http://www.columbusunderground.com/gamestop-closing-150-retail-stores-in-2017 (http://www.columbusunderground.com/gamestop-closing-150-retail-stores-in-2017)
The latest retailer to announce closures this year is video game outlet GameStop, which reported a double-digit decline in sales last quarter, and has seen their stock fall by over 30 percent in the past year. This year, the company will focus on its other retail brands, moving away from its traditional stores.
"The Company anticipates that it will open approximately 35 new Collectibles stores globally, and approximately 65 new Technology Brand stores," states GameStop in its latest SEC filling. "The Company also anticipates that it will close between 2% to 3% of its global store footprint."
The closures are estimated to effect at least 150 stores. As video game consoles continue to shift game purchases toward digital downloads, the decline in retail sales is to be expected, though GameStop appears to be focused on shorter term reasons behind their lagging numbers.
"The fourth quarter was significantly impacted by weak sales of certain AAA titles and aggressive console promotions by other retailers on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday," continued the SEC report. "As a result, new hardware sales declined 29.1% and new software sales declined by 19.3%."
CNBC reported last month that digital video game downloads are up nearly 10 percent year-over-year to a total of $7.5 billion in online-only sales in January 2017.
No list of closures has been publicaly made available as of the time of publishing.
Well maybe if they'd give you more than $2 for trading in 4 games (XBONE), business might be better
Don't people hate Game Stop anyways? I doubt anyone is going to shed a tear with things like digital downloads taking over the market from brick & mortar retails. This whole thing with them trying to get into the collector market is a joke, they can't out compete places like eBay or even a classic swap meet. About the only game store I really have any fond memories of was the Egghead stores that had a huge assortment of early PC era games.
They moaned when Xbox and PlayStation started giving away games for free with the subscription. Honestly, I don't think many people will miss them if the company ever went under.
The modern side of the business suffers these days since there are so many different older games out there now. Thousands and thousands of different last-gen and retro titles to be choose rather than getting the newest games. It's like how the the record companies cited the still-hot sales of Clapton, Eagles and Metallica CDs for the lack of new artists being signed. Today's games also lose their value very quickly which makes it hard to pay much for them to people trading them in since demand drops for the games very quickly after they come out. The few games that hold their value well today are Minnecraft and ones made by Nintendo.
Quote from: GCrites80s on March 30, 2017, 09:23:21 PM
Today's games also lose their value very quickly which makes it hard to pay much for them to people trading them in since demand drops for the games very quickly after they come out. The few games that hold their value well today are Minnecraft and ones made by Nintendo.
Games from 2-3 generations ago, meanwhile, potentially hold their value and in some odd cases even manage to appreciate. Take
Megaman X Collection, for example - a PS2 game. Original retail price: $20 (I bought the game when it came out at this price). Used copies sell today for $50 (would presumably trade in for slightly less). The reason? This collection, while it did not sell a particularly large number of copies, includes
Megaman Battle & Chase as a hidden bonus feature - and this is the only official release of
Megaman Battle & Chase in North America.
First of all, with crap like the "Circle of Life" program, they deserve to go under.
Back when they were funcoland, I went in looking to buy a specific used Genesis controller. The used ones were more expensive than the new ones because "there's more demand for the used ones," according to the shopkeep.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.memecdn.com%2Fgamestop-be-like_o_1366173.jpg&hash=baf8574c92211cdcf70bac93c4987596f0fbada4)
Quote from: inkyatari on March 31, 2017, 08:58:42 AM
The used ones were more expensive than the used ones
Quote from: Duke87 on March 30, 2017, 10:55:48 PM
Quote from: GCrites80s on March 30, 2017, 09:23:21 PM
Today's games also lose their value very quickly which makes it hard to pay much for them to people trading them in since demand drops for the games very quickly after they come out. The few games that hold their value well today are Minnecraft and ones made by Nintendo.
Games from 2-3 generations ago, meanwhile, potentially hold their value and in some odd cases even manage to appreciate. Take Megaman X Collection, for example - a PS2 game. Original retail price: $20 (I bought the game when it came out at this price). Used copies sell today for $50 (would presumably trade in for slightly less). The reason? This collection, while it did not sell a particularly large number of copies, includes Megaman Battle & Chase as a hidden bonus feature - and this is the only official release of Megaman Battle & Chase in North America.
I'm still trying to pinpoint really why I lost interest in new games towards the end of the PS2/Game Cube era. When you point out things like there is NO Mega Man any more that tends to start filling in the blanks... Usually everything I buy is from the 2600 to early PS3 era, usually has genre doesn't matter all that much so long as I'm interested in the game. I remember trying to find a decent copy of the Resident Evil remake for the Game Cube and it cost a relative fortune at about $20-$40 dollars almost seven years ago!
Right now the big thing for me is watching Pro Jared play the original NES Final Fantasy without level grinding. Its kind of amusing to see someone else get frustrated with that game for once.
Were the new Genesis controllers 3rd Party? If you don't price your used stuff just right, you will wind up with too many of a certain item (if too high) or you will always be out of it (if too low). Even a dollar or two can make a massive difference.
Oh poo
Where else am I going to randomly browse used games while I kill time at the mall?
150 isn't really that many stores closing out of their total footprint of over 5700. They opened over 300 stores in 2016. 5700 is a lot of stores, really. There's a lot of cities under 15,000 people that have their own GameStop.
Quote from: The Nature Boy on April 04, 2017, 12:29:31 PM
Oh poo
Where else am I going to randomly browse used games while I kill time at the mall?
People still go to malls? :rolleyes:
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on April 04, 2017, 09:54:37 PM
Quote from: The Nature Boy on April 04, 2017, 12:29:31 PM
Oh poo
Where else am I going to randomly browse used games while I kill time at the mall?
People still go to malls? :rolleyes:
My girlfriend hates online shopping so I still get dragged to them.