Gamestop closing stores, shifting focus to mobile/apple

[Human Snorenado]

http://time.com/77098/gamestop-signals-major-retail-transition-says-itll-close-120-130-stores/

lol consoles

[Himu]

Made a status on my facebook saying mobile game quality is getting better and better and got gamer friends crying already

[Sho Nuff]

Gamestop is the Sam Goody's / Blockbuster of the future

[Cerveza mas fina]

Cant wait for diablo on my iphone

[Great Rumbler]

Gamestop should have gotten on the Kickstarter train when they had the chance.

[SantaC]

Cant wait for diablo on my iphone

on a small screen and touch controls, YAY!

[Himu]

Have you played Diablo? Diablo is perfect for touch controls.

[Joe Molotov]

Chick at Gamestop told me this today when I was returning Demon Gaze, and I was like

[thisismyusername]

Have you played Diablo? Diablo is perfect for touch controls.

On a bigger than iPhone screen? Maybe. On phones? Not really.

[Joe Molotov]

I'm confident that if Blizzard wanted to make Diablo work on an iPhone, they'd be able to do it.

Just have one monster in the middle of the screen and you click on it as hard and fast as you can to make loot pop out.

[chronovore]

I'm confident that if Blizzard wanted to make Diablo work on an iPhone, they'd be able to do it.

Just have one monster in the middle of the screen and you click on it as hard and fast as you can to make loot pop out.

What would Molydeux?

[SantaC]

Have you played Diablo? Diablo is perfect for touch controls.

I meant games in general. Never liked the touch controls on the wii, and cant stand them on the phone either.

nothing wrong with normal buttons.

[The Sceneman]

"Gamestop 3.0"

[tiesto]

Well, I guess one good thing has come out of mobile domination. Fuck Gamestop.

[a slime appears]

There really are too many GameStops though. Like there's four of those fuckers within a 3 mile radius of each other near where I live.

[tiesto]

Shortly after GameStop bought Funco and EB, there were 3 GameStops in the local mall (medium sized mall), and 4 in Roosevelt Field (largest mall on the island)

[bork]

That happened for a while at Perimeter Mall in Atlanta, too- Gamestops on two sides of the mall, because the mall owners only allowed for two video game stores to occupy space there, so Gamestop stopped any competition from coming in. 

[Cerveza mas fina]

Fyi i already played Diablo 1 on my old Samsung Galaxy S2.

Psx emu

Game like Wayward Soul really makes me believe in ios again.

[Groogrux]

GameStop closing stores?  I just started a different job.  Got out just in time.



You guys are right though.  There are way too many GameStops.  They try to setup one within so many yards of Walmarts, not to mention all of the preexisting stores and the ones built for shopping centers. 

In Lexington, KY there are 5 of them.  Two of them literally sit in the same shopping center and can be walked between in under 5 minutes.

Louisville is the same way.  Friggin stores are everywhere.

[benjipwns]

I read somewhere that when they picked up EB they didn't even look at where the stores were. And then had no idea what to do with them all.

In one plaza here they were literally across the parking lot from each other. Maybe 400 feet.

[benjipwns]

Now that I think about it, I think they wound up closing both of them. 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

"Sales numbers per store are terrible in this area! Shut 'em down!"

[close]

[Human Snorenado]

They made a fuck ton of money for a lot of years. They were able to be stupid about shit because of that, now they're having to get smart. I wouldn't bet against the company, the people running it (while assholes) are pretty on top of their shit. I'd wager there will be some sort of GameStop presence as long as there are home consoles.

[Takao]

I mean, they're at least planning for and bracing for the future.  That puts them about 20 steps ahead of most of the actual game companies.

 

Change stores to studios, and Gamestop to random publisher x and suddenly this thread's title describes a huge percentage of news headlines about the business side of this industry.

[Takao]

Is the Netflix season of Arrested Development any good? I haven't watched it yet.

[Sho Nuff]

We had THREE of these fucking stores inside the Park City Mall in Lancaster, PA when I was growing up. Never could figure that shit out.

I remember when they were Electronics Boutique and sold Apple IIgs games

[Tasty]

Is the Netflix season of Arrested Development any good? I haven't watched it yet.

Starts out bad but gets decent by the end. Rewatches are much kinder on the season due to its nature.

[Himu]

I will never forgive Gamestop for killing Electronics Boutique and Software etc. And FuncoLand.

[thisismyusername]

We had THREE of these fucking stores inside the Park City Mall in Lancaster, PA when I was growing up. Never could figure that shit out.

I remember when they were Electronics Boutique and sold Apple IIgs games

Software Etc., Electronic Boutique, Funcoland all got bought by Gamestop. The problem was, like most retail mergers some strip-malls/malls/retail areas REQUIRE mergers to keep stores open for however long so they don't have to find a new tenant or business to take over places.

So, the problem is: Gamestop is like the borg/Starbucks where they buy (while Starbucks builds) new companies/competitors and merges their stores with the Gamestop national businesses. That's when you get the Starbucks-like situation where they have five stores within a one-mile radius.

So if anything, closing redundant stores will be good for Gamestop in regards to operating expenses. But HORRIBLE for some communities depending on area of development for foot-traffic/consumers.

But who knows, retail has been shrinking in areas beyond "LOL GAMES" for a bit due to online shopping. So dead strip-malls and store closings/reducing the spread of businesses is happening all over.

I mean, they're at least planning for and bracing for the future.  That puts them about 20 steps ahead of most of the actual game companies.

 

Change stores to studios, and Gamestop to random publisher x and suddenly this thread's title describes a huge percentage of news headlines about the business side of this industry.

You're both half-right. Publishers are fucking up hugely. Gamestop at least is attempting to move to new markets and investments while the industry is changing/shrinking. Meanwhile publishers continue to do things as if business is normal when software sales/etc. have been declining year over year due to changing markets.

I will never forgive Gamestop for killing Electronics Boutique and Software etc. And FuncoLand.

I got a Descent 1 strategy guide for $.99 from Software Etc. And a few Tomb Raider 2 holographic "trading"/collectors cards that I have around here somewhere. I dunno if they were going out of business/merging at the time (I don't think so) but that store is still in my fond memories for some "cheap" strategy guide dumping prices.

[Himu]

dunno about the others, but as a former EB employee, they deserved to die.

Funcoland and Software Etc were much better than EB. Funcoland's mass of old games and systems.


Got the FFVII guide from Software Etc for cheap!

[Himu]

We used to have four different game stores two minutes away from each other. Now we have two game stops RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FROM EACH OTHER. Used to be, you could go in and look at the old systems. I bought an SNES at an EB. I'd buy DC games and stuff too at Game Crazy (rip). I bought Suikoden II for 50 bucks at Gamestop. It was 50 minutes away. Worth it. Then games top came up with that rule that they don't sell systems or games under current gen AFTER they killed all the competition that made their names selling old software and rare items. FUCKERS. Ruining. games!

Thankfully there's this new game store nearby that sells old systems and games. It is a complete retro game shop and it KICKS. ASS. Seriously guys.

[benjipwns]

Software Etc. used to be awesome for some reason I can never put my finger on.

Babbages was lame.

The local FuncoLands always seemed shady. The closest one is now a GameStop and nothing has really changed except the games inside.

[Himu]

Never shopped at a Babbages and glad I have never had my cash tied to such an awful name.

[Great Rumbler]

Is the Netflix season of Arrested Development any good? I haven't watched it yet.

The first few episodes were really hit-and-miss, but it was great by the end of the season.

[chronovore]

I mean, they're at least planning for and bracing for the future.  That puts them about 20 steps ahead of most of the actual game companies.

Yes, likely because Gamestop has focused on running themselves as a business, while game developers and publishers have been trying to figure out how to be creative, be a business, and stay on top of technology all at once. All gamestop has had to do is figure out how to move product.

[Eel O'Brian]

There are four here in town. Two of them are about a block away from me in either direction (there used to be three, but they closed one a couple of years ago). Dunno if they'll close any of the rest, they all seem to stay fairly busy.

[Groogrux]

If I had to guess, I would say that they would cut some of these stores that can see each other.  Honestly, the number of stores that they're talking about cutting isn't a lot in the long run of things.

[Human Snorenado]

The number of stores being closed isn't the interesting part to me- it's the further emphasis on mobile products.

To be honest, I doubt they'll close duplicate stores in the same mall for the reason that someone else mentioned- lots of malls have a policy of "X number of video game stores in the mall" and if they close one, they open themselves up to letting someone else come in. Better for them to keep the stranglehold they've got.

[Groogrux]

Yeah, I am interested to see what they do with expanding mobile.  The store I worked in barely ever sold phones, and so they practically stopped sending them to us.  Tablets were a joke in our store.  I'm pretty sure we had a couple of the new Nexus 7's in the store that have been there since they were released.  Then again, the area I live in is full of CoD fanboys who don't know their phones can do more than texting and facebook.

[tiesto]

Never shopped at a Babbages and glad I have never had my cash tied to such an awful name.

Babbages was Software Etc, and also btw: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Babbage

[ToxicAdam]

Gamestop only seems to exist because of the 60-70 dollar MSRP. What happens if those games disappear? Less profit margins on trade-ins is what seems likely. Being a vendor of gift cards, peripherials and 15 dollar used games isn't going to pay the lease bills.

But like all corporate monopolies, the descent is a long one.