Dear GAME, go fuck yourself

[Caedus]

Those fuckers just sent me the worst email I've ever seen.

I preordered Mass Effect 3 Collector (Xbox 360) and they just told me to go fuck myself because they don't have any copies left.

Oh well, I'll try to find one on eBay or Amazon.co.uk in july or something.

 

[The Pinray]

I think that really sucks mostly for the folks that pre-ordered the Collector's Edition. Those things are now near impossible to find. That is some serious bullshit.

 

[svenjl]

Dude, go to Amazon. Cheaper, and better service. And yes, fuck Game. Fuck 'em with a rusty stick.

A rusty metal "stick"?

 

[Salad Is Murder]

Dude, go to Amazon. Cheaper, and better service. And yes, fuck Game. Fuck 'em with a rusty stick.

A rusty metal "stick"?

I know, right? That's hot.

I dunno, I do most of my online business with Amazon, their customer support is insane. I called to check on why an order hadn't shipped yet and they just went and upgraded it on the spot.

 

[MetalMagpie]

Is GAME the only game store in the UK? Why don't you guys shop somewhere else?

I usually buy new games on Amazon/Play and used at CEx. In the UK, GAME pretty much is the only highstreet shop specialising in video games. Which just goes to show that it isn't really a viable business model any more in this country. There are mutterings that Waterstones (book specialists) might end up going the same way for the same reason.

 

[Idocreating]

The problem with a lot of brick 'n mortar stores in the UK is the extortionate prices on certain products.

HMV is particuarly bad for this. Look in the DS section, if Super Mario 64 DS (Released in 2005, nearly 7 fucking years ago) is on the shelf new, it will cost £30. I know it's a first party Nintendo title, but come the fuck on. Pre-owned's aren't any better, Ebay would easily be half the price.

GAME pulls this crap all the time, but the worst I saw was in Zavvi. Not a game, but a 13 episode Anime boxset for Elfen Lied. No features or bonus content, just the episodes.

£50.

I want to stick to the Internet, but the Origin copy of ME3 is £55. Origin is so badshit retarded for pricing that Kingdoms of Amalur is actually cheaper on Steam. So i'm fucked for getting ME3's collectors edition.

 

[Tufty94]

Ok, there's two scenarios here, one where they are at fault, and one where you're at fault.

scenario 1. You pre-ordered Mass Effect 3 ages ago, and they tell you not that they can't supply it - your outrage is justified, they are in the wrong, you should get a refund and go try pre-ordering it from another store (if possible, might have to be the second or even third batch at most).

scenario 2. You went to pre-order it, like, within the last 4-6 weeks, and they said 'yeah, we won't have it for ages' which you took to mean they'll never have it - your outrage is completely unjustified, early bird gets the worm and you weren't early enough, again, try another store, possible a GAME store because you've got GAME money (it seems), and get in on the second or third batches.

You obviously know fuck all about the situation, so you should try doing some research on the subject before arguing about it. It's not just my local store that ran out of copies, every Game store will not be stocking ANY copies of Mass Effect 3.

 

[votemarvel]

The GAME Group have been in financial trouble for a long time now so you have to wonder why EA gave them the exclusive on the Mass Effect 3 Collectors Edition in the first place. They must have known that there was a good possibility that GAME would not be able to meet their commitments.

 

[Tufty94]

I was told yesterday that my copy of the collectors edition won't be coming from gameplay! No chance in hell getting one now. Any ideas if play and amazon are likely to stock up on the collectors edition after the release date?

It's pretty rare for that to happen, but your best shot now will be ebay.

 

[GoaThief]

EA have stated that it was only in stock in two big retailers and those have since sold out, so I'm guessing that's your lot aside from Ebay or getting lucky with a small indie retailer.

 

[Bat Vader]

So when I went to Game to go pre-order Mass Effect 3 I put the money on a gamecard, make it easy when I went to buy it. Now I find out that they're no longer going to be able to supply Mass Effect 3, so yeh, I'm done with you unreliable motherfuckers.

Ok, there's two scenarios here, one where they are at fault, and one where you're at fault.

scenario 1. You pre-ordered Mass Effect 3 ages ago, and they tell you not that they can't supply it - your outrage is justified, they are in the wrong, you should get a refund and go try pre-ordering it from another store (if possible, might have to be the second or even third batch at most).

scenario 2. You went to pre-order it, like, within the last 4-6 weeks, and they said 'yeah, we won't have it for ages' which you took to mean they'll never have it - your outrage is completely unjustified, early bird gets the worm and you weren't early enough, again, try another store, possible a GAME store because you've got GAME money (it seems), and get in on the second or third batches.

The problem though is that there are not going to be any batches. What happened was Game wanted EA to give them shipments of ME3 and Game would pay them back later. EA said no so now Game won't be receiving any shipments of Mass Effect 3.

That is what I understood from reading the news article that was posted on here a few days ago.

 

[black_knight1337]

EA are the jerks here they always are and any gamer that likes their games these days is a fool

Seconded. Ea is the scourge of gaming scene. They are money hungry fucks that suck the life out of every developer they buy out. Just look at Bioware. All their games prior to EA buying them out were epics. The only two that were released after the buyout that lived up to their reputation was mass effect 1 and dragon age: origins, both of which were in development long before EA got their hands on them.

OT: Well done EA for effectively killing Game UK. If they had of thought about something other than their profits for two seconds they would have realised that they are near on garunteed to get all their money back. Here's how the meeting would have went:
Game rep: So if you could give us the game for free when we sell them we will reimburse you.
what the Ea rep would have heard: So if you could give us the game for free.
The Ea rep would then proceed to tell Game to fuck off.
We all know it would be like this because Ea are a bunch of greedy fucks.

 

[Bat Vader]

EA are the jerks here they always are and any gamer that likes their games these days is a fool

Seconded. Ea is the scourge of gaming scene. They are money hungry fucks that suck the life out of every developer they buy out. Just look at Bioware. All their games prior to EA buying them out were epics. The only two that were released after the buyout that lived up to their reputation was mass effect 1 and dragon age: origins, both of which were in development long before EA got their hands on them.

OT: Well done EA for effectively killing Game UK. If they had of thought about something other than their profits for two seconds they would have realised that they are near on garunteed to get all their money back. Here's how the meeting would have went:
Game rep: So if you could give us the game for free when we sell them we will reimburse you.
what the Ea rep would have heard: So if you could give us the game for free.
The Ea rep would then proceed to tell Game to fuck off.
We all know it would be like this because Ea are a bunch of greedy fucks.

If they got all their money back they would just break even. Which i suppose is good but they don't gain anything extra from it. Plus, from the comments I have read on this thread and other threads is that Game is notorious for screwing over publishers and developers by marking new games higher so people buy used games instead. Which does seem like a dirty tactic.

 

[black_knight1337]

If they got all their money back they would just break even. Which i suppose is good but they don't gain anything extra from it. Plus, from the comments I have read on this thread and other threads is that Game is notorious for screwing over publishers and developers by marking new games higher so people buy used games instead. Which does seem like a dirty tactic.

What I meant by getting their money back is that they will be making what they would of made if Game had the cash upfront.
As for this pre-owned stuff I personally have never seen it. I can remember not too long ago that the pre-owned copy of dark souls was about $88 but then the brand new collectors edition was only $85.

 

[Tufty94]

EA are the jerks here they always are and any gamer that likes their games these days is a fool

Seconded. Ea is the scourge of gaming scene. They are money hungry fucks that suck the life out of every developer they buy out. Just look at Bioware. All their games prior to EA buying them out were epics. The only two that were released after the buyout that lived up to their reputation was mass effect 1 and dragon age: origins, both of which were in development long before EA got their hands on them.

OT: Well done EA for effectively killing Game UK. If they had of thought about something other than their profits for two seconds they would have realised that they are near on garunteed to get all their money back. Here's how the meeting would have went:
Game rep: So if you could give us the game for free when we sell them we will reimburse you.
what the Ea rep would have heard: So if you could give us the game for free.
The Ea rep would then proceed to tell Game to fuck off.
We all know it would be like this because Ea are a bunch of greedy fucks.

If they got all their money back they would just break even. Which i suppose is good but they don't gain anything extra from it. Plus, from the comments I have read on this thread and other threads is that Game is notorious for screwing over publishers and developers by marking new games higher so people buy used games instead. Which does seem like a dirty tactic.

Exactly. You really can't fault EA for not providing them with free stock, especially when they're unlikely to pay them back.

 

[Schuldrich]

If they got all their money back they would just break even. Which i suppose is good but they don't gain anything extra from it. Plus, from the comments I have read on this thread and other threads is that Game is notorious for screwing over publishers and developers by marking new games higher so people buy used games instead. Which does seem like a dirty tactic.

What I meant by getting their money back is that they will be making what they would of made if Game had the cash upfront.
As for this pre-owned stuff I personally have never seen it. I can remember not too long ago that the pre-owned copy of dark souls was about $88 but then the brand new collectors edition was only $85.

Yes ME3 is going to sell well, but the deal is for all EA games. Not all of them will sell as consistently, so you have to pray they'll be able to work that out as well. EA's decision is sound. They fear that even if GAME can repay everything for ME3 that they won't be able to for other products, which probably would be the case.

As an aside, a tad dramatic about EA killing GAME given that GAME is already failing to produce a profit. It isn't EA's job to lose money to try and help another business stay afloat. Get as many buckets of water out of the sinking ship as you can, it's going to go down eventually.

 

[StarStruckStrumpets]

I stopped shopping at GAME when I asked if they had "Klonoa" in stock, and because they didn't, they tried to par me off with Fifa 12. GAME became a shop for working class mothers who have no fucking idea about gaming as an industry or even as a medium, they just go there because it's a convenient way to shut up their insufferable offspring. That's why I shop at Grainger now, where the staff actually enjoy games and know what the fuck they're talking about.

I shit you not, I went to GAME once and someone asked at the desk for a game called "No More Cheerios". Another time I went to Gamestation (Owned by GAME), and a woman was baffled when a member of staff explained to her that Little Big Planet had around 50 story levels.

Not much love for GAME here.

 

[Tiswas]

lol at everyone bashing EA.

Little knowing the likes of Nintendo, Konami and Capcom are doing the same with game too.

Keep in mind. These are the same publishers that Game is more than happy to sell pre-owned games for. EA especially half the shelves are full of Fifa. (Although this in turn is EA's fault for releasing the game every year.)

As for Mass Effect Collector's Edition. It's on shopto.net isn't it? (just checked. It's there but out of stock)

 

[rob_simple]

plus the fact that the difference between street price and net price is usually no more than £3-4.

On new releases maybe, high street stores have been over-charging for years and for the most part their trade-in prices are so abysmal it's not even worth it.

I could pick up about two or three brand new games online for the price of one second-hand copy of Modern Warfare 1 in Game or HMV, so I won't be shedding any tears when they go out of business.

 

[Tien Shen]

I just want to point out to everyone that the only GAME in trouble is the UK side. GAME in Australia is on schedule to deliver my pre-order copy of ME3. I emailed them about it and they said that the different regions' GAME retailers are all independent of each other and whatever troubles the UK GAME is having will have no effect on the Aussie GAME branch.

PS Also GAME in Australia is about AUD 10.00 less for most titles than JB Hi-fi and EB Games.