them .
@ebonhawken574
Жыл бұрын
I’ll take physical copies over digital any day, unless it’s on steam or GOG
@matthewmspace
Жыл бұрын
@@ebonhawken574I’ll still get some single player stuff physically (such as from Nintendo) but if it’s primarily multiplayer focused like COD, I’m just gonna use Steam.
@markcarr5142
Жыл бұрын
My son was 5 when I took him to the midnight opening on Call of Duty 2 for the Xbox 360. He's 23 now, but he STILL talks about how much fun he had waiting in line for that game. Other gamers were dressed in full battle gear, fake guns, camo face paint, RC cars with Go-Pros taped to them... And the guys letting my son be at the front of the picture, making him look like the leader of the group, is one that I'll always cherish. Those days don't exist anymore. And the world is worse off because of it.
@norcalbowhunter3264
Жыл бұрын
I remember going to a launch as a teenager with my childhood best friend and airing for a midnight release of COD. I’m 35 and we still talk and joke about it. Nothing like that exists today even if we wanted to do it.
@TheMahayanist
Жыл бұрын
The world is the same, there's just less in it.
@vidmantaskvidmantask7134
Жыл бұрын
One more thing is that gamers were going more outside to socialise because of it. It was event.
@norcalbowhunter3264
Жыл бұрын
@@vidmantaskvidmantask7134 yup. I would often go down and just hang out in the store talking to other gamers or workers there about games. Hanging out trying new systems and new games they had on display and sometimes even buying something. Now a days no one wants to chit chat much anymore, there's no display console or game, and the workers rotate out so fast because people hate their jobs you never really get to know them.
@vidmantaskvidmantask7134
Жыл бұрын
@@norcalbowhunter3264 Someday this generation will have to face reality and they will go back to old ways of socialising like it was before. They will have to take care of themselves.
@dustybunny6716
Жыл бұрын
I think Gamestops biggest mistake was having more shelves of Funkopops than games.
@cassandrajenkins9095
Жыл бұрын
I work at the mall and you couldn't be more right about those damn things. They have so many that they clearance them to get rid of them but they just rot on the shelf.
@timotheninja
Жыл бұрын
The middle of my Gamestop has been filled with clearanced Funko Pops for at least a year, but their shelves are still always full of new ones
@PeruvianPotato
Жыл бұрын
THIS. They need to remember that I come to GameStop for you know, _games_ and not consumerist garbage
@chromejailer6799
Жыл бұрын
This is what my local store did a while ago. It used to have a big wall full of shelves with bunch of games for all consoles, and a small stand of POPs to the side. But now they switched them and first thing you see as you get inside is a huge wall of POPs, and if you go out of your way to look for the video games, you'll see a couple of shelves with games at the end of the wall. And those couple of shelves incliude the games for all consoles, so the amount of games for each console is pretty small. It's just sad.
@yellowblanka6058
Жыл бұрын
I can’t stand those ugly, cheap looking figures and am amazed they’re so popular.
@MustardAndFries
Жыл бұрын
One thing not mentioned was their inability to compete with steam on the PC market. They had an amazing opportunity to get users to switch over to their own platform for PC game sales by using physical game exchanges for online credit, but never put any effort into the platform and just let it fail. GameStop really died off because the people running the company did not understand the industry they were in after hitting their peak.
@GyroCannon
Жыл бұрын
Especially as the Epic Games Store proves, there's a spot in the market for a second retailer that isn't owned by a publisher actively releasing new games (yes, EGS is owned by Epic who has their own games, but the catalog itself is way larger than its first party IP, similar to Steam being much larger than DotA and CS:GO, and in contrast to the respective storefronts of Activision, Ubisoft, and EA) If Gamestop really wanted to back in the early 2010s, they could have become that second alternative. What a waste of potential.
@RKanth54
Жыл бұрын
@@GyroCannonso essentially epic games store is not the second major online retailer after steam? if so, then gamestop truly had wastd potential because that physical game exchange for online credit is brilliant and could’ve actually been what steam is today if it played its cards right
@ryanelliott71698
Жыл бұрын
Yeah, as a new pc player in the 2010’s it was very disappointing to see such a tiny pc section in their store. Once I found out steam was a thing I never looked back
@GyroCannon
Жыл бұрын
@@ryanelliott71698 I bought more PC games from Target than GameStop lol
@CabVideoz
Жыл бұрын
@@GyroCannonoffice max in the 90s was better even
@JTDontForgetMyMoney
Жыл бұрын
I remember being a kid, wanting nothing more than to go to a midnight drop but knowing I couldn’t because of school the next day. I always wanted to do it as an adult but by the time I was an adult, there was no need… dang.
@greetingsmars
Жыл бұрын
I feel this but I have made the “midnight launch” for Red Dead 2 & The Show 23 this year. I was expecting lines out the door & hype a plenty but for AT LEAST Red Dead but I just walked in at 9pm, the only customer, purchased my game & walked out like any other day
@JTDontForgetMyMoney
Жыл бұрын
@@greetingsmars oh wow. Yeah, not exactly what I’d expect 😅
@jahjoeka
Жыл бұрын
Sucks. Did it with the wii. Kinda fun but lots of waiting.
@rredd10k
Жыл бұрын
Same bro 😢
@bhzaddybhzolby1705
Жыл бұрын
I can relate to that. I never got to go to a midnight release as a kid and I don't need to go to a midnight release as an adult but I'm a big Zelda fan so I went to the Tears of the Kingdom midnight release and it was honestly a great time.
@Marc_Araujo
Жыл бұрын
RIP to those classic stores absored by GameStop: Babbage's, Electronics Boutique, EB Games, FuncoLand, Game Champ, and Software, Etc. Sleep easy, old friends.
@TheRosswise
Жыл бұрын
Babbages was amazing back in the SNES era. You could go there and see things you'd never see anywhere else. Like Neo Geo.
@presbran86
Жыл бұрын
We had Rhino video games but they bought them out and it became a GameStop
@trainwreck9567
Жыл бұрын
EB and Funco were my jam 😭
@tmitsurugi7777
Жыл бұрын
EB was sooo much nicer too
@norcalbowhunter3264
Жыл бұрын
Software Etc. was my stomping grounds as a kid. My dad would go there to buy PC games and I loved going with him.
@che55ie
Жыл бұрын
I saw in person when GameStop became less and less of a game store and predominantly a toy and shitty t-shirt store. Felt like the dying of an era.
@SkylineFTW97
Жыл бұрын
The last time I actually bought something there was 2015 when I picked up a New 3DS XL, Smash 4, and the 3DS port of Xenoblade Chronicles. That was also the last time I bought a new game system, with me getting much more into PC gaming and emulation after.
@madden8021
Жыл бұрын
At least it's the only place that has Steam Cards "when available"
@globaladdict
Жыл бұрын
@PricelessSweetPrincess yea but the world that has opened up for indie developers has been quite amazing. Baldur's Gate 3's developing team Larian Studios paves the way for crowdfunded indie gaming to make games great again imo.
@JM1993951
Жыл бұрын
Hey, it’s better than nothing. Toys R Us used to be a toy store that sold games….now they occupy a 20ft section inside Macy’s.
@jasonanderson5034
Жыл бұрын
game stores should die .. why do u think wasting plastic is even morally ok when u have digital copies
@Sideshownicful
Жыл бұрын
I remember in late August 2012, I went to a GameStop and they were selling City of Heroes, despite: 1) the game being available free to download and 2) the game (an MMO) shutting down in November 2012. I told the employee they probably shouldn't be selling that, and he told me he knew, but management had instructed them to leave it on the shelves. It kinda changed how I saw the company after that.
@NoMoreCrumbs
Жыл бұрын
We'll never have a midnight launch event at a physical store ever again. Sobering
@mike3667
Жыл бұрын
Like if you cry every time 😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢
@soupster5009
Жыл бұрын
My GameStop still has midnight releases I went to Pokémon elden ring and destiny 2 lightfall, it was definitely not the same but still fun
@TheForever206
Жыл бұрын
I think the last one i went to was Destiny 1.
@hewhohasnoidentity4377
Жыл бұрын
There will be midnight launch events again. You just don't know what category the product will be. Unfortunately the company behind it will likely be Apple.
@soupster5009
Жыл бұрын
@@hewhohasnoidentity4377 I disagree with this take
@otakubullfrog1665
Жыл бұрын
My favorite place to shop for used games these days are the real retro stores that go all the way back to Atari instead of just offering current gen and last gen. GameStop can't really just switch to that model since it's too much of a niche business to work with as many locations as they have.
@ramonas4328
Жыл бұрын
Trueeee. There's definitely a market for this! I recently spent like 70 bucks for a DS game that is very hard to find anywhere but ebay. They could be the "antiques" store of video games. I do think there is a niche market for that, considering we lose so much gaming history every time a new console is released.
@greenchile6554
Жыл бұрын
And they sold off all that inventory they once had obtained so cheaply. I thought full retro was the natural course for Gamestop in the early 2010s and it just never materialized
@zebare726
Жыл бұрын
Instead of Gamestop trying to convert their income source..Aka Gaming store.. into everything from geek store, Iphone store, Dvd store. They should instead have opened up side stores that focus on other parts of Gaming. Of which let their game store be free of Funko pops. Heck, they could have opened up a retro store in cities where there is a market.
@JohnnyDollar720
Жыл бұрын
They used to be a go to spot for retro games. Not sure why they bailed on that a decade or so ago
@JohnnyDollar720
Жыл бұрын
They used to be a go to spot for retro games. Not sure why they bailed on that a decade or so ago
@Shaijn815
Жыл бұрын
I miss the days from the 90s and early 2000s where regulars at a game store were freely allowed to ask to play or try any game on any console setup at the store turning it into a pseudo arcade and made the place much more of an after school hangout and the conversations and friendships that could develop organically just by sharing a love of gaming.
@Chris_978
Жыл бұрын
Miss those days is not the same anymore but maybe we should be the generation to bring that up and make it happen.
@Shaijn815
Жыл бұрын
@@jasonanderson5034 you are using electricity and internet on an unsustainably made device get off your high horse mate if it is just for limited edition pop up drops the boxes could be made of recycled cardboard or plastic for all I care. Think about solutions rather looking to tear people down.
@jasonanderson5034
Жыл бұрын
@@Shaijn815 yea i am thats not a arguementat all their is no digital computers their are digital verison of all games use your head u have the resource to waste less plastic well still having entertainment but u choose not to
@jasonanderson5034
Жыл бұрын
@@Shaijn815 get off my high horse are u delesional we all got a device do we need to waste more plastic the keeyword is more no we dont we can use digital copies
@jasonanderson5034
Жыл бұрын
@@Shaijn815 thats a flawed arguement we have digital copies of games we dont have digital consoles or digital computers we can save plastic and waste by keeping stuff digital so we only have one hysical device instead of trash bags full of games ontop of that so becasue we destory the planet a little bit that means we should do more damage
@StrmTroopToys
Жыл бұрын
I'm surprised GameStop has lasted this long. I would have thought they would have gone bankrupt years ago. They were too heavily reliant on used game sales and gave you next to nothing for trade in value. Not to mention how they treat their employees and how they have unrealistic expectations of their employees.
@tripx3033
Жыл бұрын
2020 stock meta made them millions lol
@njnjco
Жыл бұрын
I prefer physical games to digital (at least on console), and I drive for a living, spending more time on the road than at home, so I can't just get it tomorrow by ordering off amazon, because I won't be home where they ship it. The fastest way for me to get a physical game is usually for me to drive to a nearby store than download a game on my hotspot or public wifi. (Assuming no game patches, of course)
@alexandru5369
Жыл бұрын
The next too nothing trade in value is why I gave up on them. I remember coming in too trade in about 5 games or so that were barely a year old I was offered $15 for all. Mind you I wasn't expecting even 40% value but I was flat out insulted at the offer. It was a wake up call too me
@Mac10Demarco
Жыл бұрын
@@tripx3033I’m sure that’ll keep them afloat for another couple years but GameStop should’ve been taken out back and shot a long time ago. It’s still a sinking ship
@FriedPlacentaBurger
Жыл бұрын
So they've actually got very little debt, and raised cash with stock sales and a split. Their cash reserves alone would be able to float them for awhile asuming they did not make any improvements. They're probably still gonna be around awhile. I'm interested to see what happens.
@cartilagehead
11 ай бұрын
I remember when GameStop was hated by a lot of gamers for being a soulless and corporate alternative to local/independent shops and putting many of them out of business. I understand the passage of time but it’s still incredibly weird to me that anybody would be nostalgic for GameStop
@chompers5568
23 күн бұрын
So true the people pumping the stock and referencing a nostalgia that never existed
@bluberryboom5463
Жыл бұрын
I worked at GameStop during the time they really started pushing Cricket. It was horrible. We were expected to know how to use this cell phone activation portal with little to no training and for the same pay. To top it all off, they wanted us to upsell plans to everyone who walked in the door. Unsurprised it never went anywhere.
@limboz9319
Жыл бұрын
I worked at a gamestop in college in 2013 and 2014 and the writing was starting to be on the wall. Around 2014 is when they really wanted us to push the Pro membership trying to get all the money they can. Just 2 years later in a business class we had to do a project on a struggling company and gamestop was on the list of acceptable companies
@TheReplacementsGaming
Жыл бұрын
It was before 2014 my friend. I worked at GameStop from 2008-2012. They had us pushing Gameinformer magazine memberships long before the Power Up Program began. Had to maintain a certain percentage of sub sales to overall sales or we would get written up. Part of the reason I left to begin with. Was more about numbers and sales than the customer service and the games themselves.
@schemar17
Жыл бұрын
Could you guys play the games at gamestop
@TheReplacementsGaming
Жыл бұрын
@@schemar17 like on the clock? No. We actually got in trouble for playing hand helds while on the clock. But they would let us take games home to try.
@schemar17
Жыл бұрын
@@TheReplacementsGaming any game? How about consoles?
@ChickenMcThiccken
8 ай бұрын
they still push it. "oh your membership expired. blah blah." . i tell them; ill get it when i get my tax return. that is a lie LOL
@preyforcougars3601
9 ай бұрын
As a kid I loved GameStop because of the atmosphere and because I could sell of games I didn’t use to buy something new. And for a while, the buy back price was actually decent. However, I noticed a big change around 2013. I bought Battlefield 4 like a day after it released. Played it and despised it, and then brought it back to GameStop to trade it in. Mind you, this game had only been out a few days and was selling well for $60. They offered my $7 *in store credit* or $5 cash.. it was in that moment I realized GameStop was no better than any corner pawnshop.
@indygamertag829
Жыл бұрын
I remember when my friend and I went to the Halo 4 midnight release. His mom had to take us and when we showed up, the line was insane. They were giving away merch, posters, etc. All while gearing up for a H4 tournament and all of this would culminate in the midnight release. It was amazing, an insane experience. Played well into the night and stayed home all day the next. Then…. Fast forward to Assassins Creed: Origins. Pulled up around 10-11, not sure if there’d be a line or what would be going down. Door was propped open, nobody in sight. Walked in and grabbed my copy and asked where everybody was? Answer was I was one of very very few who showed and that “midnight releases” were a thing of the past. Never preordered from them or really anyone, again.
@BigWillieDillie
Жыл бұрын
My love for Gamestop as a kid was crazy. I barely went due to being broke but when i was able to shop i was in a candy store
@JReybabay
Жыл бұрын
When i go into a gamestop these days the employees act like they have been stranded on a desert island and haven’t seen a real person in years
@BuckScrotumn
11 ай бұрын
The atrocious trade in values at GameStop is what taught me how to sell games on eBay when I was 13. I could sell a $60 game for $50 on eBay instead of $10 at Gamestop. 😂
@strippinheat
Жыл бұрын
I worked there from the early PS360 generation until about mid PS4 era. Having to learn how to trade in every phone ever made, selling credit cards, making sure people had internet access so they could use the DLC I was told to push or the games that required internet to even play was all a nightmare. I just wanted to sell games.
@norcalbowhunter3264
Жыл бұрын
I remember wanting to work at a GameStop but never got hired. When I got older and learned how they treated their employees, I am glad I didn’t get hired. It might have killed my passion for the hobby,
@rushpatriot2866
Жыл бұрын
@@norcalbowhunter3264we're living the same life. I was denied hire around when gta 5 came out
@JM1993951
Жыл бұрын
As a frequent customer I can tell you…all we want to do is buy games. The constant push for memberships is annoying. I work for Rite Aid. We have to push the membership number for customers to get the advertised sale price. I wish we could just sell shit.
@IncognitoFinance
Жыл бұрын
Here before the grifters come in
@sillybilly4710
Жыл бұрын
Reddit and it’s consequences have been disastrous for the human race
@PoxyBear
8 ай бұрын
Big missed opportunity is that Gamestop never created a Gamestop TV KZitem channel. Stores could do monthly events, interviews with developers, KZitemrs and Twitch streamers. Employee reviews of games, trailer launches and breakdowns.
@S_Miclemie
8 ай бұрын
THIS! Gamestop was the gaming culture in its peak, everything about it was a representation of gaming, if they made a tv show or KZitem channel in which they interview developers, professional gamers, or go one step beyond and make documentaries on gaming, they would still be a massive company instead of being what it is now
@BamaMatt93
Жыл бұрын
I worked at one of my local GameStop stores for a little over a year and a half as a secondary job back in 2014-2015. Whenever they started adding Funko-Pops, tshirts and toys/figures inside the store, I could tell that was the begging of a steep downfall. The last midnight launch I worked was Fallout 4 and about 30 ppl showed up. They’ve been on the decline for over a decade at this rate.
@JM1993951
Жыл бұрын
Those were attempted fixes for the downfall, though, not the cause. Physical media is dying, sadly.
@Chaoitcme
11 ай бұрын
@@JM1993951 Physical media is on a decline but I think a major factor to people not going to brick and mortar is because a lot of people just order their physical games off of Amazon and have them shipped to their homes.
@doughmay
Жыл бұрын
I miss their old marketing campaigns with the rabbit. Had so much charm and brand recognition.
@Starzzyy-
Жыл бұрын
They brought back the rabbit in the form of NFTs on their own marketplace. You can even play as it in a developing game called Kiraverse which is seeking to create 3D models out of NFTs to bring attraction back to GameStop. I think there's more to Kiraverse as they seem to be collaborating a lot with GameStop's NFT side of the business. If they are able to drive demand to their game by offering the ability to play as your own NFT, I think they could provide a valuable use case for their new ventures into Web 3.
@damianmysciak3264
Жыл бұрын
Keep these channel going. These episodes are amazing
@RsSooke
Жыл бұрын
The whole thing always weirded me out. I would buy at Gamestop/EB Games as a necessity back in the day, but their shit trade-in values put me off. When it came to selling my used games, online marketplaces like FB Marketplace got me way more money in private sales. I could sell a Pokemon cartridge for 50 dollars or more in a private sale. GS would probably have offered me 12 dollars. Now their stock mostly consists of cringe gimmicks like Pop figures.
@MustacheDLuffy
Жыл бұрын
Correction. GameStop would’ve sold you that Pokémon game for 5 dollars
@MustacheDLuffy
Жыл бұрын
Although those Pokémon games are worth $100-200 now lmao
@TheJadedJames
Жыл бұрын
GameStop is a middle man. They give you 20 dollars and sell it for 40. But you could easily sell it for 30 yourself and cut them out
@norcalbowhunter3264
Жыл бұрын
I mean this isn’t uncommon though. Take a game or system to a pawnshop and see how much they offer you for it. They’ll offer you the same price if not close to it as GameStop did. Heck when Walmart, Best Buy, and Amazon had their used game programs they hardly offered more than GameStop did. If you’re taking something to a store to sell to them so they can resell it, they’ll never offer you as much as you can make in a private store. Go to a pawn shop and try to sell them something and when they offer you less tell them you can make more in a private sale. I 100% guarantee you they’ll say “They go sell it in a private sale. We’re a reseller. We will never offer you that’s much.” I get it. It sucked they wouldn’t offer you a lot for games, but comparing the price they offered to what you could get in a private sale never made sense. Because it’s literally what’s every other shop out there would have done to you. It wasn’t a GameStop problem. It’s the nature of selling stuff to a reseller.
@kylespevak6781
Жыл бұрын
"their shitty trade in values" Well, it was your choice. You could have sold on eBay and waited all that time and shipping to make your money back, but GameStop was convenient
@ganjacats
Жыл бұрын
Anyone else remember when every game had a little spot in the box for your memory card? Or the nice instruction manuals games used to come with…
@SkylineFTW97
Жыл бұрын
Haven't seen that since the days of GameCube games.
@TransCanadaPhil
Жыл бұрын
@@SkylineFTW97 The Sega Genesis/Master System cases were the best imho, a nice sturdy hard plastic case with a satisfying click/crunch when you inserted the cart back and out of it.
@RandomShowerThoughts
Жыл бұрын
Oh man, that’s throwback
@IceBlueLugia
Жыл бұрын
I mean the memory card thing was just a requirement on old systems because the devs couldn’t be bothered to include a few megabytes built in storage for whatever reason. We’ve moved past needing that thankfully The loss of manuals is sad; even if the internet is more practical, it was always fun to read them
@GHC3
Жыл бұрын
Yes
@staceyallen4913
Жыл бұрын
Didn't even scratch the surface of the 2005 to 2010 game library there were so many amazing games!
@richborn6700
Жыл бұрын
Once things began moving from physical to all digital I fell off. I don't think I've put more than an hour into actually sitting down to play a video game since 2018. But I basically stopped buying games after 2013
@BryFiConnections
Жыл бұрын
All games I got from games top were used besides black ops 2 which I pre-ordered. Pretty pointless to buy a disk game nowadays considering you need to download an extra 100gb of content anyways
@norcalbowhunter3264
Жыл бұрын
I enjoyed gamestops. Going there and playing the test systems they had out, browsing games and sometimes even buying one, talking to other people you knew shared an interest with you. It was a social place for gamers. Slowly that died off and now it’s about getting in and out as fast as you can while trying to avoid the 200 upsales the employees are pushed to do by upper management. I still enjoy going to them. It’s like visiting my childhood, but they’re not the same.
@FadedBlack93
Жыл бұрын
I remember being in line for a Brink midnight lauch and in line later that same day to return it.
@thedudeabides3138
Жыл бұрын
You did some serious homework here with considerable editing, well done, you can be proud of this essay, well done.
@gtagameplayvidz
11 ай бұрын
The last time I ever bought anything from GameStop (2016) first off, there were 2 copies of a certain game that I was looking for in stock at this GameStop location. I was curious to see whether or not the salesperson would choose to do the right thing and he did not. Originally, he tried selling me a copy that was in terrible condition. I mean, really scratched up. Literally, I have never spent another dime at GameStop because of this and I never will. Overpriced Used Trash. Out, GameStop.
@bostonceltics2691
Жыл бұрын
I remember going to midnight release in Philadelphia for NBA 2K11 ya had to be there man store had like 100+ people there at 12AM
@Evan.280
Жыл бұрын
One of my favortie things about going to gamestop was becoming friendly with the employees. I'd also go to one in Jersey at my local mall when i live there and all the employees with hella cool. Talking about what we're up to and games we're playing, they'd always have to deal with bs but despite that they where always really kind and welcoming
@norcalbowhunter3264
Жыл бұрын
Yup. GameStop was a social experience. I remember not just talking to the employees but other people you’d see there too. It was a place where people with a similar interest as you would go to. Sometimes just hanging out playing on the display systems and looking at all the new games. If you wanted to just walk in and buy a game and leave without ever socializing, we had Walmart. GameStop was something much more than a game store. It was a culture. That had long since died off. I still go to my local store and try to chat people up and socialize with the employees. But it’s not the same and the employees cycle out so fast that it’s hard to build friendships with them anymore.
@adamarket
Жыл бұрын
Really informative and well researched video. Took me down the memory hole of my own career in gaming and as a regular gamer through these years. Interestingly, I always looked down a bit on GS. I think my first experiences of getting scratched 2nd hand discs, then the time I bought a new title for $60 only to find it had obviously been played (maybe by an employee) soured me on the retail outlet. I bought all my games from Best Buy from 2005 - 2015 or so until I grew tired of them not unpacking the newest title. After that it was Amazon with frequent pre-order d discounts then fully online for the convenience. Interesting footnote, I worked for almost 2 years with the future CRO of kongregate who must have been there during the GS buyout. Very nice guy.
@JackOfAllRAIDs
Жыл бұрын
And then there's the continued mismanagement for so many of the stores, the wrongly fired people because the management is having a bad day, the theft and lies by the higher ups, the apathy of management, and the unattainable goals set for employees.
@producedagains808
Жыл бұрын
Y’all are delusional if you think the nft marketplace from GameStop is worth anything. It’s dead. It’s only worth the initial release, capitalizing on hype, greed from day traders, coping crypto bros. There’s absolutely no long term success. (Coming from a crypto/stock trader hence the name) GameStops most valuable thing for me is used games, trading in games, and there pro rewards membership, as it gives a $5 coupon every month. And if there’s not something you want to buy you can use it on gift cards for later.
@Zaiqukaj
Жыл бұрын
I’ll never forget the wonderful time range we had when preorders meant you were getting a really cool physical piece of merch. It shifted to special DLC and then a lot of times pre ordering has no reward at all except possibly an amazingly buggy game for early adopters. For me the weird exclusive bonuses always had me asking what’s coming out next and risking preordering games I knew nothing about it it was a publisher I trusted. It’s still so sad to me that I live in a huge city and all of the remaining convenient gamestops closed. The closest one now is a 3 hour bus commute round trip.
@kylespevak6781
Жыл бұрын
Amen. Give me a dumb trinket! When Pokemon started giving you pokeballs for preorders I stopped
@Bozar069
Жыл бұрын
Before Gamestop we had 3 video game stores at my local mall. They all got bought out by Gamestop. Trade in value dropped and used prices went up as there was no more competition. One thing I forget is if Gamestop ever carried PC titles. If they did it certainly wasn't to the extent that the guys they bought out did. It wasn't all bad though. For new stuff Gamestop was great and Game Informer was a nice magazine. I also used to buy PSN cards there as I didnt trust Sony with my payment info after that big hack.
@karlkoskie2891
8 ай бұрын
Their entire business model revolved around reselling physical media. When media went digital, suddenly they no longer had anything to sell. Pivoting to a game merchandise style operation would have worked but theyd need to reduce themselves down to a single store per city to make such a thing profitable
@famicommike9014
Жыл бұрын
I worked for Gamestop from 2007 to 2015 and this video is spot on in terms of facts. Another thing too, the corporate structure of the company was/is a joke and they always treated employees in the retail stores like garbage.
@MerpTime
Жыл бұрын
I used to frequent GameStop once a week. I think the day I stopped was when they announced that they would not be carrying PS2 games or earlier generation and eliminating them from their warehouses completely. I think they really missed the mark. I would go there to often look for classic retro gems. Console games are not as fun as they used to be. If Gamestop wanted to get the community together, get rid of most of their collectibles (which take up shelf space of stuff a very miniscule audience wants) and just run sponsored tournaments with winners getting store credit. Get people coming in and test their gaming skills while uniting the gaming community together with such a small cost. Use their pro membership or charge a small fee as a way to enter tournaments and recoup costs of doing that.
@Tangvu
Жыл бұрын
Great video, and well researched! I disagree with your tone that GameStop appear to be doomed for failure. The video game industry has grown to more than just digital assets and properties, though that's obviously the majority of it. There will always be gaming related physical merchandise to sell and so long as that is the case, GameStop will have a bright future.
@jaadotech
Жыл бұрын
Having worked for major vid game publisher 8 years and worked closely within the relationship of this company in handling retail finance matters, I can say this is a brilliantly surmised video! Except for the present day/future tone which I will say is outright incorrect, they are still very much a core-retail business and they know it and will invest more in retail, and they will not transfer into primary digital as your video suggests. GameStop short squeeze fiasco on the stock market shows a massively passionate culture aware that they need to help otherwise digital direct sales will render Video Games absent as a speciality store in retail sector. They were/are not short-squeezing wanting Gamestop to become digital! GameStop KNOW their company value is in being the only (in many countries) specialised retail venue for the biggest entertainment industry in the world. They have a place in the future, just like bookstores do in spite of the challenges they face from Amazon, and e-books etc. Video Game shops are NOT the video stores of the eighties; they are different and can stand alone in a digital future where video stores could not. An example; in Australia (a smaller market) Gamestop operate as EB Games (as they do in UK) and they have about 310 stores nationally (which is impressive). They also own/operate collectible reatil stores (name Zing). 117 of the 310 stores are actually dual branded, physically, commercially it is one store (one lease, one set of employees etc). Literally split in half down the middle of the shop space; one half of the store is EB Games, the other half is Zing. But where the evidence of a confident and successful current day retail existence is revealed is in the presence of 46 Zing only stores, all placed in the same shopping centre and usually the shop immediately next to EB Games or extremely close. These 46 stores could easily adopt the split store retail branding strategy of the 117 dual branded stores but instead the GameStop / EB Games management decide to sign additional leases, pay additional rent, invest more in shop fitout upfront costs and need to employ separate staff. This example above (albeit a small one) says the complete opposite to the video's ending tone and suggestive narrative about Gamestop going digital and gloom for retail future success. But your actual video explains why better than this example; gamers want their game store to survive, they do not want to lose their passion to the bigger department stores which wont represent their passion as well as a independent store does. If every failing retail store type had fans this passionate they would not fail!!
@PeruvianPotato
Жыл бұрын
@@jaadotech Damn I learnt more from this comment alone than the entire video
@TheBernardPipes
Жыл бұрын
I remember when a dude got jumped over a Xbox one console and GameStop employee’s pretended they didn’t see it until someone called for help. By the time they got there they ran off with his console. Dude had to pay for a whole new one. Dudes got into a huge brawl outside of gamestop over the last PS4 which lead to police getting involved to breaking it up.
@richborn6700
Жыл бұрын
We have two stores in my city. A couple years ago the north store was robbed by two guys with hammers. They assaulted the only employee and cracked his skull. Imagine being nearly murdered and bleeding out at your shitty GameStop job when you just wanted to lock up and go home
@DreamHHS
Жыл бұрын
I’ve always wondered why they never bought GameFly up and went the direct to consumer route since they already have the physical stores to hold all the games
@missingno81
Жыл бұрын
Gamestop had a no questions asked return policy for the used games within a week so why would anyone pay membership for something free. Gamestop kept hiring bad leaders who would pass on their bad habits to their employees making the work environment unbearable.
@Ribobizert
8 ай бұрын
I remember always watching the long midnight line of ppl at GameStop waiting to play the game when it came out, then walk next door into the 24/7 Walmart and bought the game no preorder and without having to wait 2 hours
@math925
Жыл бұрын
Dude, every one of your videos thoroughly slaps. Great work.
@1BigDaDo
7 ай бұрын
I remember working for a retail construction company 2003 to 2006 building Game Stops in Ok,Tx,Kn,Arkansas. One store took us less than a month to go in a empty building and set it up all down to just needing the inventory. My boss dealt with this guy on here daily on new stuff that was being added and new looks. I got a lot free stuff from stores when I went to do maintenance and update stuff might have got missed. Was a fun job living in motels and driving 1000s of miles ! I miss those days !
@madmaster0015
Жыл бұрын
If I was GameStop at the time I would have made major investments to also become a publisher. Specifically investing in cost-efficient indie games that were on the rise at the time and maybe localization of overseas games. Operate a like a Limited Run games. In addition to investing to be a competitor to Steam as well as a combination of social integrations of other console platforms.
@Corrado-Junior-Soprano
Жыл бұрын
In my hometown growing up, they had THREE gamestops. It was awesome because if one store didn't have what you were looking for, you still had two other options. I was sad to see when I went back last year two of the three were closed and the last one was basically just a funkopop/digital download card dealer.
@jasonanderson5034
Жыл бұрын
game stores should die .. why do u think wasting plastic is even morally ok when u have digital copies like really get your morals straight how can the entire gaming community just support wasting plastic ...its nuts your worse then rednecks vs hybrids
@Corrado-Junior-Soprano
Жыл бұрын
@@jasonanderson5034 womp womp
@alanlee67
Жыл бұрын
I think the big factor that everyone is missing is...game prices have not coincided with inflation. Paying 60 bucks for a game 15 years ago was a big deal. You wanted to trade it in when youre done. Nowadays, 60 bucks for a new game is really a drop in the bucket when a big mac meal costs like 10 bucks so people are fine with spending it on digital download with no way to recoup
@jasonanderson5034
Жыл бұрын
u can recoup on a digital download if u sell your console wiith the game downloaded on it lol and that isnt a reason to jsutify wasing plastic its kinda sick hoow 99.99 ercent of the gaming community is so selefish they wont give up plastic for the good of the plant
@heroe1486
9 ай бұрын
@@jasonanderson5034 Nonsense comment, if they want to be ecologically concerned they just need to make digital games cheaper, a digital game is 70-80€ a physical with way more men in the middle is 50-60€, blame those companies not gamers, stop being a company shill. What is actually sick is you not understanding that although it's pretty clear where the problem lies, but I guess it's easier to blame gamers in a Redditor fashion other billion dollars companies
@heroe1486
9 ай бұрын
Everyone is missing it because it's nonsense, if there is an inflation then people are less likely to buy games, since everything is more expensive you cut on non essential things, there is an inflation but incomes haven't increased that much. You're acting like incomes went higher and followed the inflation. Seriously what's this reasoning ? It's like saying people would buy more [insert non necessary thing that hasn't been touched by inflation that much] now more than back then just because of proportionality, doesn't make sense at all, with your logic third words countries were inflation is crazy would buy more entertainment stuff than ever. During inflation you optimize the money you sent, it's not the other way around. The only reason are : 1) Peoples are dumb, they may don't even know a console physical copy costs less, can be resold and take less disc space, the only market where it makes sense is on PC where games are cheaper and not tied to a single official store. 2) People are playing less games, sales are only higher because there are way more gamers than 10 or 20 years ago, the average gamer buy less but there are more gamers, we haven't stoped playing while now all kids are playing. 3) People play f2p like LoL/Valorant/PUBG/Fortnite more than ever and thus don't buy much games and don't care about those physical stores or the possibility of trading 4) People play FIFA/2K/Madden/COD/AC etc (most played game) which have a retail value of 2€ at the end of the year
@FebreGundam
Жыл бұрын
I didn't even know Gamestop sell NFTs. Are NFTs still a thing? Is there a single person today thinking "I should buy some NFTs"?
@MysteriousFuture
Жыл бұрын
Very few tbh, mostly seen shameful for owning one that you hesitate to buy one
@mrSnotyify
Жыл бұрын
GameStop built an NFT marketplace with the intention of having a platform to onboard gaming studios developing games on a Blockchain. Meaning in-game items will be traded, bought and sold as NFTs, giving the players real ownership of their in-game items/skins. That's the goal with Web3 gaming, to kill the predatory micro-transactions by creating real world value for the items/skins you buy. Items/skins you can re-sell on the marketplace when you get bored of a game and recoup the money you spent. But the NFT marketplace is still in beta and will probably remain in beta until studios actually start releasing good quality games that people wanna play because they're fun. Ideally they wouldn't even know that they're trading NFTs, just that the $1.000 they spent on Fortnite skins wasn't a 100% waste of money, in tangible terms.
@GazBartone
Жыл бұрын
NFT could be anything. Could be a game. Imagine you have an NFT that represents a game you download when you want to trade or sell that game you trade or sell the NFT then another person has the game on their console or pc.
@J.Wick.
Жыл бұрын
This is a fantastic, and fascinating video!GameStop will be missed by those of us who were around in it's heyday. Much like Blockbuster. They had their issues for sure, but it was always a fun experience compared to now. I held out quite some time in physical releases. Only recently buying mostly digital. Sony, Microsoft, and other big publishers have been trying to get rid of game stop for years as they only make money on the initial purchase. I give you, Greed & Capitalism. 😂😢
@rushpatriot2866
Жыл бұрын
Going to blockbuster pizzhut/Domino's and GameStop on a Friday night brings about a bittersweet nostalgia for me. Miss those times
@J.Wick.
Жыл бұрын
@@rushpatriot2866 yes sir. Me 2.
@tommytufguy3432
11 ай бұрын
GameStop isn't going anywhere. They have no debt and 1.2 billion in the bank
@chrisschmidt918
Жыл бұрын
I still remember when my local Funcoland disapeared and GameStop took its spot.
@JamesBarnes-q2z
10 ай бұрын
We done this to ourselves gamers….
@PrimmsHoodCinema
Жыл бұрын
It's crazy they were counting on that "Buy Sell Trade" model to work forever 😭😭😭 That's like everyone's main complaint about Gamestop. Them ripping gamers off has been a meme for a long time
@MortexBerri
Жыл бұрын
Yeah i shouldn’t have sold my games last week every day it hurts more i should have just saved up for Pikmin 4 my game collection wont be the same ever again and i can say that 21$ wasn’t worth it for the memories
@arefallout
Жыл бұрын
^This is Primms......Hes a all star^
@joseph2000117
Жыл бұрын
I remember how about 3 years after the ps4 launch, they Gamestop had a huge sale to get rid of old ps3 and 360 games and you couldnt get them pre used anymore
@EQOAnostalgia
Жыл бұрын
It's a bummer to see retail go, it's being done on purpose, all transactions and currency will be digital soon i'm afraid. Gamestop as a company i won't miss, i liked the days before Gamestop bought up EB Games and the trade in values were good. Once Gamestop took over they really started to rip people off on trade ins. Looking back i wish i kept everything i ever traded. But at least EB gave you a fair shake.
@Trasshprod
Жыл бұрын
EB games era was peak gaming. miss those days
@TheReplacementsGaming
Жыл бұрын
GameStop has been falling for years. Once digital gaming became a thing. Plus when you treat your employees like crap and make them focus on sales and numbers over customer service and the games themselves they were doomed to eventually fail.
@TomBoi
8 ай бұрын
I don't understand how GameStop is only just getting into PC Hardware. It has rapidly grown from something that only computer nerds geek about, to now a competitive platform that many consider if they want something better than a video game console. If they would have figured out a way to get into the hardware business 10-12 years ago, they could be up there with Best Buy and Micro Center as a place to go for buying pre-built PCs or parts. The only negative with the business is that the hardware margins are very thin. The time I worked at Best Buy, I saw how close retailers push it to make hardware as price competitive as possible. That's why many PC focused retailers focused on tech support or custom building to stay afloat. And with how many physical locations GameStop had, they could have become the go to spot for people looking to get into PC gaming. All I remember is a small PC section they had in stores for Steam Gift Cards and some advertisements for the failed Steam Boxes, if anyone remembers those. The company honestly is only floating because of wall street wannabes.
@Dretroz
8 ай бұрын
GameStop made me homeless I hate them. They really messed my life up so bad like I need to sell my collection to stay in my home. I offered them 100,000 games & they only game me $4.62... ive lost all hope now its cold... its dark... im scared
@thatdoodlebunny1593
Жыл бұрын
Gamestop used to be a wonderland of games in my tweens-teens. Like, going there was an exciting event. Even if I wasn’t buying anything, I loved looking through the selections of current and older titles. I walked into one in early 2022 and calling it a shell would be generous. It was all bargain-bin games and Funko Pops and I am not kidding.
@victoruchiha4550
Жыл бұрын
Funko pops are good tho. 😢
@JimmyJames10-k7v
Жыл бұрын
@@victoruchiha4550ew
@MalikethTheBlackBlade1
Жыл бұрын
@@victoruchiha4550no they aren't. I have maybe 20 and they are all unique. Many Funko pops are boring and super basic.b
@cherrypepsi2815
Жыл бұрын
@@victoruchiha4550explain to me why I should spend $20 to $60 on a plastic figure that 1) will never rise in value 2) is ugly as hell And 3) brings me basically no joy
@charlesw7397
Жыл бұрын
It still depresses me to think about Gamestop. During the Summer of 2020, I saw how low their stock was and nearly put $2000 into it. I figured that it was so low that if they somehow made a comeback, I could make bank on it. Worst case, I lose $2000. Decided against it just because employment wasn't guaranteed at the time. I could have made hundreds of thousands of dollars from selling that stock during the short squeeze. I'm a broke 27 year old so it would've been huge to make that kind of money lol I know that you can't kick yourself for missing out on huge investment payoffs but this Gamestop stock scenario just hurts to think about because I had everything selected in the app and just had to click confirm 😢
@joborbon01
Жыл бұрын
Could be worse. If you think about all those that bought at $100+ and look at it now.
@benm3382
Жыл бұрын
That's the name of the game... Just like someone who lost $10 in a slot machine could have gone to the next one and possibly made $30,000.
@PringoOrSomething
8 ай бұрын
It’s weird because there is very much still a market for them. Yes they should still be selling pre owned games but also selling retro games for a discount like reverse dk oldies. They could also start selling steam keys like a legit version of g2a. If they also actually refurbished consoles and maybe even offered repair services GameStop would actually still be thriving as these are things people very much still need
@theleehasleeway
Жыл бұрын
I just go to Retro Game Trader because GameStop doesn’t have what I’m looking for about 90% of the time. Probably because they’re using all their space for toys and funko pops. GameStop needs to remember they’re a game store and not a ToysRUs.
@Dante9345
Жыл бұрын
I remember when they used to have AMAZING prices for used games; now I feel when I walk in I barely see a game under 20$.
@TheReplacementsGaming
Жыл бұрын
I could go on and on about the fall of GameStop. I worked there from 08-12 during the “golden era”. When you allow employees to take home a new game to try out that’s not a bad thing, but then turning around and selling those same copies to customers as “new” that were obviously already played and no longer sealed. Then the absurd trade in value (if you want to call it that) that they would give you for games and consoles. Then don’t get me started on how they treated us employees. Low wages, and wanted us to focus on numbers rather than customer service. Most of the head honchos knew nothing about gaming. Then they would hold a conference each year in Vegas (which is cool) but then only the main Store manager was able to attend (which is understandable) but they would then give the store managers tons of free games/collectibles/swag to go home with while us grunts made peanuts and we’re treated like crap. We weren’t even able to take home any extras that were to be thrown away instead. Not trying to have a pity party but it just shows why they are dying. Treat all your employees like they matter and mean something and it’s not just a dead end mindless job. Gaming is about fun, passion, and community. GameStop lost all of that over years to focus on “business”.
@saihiko9967
8 ай бұрын
man i do miss old time game stop, went as a kid and choosing games felt super fun and interesting to think about, getting a wii was great, after 3ds i never went to game spot until i got my ps4 around 2016 and after that, never really went back, then i started buying things online rather than having to ask my parents to drive me. Gamespot was a fun place for my childhood
@JENNIEfreakinKIM
11 ай бұрын
I’ll always remember those days, the last midnight release I went to was for BO2. After that, it was never the same.
@budakbaongsiah
Жыл бұрын
What can they do outside of diversifying their company when ALL publishers are cutting the middlemen, though? Making their own games is the only viable solution to me, but capturing miliions by being a middleman is a completely different thing than being a creator. Valve seems to be the only one that is able to do this, too.
@othertriangle
Жыл бұрын
it feels like they were doomed to fail. their experience as videogame retailer just did not translate into a wider game industry expertise. they failed to see potential in streaming and made a mindboggling bet on kongregate, not sure they understood game industry all that well. in another world they would have used their cash to invest in streaming, esports, and, as you said, game development and publishing
@corail53
Жыл бұрын
@@othertriangle Gamestop would have never invested in any of those things and streaming didn't become profitable until very recently in the timeline. Esports was extremely niche and still is - it is only as big as it is today thanks to streaming. They would have never stepped foot into game dev because that is a whole other beast of an industry - amazon tried and failed at it - netflix is trying and will fail at it.
@othertriangle
Жыл бұрын
@@corail53You are right, Gamestop would have never done this, that's why I said "in another world", imagining possible scenarios. It's farfetched, but I think it's not impossible: after all, they bought Kongregate and Impulse, they showed SOME interest in game publishing and online content delivery. Not hard to imagine few more dubious decisions: sponsoring esport teams, buying game development studios
@iandakariann
Жыл бұрын
Valve did to online sales that GameStop did offline: fill a niche everyone was ignoring. If Gamestop was willing to to do a well made online marketplace at the same time as Valve they could've easily dominated. But the boat has sailed.
@rushpatriot2866
Жыл бұрын
@@corail53you're usually always wrong when you say "never" notice how I said usually? Decent argument but that doesn't make you correct unless you can prove that you can see into other timelines.
@Cincy32
10 ай бұрын
In my 30s here. I always hated GameStop - opening all their "new" games, stickers that ruined cases, refusal to sell M rated games to teens, rip offs on trade-ins.
@sirleeproductions
Жыл бұрын
i did a business report on GameStop back in middle school over a decade ago, it definitely hit different back then
@fontunetheteller410
Жыл бұрын
Their business model relied on games being worth playing
@Psmgamer
Жыл бұрын
I remember my first GameStop midnight release it was for Gears of War 2. They had a Gears of War tournament and pizza and drinks. I remember going to midnight releases for Dead Space 2, Batman Arkham City, Duke Nukem Forever, Resident Evil 6 with my brother. Definitely the best times of my life.
@andrewcruz1931
8 ай бұрын
I can’t remember the last time I was in a GameStop, probably for black ops 2 . I just remember I was tired of being hounded by the employees. Pushing subscriptions, reservations, peripherals , etc . And I never went back .
@jeffslim9518
Жыл бұрын
Great video, though I do have one question. You suggest that the goal is to have no brick and mortar stores left open by 2025. I'm wondering where exactly are you getting that info? It's confusing because within just the last month, GameStop opened a new "flagship" store in Milan, Italy. Why open new stores now only to shut them down within 2 years?
@jeffslim9518
Жыл бұрын
@@jaadotech it does beg the question though, are these "fans" passionate because they love GameStop retail stores that much, or because they still think a stock short squeeze play is on the table? Where were these loyal fans before the stock frenzy in 2021? They were probably just getting their games from Wal-Mart, Amazon, digital etc, where ever was most convenient. I can say for myself as a life long gamer, I personally don't care where I'm buying from.
@chriscolemusicalsound
Жыл бұрын
@@jeffslim9518 both can be true.
@HyperAlexis1s
11 ай бұрын
I remember Gamestop use to hire true gaming nerds that you could chat with, even the employees loved gamestop. Btw the GTA V Midnight launch was crazy me and my old budy, were 16 at the time, we bribed an older dude to buy us the game.
@silvallyy
Жыл бұрын
i think the only way for them to recover is do something crazy like close down locations and one up one giant warehouse like walmart in several locations with lots of gaming stuff and games, hold conventions, and have vr rooms to play 5 v 5, and horror games. like a gaming amusement park
@BarneySlack
8 ай бұрын
I worked at GameStop back in the day and I personally believe the shift in focus from games to collectibles, figures and then the increase of sales for digital downloads of games was it
@uss_04
Жыл бұрын
Was somewhat awkward to enter but still have good memories of my GameStop days
@smittywerbenjagermanjensen752
Жыл бұрын
The Blockbuster of Video Games. A obsolete concept if you don't shift with the market.
@arefallout
Жыл бұрын
Honestly. The writting on the wall was when gaming became digital. Once amazon offered release day delivery gamestop was toast. They went the same way hollywood video and blockbuster did.
@smoke1215
Жыл бұрын
NFTs... bye bye GameStop!
@Black_Jesus3005
9 ай бұрын
I miss midnight releases. Lining up, meeting new people and store contests
@SAAAAAAAAAAAAAD
Жыл бұрын
Amazing video! Definitely deserve way more subs
@leeartlee915
Жыл бұрын
Gamestop is just going through what Blockbuster did years ago: their business model doesn’t work anymore.
@GeneralHawk505
Жыл бұрын
The last midnight release i went to was GTA V. After that, never seen a Midnight release again. Went to Black Ops 1, went to COD-MW2-MW3 and especiallh Bad Company 1 and 2 with Bf3 and 4. Wasnt much of a halo person at the time because i didnt have a 360. But i miss those days when gaming was the up and arms of it all.
@Particle_Ghost
10 ай бұрын
Here is a funny story. I worked for Spectrum and had over 200 HDMI cables saved up, you would normally throw them away when people returned old receivers but I would keep them. I brought a box off 100 of them into GameStop about 3 years ago, they would give you $2.25 per HDMI. The manager wasn't supposed to buy that many but he did, so I got around $220 in store credit placed onto a card. I walked into a store a few weeks later to sell a used game and it said my account was blacklisted. Apparently that manager got yelled at, my account was locked for 6 months, and they removed the option to buy HDMI cables.
@mlong9475
Жыл бұрын
The problem with Gamestop was that management was forcing worker to sell customers game replacement warranties on Ebay purchase. Got pretty annoying going thru that every time at local checkout. Sadly the Gamestop by me shut down few years ago which I use to go to alot since I lived only 2 blocks from it. This is before they put half the store as merch.
@ShaudaySmith
Жыл бұрын
The notion that Game Stops trade in policy was a rip off is a gross misunderstanding of basic economics. It's basic for any business to mark up costs to cover 1. Store Rent and Utilities, 2. Employee Payroll and 3. Profit portion (the actual revenue made). A business gives you 5 dollars for a used product to turnaround and sell that for 20 is how they pay for the building and employees to take your games off your hands. Demand is also just not there for your popular or niche preowned games. If it's niche, only rare sorts of consumers will buy them, in the meantime these titles are taking up space not making money. If it's a popular title, the market is most likely flooded and you aren't going to get a lot. I used to buy and sell preowned a lot because the preowned game was cheaper to purchase overall. I did so because the cost was lower, not for my own personal profiteering. And to the video's credit, no other business even offered this so GS had a bit of a corner. It's either do the handwork yourself and sell on eBay or whatever, or take the easy route and just dump everything at GS.
@sproesser1
Жыл бұрын
I will forever remember game stop as the company that shamelessly ripped off children who wanted a new game, and sold their old ones at a horribly low price
@FranNyan
Жыл бұрын
Small correction: The series that Oblivion and Skyrim are in is the Elder Scrolls franchize. Also, as an old school boomer gamer who remembers when CD roms were new, the thought that people actually ever *liked* gamestop blows my mind. The only thing they had going for them was their used section which was always overpriced. And there were always other magazines back when magazines were the only info source. Early 2000s the internet was already starting to supplant those. Gamestop was always a small, crappy store that was never as good as the independent stores they put out of business and had a small selection of new games than even friggin' Kmart. I feel bad for the kids who never had anything better. Edit: If they go all digital, Gamestop will just die. Flat out. The only advantage they have is being a store you can walk into. If they aren't, why should people buy from them instead of Amazon? Prices for new releases are all the same, so there's no way to stand out.
@christopheryoung2874
Жыл бұрын
Good video! I stopped playing console games around 2010. I only play PC games since then and get almost all of my games on Steam. Used to get all my console games and consoles at GameStop in the 2000s
@natalie4698
Жыл бұрын
It's so funny seeing people convince themselves gamestock has potential just because they bought into a meme stock.
@ManReviewsManga
Жыл бұрын
The company is profitable cuck
@ChiefKene
Жыл бұрын
GameStop should have leaned more into being a game store that services in house tournaments. Like videos games, TCGs, and table top. They need foot traffic and to close down some of the locations. I think they still have a business, but the really need to buckle down on making their stores to be the “it” location for every form of gaming
@SaucySnaggs
Жыл бұрын
I’m too young to know how it feels to go to a store on launch but I’ve heard it was great 😢
@bernmarsh5601
Жыл бұрын
"Smaller than a starbucks" had to replay that section
@bugg6597
Жыл бұрын
My golden era for GameStop was before 2006. Ps2 and original Xbox games used to be .25-$2. And trading them in, I’d get a dollar a game. Getting a dollar a game might sound bad, but as a kid, I only had to buy one game, and then for my entire childhood, I could trade away the games I beat and weren’t something I’d want to play again in the future and almost always walk out with more new games to play than games I traded in. GameStop was like a library I didn’t have to spend any money at, and could keep all the games that I loved. Then, in your option of the golden era, ps2 and Xbox games jumped to 20-90$ in 2006 when the new console came out slapping a ‘rare’ sticker on ever single last gen game. That was the first moment GameStop showed their true colors, not the beginning of a golden era, that was the beginning of the dark ages
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