GAME not stocking Mass Effect 3?

[SymphonicX]

Things are looker bleaker by the day for Game. http://uk.news.yahoo.com/10-000-game...122313224.html Yep, it's bleaker than bleak for Game. Today they announced a 76% drop in share prices from 3p a share to 1p a share. The CEO basically described the shares as "pretty much worthless" (or something to that effect). Everyone knows it, this is a landslide decision which will bury the retailer by the end of next month at the latest. When one company pulls out a huge title like Mass Effect, everyone else starts to wonder why they are shipping their units to the failing retailer if they're just going to fail to sell it. Shops like HMV still have some longevity due to their variety - but Game is now pretty much gone, like Woolworths. Still if there's a gap in the market, someone will fill it - unfortunately in literal terms this means download and subscription services as I have previously mentioned. The days of owning hard copies of anything are dying.

[Danny]

Much as i prefer having it all digital an on the cloud so i cant lose it all in a fire, this isnt the end of buying hard copies on the high street. you just go to hmv or asda instead. its just the end of a store for videogames. just like the big crash of the 80s when a single nes cart went for like 89 to 110 pounds and then games were a shit business till the playstation and its £24.99 games saved the industry then. its the next big crash and you bet your ass the consoles charging £60 per game are no longer viable compared to steams £7 average.

[SymphonicX]

Much as i prefer having it all digital an on the cloud so i cant lose it all in a fire, this isnt the end of buying hard copies on the high street. you just go to hmv or asda instead. its just the end of a store for videogames. just like the big crash of the 80s when a single nes cart went for like 89 to 110 pounds and then games were a shit business till the playstation and its £24.99 games saved the industry then. its the next big crash and you bet your ass the consoles charging £60 per game are no longer viable compared to steams £7 average. That's it though, if Steam can offer the same title for £7 and HMV, Asda and Game are still charging £39.99 - there's no competition at all. So it IS the end of owning hard copies - how long do you think it'll be before HMV and Asda, Tesco etc stop stocking hard copies? I think about 5 years from now. You said it yourself, market expectations circumvent modern retail strategies - people expect cheap games and £39.99 isn't cheap. At least in the 80s, you had no choice but to buy hard copies, regardless how much you paid for them. In today's modern age, hard copies aren't economically viable in this depressed time - but soft copies are. Itunes knows this, and has done for years. That's why there's no chart music any more - no CD or singles charts that are notable in anyway. It's the download charts now. It's not going to happen overnight - but as I say, 5 years from now and kids will be asking "what was a CD" through their Farleys Rusks (DLC version) - Asda, Tesco and the like will catch on eventually, as soon as the market has diminished enough - and it's diminishing, fast.

[MinionZombie]

Erm, £7 for a brand new game from Steam? Somehow I doubt that, I take it you're talking about sales or something - but you can get real bargains with hard copies too. I got Bulletstorm last month for £6, 360 hard copy, and before Xmas there were numerous brand new releases getting £10 or £15 or even £20 cut off the price straight away. As for Game, well, perhaps I'll be able to nab a couple of bargains as it all goes down the pan ... I have bought games from them routinely in the past, particularly pre-orders as they're very good about getting you the game on (or even a day before) the actual street date of the game. I haven't seen other websites managing that particular thing ... but yeah, if your focus is too narrow in terms of what you're selling, it's not going to go so well eventually - especially in tough times like these. I only ever buy a game brand new at £40 if I know full well I'm going to get the hours out of it (e.g. like I did with Saints Row 3 ... but I was pissed when it was like £12 cheaper the following week on a sale that I hadn't considered happening at the time) or if I'm really excited for it (e.g. L.A. Noire, which I also got many an hour out of). However with many titles just not being worth £40 in my current opinion (and financial position), I sure as shit won't be buying games at full price generally speaking. I love me a bargain, and I'm a stubborn sort, so I'll wait around for the price to fall ... and then swoop in like a bastard vulture. Then again, if I was Mister Moneybags, I wouldn't give a shit about paying forty-ruddy-quid for a game ... but I'm not, so I do.

[Tricky]

I hear of far, far too many people picking up pirated games as well which obviously means a lot less people wandering into Game and picking up new releases, that cant have helped things...

[MinionZombie]

I hear of far, far too many people picking up pirated games as well which obviously means a lot less people wandering into Game and picking up new releases, that cant have helped things... To an extent perhaps, like in all cases of piracy, but on the other hand certainly not every pirating of a game means an equal loss of a sale. No doubt many have ripped off games that they would have never paid for anyway (certainly not full price at least), and frankly some titles just aren't worth your money, or not worth more than a fiver. I enjoyed Bulletstorm last month, but I'm really glad I got it for £6 - if I'd paid £40 for that I'd have felt rather ripped off. £10 max for that game, in my view, it's fun but it's also somewhat of a filler game. Sometimes it's also an issue of DRM and other anti-piracy measures, which are decidedly imperfect models for achieving that goal. Legal purchasers will have to jump through numerous hoops (even going so far as to be online for the entire duration of their actual play time - the most idiotic idea), whereas pirates have all that garbage stripped out (no matter how 'unbreakable' it is claimed to be) and just whack it on their machine and go. The DRM situation needs to be completely re-thought, digital distribution needs to be streamlined and improved, but the latter relies on having the infrastructure to support it, and certainly here in the UK we don't yet have the broadband network capable of handling such tasks.

[SymphonicX]

Erm, £7 for a brand new game from Steam? Somehow I doubt that, I take it you're talking about sales or something - but you can get real bargains with hard copies too. I got Bulletstorm last month for £6, 360 hard copy, and before Xmas there were numerous brand new releases getting £10 or £15 or even £20 cut off the price straight away. As for Game, well, perhaps I'll be able to nab a couple of bargains as it all goes down the pan ... I have bought games from them routinely in the past, particularly pre-orders as they're very good about getting you the game on (or even a day before) the actual street date of the game. I haven't seen other websites managing that particular thing ... but yeah, if your focus is too narrow in terms of what you're selling, it's not going to go so well eventually - especially in tough times like these. I only ever buy a game brand new at £40 if I know full well I'm going to get the hours out of it (e.g. like I did with Saints Row 3 ... but I was pissed when it was like £12 cheaper the following week on a sale that I hadn't considered happening at the time) or if I'm really excited for it (e.g. L.A. Noire, which I also got many an hour out of). However with many titles just not being worth £40 in my current opinion (and financial position), I sure as shit won't be buying games at full price generally speaking. I love me a bargain, and I'm a stubborn sort, so I'll wait around for the price to fall ... and then swoop in like a bastard vulture. Then again, if I was Mister Moneybags, I wouldn't give a shit about paying forty-ruddy-quid for a game ... but I'm not, so I do. Well said bro

[Tricky]

The good thing with picking up bargains today is that games have been visually stunning for quite a few years now, so you dont feel like your jumping back about 3 generations when you pick up a couple of years old game that you missed the first time around

[MinionZombie]

The good thing with picking up bargains today is that games have been visually stunning for quite a few years now, so you dont feel like your jumping back about 3 generations when you pick up a couple of years old game that you missed the first time around Indeed - Bulletstorm, as I've mentioned before, £6 a year after release. Wasn't in a rush to play it, but was interested, so that was fine by me alright. The latest Assassin's Creed game is around £20-£25 at the moment, but I'm holding off for £10 on that. Would like to get Rage to give it a spin, but saw it for £10 and didn't buy it at the time (had two other games to play, but wish I had done) so I certainly won't for £13 ... yep, I'm that stubborn on prices. Actually I have points from Game, so if I had got it at £10 I would have actually had it for £8. Kinda annoyed I didn't jump on that at the time.

[Tricky]

I took out a points card with Game at Christmas when I bought the g/f's Wii, I guess I wont get chance to rack up any points on it now!

[MinionZombie]

I took out a points card with Game at Christmas when I bought the g/f's Wii, I guess I wont get chance to rack up any points on it now! I've had mine for a good three years or thereabouts I think. I've managed to take a good £30 off purchases in the past, which is nice ... but yeah, if you've got any points on it, spend them now.

[Andy]

I've had mine for a good three years or thereabouts I think. I've managed to take a good £30 off purchases in the past, which is nice ... but yeah, if you've got any points on it, spend them now. I Still have my original electronic boutique card.. i wonder if you get interest on your points...

[MinionZombie]

I Still have my original electronic boutique card.. i wonder if you get interest on your points... Chance would be a fine thing!