Game in Trouble

[interestrateripoff]

Another group suffering from over priced merchandise and over inflated rents?

[aa3]

The High Street could become more specialist but its a risky strategy and the rents/rates are far too high. The problem is that my local town centre just seems to be full of the elderly, unemployed, students and those that work there. Anyone with a car and money goes to one of the big retail parks.

I expect many of the big box retailers to become collection points for online sales. Even Amazon is thinking of setting up collection points in town centres, and might generate some extra trade from the additional foot fall.

I would really like to see a collection point for online sales. An idea I had was beside a mailbox to have a mail like closet. With a lock on it, that the couriers and postal service had access to.

Edited September 29, 2011 by aa3

[MrFlibble]

The High Street could become more specialist but its a risky strategy and the rents/rates are far too high. The problem is that my local town centre just seems to be full of the elderly, unemployed, students and those that work there. Anyone with a car and money goes to one of the big retail parks.

I expect many of the big box retailers to become collection points for online sales. Even Amazon is thinking of setting up collection points in town centres, and might generate some extra trade from the additional foot fall.

I'm finding the highstreet is now 99% useless for my needs. Even if I can find what I want the lack of stock availability, the 'great unwashed' experience, the hassle and expense of driving, parking, etc, etc, are providing diminishing returns. Plus now a lot of retailers are offering free delivery and returns, couple this with discount codes and cashback sites and the highstreet is actually a liability.

Yesterday after visiting virtually every shoe shop and department store in a large shopping centre I was unable to find a suitable pair of shoes for work (office). For the first time ever I found myself ordering these online. The ones I had picked out and hoped to try on in store were not even available when I arrived despite checking online first.

As a side note, what the hell is it with this infestation of Estate Agents style shoes out there designed for people with feet like Sideshow Bob?

[19 year mortgage 8itch]

As a casual gamer, why on earth would I go into a shop and spend £30+ on a game when I can buy app content for less than a quid that more than satisfies my level of skill and attention span?

[Gerinako]

New Game from Shop £39.99

Pre-owned game from said shop £34.99

New from online £31.99

For one game I've been looking at.

Saying that I don't buy near release date now, I'm a bit of a scrooge and won't buy unless it drops to £20 or less

[Diver Dan]

Link

Press releases from Game with breakdown of figures

Interim Results for the six months ended 31 July 2011

27/09/2011

.......................................................

Link

Still too expensive compared to renting console games from lovefilm or downloading pc ones from steam.

I talked to manager of local Game shop, he said Ea games have introduced a policy where console games have a use once code now, so to re-use a used EA game, you have to pay £6.99 for a new key. Rumour has it that they are time limited as well.

Another nail..

It's good to read about a different sort of EA buggering things up and charging too much money on this site for a change.

[efdemin]

EA taking a cut on 2nd hand sales is a bit rich but at least they are delivering quality games. I take it you don't know about the panini-like virtual card packs you can buy for the latest FIFA to get new players for your online team? Now that's a cunning money-making ploy.

Anyway, so Game lost money in the slowest 6 months of the year, big deal. It's almost certain they will make a profit over the next 6 months since that is when most games, and the biggest blockbusters, get released.

Internet, rental, blah blah blah. All retailers have got the same problems but at least GAME have almost a monopoly on the high street (GAME and GameStation are owned by the same company). Most game sales are in the first two weeks and if you want to guarantee getting the game on launch day then the high street is the only risk-free way. Online may be cheap but it's not much use when your friends are already playing the game and you have to wait until Monday for the second-class post from the Channel Islands.

Steam is ok but only cheap for old games. New releases are largely RRP, i.e. about the same as in the shops.

[Monkey]

I know about that, (it was bonus goodies for $10) but this is different, sounds like crippleware.

nope its the same,

Project 10 Dollar covered both DLC and in some games online play - in [some] EA games you get a unique code, this is a 1 time useable code that is then locked to your console/profile. this can give you lots of different things, the 2 main are DLC and online play

if you buy the game second hand you have to buy the code from EA if you want those extras, the game will still work, but without all the bells and whistles

A lot of developers have trotted this line out, but I can't help feeling skeptical as a lot of people use the money gained from selling used games to buy more new games (although I guess the logic might work if you always equate one used game sale as one lost primary sale,

i buy most of my games second hand, as shops like CEX, give better value than Game, IE if i sell them a game and they offer me £10 cash, or £15 trade in, i'll take the trade in and buy another secondhand game for £20, i then repeat this process. i and many people i know also do this. i very rarly buy new. i think i have only bought 4 brand new games in the last 3 years, and only 1 of those on launch day at full price.

Internet, rental, blah blah blah. All retailers have got the same problems but at least GAME have almost a monopoly on the high street (GAME and GameStation are owned by the same company). Most game sales are in the first two weeks and if you want to guarantee getting the game on launch day then the high street is the only risk-free way. Online may be cheap but it's not much use when your friends are already playing the game and you have to wait until Monday for the second-class post from the Channel Islands.

not quite so, there are quite a few online companies who specialise on big titles and launch day releases, you pre-order with them at a reduced RRP (as they are on the internet they can) and you get the game through the post on release day, sometimes you'll get it a day early, which surprisingly happens quite often.

[Butthead]

*****INSERT CREDIT*****

Brilliant!

[Saving For a Space Ship]

EA taking a cut on 2nd hand sales is a bit rich but at least they are delivering quality games. I take it you don't know about the panini-like virtual card packs you can buy for the latest FIFA to get new players for your online team? Now that's a cunning money-making ploy.

Anyway, so Game lost money in the slowest 6 months of the year, big deal. It's almost certain they will make a profit over the next 6 months since that is when most games, and the biggest blockbusters, get released.

Internet, rental, blah blah blah. All retailers have got the same problems but at least GAME have almost a monopoly on the high street (GAME and GameStation are owned by the same company). Most game sales are in the first two weeks and if you want to guarantee getting the game on launch day then the high street is the only risk-free way. Online may be cheap but it's not much use when your friends are already playing the game and you have to wait until Monday for the second-class post from the Channel Islands.

Steam is ok but only cheap for old games. New releases are largely RRP, i.e. about the same as in the shops.

I think the Supermarkets have eaten into their High St. monopoly, as they nearly always undercut them on price on new console games. Tesco & Asda, now sell used games as well.

The edge they had with retro side is dead, it is hardly worth the shelf space v rent cost in many cases.

There are not many good block buster games coming out.

Ok, we have the usual annual COD / Battlefield release coming up, but they will be cheaper at the supermarkets / Amazon and many people are so price sensitive, with no loyalty. I assume this £6.99 code fee for re-using EA's Battlefied 3 will apply, so affect their trade in prices /profits

The Game manager I spoke to 3 months ago, said sales were 50% down yoy. How does that compare to other retailers ?

Edited September 29, 2011 by Saving For a Space Ship

[Downside]

I quite like Game the staff in my local Gamestation are helpful and some of the games are actually cheaper than online. I spent ages trying to buy the game Brink online second hand (mainly ebay) and they were all selling for between £25 + £35 which I didn't want to pay for a second hand game. Walked into Gamestation and they had it brand new plus some bonus packs for £25!

Plus when out shopping with the missus I can just browse in Game for ages while she looks at clothes in the other shops

[efdemin]

I think the Supermarkets have eaten into their High St. monopoly, as they nearly always undercut them on price on new console games. Tesco & Asda, now sell used games as well.

The edge they had with retro side is dead, it is hardly worth the shelf space v rent cost in many cases.

There are not many good block buster games coming out.

Ok, we have the usual annual COD / Battlefield release coming up, but they will be cheaper at the supermarkets / Amazon and many people are so price sensitive, with no loyalty. I assume this £6.99 code fee for re-using EA's Battlefied 3 will apply, so affect their trade in prices /profits

The Game manager I spoke to 3 months ago, said sales were 50% down yoy. How does that compare to other retailers ?

COD, Battlefield, FIFA, Batman, Gears of War, Skyrim, Uncharted, Assassins Creed. This Christmas will be bigger than last year I reckon based on the blockbustery-ness of these releases. They're almost all sequels as well so should be easy sells to people who bought the previous ones.

I keep looking at the games aisle in my local Tesco when I go for food and tbh their prices aren't much better than GAME. They may do one-off promotions as loss leaders but I think the publishers have had some quiet words with them to keep it down. It's not as bad as it was a couple of years ago at least, and they also have their own problems with rising food costs so less room to discount.

p.s. you need to stop taking advice from the Game manager - you wouldn't listen to an estate agent talking about the market, would you?

[aa3]

I think the Supermarkets have eaten into their High St. monopoly, as they nearly always undercut them on price on new console games. Tesco & Asda, now sell used games as well.

The edge they had with retro side is dead, it is hardly worth the shelf space v rent cost in many cases.

There are not many good block buster games coming out.

Ok, we have the usual annual COD / Battlefield release coming up, but they will be cheaper at the supermarkets / Amazon and many people are so price sensitive, with no loyalty. I assume this £6.99 code fee for re-using EA's Battlefied 3 will apply, so affect their trade in prices /profits

The Game manager I spoke to 3 months ago, said sales were 50% down yoy. How does that compare to other retailers ?

I don't see how its possible to compete with big box co. When they notice a retail niche is making money, they can easily add it to their giant store. And since people are already in big box co. shopping for something else, if they want a game they might as well buy it there.

[Bloo Loo]

granny needs a place to buy grandkids chrissy pressies....

course, with interest rates too low to enable self preservation, young Qwertyuiop is going to have to have something a little cheaper from granma.

[Andy_K]

EA are the spawn of the devil, and a blight on the games industry. I'd wish things on them that I wouldn't on my worst enemy. They're reputedly pretty much the worst games company to work for, release yearly 'updates' with little to no new content, and chop games up into their component pieces and sell them a bit at a time to massively up the price. Buying new licence keys for second hand games is the mark of a shameless and confused giant trying to impose it's will on the people, instead of adapting to provide a better service.

Game are not far off. They actually make most of their money from second hand games - because they knock barely a fiver off the RRP, pay a pittance for them, and therefore have huge margins. I'm dead against this because it's gouging the customer at the expense of the developers & publishers. I wouldn't mind so much if second hand games were reasonably priced, or a cut had to go to the developer.

Games are increasingly moving towards digital distribution. Even consoles are heading in this direction. The developers get a bigger share, the customer pays less, and the margins are still better. Steam is already taking huge chunks of the PC gaming market, and OnLive is a very exciting prospect indeed. Could potentially eliminate home consoles altogether within a decade or two.

Game losing money is a sign of progress, and means we're heading in the right direction

[pl1]

I would really like to see a collection point for online sales. An idea I had was beside a mailbox to have a mail like closet. With a lock on it, that the couriers and postal service had access to.

This is definitely a good idea. A similar one was showcased on Dragons Den a while back but it was flawed, it was basically just a wheelie bin with a lock on top of it. One of the "dragons" was convinced a "small child" would end up getting locked in it and die or somthing stupid. What we really need is this idea but built into all new homes a bit like USB ports started getting built into laptops (at the side rather than the back) so you didn't have to use an external hub.

I've said it many times before: The Internet is great, right up to the point where you have to get the stuff delivered.

[200p]

One shop in each town centre, well out of town, lots of freep parking called "InternetPickUpPoint" or iPUP (cute doggy logo), manned by two assistants. All online retailers charge a fee to deliver to the iPUP at checkout, maybe £5. National chain, capital put up by Amazon, Ebay etc. Franchise model.

Customer orders ipad3 online, but works and no one home to sign for the parcel. He decides to click on iPUP delivery on check out.

A few days later, customer goes to the iPUP which opens at 7am and closes at 10pm seven days a week (which is very convenient for him), with photo ID or order printout to pick up the internet order after receiving a text notifying him via a tracking number that the iPUP has recieved the parcel and it is waiting there. No more queuing at the post office which does not open till late.

Job done.

[200p]

"Don't you wish your dog can sign for a parcel while you're out? Now it's possible. With iPUP!"

[Ulfar]

Game like most shops can't compete with online retailers.

Online is cheaper and if you pre-order from someone like Play.com they send it early, I usually have any pre-orders the day before release. I use Play rather than Amazon because they put games in a minimally sized box that will go through a letter box and it doesn't have to be signed for.

Its all about convenience and price. Shops can't even play the service and atmosphere card as Game shops have the atmosphere of a sweatshop.

I do get all nostalgic being an old fart of the heady days when computer gaming was new, going into town searching the shops for that latest ZX Spectrum release. Lots of shops had games but they wouldn't have a wide selection so there was no guarantee of finding what you wanted.

I remember the release of Sabrewulf, snagging the last copy in WH Smiths, running home and playing it for hours. Also games were tougher in those days, none of this namby pamby saving of progress. You had three lives and if you failed that was it and some of the games took a long time to finish. A game I never finished was Jet Set Willy, watched the video on you tube of somebody completing it the other day and that took some skill.

[efdemin]

EA are the spawn of the devil, and a blight on the games industry. I'd wish things on them that I wouldn't on my worst enemy. They're reputedly pretty much the worst games company to work for, release yearly 'updates' with little to no new content, and chop games up into their component pieces and sell them a bit at a time to massively up the price. Buying new licence keys for second hand games is the mark of a shameless and confused giant trying to impose it's will on the people, instead of adapting to provide a better service.

Game are not far off. They actually make most of their money from second hand games - because they knock barely a fiver off the RRP, pay a pittance for them, and therefore have huge margins. I'm dead against this because it's gouging the customer at the expense of the developers & publishers. I wouldn't mind so much if second hand games were reasonably priced, or a cut had to go to the developer.

Games are increasingly moving towards digital distribution. Even consoles are heading in this direction. The developers get a bigger share, the customer pays less, and the margins are still better. Steam is already taking huge chunks of the PC gaming market, and OnLive is a very exciting prospect indeed. Could potentially eliminate home consoles altogether within a decade or two.

Game losing money is a sign of progress, and means we're heading in the right direction

Didn't you get the memo? EA are ok-ish now, Activision are the big bad guys at the moment, tch!

Everyone is at the charging-for-second-hand-games game at the moment. Can't really say I blame them because as you say, GAME and CEX and so on are basically taking the piss with their second-hand sales.

Digital distribution won't bring the cheap games you expect. As I've said, Steam games are usually at full RRP new. EA have started their own exclusive Steam-alike service for their own games so you won't get them cheap either. Not to mention the ownership issues - do you own the game or are you renting/leasing it? What happens if the Steam servers are down and you can't login?

For the developers, digital solves little. For example, Apple take at least 30% of the price paid - not too dissimilar to the cut GAME make on a sale at the moment. Steam will have charges as well, but I don't know what they are off the top of my head. You can make indie XBox or PS3 games but again Microsoft/Sony take a cut for distribution.

If you don't like it, just don't buy the games. It really is the only way.

Edited September 29, 2011 by efdemin

[Downside]

Didn't you get the memo? EA are ok-ish now, Activision are the big bad guys at the moment, tch!

Everyone is at the charging-for-second-hand-games game at the moment. Can't really say I blame them because as you say, GAME and CEX and so on are basically taking the piss with their second-hand sales.

Digital distribution won't bring the cheap games you expect. As I've said, Steam games are usually at full RRP new. EA have started their own exclusive Steam-alike service for their own games so you won't get them cheap either. Not to mention the ownership issues - do you own the game or are you renting/leasing it? What happens if the Steam servers are down and you can't login?

For the developers, digital solves little. For example, Apple take at least 30% of the price paid - not too dissimilar to the cut GAME make on a sale at the moment. Steam will have charges as well, but I don't know what they are off the top of my head. You can make indie XBox or PS3 games but again Microsoft/Sony take a cut for distribution.

If you don't like it, just don't buy the games. It really is the only way.

Steam downloads games to your hard drive so you can still play them offline or if steam is down and they often have massive sales where you can get top games cheap. Brand new games are always going to cost full price but thats what you have to pay if you want it on release day it would be silly to think otherwise. If you are willing to wait a few months you could probably wait for the sale and get it half price.

I'm finding a lot of the big titles now tend to be the same game but with add ons as opposed to whole new games (modern warfare 2, fifa etc) which shouldn't really warrant the extortionate price, but considering how well they sell you can't blame em if people are willing to pay top whack for it.

[OnionTerror]

Steam downloads games to your hard drive so you can still play them offline or if steam is down and they often have massive sales where you can get top games cheap. Brand new games are always going to cost full price but thats what you have to pay if you want it on release day it would be silly to think otherwise. If you are willing to wait a few months you could probably wait for the sale and get it half price.

I'm finding a lot of the big titles now tend to be the same game but with add ons as opposed to whole new games (modern warfare 2, fifa etc) which shouldn't really warrant the extortionate price, but considering how well they sell you can't blame em if people are willing to pay top whack for it.

..or the alternative is to buy a SNES and a hat full of games...

[Deft]

I tend to pre-order from Game online as they usually deliver just before or on release date, whereas Amazon and others have missed it before for me.

Gamestation shops are o.k. but I did get annoyed once at the sales staff almost forcing me at the counter to buy the second hand version. "Exactly the same but £5 cheaper".

Looking at me like I was an idiot for buying the new version. I just shrugged and said "Someone has to buy the new ones, might as well be me". I don't feel particularly against the second hand market (as what can you do to stop it with tangible goods), but it seemed particularly offensive to try to bait and switch at point of sale. To be honest I don't see much point of a high-street retailer of games, much like the way music has gone. Occasional impulse buy aside.......

[Saving For a Space Ship]

Amazon is planning to roll out digital lockers in the UK, so people with busy schedules can go to pick up their online purchases instead of taking the day off work to wait for the postman.

The first of these 'click-and-collect' points will be at the One New Change shopping centre in London, Retail Week reported.

Apparently the lockers, which will also be tried out at 7 Eleven stores in the US, feature a screen and keypad so you can enter a pin number/barcode you're sent by email and, hey presto, the correct drawer unlocks with your Amazon goodies inside.

Amazon.co.uk refused to comment, telling The Reg it didn't discuss future plans.

The new lockers will give Amazon a physical presence on the high street, which many pundits seem to think will be a good thing, even if it does seem like it rather defeats the purpose of shopping online.

Link

[Saving For a Space Ship]

COD, Battlefield, FIFA, Batman, Gears of War, Skyrim, Uncharted, Assassins Creed. This Christmas will be bigger than last year I reckon based on the blockbustery-ness of these releases. They're almost all sequels as well so should be easy sells to people who bought the previous ones.

I keep looking at the games aisle in my local Tesco when I go for food and tbh their prices aren't much better than GAME. They may do one-off promotions as loss leaders but I think the publishers have had some quiet words with them to keep it down. It's not as bad as it was a couple of years ago at least, and they also have their own problems with rising food costs so less room to discount.

p.s. you need to stop taking advice from the Game manager - you wouldn't listen to an estate agent talking about the market, would you?

According to one game industry insider I spoke to, there is nothing they can do to stop Supermarket discounting. I was really talking about discounting on game releases , not the rest of the stock.

Wasn't it very bad last year, in terms of decent new games ? I think the developers are running out of ideas, and the cost of funding is prohibitive.

at the Manager PS, perhaps I asked for that.

As I mentioned, I am in the used game biz part time, so have bought job lots / clearance & occasional rarities from Gamestation over the years and know the manager well to trade info with. He was not talking to me as a punter exactly.

Those days are over as there is no margin for me. They pay so little for retro games that it does not cover the bus fair, so sellers may as well give it to the charity shop or job lot it on ebay.