Digital distribution has kind of made this inevitable. Soon physical releases won't be a thing at all and then the centralized control of games will become even more exploitable.
Once Gaben leaves Valve or dies I fully expect a new dark age.
Yeah, I remember back in the good ole days (00s to 2012) that GameStop was it for me. Yeah the credit system was always trash but they were the only ones who had what I wanted in my area.
Now that I'm an adult and a PC gamer, I haven't touched a physical game copy in ages. Even my Switch is digital downloads
Yeah their online service was (and probably still is) a fucking disaster. They fucked me out of Metroid Prime 3 back in the day too. Somehow they ended up sending me the Prime 2 demo disc from the Prime 1 special edition just before 2's release. Where they got a single loose disc of that, I have no idea. Nor how they mixed up a GC disc with a Wii disc.
Worst part was, I already had the damn thing, complete with the disc-wrecking case it originally came in. The least they could have done is gone all the way with their fuckup and send me one of the kiosk demo discs or something.
At the peak of the "hold" meme the one near me closed for renovations with signs in the window promising of an amazing new Gamestop concept... but it never arrived and now the Gamestop signs are gone too and replaced with real-estate signs asking for tenders.
Short of doing something like offering gaming PCs and consoles for rent (and maybe having some partnership with eg. Steam that would let people rent games to play on those gaming PCs/consoles) and maybe focusing on tabletop and LAN gaming, I'm not sure there's much they can do to keep themselves alive. And if they did that they would be totally at the mercy of the online distributors to maintain those partnerships.
It's not even that they missed it - they actively chose not to do it. Years back, Stardock made their own online distribution platform (called Impulse) that they slowly started expanding which might have become a Steam competitor in time. Gamestop bought it from them in 2011. And then did absolutely nothing with it, before closing it down a few years later.
I used to go to GameStop and then sit and chat with the guys there for a long time. Haven’t done that in years. Kinda reminds me how comics are doing. Well comic stores expanded to selling different things
Gamestop was always a dying company. It hasn't had any reason to exist for many years now.
Gamestop briefly became the vehicle for stock market manipulation in the form of exploiting heavy short interest to crush shorts. Nearly all the profit from this didn't go to "the people" but instead to wall street hedge funds who orchestrated the faux populist movement. All the big losers from the bubble popping were retard retail bag holders, who still go on a cult web site called r/superstonk bloviating about supposed conspiracies in stock market manipulation to rationalize their stupid choices and gambling addiction.
Populism ultimately fails because people are stupid and easily manipulated. Every populist movement is immediately co-opted by the elites and twisted to benefit some elites over others. The same was true of Gamestop.
Can't give you any pity, best I can do is store credit.
I like how all you can see in those pictures is not videogames.
nobody wants to buy opened box games with nasty gamestop stickers at full retail any more
God fuck those godamned stickers, so ugly.
Digital distribution has kind of made this inevitable. Soon physical releases won't be a thing at all and then the centralized control of games will become even more exploitable.
Once Gaben leaves Valve or dies I fully expect a new dark age.
For me it was SC2: Wings of Liberty, that was technically available digitally but my internet was shit back then.
Reminds me of what Fry's and Radio Shack became before they met their ends.
also great condition used older games without the nasty stickers on ebay
Yeah, I remember back in the good ole days (00s to 2012) that GameStop was it for me. Yeah the credit system was always trash but they were the only ones who had what I wanted in my area.
Now that I'm an adult and a PC gamer, I haven't touched a physical game copy in ages. Even my Switch is digital downloads
Are we still HODLing or is that meme dead yet?
I never sold my two shares(which I bought right at the peak). I am all in on HODLing right through to the company declaring bankruptcy and beyond.
This reads like propaganda of the weak enemy. Investors trying to make a case for destroying the company.
We all know a ahit gas station, that doesn't mean selling gas is on the way out.
whut, just call your credit card company to dispute and charge back. i hope you're not one of those people who buy everything with debit card.
Yeah their online service was (and probably still is) a fucking disaster. They fucked me out of Metroid Prime 3 back in the day too. Somehow they ended up sending me the Prime 2 demo disc from the Prime 1 special edition just before 2's release. Where they got a single loose disc of that, I have no idea. Nor how they mixed up a GC disc with a Wii disc.
Worst part was, I already had the damn thing, complete with the disc-wrecking case it originally came in. The least they could have done is gone all the way with their fuckup and send me one of the kiosk demo discs or something.
You mean people got tired of making deals for 32 cents on their current gen game that you are selling used for $10… wow I wonder why
At the peak of the "hold" meme the one near me closed for renovations with signs in the window promising of an amazing new Gamestop concept... but it never arrived and now the Gamestop signs are gone too and replaced with real-estate signs asking for tenders.
Short of doing something like offering gaming PCs and consoles for rent (and maybe having some partnership with eg. Steam that would let people rent games to play on those gaming PCs/consoles) and maybe focusing on tabletop and LAN gaming, I'm not sure there's much they can do to keep themselves alive. And if they did that they would be totally at the mercy of the online distributors to maintain those partnerships.
Same as Blockbuster missed the opportunity to be Netflix, gamestop missed the opportunity to be Steam, Epic etc.
It's not even that they missed it - they actively chose not to do it. Years back, Stardock made their own online distribution platform (called Impulse) that they slowly started expanding which might have become a Steam competitor in time. Gamestop bought it from them in 2011. And then did absolutely nothing with it, before closing it down a few years later.
the used game store in the mall died during the coof, which sucked because it was half the reason i enjoyed going to the mall.
the gamestop died as well, and was replaced with some guy in a folding chair selling cheap stuffed animals and other carnival tat.
Very unfortunate they had to do this to themselves, they were a staple of my gaming youth.
What. Wait.
Started? I thought gamestop went out of business 2 or 3 years ago and filed for bankruptcy.
I used to go to GameStop and then sit and chat with the guys there for a long time. Haven’t done that in years. Kinda reminds me how comics are doing. Well comic stores expanded to selling different things
Does Gamestop have chairs?
Actually they don’t, shouldve said stand and chat.
Is it #ToTheMoon time again?
Gamestop was always a dying company. It hasn't had any reason to exist for many years now.
Gamestop briefly became the vehicle for stock market manipulation in the form of exploiting heavy short interest to crush shorts. Nearly all the profit from this didn't go to "the people" but instead to wall street hedge funds who orchestrated the faux populist movement. All the big losers from the bubble popping were retard retail bag holders, who still go on a cult web site called r/superstonk bloviating about supposed conspiracies in stock market manipulation to rationalize their stupid choices and gambling addiction.
Populism ultimately fails because people are stupid and easily manipulated. Every populist movement is immediately co-opted by the elites and twisted to benefit some elites over others. The same was true of Gamestop.