GameStop to Offer Classic Consoles and Games

[TDIRunner]

What I really also fear is that they will fuck up the packaging either by misshandling/storing badly or outright throw them away.

If they were seing the game out of the stores, I would be afraid of this too (due to space constraints).  However, since they are only selling the games online, I think there is a good chance they will keep any and all packaging together.  But who knows?

[redsox2012]

I work part time at Gamestop, and I'm not quite sure how this will play out.  It will suck for me, especially if someone trades in a game I really want since I won't be able to buy it.  Employees are forbidden from making deals with customers in the store, and I won't risk my job over a game.

As far as selling only online, it means that Gamestop will be competing with Ebay and Amazon, giants that will be hard to overtake, rather than competing with local stores that they can easily beat.  Of course, I know first hand how limited space is in a GS store, so I'm sure that was a major consideration.

[shenske]

It's just consoles and they're not being sold in store. No space in the retail stores and the games are too varied in value to be accepted.

.... GS also takes in graphing calculators. I don't see this as a move to take down the office supply stores. Don't read too much into this just expanding the online repertoire

[palmer6strings]

Then what's even the point? They've failed before they've even started...

[videogametrader]

I thought i would weigh in on this topic since I am the owner of an Independent Retro Game Store.

Just as some background. I've been selling online since 1999 and opened my first retail store in 2010.

I don't necessarily see GameStop accepting retro games as a bad thing for us. But it will slightly affect our trades. We are frequented by many GameStop employees and managers and we get a good number of trade-ins that were direct referrals. I am sure that once they start accepting these retro games that those referrals will stop.

However, we have a nice supply of current and previous gen games, accessories and consoles. Lots of people prefer giving their business to a locally owned business rather than a big company like GameStop. Gamestops have been giving $20-$25 for PS2 consoles lately and we still get plenty of PS2 consoles in trade.

Some random thoughts on the matter:

* They are only going to increase their skus by about 5000. And they don't even mention that they will take in GameCube. 5000 skus is only about half of the games. My guess is they wont take any sports or cheapy games. That means i will have to be careful not to get stuck with all the "GameStop rejects".

* Most independent stores already pay more then GameStop so this might not have as large as an impact as some may think. I don't see my existing customers going to GameStop rather then trade-in to us. If anything it might make it tougher to get new customers as many customers find us after they've already been told by GameStop that they don't accept the games. I see my advertising budget increasing.

* The article doesn't mention if they will also offer cash for the items. 60% of our trade-ins are for cash so i don't see that dropping much.

* I don't see this causing a drop in retail pricing. If anything i think this will cause the prices for the cheaper games to go up. I don't see GameStop collecting games, having them go through the refurbishing centers and then selling them for $5. I think the higher value games might stay the same or even go up in price as they will get even tougher to find. I've noticed the popular SNES, N64 and GameCube games, especially N64, have nearly doubled in retail price just over the last year.

* If this works I do see GameStops selling some of the better retro games in-store in the future. It wont take up much space and they can get a premium by stocking them.

* If Play N Trade isn't already dead this might be the final nail in the coffin.

If you have any other thoughts or direct questions, I'm happy to answer, and if any of you are in the Atlanta Georgia area, come and visit

[nkorth]

The article doesn't mention if they will also offer cash for the items.

That could be a major issue if many of the people trading in old games are in fact non-gamers digging things out of an attic. Those people wouldn't be interested in store credit, and they could be a nice opportunity for you I imagine.

[wiggy]

I thought i would weigh in on this topic since I am the owner of an Independent Retro Game Store.

Just as some background. I've been selling online since 1999 and opened my first retail store in 2010.

I don't necessarily see GameStop accepting retro games as a bad thing for us. But it will slightly affect our trades. We are frequented by many GameStop employees and managers and we get a good number of trade-ins that were direct referrals. I am sure that once they start accepting these retro games that those referrals will stop.

However, we have a nice supply of current and previous gen games, accessories and consoles. Lots of people prefer giving their business to a locally owned business rather than a big company like GameStop. Gamestops have been giving $20-$25 for PS2 consoles lately and we still get plenty of PS2 consoles in trade.

Some random thoughts on the matter:

* They are only going to increase their skus by about 5000. And they don't even mention that they will take in GameCube. 5000 skus is only about half of the games. My guess is they wont take any sports or cheapy games. That means i will have to be careful not to get stuck with all the "GameStop rejects".

* Most independent stores already pay more then GameStop so this might not have as large as an impact as some may think. I don't see my existing customers going to GameStop rather then trade-in to us. If anything it might make it tougher to get new customers as many customers find us after they've already been told by GameStop that they don't accept the games. I see my advertising budget increasing.

* The article doesn't mention if they will also offer cash for the items. 60% of our trade-ins are for cash so i don't see that dropping much.

* I don't see this causing a drop in retail pricing. If anything i think this will cause the prices for the cheaper games to go up. I don't see GameStop collecting games, having them go through the refurbishing centers and then selling them for $5. I think the higher value games might stay the same or even go up in price as they will get even tougher to find. I've noticed the popular SNES, N64 and GameCube games, especially N64, have nearly doubled in retail price just over the last year.

* If this works I do see GameStops selling some of the better retro games in-store in the future. It wont take up much space and they can get a premium by stocking them.

* If Play N Trade isn't already dead this might be the final nail in the coffin.

If you have any other thoughts or direct questions, I'm happy to answer, and if any of you are in the Atlanta Georgia area, come and visit

See shenske's post.

They're not even taking games, only consoles.

[UncleBob]

I'm not sure where this idea that they're only taking consoles came from.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/04/15/gamestop-to-offer-classic-consoles-and-games
"According to a spokesperson for GameStop, the qualifying locations will begin accepting "games, systems and select accessories for most 'retro' platforms," going all the way back to the Nintendo Entertainment System. If the program proves successful, GameStop hopes to roll it out nationally "later this year."

[videogametrader]

I thought i would weigh in on this topic since I am the owner of an Independent Retro Game Store.

Just as some background. I've been selling online since 1999 and opened my first retail store in 2010.

I don't necessarily see GameStop accepting retro games as a bad thing for us. But it will slightly affect our trades. We are frequented by many GameStop employees and managers and we get a good number of trade-ins that were direct referrals. I am sure that once they start accepting these retro games that those referrals will stop.

However, we have a nice supply of current and previous gen games, accessories and consoles. Lots of people prefer giving their business to a locally owned business rather than a big company like GameStop. Gamestops have been giving $20-$25 for PS2 consoles lately and we still get plenty of PS2 consoles in trade.

Some random thoughts on the matter:

* They are only going to increase their skus by about 5000. And they don't even mention that they will take in GameCube. 5000 skus is only about half of the games. My guess is they wont take any sports or cheapy games. That means i will have to be careful not to get stuck with all the "GameStop rejects".

* Most independent stores already pay more then GameStop so this might not have as large as an impact as some may think. I don't see my existing customers going to GameStop rather then trade-in to us. If anything it might make it tougher to get new customers as many customers find us after they've already been told by GameStop that they don't accept the games. I see my advertising budget increasing.

* The article doesn't mention if they will also offer cash for the items. 60% of our trade-ins are for cash so i don't see that dropping much.

* I don't see this causing a drop in retail pricing. If anything i think this will cause the prices for the cheaper games to go up. I don't see GameStop collecting games, having them go through the refurbishing centers and then selling them for $5. I think the higher value games might stay the same or even go up in price as they will get even tougher to find. I've noticed the popular SNES, N64 and GameCube games, especially N64, have nearly doubled in retail price just over the last year.

* If this works I do see GameStops selling some of the better retro games in-store in the future. It wont take up much space and they can get a premium by stocking them.

* If Play N Trade isn't already dead this might be the final nail in the coffin.

If you have any other thoughts or direct questions, I'm happy to answer, and if any of you are in the Atlanta Georgia area, come and visit

See shenske's post.

They're not even taking games, only consoles.

According to the original article they are increasing the skus they accept by more than 5000. It also states they are taking games.

[shenske]

I think the article has been edited. I read it minutes after being posted on ign and the article is much longer now. It definitely only said consoles before (the article was ~3 sentences long). If these ever make it to the store level I strongly bet it will only be the consoles w/ the games being ordered.

[TDIRunner]

I think the article has been edited. I read it minutes after being posted on ign and the article is much longer now. It definitely only said consoles before (the article was ~3 sentences long). If these ever make it to the store level I strongly bet it will only be the consoles w/ the games being ordered.

It sounds like one of those situations where they had some information and wanted to be the first to publish it, so they put up three sentences to get something out there.  Then as time goes on and they get more information, they udate their original BS to more accurate info.

[FritzWhite]

An update from NA forum: http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=5&threadid=145886

[TDIRunner]

At the end of the day, I don't think this will be as bad as some are predicting, but I'm certainly not getting my hopes up of this program dropping market prices back down to reasonable levels.  We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

[TDIRunner]

Now that I've read the NA article, my biggest concern is that there is a good chance that you will not know if you are getting the game only or CIB.  For any disc based game, that is a deal breaker for me.  I rarely buy disc based games that are not complete.  It's a shame too because I'm a lilttle excited to see PS1 included in this since that's one of my favorite systems to collect for. 

[redsox2012]

Now that I've read the NA article, my biggest concern is that there is a good chance that you will not know if you are getting the game only or CIB.  For any disc based game, that is a deal breaker for me.  I rarely buy disc based games that are not complete.  It's a shame too because I'm a lilttle excited to see PS1 included in this since that's one of my favorite systems to collect for. 

I was thinking the same thing.  When you buy from the website, it says "may not include original box or instructions".  For most newer games, that's not much of an issue because the games aren't collectibles.  However, if for example, I buy "Super Mario Bros 3" for the NES, I'll want to know exactly what I'm getting.  After all, the cartridge is worth around $10-$15 depending on label condition.  It's worth about $5 more if it has the manual, and $10-$30 more if it has the original box (depending on box condition).  If Gamestop is charging $10-$15, no problem.  Box or manual would be a bonus.  But they have to realize that collectible games vary widely in price based on what's included, and what the condition is.