GameStop Pulls OnLive Coupons From Deus Ex: Human Revolution

[major_chaos]

for some reason this doesn't bother me much. I've never had a bad experience with Gamestop before and I HATE onlive with every fiber of my being (that and the fact that I fail to understand the "boo-hoo the box is open gamestop is evil" thing) so i'll let this slide.

They took out something from the box that customers paid for. How does that not bother you exactly?

I don't know about you but I paid for a disc with deus ex on it to install on my computer not a freebie coupon for a service that I will never use and personally wish would die quietly in a corner

And they opened your box and took something out of it. Again why doesn't that bother you? Because you dislike the service? So because you don't like somebody it's okay to steal from them? I don't really understand how prejudice excuses a crime.

I doesn't bother me because they (as I said in the edited version of my previous post) took out a freebie, the Steam version costs the same amount and it doesn't have the Onlive voucher so is Steam stealing form you?

 

[kouriichi]

I dont see a problem with it.
They shouldnt be forced to promote their competition.
If the disk works, the CD-Key is intact, and theres no bodily fluid in the box, im fine with it.

 

[MattmanX311]

I'm kinda confused by this situation for two reasons....
1. Not a month ago I was in a gamestop that didn't stock PC games at all to hear a cashier suggesting buying a game on Steam.
2. How likely is a customer to actually buy a digital copy after actuially spending the money to buy a hard copy?

I'm not defending Gamestop by any means in this situation(although I've never really had issues with them), but I think that the demonization as in many cases falls to the corporate side of things. As with anything that becomes profitable it is ruined by simply that the prospect of increasing that profit. As always the customer is the one to suffer in these instances, and as much as I hate to say it we're left with little options but to deal with it. Because sadly no matter how many people boycott, no matter how much people complain the higher ups of Gamestops management are never gonna stop loving that money....

 

[Hashbrick]

Wow, stay classy Gamestop.

I don't know. I see my beloved Square Enix pulling the biggest dick move here for not telling GameStop.

I don't know, I'm having trouble seeing their obligation to disclose here.

I'm no fan of SQUENIX, but this doesn't seem like a dick move.

WTFBBQ nothing to see here just The Escapist messing up...

 

[Hashbrick]

Wow, stay classy Gamestop.

I don't know. I see my beloved Square Enix pulling the biggest dick move here for not telling GameStop.

I don't know, I'm having trouble seeing their obligation to disclose here.

I'm no fan of SQUENIX, but this doesn't seem like a dick move.

I don't think SquareEnix did anything wrong, it's no different than when games recommend AMD or Intel, it's market competition.

Besides SquareEnix's biggest dick move was FFXIII... zing!

 

[teebeeohh]

If we extend the gamestop logic a little publishers should inform them if a game is long and has high replay value(like skyrim) because customers buying those may not come back for month. And before someone feels the urge to point that it is not exactly the same: I know that, It's still the same line of reasoning.

 

[FreakSheet]

For people wondering the legality, Joystiq's "go-to-guru" for legal matters, Mark Methenitis, put this on Joystiq:

"According to Methenitis, GameStop's actions were "probably legal." The packaging of the PC version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution makes no mention of the OnLive promotion and, as such, GameStop can't be accused of false advertising or deceptive trade practices. "From the consumer angle," said Methenitis, "there's not much."

The corporate angle, on the other hand, could be a different matter. If there was an agreement between Square and GameStop prohibiting such a promotion, GameStop could be "completely justified" in its action. Absent of such an agreement, "OnLive and or Square may have a claim against GameStop for tortious interference or something else based on the activity." That said, without any details as to the distribution agreement, the legal implications of GameStop's actions remain murky."

So they may be legal, but let us not forget the court of public opinion is far less lenient.

 

[FreakSheet]

Double post... to quote Jensen..

I never asked for this

 

[fozzy360]

2. How likely is a customer to actually buy a digital copy after actuially spending the money to buy a hard copy?

Since you don't bother to read the story at hand before blindly jumping into the discussion...

OnLive and Square Enix announced yesterday that as an extra incentive for gamers who couldn't quite bring themselves to pull the trigger on the new Deus Ex release, all boxed copies of the PC version of the game will include a coupon for a free copy from cloud gaming company OnLive.

Besides you didn't "pay" for the Onlive voucher, the steam version costs the same and doesn't come with it so I would say that it was a freebie.

Again, what if Amazon took out the Digital Copy discs and/or slips from BDs because they prefer that people watch their on-demand service and not use iTunes for that digital copy? Is that ok?

 

[fozzy360]

For people wondering the legality, Joystiq's "go-to-guru" for legal matters, Mark Methenitis, put this on Joystiq:

"According to Methenitis, GameStop's actions were "probably legal." The packaging of the PC version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution makes no mention of the OnLive promotion and, as such, GameStop can't be accused of false advertising or deceptive trade practices. "From the consumer angle," said Methenitis, "there's not much."

The corporate angle, on the other hand, could be a different matter. If there was an agreement between Square and GameStop prohibiting such a promotion, GameStop could be "completely justified" in its action. Absent of such an agreement, "OnLive and or Square may have a claim against GameStop for tortious interference or something else based on the activity." That said, without any details as to the distribution agreement, the legal implications of GameStop's actions remain murky."

So they may be legal, but let us not forget the court of public opinion is far less lenient.

Interesting. I personally can't wait to see how this develops.

 

[major_chaos]

for some reason this doesn't bother me much. I've never had a bad experience with Gamestop before and I HATE onlive with every fiber of my being (that and the fact that I fail to understand the "boo-hoo the box is open gamestop is evil" thing) so i'll let this slide.

They took out something from the box that customers paid for. How does that not bother you exactly?

I don't know about you but I paid for a disc with deus ex on it to install on my computer not a freebie coupon for a service that I will never use and personally wish would die quietly in a corner

And they opened your box and took something out of it. Again why doesn't that bother you? Because you dislike the service? So because you don't like somebody it's okay to steal from them? I don't really understand how prejudice excuses a crime.

I doesn't bother me because they (as I said in the edited version of my previous post) took out a freebie, the Steam version costs the same amount and it doesn't have the Onlive voucher so is Steam stealing form you?

Did they advertise the Steam version came with an Onlive voucher?

No because Onlive is their direct competitor just like it is for Gamestop
(plus I never remember seeing anything about an Onlive voucher in the box and Gamestop came right out and said that the voucher would not be in their copies of the game so it wasn't some big running scam)If anything I see squeenix as the dicks in this situation, by including this Onlive thing they basically told GS (and other game retailers) "oh by the way if you want to sell this big name AAA release that's sure to bring in lots of sales you have to support a competitor *troll face*"

 

[major_chaos]

2. How likely is a customer to actually buy a digital copy after actuially spending the money to buy a hard copy?

Since you don't bother to read the story at hand before blindly jumping into the discussion...

OnLive and Square Enix announced yesterday that as an extra incentive for gamers who couldn't quite bring themselves to pull the trigger on the new Deus Ex release, all boxed copies of the PC version of the game will include a coupon for a free copy from cloud gaming company OnLive.

Besides you didn't "pay" for the Onlive voucher, the steam version costs the same and doesn't come with it so I would say that it was a freebie.

Again, what if Amazon took out the Digital Copy discs and/or slips from BDs because they prefer that people watch their on-demand service and not use iTunes for that digital copy? Is that ok?

it's impossible for me to be totally unbiased and logical about this because in both the case of this story and your "what if" I see it as a useless voucher for an awful inferior service being removed. and to top it off yes I would be OK with that to be honest I consider physical to be vastly superior to digital, so a voucher for a product I already have the better version of means nothing to me

 

[major_chaos]

for some reason this doesn't bother me much. I've never had a bad experience with Gamestop before and I HATE onlive with every fiber of my being (that and the fact that I fail to understand the "boo-hoo the box is open gamestop is evil" thing) so i'll let this slide.

They took out something from the box that customers paid for. How does that not bother you exactly?

I don't know about you but I paid for a disc with deus ex on it to install on my computer not a freebie coupon for a service that I will never use and personally wish would die quietly in a corner

And they opened your box and took something out of it. Again why doesn't that bother you? Because you dislike the service? So because you don't like somebody it's okay to steal from them? I don't really understand how prejudice excuses a crime.

I doesn't bother me because they (as I said in the edited version of my previous post) took out a freebie, the Steam version costs the same amount and it doesn't have the Onlive voucher so is Steam stealing form you?

Did they advertise the Steam version came with an Onlive voucher?

No because Onlive is their direct competitor just like it is for Gamestop
(plus I never remember seeing anything about an Onlive voucher in the box and Gamestop came right out and said that the voucher would not be in their copies of the game so it wasn't some big running scam)If anything I see squeenix as the dicks in this situation, by including this Onlive thing they basically told GS (and other game retailers) "oh by the way if you want to sell this big name AAA release that's sure to bring in lots of sales you have to support a competitor *troll face*"

So people never expected an Onlive voucher with the Steam version, unlike the retail version.

actually I was never expecting a voucher in the retail box I hear that it was included about the same time I heard it wouldn't be in Gamestop copies so I (and every one I've asked) was in fact NOT expecting the Onlive voucher in the retail box
EDIT: you edited while I was posting but I honestly don't understand what that article changes I already said that GS was competing with Onlive

 

[TiefBlau]

They're both in the wrong here. It's a pretty big dick move to go in, contract already made, copies already bought, and all of a sudden say, "HEY, INCIDENTALLY WE'RE GONNA MAKE ALL OF YOU ADVERTISE YOUR COMPETITOR DEAL WITH IT LOLZ."

But that in no way shape or form justifies actually breaking into brand new copies of the game and taking out something that came with it.

 

[Sylveria]

Lies!

My game wasn't opened at all.

Gamespot repackages games all the time. They have a plastic machine in the back room.

And that is why I don't shop for "new" games at Gamestop. Always that risk you got a repackaged one that was either traded in quickly or one of the employees took home to try.

 

[felix1942]

[quote="qwerty19411" post="7.308984.12471249"[/quote]
Did Game stop advertise it? cause I never saw Gamestop advertise it.

 

[major_chaos]

for some reason this doesn't bother me much. I've never had a bad experience with Gamestop before and I HATE onlive with every fiber of my being (that and the fact that I fail to understand the "boo-hoo the box is open gamestop is evil" thing) so i'll let this slide.

They took out something from the box that customers paid for. How does that not bother you exactly?

I don't know about you but I paid for a disc with deus ex on it to install on my computer not a freebie coupon for a service that I will never use and personally wish would die quietly in a corner

And they opened your box and took something out of it. Again why doesn't that bother you? Because you dislike the service? So because you don't like somebody it's okay to steal from them? I don't really understand how prejudice excuses a crime.

I doesn't bother me because they (as I said in the edited version of my previous post) took out a freebie, the Steam version costs the same amount and it doesn't have the Onlive voucher so is Steam stealing form you?

Did they advertise the Steam version came with an Onlive voucher?

No because Onlive is their direct competitor just like it is for Gamestop
(plus I never remember seeing anything about an Onlive voucher in the box and Gamestop came right out and said that the voucher would not be in their copies of the game so it wasn't some big running scam)If anything I see squeenix as the dicks in this situation, by including this Onlive thing they basically told GS (and other game retailers) "oh by the way if you want to sell this big name AAA release that's sure to bring in lots of sales you have to support a competitor *troll face*"

So people never expected an Onlive voucher with the Steam version, unlike the retail version.

actually I was never expecting a voucher in the retail box I hear that it was included about the same time I heard it wouldn't be in Gamestop copies so I (and every one I've asked) was in fact NOT expecting the Onlive voucher in the retail box

Glad it never bothered you. Other people, which means not you or the people you talked to, were affected by this.

I wasn't trying to say that me and my friends are the center of the universe, I was trying to say that it seems very little effort was but into advertising the Onlive deal and I wonder how many people are raging about not getting something that they didn't even know that they were supposed to get until now. I am also sincerely confused as to why this has people so outraged? you already get the game so why do you NEED in on another version(an inferior version that only works with a service that I didn't think that many people used)

 

[thedarkfreak]

Why is GameStop the biggest villain here? I mean, I know they've done underhanded things in the past, but this was a bigger dick move from Square Enix than Sony. Forcing a retailer to support a competitor is an underhanded thing to do to anyone. Imagine this: you own a game store, and GameStop forces one publisher to include coupons for free copies of the game in all the copies that YOU are selling. That'd drive a lot of your business to GS, and you'd hate them for it.

While I don't like that GameStop pulled the tickets out, and I believe they should have been up-front about it, sending the stock back and complaining about it wouldn't have worked either. This was the week that the game was first released, and if they don't have it in stock then, they'll lose ALL that business. Games make most of their sales during the first couple weeks they're out. No retailer is going to want to do that.

 

[chaosyoshimage]

How the FRELL is my game NEW if it has been opened already?

FREK-THAT-SHART.

You're allowed to swear here.

If you don't want to, I wonder why you're pretending to.

Because I was watching BSG and it sounded cool in my head.
Besides, ponies are cool.

The word you're looking for is "frak", not "frell" or "frek". Ponies or not, it wasn't all that cool...

 

[Ghengis John]

(plus I never remember seeing anything about an Onlive voucher in the box and Gamestop came right out and said that the voucher would not be in their copies of the game so it wasn't some big running scam)If anything I see squeenix as the dicks in this situation, by including this Onlive thing they basically told GS (and other game retailers) "oh by the way if you want to sell this big name AAA release that's sure to bring in lots of sales you have to support a competitor *troll face*"

Just because you don't remember it doesn't mean it wasn't advertised. For that matter, gamestop did not "come right out and say it". When my brother bought his PC copy he noted "This is open" They told him "Yeah man, everything's in the box". They lied to customer's faces and then they had to be caught.

My brother loves the onlive service, he even bought one of the standalone boxes for your television. For him this was important. Sorry it doesn't matter to you though, Maybe when you get stepped on we can get our turn to stick our noses in the air.

you already get the game so why do you NEED in on another version(an inferior version that only works with a service that I didn't think that many people used)

Oh so because someone's in the minority it's alright to do whatever you want to them?