GAME exits Administration

[RichL]

Not everyone has unlimited internet in the UK let alone decent download speeds.

Say a PS3 game is around 35 gig, its bad enough now waiting the hour for the mandatory 'patch' to install itself before you can play your PS3 game, people with crap internets or lowsy download speeds will be waiting a week or so to play their new game.

I dread to think what people on 2mb or 10mb ADSL lines will manage, some of whom have a couple of gig allowance a month...

And downloads is the future? Not in the UK anytime soon

[shiftytigger]

Just had a text off a friend who works for a 'leading Edge game magazine' who says he has heard Game are trying to close 100 shops by the end of the year. Oh dear.

Oh joy, all the Game Stores will be converted into more 99p Stores soon enough.

Well in Coventry in the space of 300 years theres 2 Games and a Gamestation. Theres no need for that amount of shops in such a small area.

Sadly Coventry has suffered in the last few years with many comings and goings - hertford street (when I was there last) had game , cex , hmv and gamestation on one 5 minute walk - made for good bargain hunting. There were 2 cex's at one point (possibly still are - i've no idea) plus an indie games store that didnt stay long (oddly just like cex/game) just up from gamestation and a couple of pimpernel like traders in the market.

Variety , if it hadn't been abandoned by these so called 'games' stores , made for an interesting shopping trip. Sadly now with gamestation filling shelves with cardboard POS signs (East Ham) instead of 'retro' ps2 stuff or similar retro it seems that variety isn't important.

Gone are the days of many formats and interested looking customers. Sure I could download a load of stuff .Then suffer a fatal hard drive failure.

End of the day GAME could have survived if they hadnt been so greedy and attempted to monopolise the market on games without listening to what customers want from games shops. I hope some good comes of it somewhere. I never bought much new stuff from them anyway but even so I guess I'm just an old school browser and bargain hunter who will miss their sometimes brilliant multi buy clangers.

[TheNewMonkey]

I walked past GAME today an there was a big sign in the window saying....

Come in & try the new Vita for only £9.99

are they for real? or is this some kind of sick joke

[theantmeister]

You console gamers make laugh. In PC land (or "the future", as we like to call it) we have been digital for years. We enjoy low prices on most games (new releases are still a little expensive) and regular sales. We have access to brand new blockbusters and classic games from PC gaming's illustrious past, all at the click of a mouse. And we don't have to find that stupid plastic disc when we want to play something.

[James A]

You console gamers make laugh. In PC land (or "the future", as we like to call it) we have been digital for years. We enjoy low prices on most games (new releases are still a little expensive) and regular sales. We have access to brand new blockbusters and classic games from PC gaming's illustrious past, all at the click of a mouse. And we don't have to find that stupid plastic disc when we want to play something.

True Steam is a pretty handy thing and does have some awesome bargins and sales on it but im going to get it in the neck for singling Sony out they are a complete bunch of rip off merchants when it comes to digital distribution. Add in how bad they've treated European gamers with not releasing stuff or delaying it for months and is it any wonder console gamers don't want to go digital. Microsoft are no angels either but they seem to offer better deals than Sony.

Also and this is going slightly off topic how is it that the digital version still turns out more expensive despite there being no packaging and the rest.

[sscott]

You console gamers make laugh. In PC land (or "the future", as we like to call it) we have been digital for years. We enjoy low prices on most games (new releases are still a little expensive) and regular sales. We have access to brand new blockbusters and classic games from PC gaming's illustrious past, all at the click of a mouse. And we don't have to find that stupid plastic disc when we want to play something.

haha! I don't want to see anyone lose there job though. Mangement re-structuring needed methinks. Look, the current model of the high street is dead anyway, just not everybody has been told yet. Online shopping has shown massive growth. High street shops are nothing short of tactile broswing centres before people go home and buy from Amazon or whatever for 2/3 of the price. Many of the 40+ press will deride the future but twas ever thus. Won't change anything. Anyway, except the future model and buy the 30 years of physical media we so covert.

[Flint]

Yeah if Sony acted like Good old games* it wouldn't be that much of an issue, of course it helps that there's competition on PC rather than a monopoly.

GOG were still good last I heard.

[Liamh1982]

I walked past GAME today an there was a big sign in the window saying....

Come in & try the new Vita for only £9.99

are they for real? or is this some kind of sick joke

Or try it in OUR SISTER COMPANY for free!

[ToxieDogg]

Indeed. Specifically the US branch of EB got involved with its UK arm to acquire GAME, and then halfway through the deal, pulled out. Leaving the UK branch to essentially have to then form itself as its own company, and because the US arm still held the name rights to "Electronic Boutique", it rebranded itself as GAME in the process. So essentially today's GAME is the old UK EB. Then GAME bought Gamestation afterwards.

I always thought that when EB first acquired Game, they did a huge customer survey to decide as to whether to stick with the Electronics Boutique name or completely rebrand as Game...and obviously most customers chose 'Game' as it's a more self explanatory title. I remember getting some blurb/junk mail about it at the time. Interesting to hear that wasn't quite the case.

I walked past GAME today an there was a big sign in the window saying....

Come in & try the new Vita for only £9.99

are they for real? or is this some kind of sick joke

Eh? What? £10 just to try something in the shop?

On the subject of downloads, the biggest thing that will annoy me with it is that it will mean an end to imported games and publishers will have total control over regional releases. You like that game that was released in the US/Japan months ago? Tough. It hasn't and may never appear on UK download services so you may never get to play it.

[sscott]

Does someone have proof Game were charging £10 to play the Vita, hate self-perpetuating Internet bullsh1t!

[PaulEMoz]

I saw a photo of one of their billboards with that "offer" somewhere, but I forget where. If I find it I'll nick it and post it here.

[Space_turnip]

It's not company policy, thats for sure....

[ToxieDogg]

Does someone have proof Game were charging £10 to play the Vita, hate self-perpetuating Internet bullsh1t!

Me too, I'm only quoting what someone else said and what it looks like though. Could mean something entirely different.

But if it doesn't....well....

[sscott]

Does someone have proof Game were charging £10 to play the Vita, hate self-perpetuating Internet bullsh1t!

Me too, I'm only quoting what someone else said and what it looks like though. Could mean something entirely different.

But if it doesn't....well....

Heh, maybe you got a glass of complimentary champagne and a foot massage!

[Havantgottaclue]

High street shops are nothing short of tactile broswing centres ...

That's exactly how I tried explaining myself to the police that time, but they weren't having any of it.