GAME to work 'hand-in-hand with publishers' on Xbox One DRM

UK retailer GAME has told VideoGamer.com that it "will continue to work hand-in-hand with publishers" on the resale of pre-owned Xbox One software, and that it is "always listening" to the needs of the UK gaming community.

[christian hour]

Last time I checked Game were on the way out, why else would they close almost every store they have outside of the UK?

Gamestop literally has no more competition in my country now because GAME pulled out, and GAME was in Ireland long before Gamestop came on scene.

So it comes as no surprise that they'll clutch desperatly at any partnerships and deals they can get, and in my opinion they bet on the wrong cow.

[fossilfern]

I didnt realise GAME pulled out of the Republic. I live in Northern Ireland and in Belfast I think there is only two GAMES in Belfast now. The shop is on the way out and I'm not surprised.

Though there are no Gamestops at all in the UK anymore I belive, we'll theres no Gamestops In Northern Ireland but I think its the same for the rest of the UK

[TechnicianTed]

They've still got plenty of stores in England. Don't know about the rest of the UK but there's loads here. Haven't they always pretty much been a UK retailer?

[fossilfern]

I thought Gamestop pulled out of the UK completely, well theres none left in Northern Ireland I believe. Just assumed it was the same for the rest of the country.

[TechnicianTed]

Yeah, they're still around. They used to have two shops in Maidstone, which is near me, but they got rid of one of them after they started cutting back. Bit much having two Game stores in the same town anyway.

What annoys me is there was a Gamestation and a Game store in my home town and I preferred Gamestation because they had better prices and a decent pc and retro section. Then Game bought them out and Gamestation pretty much got rid of the retro section. Then Gamestation got shut down and now there's only Game left.

I don't really like Game too much, but if they go as well there will be no specialist game shops within 10-15 miles from me. I remember when there were loads.

A sign of the times really but it's quite depressing.

[fossilfern]

Yeah it was the same here in Belfast. They had 2 GAMEs within a couple of feet of each other, there was one in Castlecourt which is a shopping Centre and there was one in Donegall Arcade which is a collection of shops and they were literally a stones throw away.

Gamestop did something similar they had 2 shops that were right beside each other. One was in Victoria Square (shopping centre) and the other was just outside of Victoria Square, it was pretty stupid.

Unfortunately out of the usual suspects like GAME, HMV, Tesco, Argos etc theres not too many places that sell games and theres VERY few places that sell retro games and when they do its a poor choice and it normally consists of PS1 and 2 games ;/

[Mikelarry]

i see game trying to claw its way back to being relevant. buhahahahaha hey more power to them as it really is not a bad approach maybe if all preownded games store do this we can get publishers to get a piece of the used games market.

[NihonjinChick]

Didn't Capcom and EA refuse to supply games to Game?

[Blankolf]

Suddenly this article loses credibility:

http://n4g.com/news/1284618...

[SniperControl]

They were saved by a buyout by RBS last year, although alot of stores were closed, many people lost there jobs in the transition.

[Vip3r]

GAME are a vile lot. I've boycotted them ever since I got rude customer service in my local store.

I'm really glad HMV were saved. They do much better trade in deals and their staff and far more friendly and helping.

[Honest_gamer]

i went to enquire about pre ordering a ps4 from game only to be told i couldnt (totally ignoring the huge sign on the window) they then tried to force me to pre order a xbox one to the point they put my name on the sheet and rang it up on the til expecting me to hand over £20, seriously wish game was closed down.

[Zichu]

I haven't bought anything from GAME for a few years now.

I didn't really have any other stores to buy games from that had great delivery, great prices or customer support. I bought a 250GB 360 Slim from GAME in 2010 and that's the last thing I bought from them.

I've been mainly been using ShopTo for new games, for older games it's been Amazon and Play.com.

I just find the prices at GAME ridiculous. Where they sell there games for £40+, I can get them for like £37 from ShopTo and get £1.50 on like 90% of my purchases. I get them a day or two before release as well. I've contacted them about a couple of issues I have had and they got back to me within 30 minutes which is quite fast compared to a lot of other companies.

[Mikelarry]

shopto is my favourite online site and thats where i pre-ordered my ps4. they are on point from delivery to responding to my queries

[ltachiUchiha]

Hope they close down lol.

[Dannehkins]

Game are awful. They charge ridiculous prices when practically everywhere else is cheaper and half the time the consumer knows more information than the person behind the counter.

[Reborn]

GAME should work hand-in-hand to improve their own used game policies.

How they charge more than a new copy..is beyond me.

[pompombrum]

This, I have a saying which I say in my head at least ten times everytime I walk into game.. "cheaper on Amazon" and usually "cheaper on ShopTo" as well. Most of their used games are priced the same as brand new on ShopTo.

[mcstorm]

I really wish Game had not bought gamestation. I worked there in 2003 and it was a great company to work for an the prices on the trade in and prices of new things were good.

Gamestation also started the retro side that year to and seeing some of the old consoles and pc's in my store was a great thing. I even managed to get hold of an Amiga32 from there. But since Game bought them they took everything that made Gamestation good and the prices went up to.

Its not very often I go to a game store any more for anything and I wish the new owners would look at what game station was like rather than game and go back to being a games store rather than a business just about making money.

[HarryMasonHerpderp]

Gamestation were on the way up against GAME, they practically beat GAME price wise for everything.
Which is probably why GAME decided to buy them out.
Now gamestation's prices are just as ridiculous.
It's a real shame.

[e-p-ayeaH]

"Now gamestation's prices are just as ridiculous. "

yep i buy my used games on pawn shops much cheaper there.

[mcstorm]

Yep they did beat them on more or less everything and the main reason why game bought Gamestation was because they wanted the gamestation prawned database and system.

[Arkrite]

A friend got The Last Of Us on Friday 14th £43 from game finished it took it into game today 18th £15 cash or £20 trade-in, disgraceful for trade-ins, i'd rather keep it in my collection than sell for that price!

[HarryMasonHerpderp]

£43!
I bought the Last Of Us Joel edition for £40 from Tesco. GAME is actually the worst place you can go to buy games.

[Optical_Matrix]

I think it was always pretty clear that this whole DRM issue with Xbox One was a "well, we can't take down the used game market, so we may as well stomp in and monopolise it", situation from 3rd parties and Microsoft.

As is evident here, key retailers like GAME/Gamestop, will get exclusive rights to the used game sales of Xbox One games, making those big chains the only places where used game business can be done. This'll result in a monopolisation of the market that only chain retailers and publishers will benefit from, allowing them to abuse their power and control even used game prices as tightly as possible. Consumer choice will be non existant, and indie game retailers will suffer because they're not part of the high level in deal between publishers and chain retailers.

This whole situation is so anti competitive that I'm almost certain there must be some kind of legislation in place, especially in the European Courts of Law, that'd expose this as illegal to some degree. Only time will tell, but it's pretty damn obvious, and sickening what is going on here, and just goes to show 3rd parties are running riot and have far too much power.

[sway_z]

Game UK just lost a long time customer...all my games now ordered online. I was all for supporting retail, but Game UK are not supporting gamers.

One day in the near future games will be mostly be purchased via downloads, then they'll be sorry!