Author Topic: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-present  (Read 331195 times)

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Offline Phil

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Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-2017
« Reply #875 on: March 25, 2017, 04:40:03 PM »
Perhaps takeovers and underhanded ways to buy out the competition is finally catching up karma-wise to GameStop!
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Offline ThePerm

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Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-2017
« Reply #876 on: March 25, 2017, 07:50:23 PM »
I was reading Sears and K-mart might go out of business. The last time I was at K-mart my friend and I joked how creepy it was on the inside, and that there might be a possibility that we might get stabbed and mugged. It's sad when you see a store so poorly ran that your thoughts are "boy oh boy could I run this place better than it's ran"
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Offline oohhboy

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Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-2017
« Reply #877 on: March 26, 2017, 03:45:12 AM »
I am not sure if our K-Mart(NZ) is the same thing as before or something else wearing it's skin, but I don't like going into it as the lights are hard white like bleached bones and having a greeter at the door creeps me out a little.

If I want American brands though I do remember it being pretty good for that.

It seems to be doing ok though, but they don't seem to run any ads so I guess they are going for the lean approach.

Might have a gander tomorrow as I will be out that way.
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Offline nickmitch

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Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-2017
« Reply #878 on: March 27, 2017, 09:53:36 AM »
Theres all sorts of ways Gamestop could improve its business model. I doubt they would do them. Gamestops are small. They should be twice as big and still have classic games.

It would be kinda cool if they had some arcade cabinets.

Rarely ever do i spend more than 6 minutes in a GameStop. I usually go in there, see nothing of interest and walk right out because there is nothing to keep me there.

I do the same thing in my local GameStop.  I always feel kinda awkward, so I've been trying to avoid going in there unless there's something I want.

I remember seeing a GameCube with a GameBoy Player in the glass on display.  I eventually asked about it, and got an "I dunno" reply from the person there.  I came back a week or two later and was told those actually belong to the employees and are just on display.  I was a bit upset because I knew they didn't have them online, so the display was just false advertising.  They've since put in different consoles.
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Offline oohhboy

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Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-2017
« Reply #879 on: August 03, 2017, 12:32:00 AM »
Damn, Zynga is still alive after being in the red for years. I laugh though - $5.1 million (GAAP) in profits (on $209 million in revenues). 2.4% profit margin making mobile skinner boxes. I don't know what their expenses are for making a bunch of simple games but that is a ridiculously small margin.

Also please die already Zynga.
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Offline broodwars

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Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-2017
« Reply #880 on: October 17, 2017, 03:14:52 PM »
EA's killed another one: Visceral Games (the makers of the Dead Space series) is shutting down.

https://www.ea.com/news/an-update-on-the-visceral-star-wars-project

This press release just screams "They were making a Star Wars game we couldn't ruin with loot boxes, so we got rid of them & are starting over."

**** this industry. I liked Visceral.
« Last Edit: October 17, 2017, 03:31:12 PM by broodwars »
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Offline Kytim89

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Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-2017
« Reply #881 on: March 04, 2018, 12:14:13 AM »
EA's killed another one: Visceral Games (the makers of the Dead Space series) is shutting down.

https://www.ea.com/news/an-update-on-the-visceral-star-wars-project

This press release just screams "They were making a Star Wars game we couldn't ruin with loot boxes, so we got rid of them & are starting over."

**** this industry. I liked Visceral.


Shameful that EA killed Visceral Games, but perhaps Microsoft can buyout EAand do the same to them.
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Offline Khushrenada

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Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-2017
« Reply #882 on: March 04, 2018, 03:12:24 AM »
Whoa! Kytim89!

How you doing? Long time no see!
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Offline BeautifulShy

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Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-2018
« Reply #883 on: March 22, 2018, 06:15:09 PM »
Oh wow Kytim is back.
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Offline ShyGuy

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Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-2018
« Reply #884 on: March 23, 2018, 12:01:32 AM »
Should Toys R Us be on this list?

Offline ThePerm

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Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-2018
« Reply #885 on: March 23, 2018, 01:35:33 AM »
Should Toys R Us be on this list?

Yes. My older brother bought Bart Vs. The Space Mutants at Toys R Us.

That article about crowdfunding says the same number of projects got funded in 2016 as 2015. Though, they apparently were not as big budget. I imagine indy budgets are going to go waaaaay down.
« Last Edit: March 23, 2018, 01:37:54 AM by ThePerm »
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Offline Khushrenada

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Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-2018
« Reply #886 on: March 23, 2018, 01:55:47 AM »
Should Toys R Us be on this list?

Nah, we already got a thread about it here: http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=53498.0
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Offline broodwars

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Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-2018
« Reply #887 on: May 14, 2018, 03:15:31 PM »
Cliffy B's Boss Key Productions, makers of absolutely nothing anyone cares about, has closed.

https://www.polygon.com/2018/5/14/17353126/cliff-bleszinski-leaving-boss-key-studios
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Offline Evan_B

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Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-2018
« Reply #888 on: May 14, 2018, 06:32:30 PM »
Whooo!
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Offline King of Twitch

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Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-2018
« Reply #889 on: June 19, 2018, 02:38:10 PM »
They should call it FunkoStop with all %#)$ bobbleheads they sell now.

Not even a pile of gaming garbage could turn the ship around, because GameStop is in talks with buyout firms.

Quote
The retailer’s stock has slid more than 32 percent over the last 12 months, bringing its market capitalization to $1.42 billion, down from about $9.4 billion in 2007.

Ouchy. It was inevitable and highly entertaining to watch. Some of us thought it would’ve happened long ago with downloadable games and DLC and horse armor creeping in. Sit right back and you’ll hear a decade-long tale, courtesy mostly of posters who have long since logged off and disappeared forever, but a few that are still around. Perhaps more than a few still bitter about a decade’s worth of horrible store policies, employees that rubbed them the wrong way (sometimes through incompetence, sometimes idiotic corporate strategizing, or just plain immaturity), worthless trade-ins, predatory salesmanship. If you wanted to start a gaming store chain, you couldn’t create something this bad if you tried; the story of Gamestop is a series of mismanagement that piggybacks on its own mistakes and rides them through the mud like a rodeo clown.
 
GameStop closing 150 stores.

That was only a year ago.
 
Perhaps takeovers and underhanded ways to buy out the competition is finally catching up karma-wise to GameStop!

Ask and you shall receive! What a long strange trip it's been. Here, one of the great opening lines to a longstanding thread "So nobody likes GameStop?" which references waay back to the Gamecube era, started March 21, 2009, the day after the opening of spring that year, but far from the beginning of the spring of the forum's discontent:
 
Quote
I was reading some of the negative comments about GameStop in the NWR 2006 thread...


 
One of the great things about the forums is learning about all the flyover, unwashed states from sea to shining sea, the yearning overweight masses huddled uncomfortably close together in a grimy sea of humanity:
 
The GameStops here in Anchorage are teh_evil, claiming to hold items for you and then, once you get there, deny memory of holding anything for you (like an hour ago--screw you guys) and hey--they're all out of (whatever they were supposed to be holding). It has happened to me many times.
 
More irritating are the times where they try to sell you a used game in a generic DVD case for full price, or when they give you crap for credit on fairly new games. I don't like the type of employee who thinks he's better than you, which I've encountered many times.
 
What turned me away from GameStop for good was the time I had to go in and renew my GameInformer subscription. I stood in like for like fifteen minutes behind some idiot fat guy who kept asking about release dates and whether they had this game or that.
 
I noticed that the whole store was crawling with people who looked homeless or, at the very least, hadn't showered in weeks. When I finally got up to the counter and asked to renew my GI subscription, they asked if I wanted to reserve any games. The person behind me belched loudly and chuckled with his idiot friend.
 
I renewed my subscription and haven't been back since.

 
We also got to see how our lovely forumers interact with people who are paid to do the same thing we do on the forums, only with the added wrinkle of the slow realization that not every employee in the ENTIRE country is as bad as the ones in my neighborhood:
 
GameStop is overpriced. Gamestop employees are rude and stupid. Gamestop only stays afloat because of a lack of competition. I've been to several different stores in several different states and the story is always the same.

 
One thing that always bothers me about Gamestop hate is that they pick on the employees, labeling them all as incompetent fanboys simply because of a couple of them in ONE store.
 
Many of my friends are Gamestop employees. S_B's girlfriend is a Gamestop manager. And I've met and talked with many wonderful Gamestop employees, so to me whenever someone bashes the employees I get upset.
 
Yes, like ANY store in the world, there are some really bad employees, ones that will test your patience. But simply because you encountered one bad employee you shouldn't convince yourself that all of them are bad. Many are just like you and me; hard working people trying to make a living. And they also get bullcrap from the store and its clients.
 
Hell, I've even encountered pregnant employees, handling multiple reservations when they should be resting! So because of that I've gained empathy towards employees because they are humans.
 
If you want to hate the store, hate on its policies, ideas and deals, but leave the employees out of it because they have it just as bad, if not worse, as we.
 
Regarding Gamestop hate, I think gamers hate it for the same reason many hate Wal-Mart: Its one of the biggest game stores in the US right and its contemporary. Since they have kind of a monopoly on the selling and trading of used games they get away with some dubious things, and that's why so many gamers say nothing but horror stories about them.
 
Now, if there were more Gamestop like stores and there was real competition then maybe the hate would ease up. Maybe.
 
Finally, it seems the hate comes from problems with ONE store. I've been to multiple Gamestops, and the service DOES vary. There are stores which are organized and the employees are nice and friendly. Then there are stores that are a mess and its employees are rude.
 
So it seems that if they have experiences with one store they label them all like that.

The thread even contained an UNSOLVED MYSTERY:


Wait, GP shops at the Gamestop where Dirk shops? How do they both know the same Amanda clerk?
 
Furthermore, GP is in Washington. Dirk is in New Hampshire. Pap is in Puerto Rico. Smash Bros is in Alaska. Athena is in King of Fighters. HOW DO YOU ALL SHOP FACE TO FACE AT THE SAME GAMESTOP?

 
I’ll give em this: they did try responding to market changes. They've given good preorder bonuses over the years. I’ve bought a few gaming knickknacks from them. Now I go in there and I want to throw up. In any case, this change happened right around 9 years ago. I think that's right around the time Nintendo also announced they'd start selling games in non-game stores. Which was exciting at first, but then it just meant that you could buy those retarded beach minigames for Wii at the grocery store.

 
Gamestop now offering over priced and somewhat ugly gaming clothing
« on: February 03, 2009, 03:37:12 PM »


STOP GIVING GAMESTOP YOUR MONEY! (GameStop Vs Amazon)
[size=0px]« on: March 08, 2011, 05:35:39 PM »[/size]

 
Quote
GameStop humbly offers me $16.00 for Epic Mickey..... Original Value? $49.99 + $2.50 State Tax= $52.49


Kingdom hearts Re:coded.... Much more recent, hasn't really aged much, and including Tax and all that stuff, I originally  payed $36.74
 
Now what does Lovely GameStop want to give me for this fairly pricey DS game?
 
12.00.....
 

 
GameStop to Challenge Steam, OnLive and Maybe One Day Apple
« on: April 02, 2011, 10:14:57 AM »


Quote
Well, it looks like GameStop's plans following its acquisition of Impulse and Spawn Labs may be even grander than we had suspected. At an investor conference today, GameStop said flat out that it is "becoming a technology company," and that it does indeed plan to introduce a cloud-based gaming service similar to OnLive as a result of the Spawn Labs acquisition, while Impulse will be used to "compete fiercely" with Steam.
[size=78%] [/size]
But that's just the start of things. According to the Dallas Morning News, GameStop also plans to expand the gaming service to a variety of mobile devices, and it's apparently even entertaining the idea of a GameStop-branded tablet, saying that "if we feel like we could do a better job of making a tablet, we'll do that." Of course, some of that is still quite a ways off, but GameStop will be taking its first steps fairly soon -- it's already showed off a demo of how the service will be integrated into its website (see above, complete with a "try it now" option), and it plans to begin a public beta sometime this year before rolling out the full service early next year.


I don't remember this in the slightest, or what came from this, and it seems as if, once the history of our era is written, no one else will either.

Farewell Gamestop, I hope your fine organization gets a fantastic trade-in value.
« Last Edit: June 19, 2018, 03:27:50 PM by Invincible Donkey Kong »
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Offline ShyGuy

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Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-2018
« Reply #890 on: June 20, 2018, 09:48:10 AM »
Soon we will only have Walmart, Best Buy, and Target.

Offline King of Twitch

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Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-2018
« Reply #891 on: June 20, 2018, 05:20:42 PM »
I was going to say that BB is on its way out, but it appears that ***** has been good for business.
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Offline Ian Sane

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Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-2018
« Reply #892 on: June 20, 2018, 05:28:43 PM »
There are a handful of mom n pop game stores that I've become familiar with in the lower mainland of BC and northwest Washington state.  They sell new games and old games and have trade-ins so on the surface this seems like the same Gamestop business model.  Though while Gamestop has more and more of their store full of toys and knick-knacks and less games, the independent stores I visit have lots and lots of used games from multiple generations.  Retro gaming is hip but Gamestop has nothing retro in their store at all.  Their used games are almost all from the current generation and they've been clearing out their previous gen stock.  So the only games they carry are the ones that are all available as digital purchases.  Gamestop is a physical store selling physical copies of what are essentially digital games.  They're the videogame equivalent of stores selling CDs in the post-iTunes era.  Those stores went under but the used record stores remain.  The retro gaming stores are the used record stores while Gamestop is HMV.  And the ironic thing is that with their focus on trade-ins and used games they could EASILY have transitioned to a retro gaming chain once the writing was on the wall for physical games.

Offline broodwars

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Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-2018
« Reply #893 on: June 20, 2018, 05:58:25 PM »
I saw on Twitter that GameStop had Shadow of War on sale for $20, and it's supposedly decent now that they patched out all the pay-to-win B.S. so I decided to go buy a copy. This is pretty much a transcript of what happened next. Just FYI, I had allowed my PuR card to expire since I don't really buy anything at GS anymore, opting instead for Amazon:
*She rings up the game*

"Do you want to preorder anything coming up?"

"No, there's nothing I really want the rest of the year."

"There's Red Dead Redemption 2 coming out, Assassin's Creed Odyssey, etc."


"I'm good, thanks."

"I see your membership expired back in May. Do you want to renew it?"

"No".

"It's only $15 & comes w/ a coupon."

"I'm good."

"You saved $700 last year with it."

"I'm good!"

"You would have saved $60 last month!"

"I'm fine, thanks"

*She finally rings up the sale, looking pissed*

This routine is why I don't shop at GameStop anymore, and likely why their stock is in the toilet and they're on the verge of Bankruptcy. Look at how many times I got hassled in that conversation when I came in to buy one thing and made that very much clear.
Meanwhile, I see a thing I want on Amazon, I click a few buttons, and I'm done. And probably for cheaper, too.
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Offline segagamersteph

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Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-2018
« Reply #894 on: June 20, 2018, 08:33:43 PM »
I can beat that. When I went in to buy FF 15 I asked do you have Final Fantasy 15. The guy frowns and says we don't have any used copies in just yet. We can put your name on the list. I said what about new I'd rather buy it new. He said oh well if you want to come back on Monday we should have some more used copies are you sure you don't want to wait.

I asked do you have any NEW copies? I want new not used. He said I am not sure if we have any new copies but we'll have some used ones in a day or two. I asked the guy putting games on the shelf. do YOU know if they have any copies of FF15. I kept asking because there weren't any on the wall. But there were plenty of display boxes that said ask an associate.
He walked over to the wall and pulled on from behind the ask an associate box and said here it's the last one. We can sell you this but if you want the used copy we can sign you up. I was annoyed I said listen I just want to buy the NEW copy I am not interested in used. I don't buy used games. I want this game new.


The only reason I was even in there was because I did a story on them for the Switch launch for our newspaper and I had some in store credit for doing the story. I wanted that game. They hassled me for using the credit and asked if I wanted to pick up a used game to go with my purchase. I was so pissed they kept pushing the used game I grabbed a $20 new copy of Dungeons 2 and said I'll take this too.

That was the last time I went into Game stop and that was probably a good 2 years or more from my last visit that also didn't go well.


On that same story. The reason they gave me store credit wasn't for doing the story for the newspaper, that would be unethical. It was because I tried to snap a photo of the long line forming of people there to pre order the new Nintendo console. I had just done a story on the NES Classic for our Holiday Buying Guide (boy I felt like a jerk for telling people to buy one of those that Christmas)
 Anyways there was one jerk in line who got belligerent and threatened me for taking his picture without his permission. I politely said it's okay sir this is going into the newspaper. He got in my face and said You do not have my permission to take my photo. I said sir, this is a public place, you are on a large crowd, this is news, my boss sent me here to take a picture and i have a constitutional right to take this picture. If you don't want to be in the photo you can gladly step aside and these people will save your spot in line He grabbed my camera and said if you take a picture I break your camera. Three customers in line rushed between me and him and said back of this person is just doing their job.

He grabbed my camera and said Im going to break your camera if you don't get out of here. I said go ahead you're going to be buying me a new camera. At this point the store manager told him if he didn't want to be in the photo he could step aside or you can go home. The man turned towards the wall and I snapped the photo of the long line, cropped his ass out of my photo anyways and the manager offered me store credit to apologize for the incident.

The store was glad to get the positive press but they knew if I had gone back with a story of gamestop customer assaults journalist while standing in line for new video game it would have been a **** storm so I came out ahead and all they asked is that I crop the name out and say a local video game store in my story.  That is what I ended up doing.
That wasn't even the worst thing that ever happened but it was just another day on the job. I, won't shed any tears for GameStop going out of business.

Offline King of Twitch

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Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-2018
« Reply #895 on: June 20, 2018, 09:22:30 PM »
LOL. Are you saying you bought a new game from Gamestop out of spite?
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Offline segagamersteph

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Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-2018
« Reply #896 on: June 21, 2018, 10:57:25 AM »
I had store credit, I picked a NEW game over a used copy because they were pushing the used game. Read up on their policies they try to force people into used games because of profit margins its their circle of life program.
The game was free for me. The value was $20. I didn't tell the story right. I used the rest of the credit later on my Switch pre-order which I only got from them because I was there and they let me make payments. I was really just planning on swooping in to snap a picture and it escalated.

Offline ThePerm

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Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-2018
« Reply #897 on: June 22, 2018, 01:13:29 AM »
You know what I wonder. If Gamestop just liquidated all of its stuff to a competitor that would be simpler than a closeout sale. Wal-mart used to have this sister company called Buds that were in older model Wal-marts that sold discount stuff. It could be a good time to start that up again.

Wal-mart inexplicably closed a bunch of Sam's clubs. They could just turn them into big online warehouses.

edit: that's just what they did.
« Last Edit: June 22, 2018, 01:23:24 AM by ThePerm »
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Offline segagamersteph

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Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-2018
« Reply #898 on: June 24, 2018, 11:39:28 PM »
I'd rather they bury their inventory in the dessert in New Mexico somewhere so we can dig it up 30 years later.

Offline ThePerm

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Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-2018
« Reply #899 on: July 03, 2018, 09:03:31 PM »
Still looking for ET
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