Games for Grades: Interview With Play N Trade Founder Ron Simpson

The story of Brandon Scott is by now a familiar one to most gamers: A manager of a GameStop outlet in Dallas, Scott began demanding proof of good grades, by way of report cards, before he would allow school-aged children to purchase games from his store. Perhaps to burnish his harsh-sounding image among the young gamer crowd, he also offered a free game (paid for by Scott) to any student who earned straight "A"’s.

Naturally, this policy wasn’t approved by, or even known to, GameStop management, and when they became aware of Scott’s activities, their response was as predictable as it was inevitable: The company made forward-sounding noise about "evaluating Mr. Scott’s concept" and immediately suspended him from his position.