Topic: Wii Blamed For GameStop's Lack of Growth Over the Holiday

[Patchkid15]

GameStop took in just as much money during this year's holiday season as they did last year.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/28932

Gamestop blamed both Wii software sales and overall hardware sales as the reason for their flat numbers this holiday.

Over last year's holiday season GameStop brought in $3.02 billion; this equals 2010's holiday sales. GameStop claimed that hardware sales dropped 19.6 percent, but PS3 and Xbox 360 software sales rose 9.9 percent. No specific percentage was given in regards to the Wii's software sales, but due to GameStop blaming these sales as one of the reasons they did not earn more this holiday, it can be expected they were not good.

GameStop also reported that international in-store sales dropped by 1.5 percent, while US sales increased by 0.3 percent. Together, the result was a drop in in-store sales of 0.3%. After the holidays, GameStop was able to reduce its losses of store sales from 2 percent to 1 percent.

[NintendoFanboy]

So u DIDNT make MORE money then last year, thats Nintendos fault?
How about they Sell there own games and system and leave u out next year.
Maybe then you will make a profit, oh wait.....

[Morari]

It can't have anything to do with GameStop's deceptive business practices and annoying in-store shills!

[xcwarrior]

I blame too many gamers who are still using Gamestop. Power to the people, which means stop using this over-priced on used games mark up retailer!

[Chozo Ghost]

 Thank you, Wii, for being a thorn in the side of these assholes! Yeah!

Seriously though, this is just Karma. I don't think there's anything more to it than that. The Wii is just a convenient scapegoat in all this.

[Ian Sane]

Now watch, Gamestop's all pissed and "that's it!  We're pulling out of that Xenoblade crap!"

[Evan_B]

Yes, because if you don't do better every single year, that means you're not becoming a better company.

In any case, I'm not surprised that they blamed the Wii- it's a shitty console with not good games in sight, bar Xenoblade.

[TJ Spyke]

Yes, because if you don't do better every single year, that means you're not becoming a better company.

This is not unique to GameStop or even video games in general, investors get mad at ANY publically traded company that doesn't see a increase in profits each year (hell, sometimes they get mad even when they do have a profit, but not as much as they expected).

[MagicCow64]

Yes, because if you don't do better every single year, that means you're not becoming a better company.

This is not unique to GameStop or even video games in general, investors get mad at ANY publically traded company that doesn't see a increase in profits each year (hell, sometimes they get mad even when they do have a profit, but not as much as they expected).

The contradictions of capitalism continue apace! Only a madman or an economist believes in infinite growth on a finite planet.

[bhurak]

The contradictions of capitalism continue apace! Only a madman or an economist believes in infinite growth on a finite planet.

Are you suggesting it was the finite resources of the planet that held Gamestop back?  That seems like the position only a madman would take!


Seriously, the industry has grown from 3.2 to 18 billion dollars in the US alone from 1995 to 2007 - finite economic thinking cannot explain where this comes from!


Now if a company doesn't want to be beholden to shareholders (and many companies probably should not!) then they don't have to be publicly traded.

[MagicCow64]

The contradictions of capitalism continue apace! Only a madman or an economist believes in infinite growth on a finite planet.


Are you suggesting it was the finite resources of the planet that held Gamestop back?  That seems like the position only a madman would take!


Seriously, the industry has grown from 3.2 to 18 billion dollars in the US alone from 1995 to 2007 - finite economic thinking cannot explain where this comes from!

I dunno, how many people would honestly still be in demand of a wii at this point, even if the software lineup hadn't flatlined? PS3 and 360 make more sense, as they're cheaper than ever, and the PS3 in particular has taken a while to build up steam. I guess you could argue that if the Wii had more going on, fewer people would be buying PS3s or Xboxes to fill the vacuum, but then Gamestop would have sold fewer pricier consoles.


Now if a company doesn't want to be beholden to shareholders (and many companies probably should not!) then they don't have to be publicly traded.

[TJ Spyke]

The Wii had a blockbuster November and December (500K on Black Friday alone), maybe they were bought at other place.

[Chocobo_Rider]

I bet they would sell more Wii stuff if

A) they made sure the new Wii games were out on the shelves!
(can't tell you how many times that's happened to me)

B) they hired people who actually enjoyed games other than Call of Halo 4: Drake's Unvengence =P

[Chozo Ghost]

Until a point is reached where everyone on the planet (7+ billion people) are gamers, then there is always potential for growth. Japan is a country that has probably reached the point its video game industry can't grow further, but North America and Europe are far from it, and the rest of the world like Latin America and Africa and so on have barely been touched at all. So while there may not be potential for infinite growth, we are very far from reaching that limit.

[Ceric]

Its pure capitalism why they didn't sell more Wii Units.  Why in the world would you buy a Wii from Gamestop when:

You could got to Target, buy a Wii at asking price, get an included game and Skyward Sword.

I never saw Gamestop ever do an equivalent deal, but you know who I did? Wal-mart, Best Buy, Etc.  Why buy Gamestop when you could get it cheaper somewhere else?

[Chozo Ghost]

Why buy Gamestop when you could get it cheaper somewhere else?

I know that and you know that, but apparently there are a lot of people out there that don't. Why do people take a $50 game there and trade it in for a $5 store credit when they could sell it on ebay and get a lot more out of it? It doesn't make any sense.

[TJ Spyke]

You could got to Target, buy a Wii at asking price, get an included game and Skyward Sword.

That Target one was the gimped Wii, that could be one factor.

[NWR_insanolord]

The kind of people who are buying Wiis at this point probably aren't in GameStop's primary demographic.

[Shaymin]

They're right in Walmart's though.

[Chocobo_Rider]

The kind of people who are buying Wiis at this point probably aren't in GameStop's primary demographic.

Sure, but that philosophy's applicable to any platform.

[O4E]

I once had a game reserved there, and they screwed up the reservation, so i went to wal mart to buy the game instead that day. At wal mart the game was 10 dollars (before taxes) cheaper. Why would you shop at stores like gamestop over christmas where everywhere else is cheaper?

[Chozo Ghost]

The only reason why anyone should ever buy anything from Gamestop is if what you want to buy can only be purchased there and no place else (Xenoblade Chronciles, I am looking at you).

[Chocobo_Rider]

I once had a game reserved there, and they screwed up the reservation, so i went to wal mart to buy the game instead that day. At wal mart the game was 10 dollars (before taxes) cheaper. Why would you shop at stores like gamestop over christmas where everywhere else is cheaper?

They did the same thing to my bro-in-law about the LE Skyward Sword.  They gave away his preorder because he was two days late picking it up... even though he CALLED THEM on day one and said I'LL BE BACK IN TOWN in two days DON'T GIVE AWAY MY COPY.

He showed up and it was gone... so he went to some other store, not sure if it was Walmart, and eventually hunted down a copy.

[TJ Spyke]

I once had a game reserved there, and they screwed up the reservation, so i went to wal mart to buy the game instead that day. At wal mart the game was 10 dollars (before taxes) cheaper. Why would you shop at stores like gamestop over christmas where everywhere else is cheaper?

From my experience, Walmart is usually more expensive than any other store for video games (especially older games).

[Ceric]

Walmart use to be 2 cents cheaper on all games.