GAME in serious trouble

penev10

I bought some games in GAME earlier in the week and the assistant apologised for having no bags as they were rebranding.

Did someone buy out GAME? or were they always part of Gamestation and are just going to switch to that brand?

mcgovern

penev10 wrote: »

I bought some games in GAME earlier in the week and the assistant apologised for having no bags as they were rebranding.

Did someone buy out GAME? or were they always part of Gamestation and are just going to switch to that brand?

Gamestation is owned by GAME, rather than the other way around.

super_furry

Blowfish wrote: »

Valve aren't doing this on PC. Valve have a dominant market position, but it's not a monopoly. Gamersgate, D2D, Origin, GoG, direct download and physical purchases are all possible distribution choices.

If Microsoft moved to Digital Download only for the new console, you'd have no other choice but to buy games directly from them with XBL. This is exactly what they would love to see as it would bump their margin significantly. Whether it constitutes a monopoly or not is debatable though as technically their competition is Sony/Nintendo and not the other distributors of their games.

But it isn't suggested that Microsoft are moving exclusively to digital downloads, only that they won't be using an optical drive. If these reports are accurate we'll see the exact same situation as the PS Vita - games available to buy on properitery cards and available to download.

Vadakin

Blowfish wrote: »

Valve aren't doing this on PC. Valve have a dominant market position, but it's not a monopoly. Gamersgate, D2D, Origin, GoG, direct download and physical purchases are all possible distribution choices.

If Microsoft moved to Digital Download only for the new console, you'd have no other choice but to buy games directly from them with XBL. This is exactly what they would love to see as it would bump their margin significantly. Whether it constitutes a monopoly or not is debatable though as technically their competition is Sony/Nintendo and not the other distributors of their games.

Microsoft would love to do it but they won't because they'd lose half of their install base. Their margins would go up on software but they'd sell half as many consoles and thus half as many games. It makes no financial sense for Microsoft to go fully digital right now.

A significant portion of 360 users don't go online. Those people are pretty much screwed when it comes to game patches and downloadable content, which is why stuff like Shivering Isles and the GTA IV expansions come out on disc. I the DLC is big enough to be called an expansion, it's likely to be available as a physical copy for those who aren't on XBL, which is up to half of 360 owners.

I don't think we'll see a digital-only home console until internet access is improved significantly worldwide with lower costs for the consumer. I know people like to point to the shift in the music industry and books as proof of digital download's upcoming dominance but there's a huge difference between downloading a 3MB song and a 20GB movie or game. Physical content is going to be around for another couple of decades at least and that means there's going to be a need for B&M stores.

The question is, what will that store be? Will it be GAME or Gamestop? Or will it be a games section at Tesco? For me that's the real worry about GAME's potential closure. I don't want to have to walk past the Dairy aisle to get to GTA V.

ScumLord

Blowfish wrote: »

Not necessarily. Again, Steam has done this already. If you have a physical copy of a game that's also on Steam, you can just stick in the license key and it'll add it to your collection and download and install it for you, without you ever actually needing the CD/DVD.

Not always, I was not able to add Batman Arkham city to steam even though it was available on steam. It had something to do with it being a windows live game or something.

ShadowHearth

ScumLord wrote: »

Not always, I was not able to add Batman Arkham city to steam even though it was available on steam. It had something to do with it being a windows live game or something.

"windows live".... dont mention that puke stain... when it will be fecking canned or when will developers stay the **** away from it!

cloud493

Some ok bargains there. Nothing amazing, but I got red faction guerilla and bioshock 2 for 5.50.

Andy!!

I was in there today,they still show no sign of shutting apart from selling that big Star Wars MMO boxset for €102 (getting rid of the big boxes I guess). Why are they being stubborn.

CombatCow

Went into Game today to check out their awesome sale... This was the best offer they had.

readyletsgo

Not to worry, this number 1 bestseller in German will be out for the 3DS at the end of this month!!!!!

MagicSean

readyletsgo wrote: »

Not to worry, this number 1 bestseller in German will be out for the 3DS at the end of this month!!!!!

I thought that game was an updated Sim Farm. I was highly disappointed when I checked the gameplay vids on youtube.

ScumLord

ShadowHearth wrote: »

"windows live".... dont mention that puke stain... when it will be fecking canned or when will developers stay the **** away from it!

I don't understand what benefit it's supposed to bring. It doesn't seem to do anything other than log achievements.

gizmo

ScumLord wrote: »

I don't understand what benefit it's supposed to bring. It doesn't seem to do anything other than log achievements.

It does everything XBox Live does except in the Windows environment. In terms of it going anywhere soon, don't get your hopes up, it's being pretty much integrated into Windows 8 at an OS level.

cloud493

I got some pretty good deals from Game in the North

johnny_ultimate

There was actually some amazing deals on the site, but they're all sold out now. DoDonPachi Resurrection for 3 pound = egads, Batman!

cloud493

Dark souls PS3 for £6 :cool:

Sod'o swords

CombatCow wrote: »

Went into Game today to check out their awesome sale... This was the best offer they had.

Duno, looks pretty thrilling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEJHrmliVQw

Azure_sky

readyletsgo wrote: »

Not to worry, this number 1 bestseller in German will be out for the 3DS at the end of this month!!!!!

*Culchies nationwide, led by Podge and Rodge, start foaming at the mouth.*

sports_

Gamestop was always better

Reekwind

gizmo wrote: »

In terms of it going anywhere soon, don't get your hopes up, it's being pretty much integrated into Windows 8 at an OS level.

God, they just won't stop flogging that tat. It's a terrible system that is almost uniformly perceived as a bad joke. Microsoft's response: build it into the new OS :rolleyes:

gizmo

Reekwind wrote: »

God, they just won't stop flogging that tat. It's a terrible system that is almost uniformly perceived as a bad joke. Microsoft's response: build it into the new OS :rolleyes:

On paper, there's nothing wrong with the system in terms of features, the problem is with its current implementation which is a total disaster. What it sounds like they're trying to do with Windows 8 is create more of a Steam-like experience built into the Games tab and App Marketplace. Whether it'll be successful or not remains to be seen but if they can cut down on the numerous horrible obstructions in the user experience flow and keep those existing features, as well as leveraging sensible cross platform functionality, then they could be onto a winner*.

*Or at the very least a viable alternative to Steam.

Zeouterlimits

Re: GFW.

It's been so held back by a lot of political manoeuvring, old phogey management not understanding the DD markey and different divisions trying to protect their turf.

The GFW Live initiative was a lazy half-step. If MS want to compete in as DD they need to commit and give the team behind it the right level of resources.

TheGunns

Got Fifa 11 used for 4e. No signs of a sale in the store. Hope they dont close as choice will then be limited. Have read rumours that gamestop are attempting to takeover

Andy!!

Zeouterlimits wrote: »

old phogey management

It's what's ruining the world (and this country). Ageism FTW!

Reekwind

gizmo wrote: »

On paper, there's nothing wrong with the system in terms of features, the problem is with its current implementation which is a total disaster. What it sounds like they're trying to do with Windows 8 is create more of a Steam-like experience built into the Games tab and App Marketplace. Whether it'll be successful or not remains to be seen but if they can cut down on the numerous horrible obstructions in the user experience flow and keep those existing features, as well as leveraging sensible cross platform functionality, then they could be onto a winner*.

*Or at the very least a viable alternative to Steam.

That's all fair enough and a Steam competitor wouldn't be bad (I'd not download another client though)... but I've seen absolutely nothing from Microsoft that suggests that GFWL is going to be that. After years of trying the only thing they've achieved is embarrassing themselves and causing consumers much heartache. I don't want them injecting anything remotely related to this mess into a MS product that I will probably use

gizmo

Reekwind wrote: »

That's all fair enough and a Steam competitor wouldn't be bad (I'd not download another client though)... but I've seen absolutely nothing from Microsoft that suggests that GFWL is going to be that. After years of trying the only thing they've achieved is embarrassing themselves and causing consumers much heartache. I don't want them injecting anything remotely related to this mess into a MS product that I will probably use

Well there's been a rather publicised problem in Microsoft for years, each team within the company is constantly in competition with the others. The result of this has been the likes of the Windows team trying to out do the Live team and vice versa, rather than actually working together. What is now evident is that this is beginning to change as they've been talking up this "three-screen" strategy which will require a degree of harmonisation across their platforms. This is what could possibly lead to a nice unified Live system between all of the platforms and hopefully a solution for PC gamers which isn't the awkward mess that GFWL currently is. As I said though, it remains to be seen whether it can work.

Oafley Jones

TheGunns wrote: »

Got Fifa 11 used for 4e. No signs of a sale in the store. Hope they dont close as choice will then be limited. Have read rumours that gamestop are attempting to takeover

I'd imagine that like Australia, they'd have no interest in taking over the Irish stores. They'll only acquire Game stores where there is little or no Gamestop presence such as in Britain.

Antar Bolaeisk

gizmo wrote: »

It does everything XBox Live does except in the Windows environment. In terms of it going anywhere soon, don't get your hopes up, it's being pretty much integrated into Windows 8 at an OS level.

Which would be great if they if they used some of the features like Windows Update, messenger and mesh alongside it but in reality it's just a half hearted attempted to port the xbox experience. It doesn't even friggin let you re-download games on your account so if you lose the cd you're buggered.

Microsoft still have the capacity to beat Steam on the PC and become the dominant player in digital distribution, they just don't seem to want it.

ghostchant

Picked up Deathsmiles for 7e (4.50e with loyalty card). Already have it but got it for my gf as I'm trying to turn her into a bullet-hell obsessive. Had already bought her DoDonPachi Resurrection :pac:

penev10

The end is nigh!

Recently posted on SKY News:
http://news.sky.com/home/business/article/16186951

GAME site is down as well "for maintenance"