Anyone else think GAME is going downhill?

[s3k]

I've just been reading this, (specifically the comments thread where a guy from GAME has gone completely off the wall over the writers jokes about him) (http://game-over-yeah.blogspot.com/2005/11/bournemouths-got-xbox-360-demo-pods.html) and its brought to light something i've been semi aware of for a while.

Some of the stores in my town, and we have four! Are unfortunately staffed with people who act just like this, they don't seem to care about what you've actually come into buy and will instead talk about some dull samey XBox or PC game they're playing. Failing that they'll try and sell you some own brand stuff or that bloody loyalty card.

Now i'm not saying all GAME stores or indeed all of their staff are like this, but there does seem to almost be one for every store. I used to work there a long time ago, just before and after it changed from EB, and it never seemed like this, it was a fun place to work with nice people. I've noticed GameStation seem to be this way currently - putting customer service as a number one priority and being genuinely interested in what you like playing.

Am i the only one who feels this way? Is there anyone from GAME or GameStation who thinks similarly. Sorry to rant, i just thought i'd air my thoughts - its what the internet is for! ;)

[Stefkov]

i think all game shops are going downhill with online shopping now, theyre cheaper online and you can get free delivery, and wen preordering you can get it on the date sent to you, while shops you have to go after whatever your doing and they might not even have it.
i love online shopping

[s3k]

The thing that i do like about shops though is being able to go in and have a look at what you're getting, maybe even try it out on a pod and being able to walk away with it right there and then. Even if you do pay that extra fiver for it :(

[Ramar]

No Wi-Fi Dongle on release date.. Yeah they've got down hill. Bastards.

*is angry*

[Maxi678]

The GAME near where i live seems to be going downhill. I remember going into GAME to buy my DS, and they tried to sell me a GBA SP instead making out there were no DS's left in store. I still got the DS, but at a reduced price for inconvieniance caused. That was the last time i shopped at GAME. I tend to go to Gamestation in town or shop online at Gameplay. Both seem to be much better than GAME these days.

[Wesley]

I was in Gamestation a week or so ago and this women started talking to the man about buying a PSP, he eventually got her into the XBox 360 shit and got her to buy one.

They basically just lead people onto what they think is best and ignored the fact she wanted something handheld for her son. He said the PSP wasn't new technology, so then she should go for the XBox 360, where as he should of said, "it isn't new technology, so you might want to try out a handheld with new techology" Not skipping onto a home console.

[Meik]

Just because your GAME stores are unlucky and got stuck with bad-mannered staff doesn't mean they're going downhill. The people in my local GAME are lovely people - I take my chosen game to the counter, they make some sort of comment on it such as "Oh, I can't wait to get home to play this" or "Good choice", I pay for the item and then I leave.

The guys in my local Gamestation, however, are a bunch of overweight goths that don't give two shits about the customers and just continue to talk with their friend whilst you're trying to pay for the item. They also continually play heavy metal music which is a bit overbearing for lots of people.

[BlueStar]

The cheekiest thing about GAME is their "lowest price guarantee!" sticker on every game they've got labled as £39.99 which is 30-35 quid at just about any indy games shop you want to walk in.

[JonSt]

Just because your GAME stores are unlucky and got stuck with bad-mannered staff doesn't mean they're going downhill. The people in my local GAME are lovely people - I take my chosen game to the counter, they make some sort of comment on it such as "Oh, I can't wait to get home to play this" or "Good choice", I pay for the item and then I leave.

The guys in my local Gamestation, however, are a bunch of overweight goths that don't give two shits about the customers and just continue to talk with their friend whilst you're trying to pay for the item. They also continually play heavy metal music which is a bit overbearing for lots of people.


What you say about gamestation applies in my area as well, they seem to be more obsessed with their makeup than their customers, We musnt forget the god like 10 day return game does, invaluable service.

[s3k]

Just because your GAME stores are unlucky and got stuck with bad-mannered staff doesn't mean they're going downhill. The people in my local GAME are lovely people - I take my chosen game to the counter, they make some sort of comment on it such as "Oh, I can't wait to get home to play this" or "Good choice", I pay for the item and then I leave.

The guys in my local Gamestation, however, are a bunch of overweight goths that don't give two shits about the customers and just continue to talk with their friend whilst you're trying to pay for the item. They also continually play heavy metal music which is a bit overbearing for lots of people.

No i can totally appreciate your point, the purpose of the post was to see if it's the same in other places. Seems there is a switch in your town.

Its interesting - when i worked at GAME i tried to conduct the same approach, make nice comments and try and offer genuine help instead of just selling them something I think they should have. I guess I'm just disappointed that things can change in such a way...

[MunKy]

Sweet a shop that plays Heavy metal constantly. Piss off everybody else but me for a change. I hate walking into a shop to hear them blasting out pop and rap music devoid of all talent and creativity. Indie music is bearable because its easy to tune out. My local GAME sucks ass now aswell, miniscule Cube section and half a wall dedicated to PS2.

[Space]

GAME hasn't gone downhill as it has never been up a hill in its entire existance. It's stuck at the bottom of a very big hill busy ripping people off. At the top of the hill are the likes of Play.com who actually care about giving people value for money.

Unless money is no object you'd have to be mad to buy all of your games on the highstreet.

[Ice9]

In Bounemouth? Holy crap thats down the road! see you all later..!

[Platty]

i get fed up with people having a go at GAME staff. End of the day a lot of them are just students trying to fund their way through college or UNI. They probably play games and its a nice easy job for them. Doesnt mean that they should know everything that happens in the gaming world which i might add most information can only be found out via the internet.

i used to work in Halfords part time when i was a student, i didnt know everything about every single car!

anyway so yeah leave the staff alone....if you know so much about games you wont need their help anyway.

yes the staff could know more about games but then thats down to GAME themselves finding out information and telling the staff about it. I wouldnt expect anyone to go home after a long shift and research on the internet all night just to be up to date in the gaming world just so they can please a kid that comes in demanding to know about nintendo.

they are probably told to push the sales of their own branded stuff aswell as loyalty cards so thats not the staff its the company.

[Space]

I agree 100%. At least most of the staff do know about games in general, I'd never expect them to be some kind of authority on gaming. I've never had a problem with any of their staff, my problem is with the company's pricing policy.

[Josh64]

The GAME near me is ok, but they are just annoying. They arent rude but the ALWAYS try and get me to buy a PS2 or XBOX game when im buying a GC game even when I tell them I don't have an Xbox or PS2, Gamestation however have really nice staff and are like, "enjoy your game" well, they only said that once when i brought my ds and when i brought nintendogs but they are still more polite than GAME.

[CVD]

I agree. It's hard not to leave GAME these days without being asked if you want a 360 or PSP. There's far too much space for non essential stuff whereas today I went in out of curiosity to see if they stocked the dongle, but could find any DS accessories near the games, so just left.

[RoadKill]

GAME hasn't gone downhill as it has never been up a hill in its entire existance. It's stuck at the bottom of a very big hill busy ripping people off. At the top of the hill are the likes of Play.com who actually care about giving people value for money.

Unless money is no object you'd have to be mad to buy all of your games on the highstreet.

Yeah, exactly, how can something go downhill when it's already the lowest common denominator as far as games stores go?

Gamestation is about a million times better in every way, and the staff are better by miles.

(Although GAME did once have Johelian which then made that particular store better than all other stores ;))

[Kurtle Squad]

I have a GAME memory card, it's got LOADSA space, and doesn't corrupt like most 3rd party memory cards. They also sell Nintendo games, unlike Curry's and such which dropped the Cube when it was selling just as well as the Xbox overall?!?!

Otherwise, GAME suck.

[Stocka]

No Wi-Fi Dongle on release date.. Yeah they've got down hill. Bastards.

*is angry*

Indeed :mad:
Gamestation too.

[Ashley]

Just because your GAME stores are unlucky and got stuck with bad-mannered staff doesn't mean they're going downhill. The people in my local GAME are lovely people - I take my chosen game to the counter, they make some sort of comment on it such as "Oh, I can't wait to get home to play this" or "Good choice", I pay for the item and then I leave.

Woo thats me! And my friends. Go us!

But yeah Im going to be bias cause I work there. It does depend on the people who work there. As far as loyalty cards go I do try and sell them when buying hardware because you get £2.50 back anyway but if they seem adamant to not buy one then I'm fine with that. You do have targets on loyalty percentage but it depends on how strict the manager is to whether they really care. Ours is a great guy and he doesn't really care that much.

But as Meik said, our Gamestation is the "freaks" of the town. They seem nice enough (well Rob the long haired one and the short haired normal guy seem fine, the big fat scary goth is...well big fat and scary).

Oh and as far as the dongle, it was never mentioned in any details about MK. Did Nintendo say it would be in shops, or in stores? Cause stores could mean online stores, ie Play and Gameplay.

[scubahood]

Fuck Game and Gamestation and bring back the Independent stores. I remember back in the day used to go to the Indy store and they would have a pod with every console and it was ALWAYS playable unlike in Game where they often take the controllers out. My indy even had Gamecube and PS2 as soon as they came out in Japan. And the best thing is you could have a conversation with the guy and he would know what he was on about.

Oh yea and my Gamestation is full of goths as well

[Pancake]

If don't care how much my local GAME staff know about games. I don't need their advice.

[Ashley]

Fuck Game and Gamestation and bring back the Independent stores. I remember back in the day used to go to the Indy store and they would have a pod with every console and it was ALWAYS playable unlike in Game where they often take the controllers out. My indy even had Gamecube and PS2 as soon as they came out in Japan. And the best thing is you could have a conversation with the guy and he would know what he was on about.

Oh yea and my Gamestation is full of goths as well

Never really had an indie gaming store near me so can't speak for them but I found an indie store in SoHo, NY (oddly enough it was near the end of the week and it was the first indie I found) and had a good time. Chatting to the guy in there about all sorts, not just music and he was cool. Wish I could go back but alas. Spent about $100 in there, most of it for friends. So if anyone is in NY head to "Rocks In Your Head" in SoHo.

[soag]

the staff in my game store are always very friendly, never try to get me to buy anything else. One even give me a free poster :).

[Charlie]

The cheekiest thing about GAME is their "lowest price guarantee!" sticker on every game they've got labled as £39.99 which is 30-35 quid at just about any indy games shop you want to walk in.

Tell them that it's cheaper somewhere else, and you get it for that price. It's worth it for the 10 day return/rental service. :)

[Ashley]

Tell them that it's cheaper somewhere else, and you get it for that price. It's worth it for the 10 day return/rental service. :)

Unless its not in stock or in supermarkets. Supermarkets sell for cheaper because its not a big profit earner for them. Food is...obviously.

[Shorty]

GAME has been downhill for a long time. It was good in the early days of Electronics Boutique, good deals, good overall prices, lots of low cost second hand games, good trade-in prices... now they never have the best price. I never shop at GAME because online prices are always better.

[Rico]

GAME has been downhill for a long time. It was good in the early days of Electronics Boutique, good deals, good overall prices, lots of low cost second hand games, good trade-in prices... now they never have the best price. I never shop at GAME because online prices are always better.

i agree. i only ever buy pre-owned games from high street shops now, and even then i prefer Gamestation.

[Haver]

The GameStation staff I've come into contact with are lazy and rude and ignorant and smelly and y'know, horrible and stuff. They're all proud members of the 'alternative' scene, too. Seems this is a widespread policy.

The GAME staff I've come into contact with aren't lazy or smelly, but they're certainly rude and ignorant and horrible.

Staffers in indie shops range from welcoming and funny to really, really, really, rude. Really. I wouldn't buy anything from the really, really, really rude man but he stocks NDS imports about two days after their US or Japanese release.

[Ashley]

I suppose Indies need to be more welcoming and what not because they really need the business. Not that widespread stores should be horrible because they have money of course.

[Haver]

I totally agree. The really, really, really rude man in question has this aura of 'Hey, I'm poor and down and out, fuck capitalism etc etc' and you're not going to get anywhere with that attitude. Hoover the carpet, be fucking nice and crazy things can happen.

[Raining_again]

Game is fine for me, most of them don't know a terrible lot about the stuff they sell, but that doesnt bother me cause i'd research something before i bought it. doesn't that sound terribly geeky :heh:

[stev2604]

The GAME near me is the best games shop in my area- it has the biggest CUBE selection(most other shops only sell second hand CUBE games) and their games are the cheapest. In my local GameStop Mario Kart DS is €55, in GAME its €45. :smile:

[Humphrey]

The staff in both GAME shops near me are OK, they usually can answer questions about particular games or will call over another member of staff who can. Never really go into gamestation, it always seems dingy and shabby. Forbidden Planet is nicer than either of those though, the pricing can be a bit random though (some things much cheaper, some more expensive).

[Zero Seven]

I always shop online now but when i used to go to my local GAME store, they where nice friendly staff, just absolutely clueless when it came to videogames

[Hero-of-Time]

I always stick with online shops now in paticular Gameplay due to their cheap prices and awesome delivery service. If I do get a game in a shop I just go to my local Indy shopy as they are friendly and I get on with them really well. They also give me free posters and and cardboard stand-ups for being a good customer.

I do go into GAME when in Metro centre ( big shopping mall type place ) and the staff their are friendly enough but their lack of support for Nintendo products annoys me, but I think thats just the general attitude towards Nintendo in most shops these days.

[the_villa]

most GAME's have virtually no gamecube games

[E3wannabe]

GAME trade-in offers suck, the smaller GAME shops aren't too bad, never really have a problem with the staff except the managers usually their arrogant pricks! Gamestation staff are just plain lazy though as many have said they never take pre-orders when i ask.

[Ollie]

I used to work in GAME before I went on my student placement, and I intend to go back there when I go back to uni. For those of you that are new here, there is a GAME bashing thread about once every 6 months. I used to work in the same store as Johelian, and it was great, we were always polite and knew our stuff, but you tend to get different people with different interests.

For example, I was particularly interested in FPS games and Jo was into RPG's, so depending on the questions asked, different people would answer.

All this crap about GAME going downhill and all the staff are crap is out of order tbh. I agree that as a company their priorities have changed, when I started three and a half years ago it was all about the customer and it is now about the margin, and yes I'll agree, that is clearly showing. But don't blame all the staff, there are many awesome emplyees and they are just doing as they are told.

And to the person who has the problem with the prices - Go back and check, I think you'll find that they have changed their stickers and they no longer say 'lowest price guarantee'. Also just to mention, if you bothered to ask for the T+C's that policy applied to other stores in town, not internet stores or out of town stores, so they are more than allowed to say lowest price if they want to.

[BeerMonkey]

i buy most my games on the game website now :) i do pop into the store to see what offers are on...got one of the games for xmas on the "deal of the week" the other day in there burnout revenge for £19.99 not bad

Games staff do seem knowledgeable where i am its the gamestation staff that dont know shit

[mike-zim]

game suck ass. i hate game

[Nevahom]

The game near me looks really tacky now, just loads of second hand games and no real interest in stocking new games

[mario114]

The largest GAME store in my city has now become ps2 store, with nearly half the store devoted to old ps2 titles, the xbox and cube, psp, ds, gab get hardly any store room, and the pc gets about 1/4th. And i agree the staff know nothing about games, and have no idea when stuff will be instock.

[Draven1984]

Meh, in the last month, Game have completely removed the entire Gamecube shelf - And I do mean "shelf"

A rough percentage of shelf space reads as:
70% PS2
10% PSP
10% Xbox
5% DS
5% Xbox 360

Every now and then I speak to the manager there, and he seems ok - Has never tried to give me a biased opinion (unlike his staff). God I miss the days of EB.

The Gamestation near me is a LOT better though - Staff have always been cool to me, get I get more value on my trade ins, and they've never given me any griefs when returning a game because I didn't like it (unlike Game)

[gothic_hobbit]

Who cares... some moody people work at game... they need to lighten up !

[Ysm]

Wow, you guys all have huge bugs up your arses about GAME don't ya?

I work there, I shop there and I can honestly say I've never had a better job. Seriously, what other place can you work where the regional manager comes in and you spend ages having a laugh about dumb foreigners online when you are playing Call of Duty 2 or World Of Warcraft.

I'm not gonna defend them to you, it's no skin off my nose if you don't like them, cause hell, most of the complaints most of you guys are saying are ill-informed or matters of opinion. They are here to stay and personally I'm glad.

When you think about it, they have only helped the industry. They are the ones pushing it into the mainstream. They are the ones who have the Deal Of The Week which is always awesome (every week a new game is in the offer that is only a week or so old).

You guys are saying that the staff don't know anything about games, well dont you get that whereever you shop? I've lost count of the times I've been in PC world and asked for help and no one has known how to answer my query. Likewise numerous times I've asked about a forthcoming CD release in HMV and I've been told that they had never even heard of the band. You'll always get that, no matter where you shop. Now the store I work in, everyone knows what they are talking about, but I understand that this isn't the case everywhere. The other store in Carlisle is full of chavs who even went so far as to refuse to give me discount on a Gamecube game BECAUSE it was a gamecube game.

Game offer better security than other game stores. I bought Wipeout 64 from gamestation a while back, was told I had a 30 guarantee, it didn't work, I returned it WITH the receipt and I was refused any exchange or refund because "we dont guarantee preowned games" which is shoddy. I've also known Gamestation to serve customers buying PS2 games in preference to customers buying other games.

But anyways....If you dont like it, I dont care. Shop where you please, it is a basic Human Right. If you prefer Gamestation, shop at gamestation. You prefer Gameplay then go to gameplay. Just please stop this pointless bashing. If you have a genuine concern or complaint then please rant, hell, I'd be happy to help. But saying "Game sux" is just pointless and annoying.

Rant Over.

[Ashley]

I work there, I shop there and I can honestly say I've never had a better job. Seriously, what other place can you work where the regional manager comes in and you spend ages having a laugh about dumb foreigners online when you are playing Call of Duty 2 or World Of Warcraft.

Clearly you're not in the same region as me. Our manager is an anal uptight self-loving mook. And the thing is he loves me (cause I had played Nintendogs and he told me to load a copy onto a DS and show customers and it sold shit loads) so im always in when he visits.