Play 'n' Trade, the only other game in town, is inducted onto my blacklist.
Here in Anchorage, Alaska, I don’t have a whole lot of options when it comes to used games. Oh sure, there are three Gamestops here and another one in Wasilla (Palinville), but I hate Gamestop. I won’t shop there, for reasons I won’t go into here. Suffice to say, I’ve had too many bad experiences there, and I’ve heard too many horror stories, and I don’t appreciate their corporate culture of screwing the customer. I actively avoid their bullshit. I have no store credit there. A few years ago, there was an awesome local joint called Microplay that competed with Gamestop. It was one of those hole-in-the-wall places that never had a whole lot of product, but they gave you a good amount of credit for your trade-in, and the people there were very friendly and helpful. If they didn’t have a game you wanted, they would order it for you.
This is not to say I didn’t get my share of shaftings there. Indeed, in particular, they screwed me over when Guitar Hero, God of War 2, and the Wii came out. In these cases, they either didn’t get enough units, or their shipment was unbelievably late. But I stuck by those guys. They were local, they were honest, they were always apologetic, and I could always get a new game on credit there as long as I was willing to wait.
But all good things come to an end, and about two years ago (maybe less), Microplay shut down for reasons I’m not entirely clear on. Their lease ran out, but they didn’t renew. At about the same time, a new chain used-game store opened up nearby: Play ‘n’ Trade. While not nearly as large and domineering as Gamestop, Play ‘n’ Trade is apparently a widespread gaming outlet. Their big selling point is that they let you play any game you want before you buy. If I had any doubts about Dragon Quest IX, they’d pop that sucker in a DS and I could just sit and play it for however long. That’s pretty awesome. They also had cool gaming tournaments for heavy hitters like Smash Bros. Melee and Street Fighter IV.
Unfortunately, as time dragged on, the tournaments were dropped, they sponsored a Ludacris concert (whaaaa?), and the bullshit started. They almost never had good stocks of new games, and most used “new” games carried price tags almost as heavy as brand-new copies. This is the kind of laughable price gouging that I routinely see at Gamestop, and one of the reasons I don’t shop there. I’d call to ask if they have a game, be told that they do, and then get there and hear “oh, it turns out the computer was wrong, we don’t have it.” But the last straw happened yesterday, when I attempted to secure a copy of Dragon Quest IX.
First, as per usual, I was told they had a copy when they actually didn’t. More disturbingly, I discovered that they don’t restock new games after the initial (very small) shipment—they just wait for used copies to start coming in. The mind boggles. Obviously begging for more punishment, I foolishly asked if they had any copies of MGS: Peace Walker, and was told they didn’t, and that they “don’t really get PSP games.” In a daze, I wandered over to the PS3 shelf and saw a used copy of Transformers: War for Cybertron for $54.99. I had experienced Awful Customer Service Overload! I walked out of the store and swore never to return. Play ‘n’ Trade lost a customer yesterday…although I do have to go back and use up my store credit on something, maybe some N64 games.
So what’s a gamer to do? I’m not going to Gamestop. I won’t do it. When my otherwise perfect-condition GBA SP began having battery charge issues (needed recharging after every other play session), those cheapskates tried to give me $15 for it, having no way of knowing that particular problem. They also tried to sell me a used copy of Metroid Prime 2 without a box or instruction manual for $25. This is just top-tier bullshit, and I’m shocked every day that gamers don’t wise up and boycott that pit of despair. But now I can’t go to Play ‘n’ Trade, because they’re largely guilty of the same sins. Where am I going to deposit the games I don’t want anymore? Is store credit a thing of the past? What the heck am I going to do when Homie Rollerz 2 inevitably shows up at my door? Burn it?
Oh, there are plenty of retail options around town. DQ IX is readily available at Fred Meyer, Target, Best Buy, Toys 'R' Us, and Wal-Mart. It costs $35 no matter where you go, so it’s not like one is any better than the other. I can’t use store credit at any of those places, though. I can already hear you screaming, “The internet, you idiot!” but let me clarify something: I live in Anchorage, Alaska. When a website says I’ll get my package in “6-8 business days,” I point and laugh. Even getting packages from Canada, which is next door, takes an ungodly amount of time. Also, shipping rates to my state are ridiculously high. If I want my package within three to five business days, the shipping cost will almost always be close to or higher than the cost of the product itself. All those online stores that offer free shipping? You’ll notice an asterisk. That asterisk explains, in small print, that free shipping is not offered for Hawaii or Alaska. So if I’m fixin’ to get my game on, the internet is rarely a reasonable alternative.
Reviled by Gamestop, mourning the loss of Microplay, and betrayed by Play ‘n’ Trade, I am forced to take my used gaming business elsewhere. But where? Do you readers out there in Readerland have any suggestions? Are there online stores with “in-store credit?” Do any of you have similar stories of local used-game chains being gobbled up by national chain competition? What are your other options?
