Do many of us have those game stop discount cards? Let's stand in unity, get videos cutting them up and send them to corporate. Not kidding, lets make a massive boycott project out of it. I have a card, heck, I have one of the fancy ones you pay $15 for. Lets send them a statement. Power to the players indeed.
Was thinking of going out to game stop to pick up Dragon age II for my mac ( they had it in stock ) but then I saw this yesterday on another site and I said F them! So i bought it from amazon digital download. I am tempted to go pull my Diablo III preorder back
I'm not sure why people are suprised gamestop has been doing this for years with videogames. they take new copys of 360 and ps3 games open them store them in a slip cover and put the empty box on the wall but still sell the game as new.
I don't even know if what they did was legal...I imagine there's going to be a lawsuit if there isn't one already. Once a package was opened i didn't think you could sell as new. This just shows how scared gamestop is right now
This is news? GameStop opens all the games they sell.
Not with PC games, and they certainly haven't been pulling things from the games that they did open.
I don't even know if what they did was legal...
It is certainly debatable. Though opening the product and selling as new isn't illegal (it is dirty, though), removing part of the product to block a competitive service in promotion of one's own service IS anti-competitive, which should be grounds for antitrust. I don't know the legal details, but I do know cases of antitrust can be taken to court.
GameStop's activities actually do violate O.R.C. §1345.02(B)1, 5 and 9 technically.
GameStop represented that they had approval from the manufacturer to modify the game from what was delivered; they did not.
GameStop presented that the game sold there was identical to the offer as stated by the publisher; it was not.
GameStop presented that they had approval from the manufacturer to remove OnLive codes from the delivered product; they did not.
They would also be in violation of O.R.C. §1345.03(B)1, 3, 5 and 6 as a result. They removed a $50 value item from a game without disclosing this to customers, they knew the benefit of the removal was entirely one-sided in their favor, they refused to provide or permit returns due to their destruction of the OnLive code, and they stated the game was new as delivered when they knew it was not.
If a lawyer wanted to make some hay, they could pretty much nail GameStop for $600 for every single copy of DE:HR they sold in Ohio. ($200 or actual damages, whichever is greater, trebled by unconscionable acts clause.) Fortunately, I don't shop at GameStop anyway - the mafia has more ethics.
Not with PC games, and they certainly haven't been pulling things from the games that they did open.
Actually, they do for PC games as well. My wife picked up a couple new PC games for me a few years ago and the employees had already opened the packages for both games and relocated the keys from the case to the inside of the manuals, nearly destroying one in the process.
Well said, Bobby. I know we've had this very conversation several times in the past. Eff GameStop.
The last time I really considered their storefront a fun place to shop was back when it was called Electronics Boutique (and not even EB Games yet). Even then, I was highly suspect of their ethics, but at least things were just slightly bruised, rather than just plain rotten to the core.
Really, my biggest beef with EB/GameStop is their policy of selling opened games as "new", as already mentioned in comments above. This drives me nuts. I refuse to pay a full (if not flat-out overly inflated) retail price for a product that was opened, fingerprinted, and possibly scratched.
I have a policy: only -I- am allowed to scratch, scuff, and damage a new product. I also enjoy what I call the "shrinkwrap experience": that fresh plastic-y smell you get from opening up the shrinkwrap on a game, movie, or just about anything else. It's a delightful aroma of pure entertainment potential.
Apparently, We have Gamestop in Norway. I'm not all that familiar with the store as I close to never buy video games physically anymore. I don't know if it's even the same Gamestop as over there, but it's likely. They have two sections in their stores, one for used and one for new games. The new games all are wrapped in plastic, if I recall correctly, so they may have a different policy than U.S Gamestops.
That's true I didn't think about console games. That sucks for consoles. That's pretty crappy that you have to go to a store to buy a game for consoles. Get with the times! How antiquated.
That is incredibly uncouth business ethics. They lost me as a customer a long time ago when they continued charging on average $10 more per game than any other retailer. More than that if you purchase your games digitally, as I now do.
It's just their final attempt to keep a grip with the tight competition of all the other retailers, both physical and digital. Sad tho that this attempt could have finally driven the nail in the coffin.
Comments
Do many of us have those game stop discount cards? Let's stand in unity, get videos cutting them up and send them to corporate. Not kidding, lets make a massive boycott project out of it. I have a card, heck, I have one of the fancy ones you pay $15 for. Lets send them a statement. Power to the players indeed.
GameStop hasn't seen a dollar from me in years, but this move ensures that they never will get a cent from me again.
Not with PC games, and they certainly haven't been pulling things from the games that they did open.
It is certainly debatable. Though opening the product and selling as new isn't illegal (it is dirty, though), removing part of the product to block a competitive service in promotion of one's own service IS anti-competitive, which should be grounds for antitrust. I don't know the legal details, but I do know cases of antitrust can be taken to court.
GameStop represented that they had approval from the manufacturer to modify the game from what was delivered; they did not.
GameStop presented that the game sold there was identical to the offer as stated by the publisher; it was not.
GameStop presented that they had approval from the manufacturer to remove OnLive codes from the delivered product; they did not.
They would also be in violation of O.R.C. §1345.03(B)1, 3, 5 and 6 as a result. They removed a $50 value item from a game without disclosing this to customers, they knew the benefit of the removal was entirely one-sided in their favor, they refused to provide or permit returns due to their destruction of the OnLive code, and they stated the game was new as delivered when they knew it was not.
If a lawyer wanted to make some hay, they could pretty much nail GameStop for $600 for every single copy of DE:HR they sold in Ohio. ($200 or actual damages, whichever is greater, trebled by unconscionable acts clause.) Fortunately, I don't shop at GameStop anyway - the mafia has more ethics.
The last time I really considered their storefront a fun place to shop was back when it was called Electronics Boutique (and not even EB Games yet). Even then, I was highly suspect of their ethics, but at least things were just slightly bruised, rather than just plain rotten to the core.
Really, my biggest beef with EB/GameStop is their policy of selling opened games as "new", as already mentioned in comments above. This drives me nuts. I refuse to pay a full (if not flat-out overly inflated) retail price for a product that was opened, fingerprinted, and possibly scratched.
I have a policy: only -I- am allowed to scratch, scuff, and damage a new product. I also enjoy what I call the "shrinkwrap experience": that fresh plastic-y smell you get from opening up the shrinkwrap on a game, movie, or just about anything else. It's a delightful aroma of pure entertainment potential.
And GameStop continues to rob us of it.
Seriously. Fuck off, GameStop.
It's just their final attempt to keep a grip with the tight competition of all the other retailers, both physical and digital. Sad tho that this attempt could have finally driven the nail in the coffin.
Indubitably, but I wanted to make sure people were aware of the situation. The more I talk about it, the more I'm sickened by GameStop's practices.
GnomeWizardd, most people who preorder online go with Amazon. They deliver quickly and are totally reliable.
>boycotters already weren't shopping there
>regular customers don't care
>nothing changes
FUCKING GAMESTOP