GameStop Focusing on Casual Gamers in 2008

[Andy Chalk]

GameStop Focusing on Casual Gamers in 2008

Gaming retail giant GameStop [http://www.gamestop.com/]has indicated it will shift its marketing efforts to more casual gamers in 2008, as the industry sees mainstream acceptance continue to grow.

A Lazard Capital Markets [http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8768&Itemid=2] analyst Colin Sebastian as saying that while GameStop currently focuses on the more hardcore gaming market, which tends to buy products at higher prices than casual gamers, the company intends to broaden its efforts to reach a more mainstream audience in the coming year. Executives with the company have already said that casual and family games would receive special sections within their stores.

"Management indicated that the company is making progress in broadening its consumer base as videogames move into the mainstream, and there is broad consumer demand for DS [http://www.nintendo.com])," Sebastian said. "We note that merchandising to a broader consumer audience will remain a strategic priority for GameStop into 2008."

He also added that despite the economic slowdown in the U.S., management feels the company is in "good shape," and that a focus on pre-owned games will appeal to "budget-minded" consumers as the demand for software takes precedence over next-generation hardware purchases.


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[hickwarrior]

so, this is a good thing or not? Just asking.

But it does seem in this article like they say that they will only sell ninty hardware, and only game software(not onkly from nintendo).

 

[Lance Icarus]

I think what they're trying to say is "When we get Nintendo systems in, we'll put them in a cage for mothers with Christmas rain checks to fight it out." I'd buy a ticket to that.

 

[Andy Chalk]

Whether or not it's a good thing depends entirely on whether they can embrace the casual market the way they want without alienating the hardcore crowd. Not an impossible task by any stretch, but business will go where the money is, and right now the money ain't us - it's them.

 

[Hey Joe]

Well, it's a good business move in the face of some economic downturn. By promoting an in-demand product, Gamestop are sure to increase profits. I also heard somewhere that the profit margins on pre-owned games for the chain is massive when compared to that of the brand spanking new games.

Nintendo, I'm sure are cracking open the bubbly and hoping to high heaven that Gamestop start posting good quarterly reports, or least come out relatively unscathed on the brink of recession in US and downturn in Asian markets (Does anybody know if Gamestop have any business set up in Asia?). If they can do that, most major game outlets will follow suit.

If that happens, what does that mean for gaming? Does that mean we'll see developers create more games for the Wii and the casual crowd. Or will it not stop the production line on high-cost games? Heck, it may even see developers focus on fun over graphics when they see a market for it! Won't that be something?

Or I could just be overestimating the ripple effect on this news...

 

[ComradeJim270]

Well, it's a good business move in the face of some economic downturn. By promoting an in-demand product, Gamestop are sure to increase profits. I also heard somewhere that the profit margins on pre-owned games for the chain is massive when compared to that of the brand spanking new games.

Nintendo, I'm sure are cracking open the bubbly and hoping to high heaven that Gamestop start posting good quarterly reports, or least come out relatively unscathed on the brink of recession in US and downturn in Asian markets (Does anybody know if Gamestop have any business set up in Asia?). If they can do that, most major game outlets will follow suit.

If that happens, what does that mean for gaming? Does that mean we'll see developers create more games for the Wii and the casual crowd. Or will it not stop the production line on high-cost games? Heck, it may even see developers focus on fun over graphics when they see a market for it! Won't that be something?

Or I could just be overestimating the ripple effect on this news...

It's a simple marketing decision, and I think it's largely just a reaction to current trends. I don't think this will have much impact on most gamers, or even on many developers. It just means they're trying to appeal to a new demographic in addition to their current one.

 

[tiredinnuendo]

Mine is an opinion mostly formed from third party observation, but GameStop's current business model seems to run along the idea that it's more cost effective to buy used games for fifteen dollars and sell them for fifty-five than it is to stock new games. While they're arguably correct here, the (hopefully) unintended result of this is that GameStops are basically dressed up pawnshops who only have two or three "new" copies of any given game.

I put new in quotes because it is known that company policy allows employees to take home new games, play them, and put them back on the shelf in the "new" pile. The reader will note that this should probably negate a game's "new" status.

In short, I know very few self-respecting "hardcore" gamers who shop there when the Best Buy down the street (which, remember, is not a store that only sells video games) manages to stock dozens of copies of games without gutting any of them, and does not require you to come in previous to your purchase to predict what your future purchases will be. The other obvious benefit of Best Buy is that there are all those other aisles to go play in as well. I can spend hours in there some days.

In short, they say they're shifting to casuals. I say they're already there.

- J