Game is inside sports direct upstairs in my city 🤣🤣🤣 it's mental considering game shops were everywhere when I was a kid, now they're at the very back of a sports direct shop, I'm not even joking....
What I find so weird about it is that wer're always told that videogames are a bigger industry than movies in terms of the profits made - sure, there's a lot of people buying digital-first, but RUclips's coming down with physical game collectors, and I think the young generation increasingly like having collectables they can display - so many Millennials got rid of all their physical (not me, but I'm a packrat) and now a lot of folk are regretting it... I dunno, you would just think such a profit-making industry and hobby could sustain a chain like GAME. But maybe that's the problem: the fact we've got people in the comments here saying they're bad to work for and won't commit to improving their infrastructure suggests they've frittered away a lot of goodwill on both sides of the counter...
It's strange because I worked at game and when I left I went to work at sports direct. Game was good for the first 5 year but I could only take 2 at SD. The company is trash. Mike Ashely flew up here in his private helicopter after his company posted profits of 5billion pounds to tell all us face to face why he couldn't afford to give anyone full time contracts or hire extra staff. The whole system is a joke and we all sit and take up up the ( l ). Best thing I ever did was start working for myself.
It’s a massive shame that GAME is inevitably going to disappear, I used to go there every couple of weeks with my mom as a kid and we’d pick a game out together and go home to play it. They haven’t been brilliant the last few years, but I’m still a bit gutted
Apart of me is sad and another not because of how they killed gamestation I think all we will have left where I live is cex and only option is pre owned
If you ask Me they haven’t been good since 2012. When they bought GameStation. They could’ve easily had 2 separate shops. Their own. And they could’ve just re opened gamestation. But they didn’t now look what’s happening to them
As a kid I used to go into there a lot just to have a look at the games available and having a go at playing the current consoles on display for anyone. Something you can't do online
As a former multi-site Game manager, I can tell you that top management has always been a disaster. I would get into heated fights in meetings when they refused to recognize the demographic differences between locations. Derangerly believing that a dump like Aldershot has the same client base, trade-ins, and KPIs as larger stores such as Reading or Basingstoke. Another major issue is their janky backend internal system, which they refuse to upgrade or fix stating unnecessary costs to do so. Also, don't get me started on what they do on Black Friday and other seasonal sale days.
Detached management filled with uni students from different parts of the country or older business folks with no bearing on reality? Surely not, that’s unheard of!
Interesting idea! HMV had their own financial troubles back in the day but seem to be doing pretty good now. If they can revive the Gamestation name or introduce a new gaming sub-brand it could really blow up.
I get the impression they're trying to copy HMV with all the board and card games and cuddly toy Pokemon and so on - but where they haven't been smart is that they're not aiming at any specific market. My local HMV is always full of alternative teenagers buying anime merch and goth accessories - they sell Truffle Shuffle too, for those of us who won't see 40 again. It feels like a Forbidden Planet that also sells large selections of films and music. Whereas much as I love the cheaper Lego, Pokemon and other toys ar GAME, it always kind of comes across like the place now a remainder store for those brands rather than a place to come in its own right... the very fact everyone's reacting to that like "oo-er, the writing's on the wall" says it all...
@@scotlandrhmv had a bounce back as the person who bought it actually wanted the company to go back to it's roots and succeed... Mike Ashley who owns game doesn't give a damn. Hmv should try and fill that void game is leaving behind.
I can't think of a single good reason why I would have something sent to a store I would have to collect, over just having something sent directly to my house.
If you get it delivered to your house you might have to be home say between 9am and 5pm where as if it’s at the store you don’t have to stay home all day you can collect it when you want
I always found game to be too expensive and the manager in my local store before it closed was arrogant it won't be missed gamestation on the other hand was fantastic
As a former GAME employee (left 2 years ago) I can tell you a lot of things they've done wrong.... The top one that people don't talk about is returns, if you buy something as a gift, say you got a £70 game they won't give you cash back or even put it back on your card, you'll get a voucher, receipt or not.... You could see things going downhill when they started buying in board games that weren't game related, not to mention the barbies.... Most of the things they are doing is to bring thr tills in line, this is a fact they were talking about it before I left, they wanted there to be one system for all, which reinforces what you were saying about Game not having tills, some of the sports direct stores (I worked in one, of the multiple stores I have worked in) and people would come up to but their, shoes, swimwear or trousers and you would have to send them to another till, angering them, most of the time I stood around.... Erm.... 😂 playing Wolfenstein on an emulator I found online... 😂 if you want any insider info, I'm always happy to talk about my exoerimce under Frasier group.
Games return policy has always been the reason I never shopped there to begin with. Back in the golden days you had gamestation who always gave you your money back or let you swap it for another title. Once game brought the company i just brought online
@@isonic yeah, Game really killed the scene.... How they were allowed to buy out Game station is beyond me, surely that would have counted as monopolising the games industry on the highstreet.... 😂
Used to had GAME here in Ireland years ago, but they are mostly gone now or rare in certain Sports Direct stores, I think them moving into Sports Direct stores is one of their downfalls for those who dunno where to go, they usually just in the back somewhere or something, wish they still had their own store fronts tbh, but that's just me, also we lost Game Stop too last year and only game stores we have now is Cex and barely any significant games stores tbh, unless you go to your nearest toy stores tbh, so yeah Also, do love some insider info too, also find someone who worked in Game Stop or other well known game stores and have all of you discussed things too tbh, so yeah Also, the removal of physical and the way things are going will lead to their downfall tbh, but that's my take tbh
@isonic word it's a complete shitshow to the fullest sense of the word and it doesn't surprise me that this company is struggling to make ends meet when they're this trash for YEARS now
As a Gamestation manager for many years I think we should all get Gamestation back up and running, Unite and bring in Fat Chris again !!!! haha. Cex is good but a true Gamestation store needs to return!
GS worked because they weren't greedy on their trade in and cash prices, giving customers much better value for money. Just resurrect that business model and you'll make a killing. 1:44
physical game sales just don't make money. the margins are thin and not many people are buying. a dedicated few is not enough compared to the mass market which more often make purchases online or with first-party digital stores.
It's such a shame that some people won't even remember that Game used to be great in the early years. It is a completely different company now (literally,it has entirely different management) and it's decline has been long and substantial.
@@dazspurs9899 Same, I always found that GAME was meant to look 'trendy' in city centres. Had clueless, pretty looking staff and was over priced on everything. I chose Gamestation everytime. It had better stock, nicer vibes and the staff in every single store I went to was actually into the products they sold.
If you have to order online, why would you have something sent to a store when you can order online and have it delivered straight to your address already???
I honestly cannot remember the last time I bought a game at GAME, even a used one. The main reasons being is that it is typically more expensive than other stores to buy both the new copies and used copies of games from there. Stores like CEX typically are cheaper to buy games from so always used to go there. Nowadays, I typically buy from eBay.
Problem with CEX is quality. my local CEX even has the dirty, crusty controllers on display in the window, with the gall to say its "Quality A".. mate, i can smell the hands of the drugie who traded this in for this latest fix..
@@Kaij- Oh yeah, the tech side of it is ridiculous. Selling used iPhones for nearly the price of retail or sometimes above it. They also used to make different colours of tech products more expensive than others and would offer less for specific colours on trade in. I remember the days (around 15 years ago) where you could trade something in and they would relist it for about 10-15% more to make a profit, nowadays it is most times over 50% more.
I think in the least year, I've picked up one game from Game themselves. Lego 2K Drive, simply because the digital "Awesome" version was reduced to less than the digital version on the Eshop, and had most of the DLC included for that.
very sad times. especially for those born in the 80s. electronics boutique, gamestation and now game. Smyths toys is great but lacks the stand alone game stores that we are now missing.
I was a frequent user of Game Reward Elite because of the 10% back on TCG product. If you're a TCG collector you know 10% is a huge return and was very good. I became good friends with my GAME employees from buying TCG product and when they told me the Reward program was over i had to tell them i would no longer be coming here for my TCG purchases. They completely understood and we both agreed the changes are likely the end of the GAME era.
Yea i remember that was really solid. Sucked when they axed it especially as they're still seemingly trying to sell tcg stuff and without that competing with online just seems moot
Yeah that is my exact same reaction I mean seriously why would u buy any physical games there when there cheaper everywhere else and especially after release as games prices never come down
When they used to do 10% back on toys, it was great as a Lego collector. They had sets on sale at 20% off on launch day, so getting that discount plus money back in points for other sets was perfect.
@@samwilson4870 the elite members got 10’percent on everything for 3 pound a month which was always great but made u feel like u need to go get something every month
I asked about this, and was told it was costing them too much and with new till upgrades coming in, Head office allegedly didn't want to pay for the system to take the cards.
@@samwilson4870 that's a shame as it often made the difference in my kids going there, without the points they now go elsewhere for their cards and games.
I was chatting with some game employees recently, apparently the old rewards system was not compatible with their parent company’s system, so it had to go, and will be replaced in the near future
I agree with you that Game died when they got shot of pre-owned. I haven't been there for months. Anything else that happens is just a byproduct of that. They may as well just go all out and just say yes we are basically a toy shop now.
I used to go there all the time but since sports direct bought it ive been about less than the number of fingers on my hand and i now havent been there for a year.
exactly, the 3 for 2, and deals on pre-owned were all i ever went into GAME for. They should have leaned more into pre-owned market not got rid of it. GAME never had the best price on new games so its basically a slow death for GAME now.
Yeah people used to play games for a week and trade them in and get good trade in values. Now people just play the same games for months because they are online. Games have never looked better but the fun has been lost
Must admit it is one of the things I dont like about UK is that there is no physical shops to buy games. Even when I moved here I could not look at computer monitors and TVs in person and this really something I love to do to see what I am getting.
tbf you can do this but our game stores have never really focused on TVs or PC gaming (never saw TVs or monitors in game or gamestation even as a kid 20+ years ago). For that you need to hit up a PC World/Currys, larger supermarket that has a dedicated electronics section, Costco, or depending on where you are in the UK, Richer Sounds. RIP to Comet though, they were the best for TVs and computers, not quite sure what happened that tanked them
@rhonab6698 yeah but even then it's not a large range that's there. If you ever go to Australia you'll see. We have lots of stores that have displays with TV, Monitors, laptops and even PC all setup so you can see what your buying. It's just different here and that's cool
@@rhonab6698 our local currys/pc world has next to no monitors on display, its all macbooks and laptops. Theres no good places to go actually see and feel PC peripherals anymore. it makes buying something new really difficult and i end up spending 10s of hours on "review channels" just to get the information i need, English highstreet is dead and buried..
Game as a business makes no sense in 2024, there is no market anymore. They could have moved exclusively into the preowned/retro space to compete with CEX - they would have been really well placed to do this they have the knowledge, stock and brand recognition etc but instead they want to sell cheap tat no one wants. Feels inevitable the business will shutdown within the next 12months
Problem is, if they moved entirely to pre-owned, there would be no one selling new physical games.. which would mean that both game and CEX suffer as they would only be able to cycle the pre-owned games and never get any "current" games There would be a few people that order physical online I guess, I doubt it would be enough to keep both Game and CEX able to supply relatively new games though
There was a G force in Greenock too, I can't quite remember but it might very well have been the original before the one in Glasgow opened, got my first PC game out of there back in the days when they came in big fuck off cereal boxes(late 90's-early 00's). Gamestation in Glasgow was good too. GAME on the other hand have always and continue to be robbing bastards.
So it'll basically turn into a weird Geek Store that has nothing but Geek Merch and Gaming Hardware with only way to get games is to pre-order or interact with the staff.... they really don't know their user base.
I used to work in the industry and you need pre-owned games to survive. In fact an entirely pre-owned business model is the most successful provided you micromanage pricing on an almost daily basis. In the mid 2000’s blockbuster we’re in the process of offloading their financially crippling gamestation brand to US retailer GameStop but Game instead purchased game station (I still don’t know how this got through anti monopoly laws), but due to retail let’s being typically 5 year contracts they were in the red to the tune of £18 million quid within 2 years. Game sold for £1 to a US conglomerate who specialise in turning around failed businesses and like HMV moved into sale or return trinkets made in china like t-shirts, mugs, key rings, etc etc. In some ways it’s amazing they’ve limped along for so many years, but I think the writing is on the wall
my friend wasn't hit by the layoffs at GAME but did take it as a sign to jump ship and look elsewhere (and thankfully has moved onto a new job). he gave me advance warning about them getting rid of the rewards/elite scheme and to use up all my points because they'd be getting deleted from my account if not used. it's a shame cos we both grew up having GAME as our go-to store (other than gamestation RIP) and his experience working with them post-sports direct/frasers buy outs really shattered the nostalgia goggles we both had for browsing through physical GAME stores in high school together. i won't say exactly what he told me about how his branch was run, but suffice to say when he broke it down neither of us could see how the place was making enough money to even warrant being kept in the back of a sports direct. we somehow have a free-standing game store still in our city centre, but I don't see that lasting long (sports direct close by to it).
@@kingsleyjackson8287lots of places sell consoles. GAME may die but there will always be Argos and Curry’s and a whole plethora of other technology stores which will sell consoles and won’t go out of business Same in the US with Walmart, Best Buy and such
It’s super sad to see game related stores die out. I remember the glory days in the 90’s with just endless shelves of games, big chunky PC boxes included. Not a plushie or board game in sight. It’s a tough market but these corpos have destroyed their own companies with greed and mismanagement.
Meaning they will do like hmv and have to drive into other avenues they didn't start in and will eventually be absorbed into other shops because of competition
I was one of the first big wave of redundancies back when they shut all of the concessions (I was at Debenhams in Oxford). It was devastating, that little store was my happy place. It all happened very suddenly, they made us empty the shop, box everything up, take down the racking etc and ship it all back to the warehouse. They lost their way at that point (just after buying gamestation which was a terrible move for both companies) and have been in a depressingly slow decline since. My heart goes out to all the folks who are about to get made redundant. They didn't look after me at all, I really hope they look after you guys ❤ As much as they lost their way I have some amazingly happy memories associated with the stores and will be sad to see them go when they inevitability do 😢
I wonder if there’s still a market for Game rentals. I remember blockbusters did it and lovefim. The problem with Lovefilm is that people say they never received it when they did. At game it could be pick up and drop off at your local store. I don’t know how Sony and MS feel about this but it did exist once and they didn’t do anything about it.
There still is, its called boomerang rentals and is a UK based games rental service and if your looking for ps4 and newer then it's great ive used them for years.
The reason why retail stores like this are failing is not because they can't compete with Amazon; it's the fact that they have not kept up. Unfortunately, Game now sells low-quality products. Additionally, only physical preorders will be accepted for discussion. Why would I want to go to my local store to collect it when I could simply order from Amazon, know it will be the cheapest, and have it delivered to my door? Rest in peace, Game."
It's sad to see where game has gone as I miss the time where I was a kid comparing trade in prices and prices of games from Game and Gamestation. If they some how make a comeback I would love it to see how it would compare with the empire of CEX
The GAME local to me is currently stuffed neatly into a tiny corner on the second floor of a sports shop. Used to be two full shops, may as well just go to CeX
@davenport11 Mike Ashley doing Mike Ashley things. Won't miss it, they've always been a rip off and shut down game station! Good riddance, I'll stick to CEX.
As an ex GAME employee - They've also just axed their whole point reward system for this new system that no one publicly even knows about, even area managers (to my knowledge). Back when GAME was independant managers were allowed to have admin/manager copies that allowed workers to take home and play to have more insight about new games. Now that Frasers Group has bought GAME a couple years ago while GAME was in trouble, they moved all stores not deemed profitable enough into Sports Direct stores as a little corner store as Frasers Group owns both companies. For those that don't know, Sports Direct is a sports store and Frasers Group done no advertising for this change, so even years later people still went into Sports Direct and was surprised to see GAME, asking why there's a video game store within a sports store. They axed all pre-owned games including the 3 for 2 deals. When I was still there, they started having massive recalls of stock, where at least 1/4 of all stock within stores were sent to warehouses.
A shopping center beside the area I grew up in had a game, I’d never went into the center without also going to the game even if it was just for a look. I’d not been there for a couple of years until Monday and was gutted when I went to go in and it was closed. That being said, I honestly can’t remember the last time I bought a physical game. I’d imagine quite a lot of us are in the same boat, so we’ve only really ourselves to blame
As someone who worked there from 2006 to 2012, good riddance. All they ever done was anything to screw over the customer thinking they were too stupid to notice. My manager completely ignored that, and we actually treated the customers like valued customers. What happened? We started beating bigger stores that we should not have been anywhere near and they sacked the manager and brought in the regional managers brother in law to take over our store, which he did everything by game HQs book loosing us all of our hard core customers, half of our regulars and a lot of our general customers. It was insane and as a gamer I couldn't overlook the bs anymore. Eventually told them to shove it, and they are still doing everything completely wrong. The last time I even pre-ordered was at the re2 remake launch and they closed the store for covid, wouldn't give me a refund and when I came back after they opened I was told I took too long to come and get my pre order... it was the last time I ever purchased a game from them. The manager was a total 🐔 as well.
I remember an age when gaming was gaming and PC games came in big boxes and came with extras and a decent manual and Game sold board games and RPGs. But the gamers of the new world and era don't know they;re born. In this new age business isn't done face to face and transactions're carried out in a world we can't see using a currency we cant' feel. (I got the idea for this from the opening of The Road Warrior) and refer to the GAME of the '90s/early 2000s)
I went to a standalone Game store yesterday, because they're only letting you spend your remaining reward points there, not the Sports Direct stores. Glad I went though. Got a pre-owned copy of Maneater on Switch for a quid. That store was literally next door to a cex who'd have given £13 trade for it. No idea how it sat there that long
They emailed me about 8 months ago about this . Will have a look and see if there’s anything I can pick up with the last of my points 🤷♂️ it does suck because I firmly believe we should maintain physical media
The issue is that the parent company, house of fraser is a clothing retailer, they thought it was a good idea to merge Sports direct with Game. The staff knew nothing about video games
Argos have said their sales are down mainly due to fall in video games sales according to owners Sainsbury's. I like to have physical games in my collection, you can also sell them on unlike digital games and digital games can be more expensive sometimes.
Yeah. A friend of mine brought FF XVI on digital from his PS5 for £70. Just around the corner from his house where I work, we had it on launch for £60.
I remember when GTA IV launched you couldn't get anywhere near the front door of Game for about a week. I'd love to have seen their sales figures for those days back then.
I miss the old days where you had massive promotions at game and other stores for big releases. Remember metal gear solid snake eater and the whole shopping floor was decked in snake boards, flags music from the game and a live band playing on release day. Obviously those days are over but still miss them.
I only just learned theyre not doing the points system anymore either so used all my credit today This is the ONLY thing that kept me loyal to GAME. I have elite membership aswell considering how much ive saved its insane. I paid £300 for my seires x because i saved all my points for a year or so its bonkers
Someone correct me if I'm wrong . But im guessing game is purposely just waiting until they can call administrators in. Rather than fold now and be responsible for paying off suppliers and redundancy to its staff .
It’s crazy how big video games have got over the last 10 years and how people are so sick of swapping discs over they’d rather get a digital copy and yes we all really know with the discs most the time u don’t own the bigger games as there bigger in size than what ps5/xbox discs can hold software size wise but all the cool maybe AA games are mostly all on disc so why not stock these games and physical gamers will still pick them up
Anyone in the UK remember the old ones like granger games and the old cex now game is also getting rid of hard and soft back copies feels like my whole childhood is being destroyed abit dramatic I know but yano what I mean 😂
To be fair, the writing’s been on the wall for physical games for years (as sad as that is.) I remember maybe 15 years ago or so - when Steam was getting big and online stores were beginning to exist - that if you went into a game store you’d start to see a shrinking PC games section with fewer and fewer games (and 90% of the games that were there were DRM required through Steam.) Plus, you’d start to see more and more coupons for online stores instead of actual games Console games were safe for a while - especially in countries that had poor internet infrastructure - because it meant that you could just buy a console and then buy a game (however over the years, those games became more and more buggy and you couldn’t patch them without an internet - sorry state of affairs.) But nowadays, with relatively accessible internet infrastructure - and especially in developed countries - console games are now following the trend that PC games created 10-15 years ago. This is the culmination of that decline in essence
I actually find this so sad, as someone who continues to buy physical copies of games instead of giving in to what these corporations want by going digital it really is a shame to see the biggest game retailer in the UK no longer supporting the physical market. I used to basically live in game stores when I was kid so to see something that used to make me happy finally coming to an end just sucks. Don’t know where I’ll go to buy games now because I’m sure other companies like smyths and Argos will soon go down the same path. Sad times man😪
Game is such a weird shop now. It’s just an outlet for toys no one wants and for years now they just haven’t been able to compete when it comes to prices. Their console bundles are always poor. The cost of games on release are too high and have been for years compared to Amazon. All in all their decline has been inevitable and it reminds me a lot of toys r us. The once go to place for what they sold and now it’s just an overpriced mess of a place with no care or attention. It’s a real shame.
I actually did pretty well out of the Elite Rewards. Earlier this year when it was clear that the writing was on the wall for the stores, I cashed out a little over £50 worth of points on a final order. I now have 2 pence that I earned from that order and I'm more than happy to write that off 🤣 The staff at my local store (Bridgend, S. Wales) were brilliant. I love buying Special/Collector editions and Ben at the store would see me coming in and go see what they had out the back that I might like. I went in one day looking for the Horizon: Zero Dawn special edition. They didn't have it but a big guy behind the counter asked "How much do you want it?" I replied "Where is it?". He just happened to be helping out in Bridgend that day but was actually the manager (or Asst. Manager?) of the Leckwith branch (next to Cardiff City Football Stadium) and said that someone had literally traded in a mint condition one the day before. He rang the branch and had them hold it, I caught a train to Cardiff and walked all the way out to the stadium to get it 😊
Worked at Electronics Boutique in Bracknell which became GAME. I was a teenager at the time and remember vividly doing the GameCube midnight launch! Things went downhill when EB became game in my opinion and it's just been a slow decline. Despite working for Game I continued to buy from the independent shop in the town
To help Game out I feel all they'd have to do is have competitive prices and keep the reward points and make them engaging. Do something where stuff £10 and under give you 10 points £11-£20 give you 20 points etc and you can use points to buy stuff (x item is x points) or use them to take money off (100 points is £10 off)
Their move into Sports Direct was a big sign of their issues. I travel quite alot and alot of these so called "stores" are shoved away in the back of the store with barely any signage advertising their presence!. They also should have taken a slice out of Gamestation in it's prime and taken in retro too... It really is a deadman walking
Every time I go in they are trying to sell games at full RRP and they’re never far from an Argos or supermarket selling games at a competitive price. The preowned games are usually priced similar to new copies elsewhere. Their LEGO is cheap though.
Also for anyone in Scotland you can’t use your points from the 22nd July as they are updating till systems a week early in Scotland, even though they are advertising till 31st. Feel very sorry for GAME staff that will be the ones who have to deal with that.
Every time i've been in a GAME. i check the price online and 95% of the time, its cheaper online.. Pre-owed was the only reason i ever put money over the counter, Some of the 3 for 2, or 2 for £20 were steals. Guess GAME is soon to die out.
I took a wired pad back last year for refund after it stopped working. No damage. Maybe had it a month. The girl was horrible. Made me wait awhile while she tested it. Over and over and over. It had broke further upon testing. Lights stopped. She tried 3 other wires plus the one it came with. Got a hunch they love to sell the insurance/extended warranty. but not pay out. Well i paid for it so. What really annoyed me is i didnt want the money. Just replace it. Havnt been back since. Theres other stores on the high street. Cool story at cash converters. I picked up 5 ps3 games when i got a ps3 from a charity store. The guy said "im sorry mate but the games arnt in the system. I cant sell you them". I said what can i do. And he said "well i suppose well just have to give them to you". Free games. Thank you very much. I could not believe it. But its true.
As much as I really like having a collection, I'm also a bit of a clean freak and I must admit I've gone fully digital with my Xbox. Something refreshing about not having to put the disk in. And I'll only buy games when they're on sale on the Xbox store or CDKeys, then I'll just play them when I have time.
had a store in caerphilly, but prefered gamestation in cardiff years ago. before these come along in 90s rumbelows currys north road cardiff. now its cex
It's sad that standalone Game stores are rare now. Most near me (Batley, Huddersfield, Leeds, etc.) are all within Sports Direct. I think the Bradford one is the only standalone one in my area.
Game is basically an antique at this point. Physical games will always be more expensive than buying online. There is so much overhead with manufacturing cases, cartridges or discs. Then there's the store, upkeep, staff. And with internet being so much faster and more available in the UK, there is no way Game can be successful selling physical games. Online store fronts can half their margins and completely price Game out.
My game is it own store in Doncaster. Now gave up on it since game elite has finished. Luckily I also have another game store called cool spot in my city.
What a thumbnail! Brightly coloured curly arrow…bloke looking sad because someone’s drawn an outline around him. Only suggestion can you make the outline bright green next time. Great thanks guy.
I miss Gamestation...
I worked for them in Scarborough and Cramlington 20 odd years ago, I loved it
Gamestation was the best store
Same
Same
Me too, it was a proper gaming store.
Game is inside sports direct upstairs in my city 🤣🤣🤣 it's mental considering game shops were everywhere when I was a kid, now they're at the very back of a sports direct shop, I'm not even joking....
What I find so weird about it is that wer're always told that videogames are a bigger industry than movies in terms of the profits made - sure, there's a lot of people buying digital-first, but RUclips's coming down with physical game collectors, and I think the young generation increasingly like having collectables they can display - so many Millennials got rid of all their physical (not me, but I'm a packrat) and now a lot of folk are regretting it... I dunno, you would just think such a profit-making industry and hobby could sustain a chain like GAME. But maybe that's the problem: the fact we've got people in the comments here saying they're bad to work for and won't commit to improving their infrastructure suggests they've frittered away a lot of goodwill on both sides of the counter...
Typical mike ashley behavour lol
It's strange because I worked at game and when I left I went to work at sports direct. Game was good for the first 5 year but I could only take 2 at SD. The company is trash. Mike Ashely flew up here in his private helicopter after his company posted profits of 5billion pounds to tell all us face to face why he couldn't afford to give anyone full time contracts or hire extra staff. The whole system is a joke and we all sit and take up up the ( l ). Best thing I ever did was start working for myself.
That’s because they entered a deal with SportsDirect to survive the pandemic. The short straw was being up the top and at the back, there’s no perk.
That is pretty common across the UK. The game in Southampton is tucked inside a Sports Direct too.
It’s a massive shame that GAME is inevitably going to disappear, I used to go there every couple of weeks with my mom as a kid and we’d pick a game out together and go home to play it. They haven’t been brilliant the last few years, but I’m still a bit gutted
Apart of me is sad and another not because of how they killed gamestation I think all we will have left where I live is cex and only option is pre owned
If you ask Me they haven’t been good since 2012. When they bought GameStation. They could’ve easily had 2 separate shops. Their own. And they could’ve just re opened gamestation. But they didn’t now look what’s happening to them
As a kid I used to go into there a lot just to have a look at the games available and having a go at playing the current consoles on display for anyone. Something you can't do online
It won’t disappear Frasers group is building the worlds “best retailer eco system”
Where always overpriced, staff would recommend awful games to shift the stock
As a former multi-site Game manager, I can tell you that top management has always been a disaster. I would get into heated fights in meetings when they refused to recognize the demographic differences between locations. Derangerly believing that a dump like Aldershot has the same client base, trade-ins, and KPIs as larger stores such as Reading or Basingstoke. Another major issue is their janky backend internal system, which they refuse to upgrade or fix stating unnecessary costs to do so. Also, don't get me started on what they do on Black Friday and other seasonal sale days.
Detached management filled with uni students from different parts of the country or older business folks with no bearing on reality? Surely not, that’s unheard of!
Frasers sales are very rarely actually lower prices. They’ll just stick ‘sale’ branding on anything. I used to work in HoF. 😂
Does anyone remember Electronics Boutique? Thats where i got my first Gameboy Color back in 2001. The good ol days.
Australia has eb games. Dunno if that’s the same thing
I remember them. They merged with GameStation
Those were the days! Entire wall of big box pc games!
@@themarchinggoblin8294 naa frfr!
Bro 5hey were the best
Sounds like an opportunity HMV could take advantage of...
Interesting idea! HMV had their own financial troubles back in the day but seem to be doing pretty good now. If they can revive the Gamestation name or introduce a new gaming sub-brand it could really blow up.
I get the impression they're trying to copy HMV with all the board and card games and cuddly toy Pokemon and so on - but where they haven't been smart is that they're not aiming at any specific market. My local HMV is always full of alternative teenagers buying anime merch and goth accessories - they sell Truffle Shuffle too, for those of us who won't see 40 again. It feels like a Forbidden Planet that also sells large selections of films and music. Whereas much as I love the cheaper Lego, Pokemon and other toys ar GAME, it always kind of comes across like the place now a remainder store for those brands rather than a place to come in its own right... the very fact everyone's reacting to that like "oo-er, the writing's on the wall" says it all...
HMV stopped selling games altogether now, they're focusing on the nostalga of buying records again and anyone who still buys CDs & Blu Rays.
@@scotlandrhmv had a bounce back as the person who bought it actually wanted the company to go back to it's roots and succeed... Mike Ashley who owns game doesn't give a damn. Hmv should try and fill that void game is leaving behind.
Smyths is still worth getting games at. That's where I get mine
I can't think of a single good reason why I would have something sent to a store I would have to collect, over just having something sent directly to my house.
And that's why you and I aren't CEO's of a multimillion pound company. We aren't insane.
If you get it delivered to your house you might have to be home say between 9am and 5pm where as if it’s at the store you don’t have to stay home all day you can collect it when you want
Quite often to have something sent directly to your home they will charge you for delivery, whereas having it delivered to a store is free.
I always found game to be too expensive and the manager in my local store before it closed was arrogant it won't be missed gamestation on the other hand was fantastic
@@OttoTalksAI Amazon locker? Most game cases will happily plop through a letter box in the UK though 😂
As a former GAME employee (left 2 years ago) I can tell you a lot of things they've done wrong.... The top one that people don't talk about is returns, if you buy something as a gift, say you got a £70 game they won't give you cash back or even put it back on your card, you'll get a voucher, receipt or not.... You could see things going downhill when they started buying in board games that weren't game related, not to mention the barbies.... Most of the things they are doing is to bring thr tills in line, this is a fact they were talking about it before I left, they wanted there to be one system for all, which reinforces what you were saying about Game not having tills, some of the sports direct stores (I worked in one, of the multiple stores I have worked in) and people would come up to but their, shoes, swimwear or trousers and you would have to send them to another till, angering them, most of the time I stood around.... Erm.... 😂 playing Wolfenstein on an emulator I found online... 😂 if you want any insider info, I'm always happy to talk about my exoerimce under Frasier group.
Games return policy has always been the reason I never shopped there to begin with.
Back in the golden days you had gamestation who always gave you your money back or let you swap it for another title.
Once game brought the company i just brought online
@@isonic yeah, Game really killed the scene.... How they were allowed to buy out Game station is beyond me, surely that would have counted as monopolising the games industry on the highstreet.... 😂
Used to had GAME here in Ireland years ago, but they are mostly gone now or rare in certain Sports Direct stores, I think them moving into Sports Direct stores is one of their downfalls for those who dunno where to go, they usually just in the back somewhere or something, wish they still had their own store fronts tbh, but that's just me, also we lost Game Stop too last year and only game stores we have now is Cex and barely any significant games stores tbh, unless you go to your nearest toy stores tbh, so yeah
Also, do love some insider info too, also find someone who worked in Game Stop or other well known game stores and have all of you discussed things too tbh, so yeah
Also, the removal of physical and the way things are going will lead to their downfall tbh, but that's my take tbh
@isonic word it's a complete shitshow to the fullest sense of the word and it doesn't surprise me that this company is struggling to make ends meet when they're this trash for YEARS now
@@isonicGame used to let you bring a game back within seven days for a full refund, regardless of if the game was used or not
6:26 £48 for Red Dead Redemption on PS4? No wonder they’re struggling.
Joke of a company.
Looks like they reduced it to £27 too
As a Gamestation manager for many years I think we should all get Gamestation back up and running, Unite and bring in Fat Chris again !!!! haha. Cex is good but a true Gamestation store needs to return!
GS worked because they weren't greedy on their trade in and cash prices, giving customers much better value for money. Just resurrect that business model and you'll make a killing. 1:44
I'm with you i'd happily be a store manager for you 😊
Game station was the business!
physical game sales just don't make money. the margins are thin and not many people are buying. a dedicated few is not enough compared to the mass market which more often make purchases online or with first-party digital stores.
Cex sucks ngl loved game station tho
It's such a shame that some people won't even remember that Game used to be great in the early years. It is a completely different company now (literally,it has entirely different management) and it's decline has been long and substantial.
Wasnt great in my town, expensive and arrogant staff, preferred gamestation but I had to go to another town for that
Gamestation was always better
@@dazspurs9899 Same, I always found that GAME was meant to look 'trendy' in city centres. Had clueless, pretty looking staff and was over priced on everything. I chose Gamestation everytime. It had better stock, nicer vibes and the staff in every single store I went to was actually into the products they sold.
@@slapshot0074 I stopped buying from game around maybe 2015/2016
@@YouMissed2024 100%
It’s pretty wild that a store called “GAME” isn’t going to sell actual games anymore. It is unfortunate seeing their downfall in recent years.
This is Mike Ashley all over
Mike ashley has nothing to do with sportsdirect now
If you have to order online, why would you have something sent to a store when you can order online and have it delivered straight to your address already???
Exactly, it's stupid
Back before it closed down. My game in dundee did it with midnight launches of pokemon games. Only reason I still went was for those occasions
And if you're ordering online, GAME sure as heck isn't the best price..
I honestly cannot remember the last time I bought a game at GAME, even a used one. The main reasons being is that it is typically more expensive than other stores to buy both the new copies and used copies of games from there. Stores like CEX typically are cheaper to buy games from so always used to go there. Nowadays, I typically buy from eBay.
Problem with CEX is quality. my local CEX even has the dirty, crusty controllers on display in the window, with the gall to say its "Quality A".. mate, i can smell the hands of the drugie who traded this in for this latest fix..
@@Kaij- Oh yeah, the tech side of it is ridiculous. Selling used iPhones for nearly the price of retail or sometimes above it. They also used to make different colours of tech products more expensive than others and would offer less for specific colours on trade in. I remember the days (around 15 years ago) where you could trade something in and they would relist it for about 10-15% more to make a profit, nowadays it is most times over 50% more.
I think in the least year, I've picked up one game from Game themselves. Lego 2K Drive, simply because the digital "Awesome" version was reduced to less than the digital version on the Eshop, and had most of the DLC included for that.
A massive problem for them is also that I can find many websites that sell new releases for £10-20 cheaper than they do
very sad times. especially for those born in the 80s. electronics boutique, gamestation and now game. Smyths toys is great but lacks the stand alone game stores that we are now missing.
I was a frequent user of Game Reward Elite because of the 10% back on TCG product. If you're a TCG collector you know 10% is a huge return and was very good. I became good friends with my GAME employees from buying TCG product and when they told me the Reward program was over i had to tell them i would no longer be coming here for my TCG purchases. They completely understood and we both agreed the changes are likely the end of the GAME era.
Yea i remember that was really solid. Sucked when they axed it especially as they're still seemingly trying to sell tcg stuff and without that competing with online just seems moot
Yeah that is my exact same reaction I mean seriously why would u buy any physical games there when there cheaper everywhere else and especially after release as games prices never come down
When they used to do 10% back on toys, it was great as a Lego collector. They had sets on sale at 20% off on launch day, so getting that discount plus money back in points for other sets was perfect.
@@samwilson4870 the elite members got 10’percent on everything for 3 pound a month which was always great but made u feel like u need to go get something every month
GAME could get into a Time Machine and head back to 2003, that is the only way they could become the biggest game retailer in the country again
They've also just finished their loyalty scheme for rewarding customers..... Which is usually a sign of creeping death.
I asked about this, and was told it was costing them too much and with new till upgrades coming in, Head office allegedly didn't want to pay for the system to take the cards.
@@samwilson4870 that's a shame as it often made the difference in my kids going there, without the points they now go elsewhere for their cards and games.
I was chatting with some game employees recently, apparently the old rewards system was not compatible with their parent company’s system, so it had to go, and will be replaced in the near future
I agree with you that Game died when they got shot of pre-owned. I haven't been there for months. Anything else that happens is just a byproduct of that. They may as well just go all out and just say yes we are basically a toy shop now.
I used to go there all the time but since sports direct bought it ive been about less than the number of fingers on my hand and i now havent been there for a year.
The pre-owned games was were the profit was... idiots
exactly, the 3 for 2, and deals on pre-owned were all i ever went into GAME for. They should have leaned more into pre-owned market not got rid of it.
GAME never had the best price on new games so its basically a slow death for GAME now.
One reason…. Mike Ashley.
I remember the good ol’ days of trading in and buying pre-owned games. Some of my PS2 games still have the price stickers on them. 😢
Yeah people used to play games for a week and trade them in and get good trade in values. Now people just play the same games for months because they are online. Games have never looked better but the fun has been lost
Recently spoke with a GAME employee. Even they know their on a sinking ship, its sad
Must admit it is one of the things I dont like about UK is that there is no physical shops to buy games. Even when I moved here I could not look at computer monitors and TVs in person and this really something I love to do to see what I am getting.
@kcrazy3311 100% agree
tbf you can do this but our game stores have never really focused on TVs or PC gaming (never saw TVs or monitors in game or gamestation even as a kid 20+ years ago). For that you need to hit up a PC World/Currys, larger supermarket that has a dedicated electronics section, Costco, or depending on where you are in the UK, Richer Sounds. RIP to Comet though, they were the best for TVs and computers, not quite sure what happened that tanked them
@rhonab6698 yeah but even then it's not a large range that's there. If you ever go to Australia you'll see. We have lots of stores that have displays with TV, Monitors, laptops and even PC all setup so you can see what your buying.
It's just different here and that's cool
Argos fills that gap for me but then again I get an extra 10 percent employee discount
@@rhonab6698 our local currys/pc world has next to no monitors on display, its all macbooks and laptops. Theres no good places to go actually see and feel PC peripherals anymore. it makes buying something new really difficult and i end up spending 10s of hours on "review channels" just to get the information i need, English highstreet is dead and buried..
Game as a business makes no sense in 2024, there is no market anymore. They could have moved exclusively into the preowned/retro space to compete with CEX - they would have been really well placed to do this they have the knowledge, stock and brand recognition etc but instead they want to sell cheap tat no one wants. Feels inevitable the business will shutdown within the next 12months
*sell cheap tat at a premium
Exactly. Only they are selling cheap tat that is actually not cheap.
This is Ashley tactics...
The discounted transformers and lego are nice though 😅
Problem is, if they moved entirely to pre-owned, there would be no one selling new physical games.. which would mean that both game and CEX suffer as they would only be able to cycle the pre-owned games and never get any "current" games
There would be a few people that order physical online I guess, I doubt it would be enough to keep both Game and CEX able to supply relatively new games though
G force in Glasgow will never be forgotten, getting games a week early .buying games has never been the same since it closed.
Loved that store
@@thomasmcguire5447 best gaming store ever
There was a G force in Greenock too, I can't quite remember but it might very well have been the original before the one in Glasgow opened, got my first PC game out of there back in the days when they came in big fuck off cereal boxes(late 90's-early 00's). Gamestation in Glasgow was good too. GAME on the other hand have always and continue to be robbing bastards.
Or "Grainger Games" lol
So it'll basically turn into a weird Geek Store that has nothing but Geek Merch and Gaming Hardware with only way to get games is to pre-order or interact with the staff.... they really don't know their user base.
Kinda going the way HMV has with selling niche products. If the core business is rotten no amount of sideline products isn't going to save it.
2:28 no bro! you must resist the dark temptation of the funko pop! stay strong ✊
I stopped going into game the second they were moved into sports direct. Completely changed the atmosphere
I used to work in the industry and you need pre-owned games to survive. In fact an entirely pre-owned business model is the most successful provided you micromanage pricing on an almost daily basis.
In the mid 2000’s blockbuster we’re in the process of offloading their financially crippling gamestation brand to US retailer GameStop but Game instead purchased game station (I still don’t know how this got through anti monopoly laws), but due to retail let’s being typically 5 year contracts they were in the red to the tune of £18 million quid within 2 years.
Game sold for £1 to a US conglomerate who specialise in turning around failed businesses and like HMV moved into sale or return trinkets made in china like t-shirts, mugs, key rings, etc etc.
In some ways it’s amazing they’ve limped along for so many years, but I think the writing is on the wall
my friend wasn't hit by the layoffs at GAME but did take it as a sign to jump ship and look elsewhere (and thankfully has moved onto a new job). he gave me advance warning about them getting rid of the rewards/elite scheme and to use up all my points because they'd be getting deleted from my account if not used. it's a shame cos we both grew up having GAME as our go-to store (other than gamestation RIP) and his experience working with them post-sports direct/frasers buy outs really shattered the nostalgia goggles we both had for browsing through physical GAME stores in high school together. i won't say exactly what he told me about how his branch was run, but suffice to say when he broke it down neither of us could see how the place was making enough money to even warrant being kept in the back of a sports direct. we somehow have a free-standing game store still in our city centre, but I don't see that lasting long (sports direct close by to it).
I used to work in both of the Cardiff GAME stores.... I just got got with a wave of nostalgia. I was there at the launch of PS3
I didn't know they were doing away with the rewards system prior to this video.
Im more of a gamer than a film buff but still Im far more nostalgic for blockbusters than game.
I don’t see why they are doing this it’s destroying the uk physical game industry
What will happen to game stop and where can you buy the console
That’s probably the intention. They want to get everyone buying overpriced digital versions to make more money. It’s greed as usual.
@kingsleyjackson8287 argos, currys, amazon or many other online and physical stores.
@@kingsleyjackson8287lots of places sell consoles. GAME may die but there will always be Argos and Curry’s and a whole plethora of other technology stores which will sell consoles and won’t go out of business
Same in the US with Walmart, Best Buy and such
It’s super sad to see game related stores die out. I remember the glory days in the 90’s with just endless shelves of games, big chunky PC boxes included. Not a plushie or board game in sight. It’s a tough market but these corpos have destroyed their own companies with greed and mismanagement.
Meaning they will do like hmv and have to drive into other avenues they didn't start in and will eventually be absorbed into other shops because of competition
My local Game is a freaking toy shop now with a few games in it.
What surprised me most is to hear Game still exists. Kudos to them for lasting this long with an old fashioned business model.
I was one of the first big wave of redundancies back when they shut all of the concessions (I was at Debenhams in Oxford). It was devastating, that little store was my happy place. It all happened very suddenly, they made us empty the shop, box everything up, take down the racking etc and ship it all back to the warehouse. They lost their way at that point (just after buying gamestation which was a terrible move for both companies) and have been in a depressingly slow decline since. My heart goes out to all the folks who are about to get made redundant. They didn't look after me at all, I really hope they look after you guys ❤
As much as they lost their way I have some amazingly happy memories associated with the stores and will be sad to see them go when they inevitability do 😢
I wonder if there’s still a market for Game rentals. I remember blockbusters did it and lovefim. The problem with Lovefilm is that people say they never received it when they did. At game it could be pick up and drop off at your local store. I don’t know how Sony and MS feel about this but it did exist once and they didn’t do anything about it.
There still is, its called boomerang rentals and is a UK based games rental service and if your looking for ps4 and newer then it's great ive used them for years.
The reason why retail stores like this are failing is not because they can't compete with Amazon; it's the fact that they have not kept up. Unfortunately, Game now sells low-quality products. Additionally, only physical preorders will be accepted for discussion. Why would I want to go to my local store to collect it when I could simply order from Amazon, know it will be the cheapest, and have it delivered to my door?
Rest in peace, Game."
It's sad to see where game has gone as I miss the time where I was a kid comparing trade in prices and prices of games from Game and Gamestation. If they some how make a comeback I would love it to see how it would compare with the empire of CEX
The GAME local to me is currently stuffed neatly into a tiny corner on the second floor of a sports shop. Used to be two full shops, may as well just go to CeX
Leeds sports direct? 😂
Uxbridge?
Yes, game will become a flexible area of tat. So at Christmas time it will be huge, but it will be only a few fixtures the rest of the year.
Game won't be here 12 months
I said 18 months to someone I know the other week, they must sell next to nothing now
@@Jste75 the one near me in sports direct has posters in window for Lego. You go in and there is no Lego. Just a few games behind a counter
@davenport11 Mike Ashley doing Mike Ashley things. Won't miss it, they've always been a rip off and shut down game station! Good riddance, I'll stick to CEX.
I’m surprised GAME is still around.
They’re moving onto digital
As an ex GAME employee - They've also just axed their whole point reward system for this new system that no one publicly even knows about, even area managers (to my knowledge). Back when GAME was independant managers were allowed to have admin/manager copies that allowed workers to take home and play to have more insight about new games. Now that Frasers Group has bought GAME a couple years ago while GAME was in trouble, they moved all stores not deemed profitable enough into Sports Direct stores as a little corner store as Frasers Group owns both companies. For those that don't know, Sports Direct is a sports store and Frasers Group done no advertising for this change, so even years later people still went into Sports Direct and was surprised to see GAME, asking why there's a video game store within a sports store. They axed all pre-owned games including the 3 for 2 deals. When I was still there, they started having massive recalls of stock, where at least 1/4 of all stock within stores were sent to warehouses.
A shopping center beside the area I grew up in had a game, I’d never went into the center without also going to the game even if it was just for a look.
I’d not been there for a couple of years until Monday and was gutted when I went to go in and it was closed.
That being said, I honestly can’t remember the last time I bought a physical game. I’d imagine quite a lot of us are in the same boat, so we’ve only really ourselves to blame
I can only talk for myself but I still get physical games just prefer them only digital games I get are indi games or if they are less than a 10er
I buy plenty of physical games. Mostly online, sometimes in CEX. Shopping at GAME is choosing to burn your money for nothing extra.
As someone who worked there from 2006 to 2012, good riddance. All they ever done was anything to screw over the customer thinking they were too stupid to notice. My manager completely ignored that, and we actually treated the customers like valued customers. What happened? We started beating bigger stores that we should not have been anywhere near and they sacked the manager and brought in the regional managers brother in law to take over our store, which he did everything by game HQs book loosing us all of our hard core customers, half of our regulars and a lot of our general customers. It was insane and as a gamer I couldn't overlook the bs anymore. Eventually told them to shove it, and they are still doing everything completely wrong. The last time I even pre-ordered was at the re2 remake launch and they closed the store for covid, wouldn't give me a refund and when I came back after they opened I was told I took too long to come and get my pre order... it was the last time I ever purchased a game from them. The manager was a total 🐔 as well.
No surprise for CEX credit
Yet in my experience, the majority of CEX shops are staffed by complete idiots who know chuff all about 95% of what they sell.
I remember an age when gaming was gaming and PC games came in big boxes and came with extras and a decent manual and Game sold board games and RPGs. But the gamers of the new world and era don't know they;re born. In this new age business isn't done face to face and transactions're carried out in a world we can't see using a currency we cant' feel.
(I got the idea for this from the opening of The Road Warrior) and refer to the GAME of the '90s/early 2000s)
I feel so lucky that I got to experience real game stores back in the day, not this monstrosity today.
I went to a standalone Game store yesterday, because they're only letting you spend your remaining reward points there, not the Sports Direct stores. Glad I went though. Got a pre-owned copy of Maneater on Switch for a quid. That store was literally next door to a cex who'd have given £13 trade for it. No idea how it sat there that long
My local branch closed entirely in April. Gamestation shut years ago. Only CEX is left now.
It’s funny being from Newcastle and knowing what Mike Ashley is like and then finding out he owns game which is falling apart. Funny.
They emailed me about 8 months ago about this . Will have a look and see if there’s anything I can pick up with the last of my points 🤷♂️ it does suck because I firmly believe we should maintain physical media
The issue is that the parent company, house of fraser is a clothing retailer, they thought it was a good idea to merge Sports direct with Game. The staff knew nothing about video games
Argos have said their sales are down mainly due to fall in video games sales according to owners Sainsbury's. I like to have physical games in my collection, you can also sell them on unlike digital games and digital games can be more expensive sometimes.
Yeah. A friend of mine brought FF XVI on digital from his PS5 for £70. Just around the corner from his house where I work, we had it on launch for £60.
Typical Mike Ashley behaviour
I remember when GTA IV launched you couldn't get anywhere near the front door of Game for about a week. I'd love to have seen their sales figures for those days back then.
I miss the old days where you had massive promotions at game and other stores for big releases. Remember metal gear solid snake eater and the whole shopping floor was decked in snake boards, flags music from the game and a live band playing on release day. Obviously those days are over but still miss them.
I just noticed this guy has a poster of the opening of Horrid Henry on his wall, pretty cool
I only just learned theyre not doing the points system anymore either so used all my credit today
This is the ONLY thing that kept me loyal to GAME. I have elite membership aswell considering how much ive saved its insane. I paid £300 for my seires x because i saved all my points for a year or so its bonkers
Which store will sell the console
i get all my video games from currys and smyths toys now. i saved £20 once on release day and theyre almost always cheaper all of the time
Someone correct me if I'm wrong . But im guessing game is purposely just waiting until they can call administrators in. Rather than fold now and be responsible for paying off suppliers and redundancy to its staff .
They have a crazy sale at the moment! 90% off pre owned! I managed to get almost £2000 worth of games for £200!
Moved to just ordering new games on amazon and getting preowned stuff from CeX 2 or so years ago and have never stepped into a game since.
It’s crazy how big video games have got over the last 10 years and how people are so sick of swapping discs over they’d rather get a digital copy and yes we all really know with the discs most the time u don’t own the bigger games as there bigger in size than what ps5/xbox discs can hold software size wise but all the cool maybe AA games are mostly all on disc so why not stock these games and physical gamers will still pick them up
Anyone in the UK remember the old ones like granger games and the old cex now game is also getting rid of hard and soft back copies feels like my whole childhood is being destroyed abit dramatic I know but yano what I mean 😂
Granger games was so much better than game. Was gutted when it got axed. One in the metro centre was my childhood
I used to love going to GAME but they shut the branch in my area. RIP the GAME I used to know.
To be fair, the writing’s been on the wall for physical games for years (as sad as that is.) I remember maybe 15 years ago or so - when Steam was getting big and online stores were beginning to exist - that if you went into a game store you’d start to see a shrinking PC games section with fewer and fewer games (and 90% of the games that were there were DRM required through Steam.) Plus, you’d start to see more and more coupons for online stores instead of actual games
Console games were safe for a while - especially in countries that had poor internet infrastructure - because it meant that you could just buy a console and then buy a game (however over the years, those games became more and more buggy and you couldn’t patch them without an internet - sorry state of affairs.) But nowadays, with relatively accessible internet infrastructure - and especially in developed countries - console games are now following the trend that PC games created 10-15 years ago. This is the culmination of that decline in essence
We used to always buy our games at game and collect the receipts for rewards. A bygone era
I actually find this so sad, as someone who continues to buy physical copies of games instead of giving in to what these corporations want by going digital it really is a shame to see the biggest game retailer in the UK no longer supporting the physical market. I used to basically live in game stores when I was kid so to see something that used to make me happy finally coming to an end just sucks. Don’t know where I’ll go to buy games now because I’m sure other companies like smyths and Argos will soon go down the same path. Sad times man😪
Game is such a weird shop now. It’s just an outlet for toys no one wants and for years now they just haven’t been able to compete when it comes to prices. Their console bundles are always poor. The cost of games on release are too high and have been for years compared to Amazon. All in all their decline has been inevitable and it reminds me a lot of toys r us. The once go to place for what they sold and now it’s just an overpriced mess of a place with no care or attention. It’s a real shame.
I actually did pretty well out of the Elite Rewards. Earlier this year when it was clear that the writing was on the wall for the stores, I cashed out a little over £50 worth of points on a final order. I now have 2 pence that I earned from that order and I'm more than happy to write that off 🤣
The staff at my local store (Bridgend, S. Wales) were brilliant. I love buying Special/Collector editions and Ben at the store would see me coming in and go see what they had out the back that I might like. I went in one day looking for the Horizon: Zero Dawn special edition. They didn't have it but a big guy behind the counter asked "How much do you want it?" I replied "Where is it?". He just happened to be helping out in Bridgend that day but was actually the manager (or Asst. Manager?) of the Leckwith branch (next to Cardiff City Football Stadium) and said that someone had literally traded in a mint condition one the day before. He rang the branch and had them hold it, I caught a train to Cardiff and walked all the way out to the stadium to get it 😊
Worked at Electronics Boutique in Bracknell which became GAME. I was a teenager at the time and remember vividly doing the GameCube midnight launch! Things went downhill when EB became game in my opinion and it's just been a slow decline. Despite working for Game I continued to buy from the independent shop in the town
To help Game out I feel all they'd have to do is have competitive prices and keep the reward points and make them engaging. Do something where stuff £10 and under give you 10 points £11-£20 give you 20 points etc and you can use points to buy stuff (x item is x points) or use them to take money off (100 points is £10 off)
Their move into Sports Direct was a big sign of their issues. I travel quite alot and alot of these so called "stores" are shoved away in the back of the store with barely any signage advertising their presence!.
They also should have taken a slice out of Gamestation in it's prime and taken in retro too...
It really is a deadman walking
GAME stopping selling physical games would be the quickest fail strategy ngl. The only reason I even show up to GAME is because of physical games.
Have t shopped there in years but it is a shame
Every time I go in they are trying to sell games at full RRP and they’re never far from an Argos or supermarket selling games at a competitive price. The preowned games are usually priced similar to new copies elsewhere. Their LEGO is cheap though.
This was aways coming.
Game has been 75% a toy shop for nerd and geek tat for years now.
Also for anyone in Scotland you can’t use your points from the 22nd July as they are updating till systems a week early in Scotland, even though they are advertising till 31st. Feel very sorry for GAME staff that will be the ones who have to deal with that.
Every time i've been in a GAME. i check the price online and 95% of the time, its cheaper online..
Pre-owed was the only reason i ever put money over the counter, Some of the 3 for 2, or 2 for £20 were steals. Guess GAME is soon to die out.
I took a wired pad back last year for refund after it stopped working. No damage. Maybe had it a month. The girl was horrible. Made me wait awhile while she tested it. Over and over and over. It had broke further upon testing. Lights stopped. She tried 3 other wires plus the one it came with. Got a hunch they love to sell the insurance/extended warranty. but not pay out. Well i paid for it so. What really annoyed me is i didnt want the money. Just replace it. Havnt been back since. Theres other stores on the high street.
Cool story at cash converters. I picked up 5 ps3 games when i got a ps3 from a charity store. The guy said "im sorry mate but the games arnt in the system. I cant sell you them". I said what can i do. And he said "well i suppose well just have to give them to you". Free games. Thank you very much. I could not believe it. But its true.
Yup I never saw that coming that they would axe Game Reward/Elite points. Had great memories of Redeeming Marvels Spider-Man 2 for free 😢
So game now is literally useless
Remember Electronics Boutique? Ah, those were the days.
Its currently no longer possible to order anything to any game store in the UK...... They switched this off about 2 weeks ago....
If that happens they are basiclly shutting down then if this is true. 0no ones gonna pre order and have it sent to a store rather then to your home?
The one in Cardiff doesn’t have a till anymore, it has happened already.
As much as I really like having a collection, I'm also a bit of a clean freak and I must admit I've gone fully digital with my Xbox. Something refreshing about not having to put the disk in. And I'll only buy games when they're on sale on the Xbox store or CDKeys, then I'll just play them when I have time.
Well that just gives me absolutely no reason to go in there. I havent bought any hardware from them... ever?
had a store in caerphilly, but prefered gamestation in cardiff years ago. before these come along in 90s rumbelows currys north road cardiff. now its cex
It's sad that standalone Game stores are rare now. Most near me (Batley, Huddersfield, Leeds, etc.) are all within Sports Direct. I think the Bradford one is the only standalone one in my area.
The York one got axed too come to think of it I haven’t seen a physical game store in years…
Game is basically an antique at this point. Physical games will always be more expensive than buying online. There is so much overhead with manufacturing cases, cartridges or discs. Then there's the store, upkeep, staff. And with internet being so much faster and more available in the UK, there is no way Game can be successful selling physical games. Online store fronts can half their margins and completely price Game out.
My game is it own store in Doncaster. Now gave up on it since game elite has finished. Luckily I also have another game store called cool spot in my city.
Game is more like a toy shop now.
What a thumbnail! Brightly coloured curly arrow…bloke looking sad because someone’s drawn an outline around him. Only suggestion can you make the outline bright green next time. Great thanks guy.