Don't forget to throwing away stuff that was too old! Brought in some Super Nintendo games during the Xbox 360 era? They wouldn't pay you for them, you can leave them there, and they would most likely throw them away.
When I worked there a few years ago we got a HUGE trade-in of DS games that still had the original box and had we had to destroy every case... I begged my store lead to let me take them for preservation but unfortunately I wasn't able to. So many other things we had to throw away and destroy, heartbreaking...
I went to sell a GPU to a local tech store one time in it's nice clean original foam packaging, they tossed that shit as soon as they tested the card worked and then put it in this cheap display box to be resold while they were paying me, i learned that day not to think those jokers would have an ounce of respect or sense of worth for games or technology ever which is strange considering that's what makes them all their money (mostly)😑
7:20 I remember when GameCrap used to sell strategy guides & carry "old school" hardware & games. Next day, i had enough saved to buy some vintage PSX Games, all retro games had been removed & sent back to corp warehouse for destruction. 🤯
I still remember around when the PS4 came out there was still a lot of GameCube, OG Xbox, and PS2 games on the shelves and so many 360 and PS3 games there was not an inch of the store that wasn't dedicated to gaming.
According to Sony's recent financial report, 80% of their game sales are digital. I'm sure the other consoles are seeing similar ratios (even higher on Xbox probably) and PC is pretty much 100% digital. It's pretty clear that physical media for video games are going to become like what they are for movies, shows and music. For those, physical media is treated more as collectors' items and they are only aimed at enthusiasts. I do, however, wonder if physical game collectors will have to start paying a premium for games as the amount of people buying physical keeps dropping.
@@chrisa6120 Nope. The majority of gamers just buy digital now. That's across all platforms. That's why Sony and Microsoft figured it made sense to sell all-digital consoles. I, and I assume you, are enthusiasts who still buy games on disc. But the casuals, who make up the vast majority of the market, prefer the convenience of digital. They probably don't even consider the issues of ownership, support, etc. But, like I said in my post, that's how the rest of entertainment has gone.
@@fattiger6957 Yup! Nothing beats physical. Now I admit there are some games that even if you have them physically, will be coasters eventually when they shut down the servers. What these other people don't realize is when those servers go down they won't even have a place to redownload there game from at all. Now you can say who cares that won't happen for some years, and when an if it does I'd more than likely moved on to something else. That's not Me at all. When I pay for something it's to own it, not rent it. I'd rather have the physical copy of something even if it's unusable after a few years than renting a digital copy for a few years. R.I.P. MAG I loved that game. I currently have it displayed in a shadow box.
Digital sales are actually COMPLETELY SKEWED! They will count almost any digital "purchase", this means DLC and Microtransactions, as digital sales with no differentiation between them in order to inflate their numbers to mislead the public into thinking that physical isn't nearly as popular as it is. In fact, physical often outsells digital, but because publishers and the platforms for that media want more people in their ecosystem to pry money out of, they skew their digital sales numbers as much as possible to make the average consumer falsely believe that physical isn't as viable, popular, or necessary, so that they can justify closing down their factories and removing people's jobs.
Just today i saw a guy on a local used game stuff willing to pay over 60$+ for a copy of a Wario game from the GameCube. Definetly an enthusiast thing only, can't imagine a normal person willing to spend that much a 20 year old game.
@@zairman not until now, but i also mostly watch the tutorial on here to hack my friends/families consoles fun fact hacked a PS3 like 2 weeks ago, when i was on the search for a tutorial, i found one here that was just 2 hours old, and worked flawlessly, also when im more of an xbox guy
I once bought a new sealed DS game at Gamestop. They also had the same game used for a few dollars cheaper. The employees tried hard to sell me the used one, and got legit ANGRY when I insisted on the new one. A different time I bought a ps3 game on day of release without preordering. The manager gave me shit for that, but still sold me the game. I'm not a fan, especially since they are deathly allergic to vintage games and systems.
Physical copies are just a temporary solution. Especially with optical disc based systems. It is all but inevitable that failing optical drives and disc rot/data rot will become a major issue in the coming years and decades. Emulation is the only real solution. All that data must be uploaded in order to be truly preserved.
Hard agree right there, although I'm still going to love physical media. Just this generation alone I have several games physically which have been delisted.
@@MrMario2011 And this is why I strongly advocate for anyone and everyone to jailbreak or mod their systems once it reaches official end of support. It would be shameful seeing good working units end up as E-waste, rotting in landfills.
I remember going to GameStop when I was younger (usually when I was waiting to get a haircut since it was next door) and seeing an entire wall of games. Now, they have barely anything but collectables
All GameStop sells now is mainstream AAA games, digital game codes, crappy third party controllers, and Funko Pops. You can't even buy an official Xbox play and charge kit 90% of the time. Their lack of selection is part of the problem. They literally threw a stink when publishers were going to make digital games cheaper too. They need to quit it with the social media virtue signaling.
They refuse to cater to collectors, the people they'll need to rely on in the future. The people that want just the game are going digital, the people that want more than just the game are sticking with physical, and they're going elsewhere.
GameStop's embarrassing tweet doesn't excuse them from their "field destroy" store policies by any means. They're a glorified stock exploitation company at this point and will absolutely crumble before 2030 at the rate they're going.
Don't forget GameStop also over valued when it benefit them and also devalue when it benefits them. Gamers get better deals on used physical media through the multitude of online market places.
I haven't been able to use gamestop's website for at least a year or two now because their website gives me an "access denied" error screen. It seem like website admins may be trying to make sure the company dies lol.
@@zootmaster3062 I considered that when I first saw it but when I looked it up I saw its a common problem for gamestop and people said the solution was to email the people who run the website and beg to be unblocked. It seems like they set their website security too tight and just banned a bunch of people.
The local store by us was already about half toys. We went in the other day and they were tearing stuff off a wall and said they're converting a whole wall to just Pokemon stuff.
I made a comment on YongYea's video about Gamestop closing Game Informer mentioning the "bet you wish you bought physical" comment they made. Talk about being asinine and hypocritical. Screw Gamestop, they don't care about us or general preservation. Anyone who wants physical is well advised to go elsewhere.
The GameStop in my City here in Germany was closed down 2 or 3 years ago, I think they survived around 2 years after becoming the "new" GameStop, after the rebuild they actually still carried Xbox 360, PS3, and some NDS stuff, actually around the same amount as with PS4 and Xbone, but before they had games on the walls and even still Xbox, PS2 and NGC games, afterwards the walls were only used for merch, funko pop, etc. and only 4 Displays in the middle (around 6 games tall and 8 games wide, used on both sides) were actually game related!
That's super depressing to hear, especially since many of the overseas GameStops I've seen have had more fleshed out physical collections as you describe. I feel like a part of that is from mini games getting regional physical releases there that North America does not get.
As a retro gamer, GameStop is useless to me. I don't have anything current gen, so they don't carry any games I can use. Fortunately, nearby (in a college town), there's an old video store that quite successfully moved over to retrogaming. Yes, they have the new stuff, but fully half of the store is older/used media. I've bought obscure games from them for $2, and the more popular ones are priced comparably to Ebay prices (but without the wait). It's nice to be able to walk out with 3-4 OG/360 games and having only spent $20.
GameStop and its ilk bought up a lot of these independent stores or ran them out of business. Maybe such stores will fill the physical niche after GameStop is gone.
6:35 ...and they looked at you like you were stupid. 🤔 Very similar scenario happened to me when i was looking for a Gamecube accessory - never shopped at another GameDump again! 👎
take me back to the PS2/Xbox and before era and partly PS3/360 era. when game stores actually were game stores. and gaming magazines were a thing. In a strange way, the internet has destroyed gaming.
Yeah, I understand. I am from Norway and GameStop went bankrupt in the Northern countries so I already lost all access to that store for me right now. I live close to a person that I’ve set up his own shop of video games. So that’s cool.
Then there's a Chance EB Games could come to Ireland right? Because right now EB Games shut down in every country (except for Australia and New Zealand because of Game Stop).
The GameStop in my city is no joke probably smaller than my living room in square footage. I never understood why they chose to open one in such a small space. They also opened this in 2018 or 2019 from what I remember which is funny since that's when iirc GameStop started closing a bunch of stores. I never go there since it just has nothing of value to offer. They're still open though... for now at least.
GameStop just straight up hasn't carried new releases in years. Can't just walk in and buy a new game. It's their fault physical media is dying. They certainly don't help!
Unfortunately a lot of that has to do with supply chain issues and pressing plants winding down. Not giving them an excuse mind you, but unfortunately if you want new physical games it's starting to go back to how it was 20 years ago or so. If you don't pre-order an upcoming game, there's a good chance your local store simply won't stock it.
To be honest in Australia we have a store owned by gamestop called eb games and i hate it now they bearly sell games its all merchendise they dont accept ps3/xbox 360/wiiu/wii as soon as ps5/xbox series x dropped. its majority just merch and they even have another store called zing that sells exclusively merchandise
The fact that the Gamestop website is still limited to stores nears me, makes the website completely useless. If I can't have what I want delivered to me from other stores, stop showing me product the stores near me never carry.
CeX here in the UK is probably one of the last commercial stores who still have older console games & consoles for sale, and some going pretty cheap. I would imagine with the Xbox Store closure now though that those prices will make a steady rise. I used to love going to GAME & Gamestation with my dad to see the store filled with vast amounts of games spanning across all the walls & centre of the store. Now, like you've said, most of these kinds of stores have a vast majority of their store reserved for merch, plushes etc.
@@MrMario2011 The stores vary in size depending on what city you go to (where I am the store's a bit of a smaller one, but other places will have larger stores for better variety of stock). I've bought a good number of games from about a month or so back, and some would be as little as £1.00, so definitely good to grab while they're still cheap 😁 Can also check out the website to see which shops have stock availability for specific games/consoles if you were wanting something in particular.
I haven't bought anything from Gamestop since Need for speed Most wanted (Black Edition)came out back around 2005. I went in to buy a copy and they wanted almost twice as much for it as Walmart had it for. So I bought it at Walmart and never went back in Gamestop after that.
Last time I bought a game “New” there, it was already opened with finger prints on back of disc their trade in policy is if it’s open then it’s considered used so they should do that with their “new” games. Yeah you can tell me they use the case for display but doing that just make me think they could get used games and sale it as “New” I Rather go to Walmart for new games
GameStop is legitimately the only brick and mortar store I can think of that will sell opened software as brand new. I've never seen any other chain store get away with that.
There is a store local to Missouri called Vintage Stock and they are like a knock off GameStop that kind of does the same thing but is way worse in prices. Which is terrible because it’s all there really is anymore for physical media stores.
I will never buy digital. Its a rip off and you own nothing. When are people gonna wake up? My physical collection is now $8000 strong. I will never give in to these greedy companies.
I don't have anything against GameStop but I just don't see how they stay in business. For new titles they usually seem higher than places like Wal-Mart or Target. Trade-in offers always seemed horrible, but I'm the type of person that never sells a game or console. If they were to put a lot of effort into supporting retro gaming with respectable prices then I could see myself shopping there again. Most game stores just have too much "other" in them to the point that it's hard to call them a game store.
They were paid to help advertise the big publisher games basically. That is the main thing that kept them floating. Once they were seen as mostly not helpful for advertising to get more sales, they were caught with basically nothing to fall back on but at the same time they destroyed their original business on purpose after destroying all the competition small used game shops buying out and shutting down thousands of locations around the country.
To be honest I hate Game Stop because they're the Reason why we no longer have EB Games in the United States and i don't want to visit Australia and New Zealand just so I can shop there.
This might be why for a long time I thought EB Games was exclusive to Canada. I would find out they were also in Australia a few years after discovering them. No, I don't live in Canada, but I'm so exposed to English speaking content that I know what EB Games is.
GameStop is doing a great job with their PR in the last few years. Because it’s a terrible company for both gamers and their own employees and everyone seems to have forgotten.
Tbh GameStop has traumatized me pretty badly as a kid no lie. “I’m aware I’m not the only one.” Point being GameStop always came off to me as the subway owners or, the strict managers who if you were to burn a sandwich they would tell you to throw it away instead of you eating it. Them destroying consoles that have brought joy to people instead of just placing them in the trash should tell you guys how dark they are. I honestly refuse to support any businesses who I feel have more necessary evil practices then the regular “a business has to make profits evil.” Honestly this is deeper than GameStop it’s just why people don’t support them and whoever had that account control is hilarious saying that 😂 No one wants your overpriced games and we don’t want your grey mud paste you used to put on the CDs and claimed they were fixed now 😂✌🏾
I remember that paste they'd try to sell! As someone who has used a disc resurfacer and has fixed thousands of discs at this point, all those solutions made me cringe.
@@MrMario2011 dude lmao it was literally the equivalent of the toothpaste and I swear my moms in the bathroom at the age of 8 “I’m 26 now” worked so much better 😂
I don't go to GameStop anymore , for the same reasons you are saying in this video. I also become very greedy, with used Switch games basically just 5 € less than new stock. So... there's no real advantage to go there anymore.
I mostly agree with you, but I disagree on the “social shop” aspect. My favourite game shops always had a few ppl hanging around in you could just chat to. It wasnt uncommon to go to the counter to make a purchase and then stand there for a hour chatting to the staff and other games.
@@MrMario2011 this one actively encouraged it. Their logic was happy customers are more likely to buy and the longer you are in their shop the more likely you are to buy something. Thats the difference between a little indie shop and a corporation though.
Always look for local mom and pop shops. Its difficult but always worth it when you find a good one not too far away. I was fortunate enough to find one in biking distance.
Yeah, the last local non gamestop video game shop in my town recently closed. Not due to bad business but the guy got cancer and sold it off to pay for treatment. they had a 30% off sale at the end, the switch games went so fast with that. could've swiped a copy of D2 CIB for about $100, but it was all cash only. modern gamestop just sucks, the local one used to be a store called software etc. but it got bought out by gamestop and once that happened all the classic games went away. I was the poor kid that had a n64 and dreamcast as there brand new consoles ... in 2004. It was nice cause all the used games were actually at prices 8 year me could afford with allowance money.
Hello, in your PCB way promo clip you briefly hold up and show something relating to Xbox 360 RGH saying that it makes for a cleaner setup or something like that. Can you further explain what you mean by that odd little chip that you placed in your Xbox does it make the video signal cleaner or the actual install itself a much cleaner setup as I'm confused? 🤔 Is that little chip necessary to have a fully functioning RGH or rgh2 setup?
I really only go to GameStop anymore if I want to preorder a game for a preorder bonus, My only other local option is Walmart and a game store that is an unofficial GameStop proxy for new games.
@@MrMario2011 Basically, if you pre-order a new game, they would just go to GameStop to pre-order it Don't know how common it is for local game stores to order directly from Studios but mine doesn't.
Got it! Funny enough our store did that with Toys R Us, it ended up being cheaper than buying from our direct source! It was something like if you buy 3 brand new games you get a $40 gift card. So when we opened on release day we'd run over there, buy 3 or 6 copies of the latest game, stock them for $5 under MSRP, and use the gift cards to continue funding more new releases to stock.
In France we have the equivalent of gamestop : Micromania. Same shit, less and less games and more and more merch. There's pretty much no physical gaming store now. Where there was 3 gaming stores 10 years ago, there's one micromania today. You're left with some independent little stores (which are neat tho) or those good old thrift stores.
When the xbox series x came out i went to game stop to get one but at that time nobody had one. My membership had ran out so he told me to renew it and they would tell me when it was in and they never did!! I use to love going there but now not so much because it is not what it use to be. They also bought out eb games which also pissed me off!!
Same, funny enough that's what I went back to when I started to get fed up. I was annoyed with the 8th generation and really got into revisiting the PS2 and Xbox. Since they were modified to my liking, it was super refreshing just turning on a console, loading up an old game, and enjoying myself. No patch updates, no online reliance, just gaming.
@@MrMario2011 Had a PS2 and a Cube back then. They worked out the box with no additional BS and I loved them both for different reasons. Always wanted to try the OG XBOX and still often consider picking one up for access to cheap, physical games that I will truly own. If I do eventually get one then I'll be sure to use your excellent tutorial videos, should I decide to mod it down the line.
My Xbox 360 wont let me reinstall my DLCs and my installed games still works but the games I own that are not installed I can't access anymore on my 360 and some of theses games are not backwards compatible
The shutdown of the Xbox 360 store, the utter nonsense criticism that the Stop Killing Games initiative has received from total nonces, the fact that several games have not been properly preserved because of a multitude of reasons -like NG3's DLC weapons, for some reason, not being usable in the campaign in either a modded 360 or modded PS3- and now this circus of a company daring to turn a serious preservation issue into sales has not been healthy for my brain. This August started off badly. Every single day I grow older I find new contempt in my heart towards online requirements and the companies that push them.
@@MrMario2011 Yes, I saw it; nightmare fuel that I knew, back in 2013, that wpuld happen. As soon as Microsoft confirmed that the online DRM was the shipped with the console and that it required an update to remove, I was certain that a day would come that, for some reason or another -bug, update phased out, console discontinuation-, Xbox One's that hadn't been updated in time would be bricks. Hopefully a hardware modification will save those systems in the future.
GameStop down the road from my place, has more toys and collectables than the games it self. Which I find really odd. Anyways I found and old Xbox 360 S and plan on modding it. Using your video as reference as so many tubers have recommended it. Just need to make some purchases as for the tools.
Worth noting, GameStop doesn't even sell say PSP systems or games whatsoever, they never brought it back. If they're the savior of physical media, why do they refuse to stock an entire system's physical library? Also, I avoid GameStop because they don't guarantee CIB condition. A decade ago I ordered One Piece: Unlimited Adventure for the Wii which was still a rareish game back then, it cost like 60 dollars, and they sent me a copy with just the disc in a generic case. I was so turned off by that I'll never buy a used game from GameStop's website ever again because for most systems, I refuse to collect them in anything but CIB condition.
From my experience ordering used on their site, they usually send the worst condition version they have. Several years ago I did a quick video where I ordered several retro titles from their site. The prices weren't bad, but I believe I ordered 10 disc based games and maybe one of them had a case? Most of them had also been refurbished poorly and had tons of swirl scratches on them.
Glad I started collecting more for my ps3 when ps5 came out instead. I refuse to give my money or stuff to gamestop they need to go and make room for a good store. My go to is vintage stock and got games in OKC.
@MrMario2011 well retailers are stupidly believing everyone wants to keep a home internet subscription just to watch movies. Many regions in the world don't have income or access to affordable internet. Physical media is critical for those folks
The first company that started to hurt the physical copy market is Microsoft. Even on OG Xbox you could only buy a shitty vanilla version of the game on disk and then download patches and other shitty DLC. Valve has the crown when comes to striking the physical retail market, while MS follow that shit and destroyed it on consoles (followed by Sony, obviously). Sadly, from OG Xbox era, is not even valuable to buy a physical copy. You just preserve a vanilla version or just a little part of that…
I respectfully disagree on the original Xbox front, but that's mainly due to the amount of content. That was still pretty new at the time, but there wasn't all too much DLC that was out for the system. The hunt still continues, but thankfully the community has been able to archive quite a lot of the content.
GameStop destroyed countless games, cases, and peripherals traded in to their stores.
Don't forget to throwing away stuff that was too old! Brought in some Super Nintendo games during the Xbox 360 era? They wouldn't pay you for them, you can leave them there, and they would most likely throw them away.
Putting their price tags on the actual cover art insert, instead of the outer sleeve, was the most egregious mistake.
@@MrMario2011 Can I ask. Is GTA 3 still your favorite game?
You remember how Gamestop used to throw away DS cases when they got trade-ins?
They threw away too much stuff 😡
When I worked there a few years ago we got a HUGE trade-in of DS games that still had the original box and had we had to destroy every case... I begged my store lead to let me take them for preservation but unfortunately I wasn't able to. So many other things we had to throw away and destroy, heartbreaking...
@tracedgod2732 u should've still taken them... it a empty case a piece of plastic
I went to sell a GPU to a local tech store one time in it's nice clean original foam packaging, they tossed that shit as soon as they tested the card worked and then put it in this cheap display box to be resold while they were paying me, i learned that day not to think those jokers would have an ounce of respect or sense of worth for games or technology ever which is strange considering that's what makes them all their money (mostly)😑
My bad....the company made us do it😅
The only way I want to have digital is when it is free 🏴☠️
I Hate the Xbox Series S Due to not having a Disc Drive!
Absolutely based pfp
Same here.
Not me. All my games are digital. I have an RGH Xbox360 so I can still download any game I want.
@@samtallant7023 idk why anyone would want one
7:20 I remember when GameCrap used to sell strategy guides & carry "old school" hardware & games.
Next day, i had enough saved to buy some vintage PSX Games, all retro games had been removed & sent back to corp warehouse for destruction. 🤯
But some exec got his quarterly bonus
HORRIBLE
I still remember around when the PS4 came out there was still a lot of GameCube, OG Xbox, and PS2 games on the shelves and so many 360 and PS3 games there was not an inch of the store that wasn't dedicated to gaming.
Probably the last decent era of GameStop.
According to Sony's recent financial report, 80% of their game sales are digital. I'm sure the other consoles are seeing similar ratios (even higher on Xbox probably) and PC is pretty much 100% digital.
It's pretty clear that physical media for video games are going to become like what they are for movies, shows and music. For those, physical media is treated more as collectors' items and they are only aimed at enthusiasts. I do, however, wonder if physical game collectors will have to start paying a premium for games as the amount of people buying physical keeps dropping.
They MUST be counting the PlayStation Plus digital copies they give out every month.
@@chrisa6120 Nope. The majority of gamers just buy digital now. That's across all platforms. That's why Sony and Microsoft figured it made sense to sell all-digital consoles.
I, and I assume you, are enthusiasts who still buy games on disc. But the casuals, who make up the vast majority of the market, prefer the convenience of digital. They probably don't even consider the issues of ownership, support, etc. But, like I said in my post, that's how the rest of entertainment has gone.
@@fattiger6957 Yup! Nothing beats physical. Now I admit there are some games that even if you have them physically, will be coasters eventually when they shut down the servers. What these other people don't realize is when those servers go down they won't even have a place to redownload there game from at all. Now you can say who cares that won't happen for some years, and when an if it does I'd more than likely moved on to something else. That's not Me at all. When I pay for something it's to own it, not rent it. I'd rather have the physical copy of something even if it's unusable after a few years than renting a digital copy for a few years.
R.I.P. MAG I loved that game. I currently have it displayed in a shadow box.
Digital sales are actually COMPLETELY SKEWED! They will count almost any digital "purchase", this means DLC and Microtransactions, as digital sales with no differentiation between them in order to inflate their numbers to mislead the public into thinking that physical isn't nearly as popular as it is. In fact, physical often outsells digital, but because publishers and the platforms for that media want more people in their ecosystem to pry money out of, they skew their digital sales numbers as much as possible to make the average consumer falsely believe that physical isn't as viable, popular, or necessary, so that they can justify closing down their factories and removing people's jobs.
Just today i saw a guy on a local used game stuff willing to pay over 60$+ for a copy of a Wario game from the GameCube.
Definetly an enthusiast thing only, can't imagine a normal person willing to spend that much a 20 year old game.
stop moving your right arm, i wanna see the doggo
I'll have to have a meeting with her to rearrange the space.
@@zairman not until now, but i also mostly watch the tutorial on here to hack my friends/families consoles
fun fact hacked a PS3 like 2 weeks ago, when i was on the search for a tutorial, i found one here that was just 2 hours old, and worked flawlessly, also when im more of an xbox guy
Gonna cost a premium for doggo
You current plan does not include doggo viewing privileges, but that can be arranged for a fee.
I was totally fixated on the dog the whole time
I don't care much for physical medis in the traditional sense, I still class a hard drive full of games as physical.
I once bought a new sealed DS game at Gamestop. They also had the same game used for a few dollars cheaper. The employees tried hard to sell me the used one, and got legit ANGRY when I insisted on the new one.
A different time I bought a ps3 game on day of release without preordering.
The manager gave me shit for that, but still sold me the game.
I'm not a fan, especially since they are deathly allergic to vintage games and systems.
They wanted that extra cash! You didn't buff up their pre-order numbers or give them a big enough profit margin of buying new 😂
Why would anyone believe that GameStop, of all companies, would preserve ANYTHING?!?!
Probably not, it just happens to be one of the biggest storechains that's based on gaming.
With them gone it's going to be a much smaller market.
Physical copies are just a temporary solution. Especially with optical disc based systems.
It is all but inevitable that failing optical drives and disc rot/data rot will become a major issue in the coming years and decades.
Emulation is the only real solution. All that data must be uploaded in order to be truly preserved.
Hard agree right there, although I'm still going to love physical media. Just this generation alone I have several games physically which have been delisted.
@@MrMario2011 And this is why I strongly advocate for anyone and everyone to jailbreak or mod their systems once it reaches official end of support. It would be shameful seeing good working units end up as E-waste, rotting in landfills.
I remember going to GameStop when I was younger (usually when I was waiting to get a haircut since it was next door) and seeing an entire wall of games. Now, they have barely anything but collectables
It's super depressing going in there and seeing 60% of the store is not games.
Gamestops stopped selling 360 games before the market place even shutdown lmao 😅
All GameStop sells now is mainstream AAA games, digital game codes, crappy third party controllers, and Funko Pops. You can't even buy an official Xbox play and charge kit 90% of the time. Their lack of selection is part of the problem.
They literally threw a stink when publishers were going to make digital games cheaper too. They need to quit it with the social media virtue signaling.
They've been flipflopping hard for years.
They refuse to cater to collectors, the people they'll need to rely on in the future. The people that want just the game are going digital, the people that want more than just the game are sticking with physical, and they're going elsewhere.
GameStop's embarrassing tweet doesn't excuse them from their "field destroy" store policies by any means. They're a glorified stock exploitation company at this point and will absolutely crumble before 2030 at the rate they're going.
100%
Didn't they cut open new shipments Xenoblade so they could sell it as used, therefore set their own price which was 30$ over MSRP
Yup, they've been a scummy company for a long long time.
They did! I believe they also did that with the Metroid Prime trilogy
@@MrMario2011 Total blasphemy committed right here.
Love my rgh3 slim 360
Same!
Running rgh2
Same, MrMario helped so much in finally deciding to inmmerse into the Xbox 360 modding community.
Same, MrMario helped so much in finally deciding to inmmerse into the Xbox 360 modding community.
Don't forget GameStop also over valued when it benefit them and also devalue when it benefits them. Gamers get better deals on used physical media through the multitude of online market places.
Absolutely true.
I never liked how gamestop will take the plastic wrapping off game cases, but still sell them to you as "new".
I cannot think of any other big chain that would have ever gotten away with that for software.
I haven't been able to use gamestop's website for at least a year or two now because their website gives me an "access denied" error screen. It seem like website admins may be trying to make sure the company dies lol.
Try changing DNS settings
From my experience their website has never been great.
@@zootmaster3062 I considered that when I first saw it but when I looked it up I saw its a common problem for gamestop and people said the solution was to email the people who run the website and beg to be unblocked. It seems like they set their website security too tight and just banned a bunch of people.
The local store by us was already about half toys. We went in the other day and they were tearing stuff off a wall and said they're converting a whole wall to just Pokemon stuff.
I made a comment on YongYea's video about Gamestop closing Game Informer mentioning the "bet you wish you bought physical" comment they made. Talk about being asinine and hypocritical. Screw Gamestop, they don't care about us or general preservation. Anyone who wants physical is well advised to go elsewhere.
The GameStop in my City here in Germany was closed down 2 or 3 years ago, I think they survived around 2 years after becoming the "new" GameStop, after the rebuild they actually still carried Xbox 360, PS3, and some NDS stuff, actually around the same amount as with PS4 and Xbone, but before they had games on the walls and even still Xbox, PS2 and NGC games, afterwards the walls were only used for merch, funko pop, etc. and only 4 Displays in the middle (around 6 games tall and 8 games wide, used on both sides) were actually game related!
That's super depressing to hear, especially since many of the overseas GameStops I've seen have had more fleshed out physical collections as you describe. I feel like a part of that is from mini games getting regional physical releases there that North America does not get.
As a retro gamer, GameStop is useless to me. I don't have anything current gen, so they don't carry any games I can use. Fortunately, nearby (in a college town), there's an old video store that quite successfully moved over to retrogaming. Yes, they have the new stuff, but fully half of the store is older/used media. I've bought obscure games from them for $2, and the more popular ones are priced comparably to Ebay prices (but without the wait). It's nice to be able to walk out with 3-4 OG/360 games and having only spent $20.
That's definitely the type of gen to go for now, older retro is too pricey, and I'm cynical about newer releases now.
GameStop and its ilk bought up a lot of these independent stores or ran them out of business. Maybe such stores will fill the physical niche after GameStop is gone.
6:35 ...and they looked at you like you were stupid. 🤔
Very similar scenario happened to me when i was looking for a Gamecube accessory - never shopped at another GameDump again! 👎
take me back to the PS2/Xbox and before era and partly PS3/360 era. when game stores actually were game stores. and gaming magazines were a thing. In a strange way, the internet has destroyed gaming.
Gaming magazines were absolutely incredible.
Yeah, I understand. I am from Norway and GameStop went bankrupt in the Northern countries so I already lost all access to that store for me right now. I live close to a person that I’ve set up his own shop of video games. So that’s cool.
It's always best to support local! Well unless that local store has bad practices.
I am so Glad Gamestop's no Longer in Ireland!
Then there's a Chance EB Games could come to Ireland right? Because right now EB Games shut down in every country (except for Australia and New Zealand because of Game Stop).
no shot GameStop was once a thing in Ireland
It’s looking bad for GameStop. Nowadays most people who care for physical media are very few, but not enough for GameStop to be around for long.
The GameStop in my city is no joke probably smaller than my living room in square footage. I never understood why they chose to open one in such a small space. They also opened this in 2018 or 2019 from what I remember which is funny since that's when iirc GameStop started closing a bunch of stores. I never go there since it just has nothing of value to offer. They're still open though... for now at least.
I've never understood why their stores were so small.
GameStop just straight up hasn't carried new releases in years. Can't just walk in and buy a new game. It's their fault physical media is dying. They certainly don't help!
Unfortunately a lot of that has to do with supply chain issues and pressing plants winding down. Not giving them an excuse mind you, but unfortunately if you want new physical games it's starting to go back to how it was 20 years ago or so. If you don't pre-order an upcoming game, there's a good chance your local store simply won't stock it.
To be honest in Australia we have a store owned by gamestop called eb games and i hate it now they bearly sell games its all merchendise they dont accept ps3/xbox 360/wiiu/wii as soon as ps5/xbox series x dropped. its majority just merch and they even have another store called zing that sells exclusively merchandise
Haven't heard of Zing! Disappointed to hear.
GameStop should just become a renting store and let you rent all their used games 😆
The fact that the Gamestop website is still limited to stores nears me, makes the website completely useless. If I can't have what I want delivered to me from other stores, stop showing me product the stores near me never carry.
I've hated it when any site does that 💀
CeX here in the UK is probably one of the last commercial stores who still have older console games & consoles for sale, and some going pretty cheap. I would imagine with the Xbox Store closure now though that those prices will make a steady rise.
I used to love going to GAME & Gamestation with my dad to see the store filled with vast amounts of games spanning across all the walls & centre of the store. Now, like you've said, most of these kinds of stores have a vast majority of their store reserved for merch, plushes etc.
I'd love to go to a CeX when visiting across the pond, it seems they do things well.
@@MrMario2011 The stores vary in size depending on what city you go to (where I am the store's a bit of a smaller one, but other places will have larger stores for better variety of stock). I've bought a good number of games from about a month or so back, and some would be as little as £1.00, so definitely good to grab while they're still cheap 😁
Can also check out the website to see which shops have stock availability for specific games/consoles if you were wanting something in particular.
I haven't bought anything from Gamestop since Need for speed Most wanted (Black Edition)came out back around 2005. I went in to buy a copy and they wanted almost twice as much for it as Walmart had it for. So I bought it at Walmart and never went back in Gamestop after that.
Put your money where your values are, that's always appreciated!
I bought one of those 'Refurbisted' 360's fortunately it hadn't been touched.. the warranty stickers were still intact, and was full of dust.
Physical media is a human right!
It better be.
Last time I bought a game “New” there, it was already opened with finger prints on back of disc
their trade in policy is if it’s open then it’s considered used so they should do that with their “new” games.
Yeah you can tell me they use the case for display but doing that just make me think they could get used games and sale it as “New”
I Rather go to Walmart for new games
GameStop is legitimately the only brick and mortar store I can think of that will sell opened software as brand new. I've never seen any other chain store get away with that.
There is a store local to Missouri called Vintage Stock and they are like a knock off GameStop that kind of does the same thing but is way worse in prices.
Which is terrible because it’s all there really is anymore for physical media stores.
I've been to a few, they've got good volume but I definitely dislike their prices.
I will never buy digital. Its a rip off and you own nothing. When are people gonna wake up? My physical collection is now $8000 strong. I will never give in to these greedy companies.
The convenience and instant access is what gets people, unfortunately I've just seen it backfire too many times to go all in.
I still play my 360 all the time. I’m currently playing through FH2. It’s a great platform that is such a.pleasure to play.
I don't have anything against GameStop but I just don't see how they stay in business. For new titles they usually seem higher than places like Wal-Mart or Target. Trade-in offers always seemed horrible, but I'm the type of person that never sells a game or console. If they were to put a lot of effort into supporting retro gaming with respectable prices then I could see myself shopping there again. Most game stores just have too much "other" in them to the point that it's hard to call them a game store.
For the last few years the big thing that has saved them has been the stocks.
They were paid to help advertise the big publisher games basically. That is the main thing that kept them floating. Once they were seen as mostly not helpful for advertising to get more sales, they were caught with basically nothing to fall back on but at the same time they destroyed their original business on purpose after destroying all the competition small used game shops buying out and shutting down thousands of locations around the country.
To be honest I hate Game Stop because they're the Reason why we no longer have EB Games in the United States and i don't want to visit Australia and New Zealand just so I can shop there.
This might be why for a long time I thought EB Games was exclusive to Canada. I would find out they were also in Australia a few years after discovering them. No, I don't live in Canada, but I'm so exposed to English speaking content that I know what EB Games is.
They acquired all the small stores and ruined or shut them down, RIP to Babbage's and many more.
GameStop is doing a great job with their PR in the last few years. Because it’s a terrible company for both gamers and their own employees and everyone seems to have forgotten.
Tbh GameStop has traumatized me pretty badly as a kid no lie. “I’m aware I’m not the only one.” Point being GameStop always came off to me as the subway owners or, the strict managers who if you were to burn a sandwich they would tell you to throw it away instead of you eating it. Them destroying consoles that have brought joy to people instead of just placing them in the trash should tell you guys how dark they are. I honestly refuse to support any businesses who I feel have more necessary evil practices then the regular “a business has to make profits evil.” Honestly this is deeper than GameStop it’s just why people don’t support them and whoever had that account control is hilarious saying that 😂 No one wants your overpriced games and we don’t want your grey mud paste you used to put on the CDs and claimed they were fixed now 😂✌🏾
I remember that paste they'd try to sell! As someone who has used a disc resurfacer and has fixed thousands of discs at this point, all those solutions made me cringe.
@@MrMario2011 dude lmao it was literally the equivalent of the toothpaste and I swear my moms in the bathroom at the age of 8 “I’m 26 now” worked so much better 😂
I don't go to GameStop anymore , for the same reasons you are saying in this video.
I also become very greedy, with used Switch games basically just 5 € less than new stock.
So... there's no real advantage to go there anymore.
I mostly agree with you, but I disagree on the “social shop” aspect.
My favourite game shops always had a few ppl hanging around in you could just chat to.
It wasnt uncommon to go to the counter to make a purchase and then stand there for a hour chatting to the staff and other games.
I'll let you in on a secret: most shops out there dislike that but won't say anything about it 😛
@@MrMario2011 this one actively encouraged it.
Their logic was happy customers are more likely to buy and the longer you are in their shop the more likely you are to buy something.
Thats the difference between a little indie shop and a corporation though.
I didn't even think gamestop still sold games. I thought it was a funko pop store that sold cheap temu game accessories
Understandable to be confused by that since all the games are in the back!
Always look for local mom and pop shops. Its difficult but always worth it when you find a good one not too far away. I was fortunate enough to find one in biking distance.
Unfortunately easier said than done in the modern era. Your local game shop might be at least an hour drive away, if you can find one that is.
Yeah, the last local non gamestop video game shop in my town recently closed. Not due to bad business but the guy got cancer and sold it off to pay for treatment. they had a 30% off sale at the end, the switch games went so fast with that. could've swiped a copy of D2 CIB for about $100, but it was all cash only. modern gamestop just sucks, the local one used to be a store called software etc. but it got bought out by gamestop and once that happened all the classic games went away. I was the poor kid that had a n64 and dreamcast as there brand new consoles ... in 2004. It was nice cause all the used games were actually at prices 8 year me could afford with allowance money.
Ah, when buying retro was affordable 🥹
Hello, in your PCB way promo clip you briefly hold up and show something relating to Xbox 360 RGH saying that it makes for a cleaner setup or something like that. Can you further explain what you mean by that odd little chip that you placed in your Xbox does it make the video signal cleaner or the actual install itself a much cleaner setup as I'm confused? 🤔 Is that little chip necessary to have a fully functioning RGH or rgh2 setup?
ruclips.net/video/S2McccbB2wI/видео.html
I really only go to GameStop anymore if I want to preorder a game for a preorder bonus, My only other local option is Walmart and a game store that is an unofficial GameStop proxy for new games.
An unofficial GameStop proxy? I haven't heard of this!
@@MrMario2011 Basically, if you pre-order a new game, they would just go to GameStop to pre-order it
Don't know how common it is for local game stores to order directly from Studios but mine doesn't.
Got it! Funny enough our store did that with Toys R Us, it ended up being cheaper than buying from our direct source! It was something like if you buy 3 brand new games you get a $40 gift card.
So when we opened on release day we'd run over there, buy 3 or 6 copies of the latest game, stock them for $5 under MSRP, and use the gift cards to continue funding more new releases to stock.
In France we have the equivalent of gamestop : Micromania. Same shit, less and less games and more and more merch. There's pretty much no physical gaming store now. Where there was 3 gaming stores 10 years ago, there's one micromania today. You're left with some independent little stores (which are neat tho) or those good old thrift stores.
It's a sad state to see.
When the xbox series x came out i went to game stop to get one but at that time nobody had one. My membership had ran out so he told me to renew it and they would tell me when it was in and they never did!! I use to love going there but now not so much because it is not what it use to be. They also bought out eb games which also pissed me off!!
They said whatever they could to get your membership!
this is why i prefer local game stores.
GameStop are being like DK Oldies but way more worse
If I have to I'd give my money to GameStop first, DK Oldies is some hot garbage.
@@MrMario2011 At least GameStop would actually bother to do some refurbishing unlike DK Oldies, though with the magic eraser.
Gamestop? More like Funkostop.
That's pretty accurate at this point.
Gears of War in the background! Nice! Brought a RGH slim a few days ago to replay the trilogy. Can't wait to backup my collection.
Great game!
Some great points here. I miss the simplicity of the 6th generation.
Same, funny enough that's what I went back to when I started to get fed up. I was annoyed with the 8th generation and really got into revisiting the PS2 and Xbox. Since they were modified to my liking, it was super refreshing just turning on a console, loading up an old game, and enjoying myself. No patch updates, no online reliance, just gaming.
@@MrMario2011 Had a PS2 and a Cube back then. They worked out the box with no additional BS and I loved them both for different reasons. Always wanted to try the OG XBOX and still often consider picking one up for access to cheap, physical games that I will truly own. If I do eventually get one then I'll be sure to use your excellent tutorial videos, should I decide to mod it down the line.
Gamestop has completely left my country and now we have barely anything outside of amazon
Sad times, that's why I don't want them to totally go away, I just want them to do better.
Welp, I’m done with LameStop. Press F for them. I prefer Facebook Marketplace or local game shops nowadays.
The downside to local game shops is that they're becoming more and more rare.
@@MrMario2011We have one that I discovered here locally in northern Michigan that has a ton of stuff. It’s like walking into an old GameCrazy store.
My Xbox 360 wont let me reinstall my DLCs and my installed games still works but the games I own that are not installed I can't access anymore on my 360 and some of theses games are not backwards compatible
This here is a great example as to why I love physical.
The shutdown of the Xbox 360 store, the utter nonsense criticism that the Stop Killing Games initiative has received from total nonces, the fact that several games have not been properly preserved because of a multitude of reasons -like NG3's DLC weapons, for some reason, not being usable in the campaign in either a modded 360 or modded PS3- and now this circus of a company daring to turn a serious preservation issue into sales has not been healthy for my brain. This August started off badly.
Every single day I grow older I find new contempt in my heart towards online requirements and the companies that push them.
Wait until you hear about the bug that bricked outdated Xbox One consoles, they just couldn't update at all or be usable.
@@MrMario2011 Yes, I saw it; nightmare fuel that I knew, back in 2013, that wpuld happen. As soon as Microsoft confirmed that the online DRM was the shipped with the console and that it required an update to remove, I was certain that a day would come that, for some reason or another -bug, update phased out, console discontinuation-, Xbox One's that hadn't been updated in time would be bricks. Hopefully a hardware modification will save those systems in the future.
If GameStop would start selling modded 360 we'd all be doomed
😂
More screaming and breaking stuff!! Never to old for it!
I'll have to rent out a rage room for next time.
GameStop is just terrible. I’m surprised anyone still shops there. Why would I buy something at their prices when eBay is around?
As Nelly once said, You ain't him Gamestop.
I swear, we were discussing Nelly over here about 20 minutes before I read your comment 😂😂😂
it may not be the savior but it is at least a source of physical games
The walmart of gaming stores. Shut down all mom & pop , corner the market / options. Then the quality diminishes
Too accurate.
GameStop down the road from my place, has more toys and collectables than the games it self. Which I find really odd. Anyways I found and old Xbox 360 S and plan on modding it. Using your video as reference as so many tubers have recommended it. Just need to make some purchases as for the tools.
Have fun!
Worth noting, GameStop doesn't even sell say PSP systems or games whatsoever, they never brought it back. If they're the savior of physical media, why do they refuse to stock an entire system's physical library?
Also, I avoid GameStop because they don't guarantee CIB condition. A decade ago I ordered One Piece: Unlimited Adventure for the Wii which was still a rareish game back then, it cost like 60 dollars, and they sent me a copy with just the disc in a generic case. I was so turned off by that I'll never buy a used game from GameStop's website ever again because for most systems, I refuse to collect them in anything but CIB condition.
From my experience ordering used on their site, they usually send the worst condition version they have. Several years ago I did a quick video where I ordered several retro titles from their site. The prices weren't bad, but I believe I ordered 10 disc based games and maybe one of them had a case? Most of them had also been refurbished poorly and had tons of swirl scratches on them.
I like your Shiba Inu! (if it is one)
We call her a bootleg one 😂
@@MrMario2011 lol
Glad I started collecting more for my ps3 when ps5 came out instead. I refuse to give my money or stuff to gamestop they need to go and make room for a good store. My go to is vintage stock and got games in OKC.
I dislike Vintage Stock, but they're at least better than GameStop.
lol gamestop cant even save themselves let alone the concept of physical games
Only from a meme 😂
If gamestop smart they will start selling movies too
They use to before they had a section of dvd movies and this was during the ps2 era... for some reason they just stopped
They are actually now since February 2024, now that bestbuy has lost all of their movies
Some are selling movies now? That's surprising, I know they stopped after their MovieStop moves didn't do as well.
@MrMario2011 well retailers are stupidly believing everyone wants to keep a home internet subscription just to watch movies. Many regions in the world don't have income or access to affordable internet. Physical media is critical for those folks
I know they're selling those again, but I wonder if anything is being sold not in CIB condition.
nice video anyway, I don't own a Xbox btw
Same.
What the dog doin?
The first company that started to hurt the physical copy market is Microsoft. Even on OG Xbox you could only buy a shitty vanilla version of the game on disk and then download patches and other shitty DLC. Valve has the crown when comes to striking the physical retail market, while MS follow that shit and destroyed it on consoles (followed by Sony, obviously). Sadly, from OG Xbox era, is not even valuable to buy a physical copy. You just preserve a vanilla version or just a little part of that…
I respectfully disagree on the original Xbox front, but that's mainly due to the amount of content. That was still pretty new at the time, but there wasn't all too much DLC that was out for the system.
The hunt still continues, but thankfully the community has been able to archive quite a lot of the content.
Good thing I'm not a digital guy 😊
I buy physical/🏴☠️ for PC and console I get physical (only PS5)
face reveal??
His face was revealed for a long time
@@brandonperez8977 I gues it had a rare appearance
Physical all the way until is no longer an option.
That's how it goes.