I don't know if you use EB Games or Game Crazy or whatever, but this rant is mostly directed toward that large, stupid chain of stores known as Gamestop.

 

Gamestop is the only place around to buy games (We have a Gamecrazy, but it's in a bad part of town). EB Games are also here, but they are the same thing as Gamestop ever since Gamestop bought them. I used to love EB, they were great. Now, they suck. And here is why I hate Gamestop:

 

 

 

 

 

1. The Store: The store itself has always been annoying to me. They change it once every month or so, so it gets confusing where stuff is. They then have everything strewn about. PS2 games are in the middle section, on the left wall, and in the bin over there. Why can't there be one whole section dedicated to the PS2 instead of three small sections? It would make more sense if they were, at least, clumped together. But they are everywhere.

 

 

 

2. PC Selection: I wish Gamestop would have a bigger selection of PC games. They have new ones, and really popular old ones, but they never have ones like Unreal Tournament or anything like that. I wish I could buy older PC games there.

 

 

 

3. Customers: What a load of crap. Most customers are pathetic. They come in looking for a game, don't find it, so complain to the person at the counter. Then they try to buy some game that is rated M and they need to ask specifically about what each thing means ("Does sexual content means it shows breasts?"). One time there was a guy in that was trying to trade in a pink DS that he said was his. When the guy at the counter popped a game out of it it contained Fashion Designer DS. The guy stole it apparently, but nobody wanted to say anything. Another time some guy came in to trade a PS2 that he said was broken, but he didn't have a receipt, so he threw a fit and tried to start a fight with the guy at the counter. It just seems like everytime I go in there there are idiots and it always seems like they get in line before me. I swear, almost every other time I go to Gamestop I am stuck waiting for the idiot in front of me, and he/she takes about 20 minutes to finally go away. Maybe it's just my town, but it does annoy the crap out of me. Most of the people at the register are happy to talk to me because I strike up pleasant conversation about the latest games instead of "HOLY CRAP I NEVER BUY FROM YOU AGAIN CUZ DISK SCRATCHED!"

 

 

 

4. Trading Games: God, they give you so little for game trades, it's stupid to even trade anymore. EB seemed fairly reasonable, but these guys give you the smallest amount possible. I hate trading five games and getting six dollars for them all. What a rip off.

 

 

 

5. Buying Used Games: Always the chance that they are broken or don't work, it ticks me off that they don't check these games somehow. I haven't had as much trouble with used games as I used to, but I still do encounter a broken game every once in a while.

 

 

 

6. New Games and Used Games: 60 dollars new and 55 dollars used? Why not just buy it new for five dollars cheaper? That's stupid. And then some games like COD4 are 55 dollars a pop, even though it's two years old. That's stupid.

 

 

 

7. New Games: Employees can rent any game they want for two days, which means they can play that new game you bought that you think was untouched. Isn't that kind of against the law? I am buying something new, I demand that no console has read it before mine has.

 

 

 

8. Can I...?: Every time you buy something without one of their stupid cards, they have to ask "Do you want to buy one" because it goes onto the record how many cards they sell. But, they are always so annoying about it. No I don't want one. Are you sure, it does blah blah and you get Game Informer with it. So what? Shut up!

 

 

 

9. Game Informer: Gamestop's official magazine, and boy is it screwed up. First off, I hate most of the news in it, it usually isn't a very exciting magazine to read. At least Electronic Gaming Monthly (which is gone now sadly) gave much more exciting and readable news. Game Informer takes everything too seriously, like they are speaking of some kind of murder. It bores me. And there reviews are totally biased, mostly because they are helping sell Gamestop games. For their reviews, 7 is average. What? Isn't it usually 5 that's average? So if you don't read the small print that tells you what the rating are, then you think "Oh, this game got a 7.5 which means it's good!" No, it means it's average. What a sham.

 

 

 

10. M-Rated Games: My mom is almost 40, and it shows. Yet everytime I buy an M game my Mom has to show her driver's license. What? And then they have to read off everything it's rated M for (my Mom hates me playing rated M games). Even if you buy a strategy guide for an M rated game they need to see your ID. What the heck? It's a strategy guide, why is it that big a deal if my parents don't know I bought a strategy guide for Halo 3? Big whoop, it "may" show blood and violence.

 

 

 

Anybody else feel that Gamestop/EB is a really bad chain? I just find way too many problems with them to count.

I'm cheap and Gamestop has too many buy 2 get 1 free deals to pass up on. I have had some issues with games, but they have always replaced them.

I'm cheap and Gamestop has too many buy 2 get 1 free deals to pass up on. I have had some issues with games, but they have always replaced them.

 

 

 

Yeah, they are good with return policies, but I wish you didn't have to return too much.

I go to game crazy and most of these problems never happen to me.

I hate used games. Whenever I make a birthday/Christmas wishlist, I must always specify that I want the games new.

 

 

 

Used games have the chance of the game being broken.

Used games means the developer doesn't get the money from that purchase either. I mean if you're going to buy the game just splurge and spend the extra $5.

When I buy Xbox 360 games, I always buy used.

 

Normally when I buy them they are 20-40 dollars cheaper then new so its worth it for me.

 

I have also never had a used game not work.

Used games means the developer doesn't get the money from that purchase either. I mean if you're going to buy the game just splurge and spend the extra $5.

 

 

 

Yeah, that is the downside. There are certain developer's that I make sure to buy new from, since I trust their work and want it to continue. It's just that I don't have to money to buy everything new.

It's kinda funny cause we have an EB games and a gamestop in the very same mall near my house. One on the upper floor, one on the bottom. Anyway, Even though the EB was there first, I prefer the gamestop.

 

 

 

1. The EB is in a tiny [wagon] store. On weekends or around any big gift time of the year, it is almost impossible to go anywhere in the store (Good stuff is usually in the back too). The Gamestop is a huge open area. Every time I go in I see no more then 10 people in the store, and it isn't a problem.

 

 

 

2. The employees. There is only 1 guy I like at the EB and I don't think he works there anymore. The rest of them seem to be super Elitist, and always have that "Buy your crap and don't ask us any questions" Kinda air around them. The only time they really perked up was just after Christmas when we bought rock band. They were happy. The Gamestop employees on the other hand seem pretty cheerful, and always ready to discuss something.

 

 

 

3. Selection of games. Gamestop seems to win with selection of used games. It was almost like they sent all the popular used games up there from the Eb. Plus they tend to have much better deals more often on used older games that I want.

 

 

 

I try to shop at Gamestop over EB. Unless I can buy it from wal-mart. YYaaaaa 10% discount.

About the only gamestop I knew were it was was in the mall and it went out of business (that mall is dead anyway, everything does) so I just go up to a used game store up the street and they usually have some good stuff. 3 days to return the game if I just didn't like it, which I can beat any game i've played within 3 days going through the normal story (which i'll decide if I want to do sidequests based on that anyway.) so that works out fine for me anyway. They check disks before the buy them (like atleast make sure they work), and it's usually very easy to find things since they don't move it around a lot. They group the PS games together (besides the PSP) and the handheld games/(S)NES games are always in the same place.

 

 

 

Although yes every time I go into a gamestop they have moved everything around and it is kind of annoying.

Uh, I buy used whenever I can. I've never had a problem with a used game and they won't exactly accept a trade-in of a scratched disk or something, so the games aren't likely to be defective anyway.

 

 

 

They do give you a pittance for trade-ins but that's business.

Never had a problem with Gamestop its like the best game store ever it has the largest collection of games compare it to Walmart or Toysrus which only support a small area which doesn't even support many older games systems etc. and doesn't have used games.

 

 

 

Used games I never had problems with them I've gotten games like Lost Planet for $10 the deals are amazing when they come.

 

 

 

I have no idea what EBGames even is I think your location is the reason why people are so terrible and why I've never heard of the store.

Never had a problem with Gamestop its like the best game store ever it has the largest collection of games compare it to Walmart or Toysrus which only support a small area which doesn't even support many older games systems etc. and doesn't have used games.

 

 

 

 

Supports older systems? Last time I went into a game stop they only supported the PS2 as the oldest system they had.

Never had a problem with Gamestop its like the best game store ever it has the largest collection of games compare it to Walmart or Toysrus which only support a small area which doesn't even support many older games systems etc. and doesn't have used games.

 

 

 

 

Supports older systems? Last time I went into a game stop they only supported the PS2 as the oldest system they had.

 

 

 

I normally see N64 games there.

Sounds like most of your problems are based on that particular store you go to.

 

 

1. The Store: The store itself has always been annoying to me. They change it once every month or so, so it gets confusing where stuff is. They then have everything strewn about. PS2 games are in the middle section, on the left wall, and in the bin over there. Why can't there be one whole section dedicated to the PS2 instead of three small sections? It would make more sense if they were, at least, clumped together. But they are everywhere.

 

Yea, this is store-specific. There are 3 Gamestops in my area, and none of them are arranged as you describe.

 

 

 

2. PC Selection: I wish Gamestop would have a bigger selection of PC games. They have new ones, and really popular old ones, but they never have ones like Unreal Tournament or anything like that. I wish I could buy older PC games there.

 

I guess I've gotta give you this one.The PC selection is pretty bad, but anything for PC I want I can usually download from Steam or something.

 

 

 

3. Customers: What a load of crap. Most customers are pathetic. They come in looking for a game, don't find it, so complain to the person at the counter. Then they try to buy some game that is rated M and they need to ask specifically about what each thing means ("Does sexual content means it shows breasts?"). One time there was a guy in that was trying to trade in a pink DS that he said was his. When the guy at the counter popped a game out of it it contained Fashion Designer DS. The guy stole it apparently, but nobody wanted to say anything. Another time some guy came in to trade a PS2 that he said was broken, but he didn't have a receipt, so he threw a fit and tried to start a fight with the guy at the counter. It just seems like everytime I go in there there are idiots and it always seems like they get in line before me. I swear, almost every other time I go to Gamestop I am stuck waiting for the idiot in front of me, and he/she takes about 20 minutes to finally go away. Maybe it's just my town, but it does annoy the crap out of me. Most of the people at the register are happy to talk to me because I strike up pleasant conversation about the latest games instead of "HOLY CRAP I NEVER BUY FROM YOU AGAIN CUZ DISK SCRATCHED!"

 

I think you just live in an idiot-populated area. I've never seen this in all my trips to Gamestop; in fact, a lot of times the customers are pretty mellow even if they can't find something.

 

 

 

4. Trading Games: God, they give you so little for game trades, it's stupid to even trade anymore. EB seemed fairly reasonable, but these guys give you the smallest amount possible. I hate trading five games and getting six dollars for them all. What a rip off.

 

I'll give you this one, too. I took in a stack of GC/Xbox games a while back, maybe 10 or so, and would have gotten something like $5 for the stack. No thanks.

 

 

 

5. Buying Used Games: Always the chance that they are broken or don't work, it ticks me off that they don't check these games somehow. I haven't had as much trouble with used games as I used to, but I still do encounter a broken game every once in a while.

 

I have in excess of a 3:1 ratio of used:new gamesfor 360, and never have I once had an issue with a used game beyond my Overlord case being a little dog-chewed. The disc was a-OK, though.

 

6. New Games and Used Games: 60 dollars new and 55 dollars used? Why not just buy it new for five dollars cheaper? That's stupid. And then some games like COD4 are 55 dollars a pop, even though it's two years old. That's stupid.

 

I've only seen those kinds of differences with high-sellers like Halo. Those will always be expensive. I did find a new F.E.A.R. for around $30, but a used for $16. So this isn't always accurate.

 

 

 

7. New Games: Employees can rent any game they want for two days, which means they can play that new game you bought that you think was untouched. Isn't that kind of against the law? I am buying something new, I demand that no console has read it before mine has.

 

I'ma need to see a source, here. But if that bothers you, don't pay extra for new. Used is cheaper, anyway even if by only $5.

 

 

 

8. Can I...?: Every time you buy something without one of their stupid cards, they have to ask "Do you want to buy one" because it goes onto the record how many cards they sell. But, they are always so annoying about it. No I don't want one. Are you sure, it does blah blah and you get Game Informer with it. So what? Shut up!

 

This is store-specific again, although I suppose I wouldn't know since I have an Edge card. 10% off used games is always nice.

 

 

9. Game Informer: Gamestop's official magazine, and boy is it screwed up. First off, I hate most of the news in it, it usually isn't a very exciting magazine to read. At least Electronic Gaming Monthly (which is gone now sadly) gave much more exciting and readable news. Game Informer takes everything too seriously, like they are speaking of some kind of murder. It bores me. And there reviews are totally biased, mostly because they are helping sell Gamestop games. For their reviews, 7 is average. What? Isn't it usually 5 that's average? So if you don't read the small print that tells you what the rating are, then you think "Oh, this game got a 7.5 which means it's good!" No, it means it's average. What a sham.

 

I dunno, I like it, and if they're serious you must read some serious wonky stuff. I always get some laugh out of it, mostly with picture captions. But to each his own. What throws me, though, and this is true in many places, that they'll hype up a game-like Too Human-but then give a poor review and spit on it once it's released. And it's just a different rating system, no need to get up in arms.

 

10. M-Rated Games: My mom is almost 40, and it shows. Yet everytime I buy an M game my Mom has to show her driver's license. What? And then they have to read off everything it's rated M for (my Mom hates me playing rated M games). Even if you buy a strategy guide for an M rated game they need to see your ID. What the heck? It's a strategy guide, why is it that big a deal if my parents don't know I bought a strategy guide for Halo 3? Big whoop, it "may" show blood and violence.

 

Another store-specific. I'm always the one the brings the M-rated game to the counter, the guy asks my dad if he is, in fact, my dad, then I pay for it and everything is good.

 

 

 

Anybody else feel that Gamestop/EB is a really bad chain? I just find way too many problems with them to count.

 

Gamestop may not be the best thing ever, but it certainly beats my other option; Best Buy. Although Best Buy carries more of Limited Editions, etc. that GS doesn't....higher prices, though.

Best Buy has the Reward Zone program that can help you get some money back from what you buy, but Gamestop is still much cheaper, especially with the Edge card 10% discount. It basically negates sales tax, plus a little more.

Well, the EB/GS in my area don't sell DVD's anymore, which is lame. Yeah, I do live in an idiot populated area sadly...my next door neighbor has to have his whole family over to cut down a tree and everytime I go outside he comes out and stares at me. Yeah, Peoria is an idiot city.

 

 

 

I don't know much about store specific stuff, but I know in Illinois it is illegal for minors to buy M rated games so they have to ask for everything depicting your age in order for you to finally get an M game. I bought a guide to Splinter Cell Double Agent in Florida two years ago and they had to ask my grandma if I could buy it...they didn't need her ID but they had to read everything off of it.

 

 

 

And Game Informer just seems stupid to me. I hate how biased the reviews are. I don't know about you, but I've always felt like they give decent reviews for everything, because they know it will boost sales for the game.

 

7. New Games: Employees can rent any game they want for two days, which means they can play that new game you bought that you think was untouched. Isn't that kind of against the law? I am buying something new, I demand that no console has read it before mine has.

 

 

 

 

This has happened to me before, and apparently it happens often. I was gonna buy Battlefield: Bad Company and they only had one copy left, so the employee hands me an open copy and charges me the new price, I ask him why he charged me the new price and I get a used game, he says "it's open but it was never played." BULLCRAP.

 

 

 

http://kotaku.com/5205385/gamestop-sells-played-games-as-new-sources-say-practice-could-be-illegal

Go to their website and look up the prices for the following games:

 

 

 

Guitar Hero I&II combo disc set - used

 

G

 

and

 

Guitar Hero II - used

 

 

 

the combo game is actually less. LESS MONEY FOR THE SAME THING.

 

Somebody is dumb.

 

 

 

Not to mention the numorous broken games I buy there, including the time I had a Timesplitters I disc in a Timesplitters II case.

 

 

 

But it still beats Wal Mart and Target by a mile. I think all the idiots have spawned due to this new "casual gamer" thing. They happen to mostly be [developmentally delayed]ed.

Go to their website and look up the prices for the following games:

 

 

 

Guitar Hero I&II combo disc set - used

 

G

 

and

 

Guitar Hero II - used

 

 

 

the combo game is actually less. LESS MONEY FOR THE SAME THING.

 

Somebody is dumb.

 

 

 

Not to mention the numorous broken games I buy there, including the time I had a Timesplitters I disc in a Timesplitters II case.

 

 

 

But it still beats Wal Mart and Target by a mile. I think all the idiots have spawned due to this new "casual gamer" thing. They happen to mostly be [developmentally delayed].

 

 

 

 

 

I bought Just Cause, and they ended up putting Juiced in the box. The employees are idiots...

I use GameFly to rent and buy used games and use GameStop for new games just because it's the closest store.

 

 

 

I've never really had any of the problems you have and used games are EXTREMELY cheap on GameFly. I agree with Lenin about this being store related and maybe you should take the risk of your rims being stolen and go to the Game Crazy.

My Gamestop is great. I payed a total of 17.50 for both GTA IV and BF:BC used, and they were in new condition.

Whenever I buy a game in store whether its used or new, I open it up in front of them to check for any scratches etc. They do it to us, so why not do it to them.

This is why I use Steam and private torrents. Can't go wrong.

 

 

 

That and the three video game stores went out of business because Best Buy is right next door and in a 10x larger building.

 

 

 

Still in BestBuy haven't had any problems the last time I was there like forever ago.

GAME is the only store that has a branch near to where I live, and I've never had any problems with it. They always seem to have some kind of offer on too, which is great. It's not a big shop, but considering the size of town I live in it's better than nothing. My only gripe is that the staff constantly ask me "if my PC meets the minimum spec" even though I know most of them :P

 

 

 

I occasionally buy stuff on Steam too, but only if I can't find it in GAME. Despite all the advantages of downloads, I still like having a boxed copy.