GameStop Wants to Link Your Xbox Live Account to Its Registers

[BENZOOKA]

That sounds rather convenient.

There aren't GameStops in Finland and I've never had a console, so this doesn't affect me personally at all. If I did have a console for this and there were GameStops around though, I'd be loving this, I suppose.

I've seen a lot of controversial information about GameStop around the forums, but without any first-hand experience on that, I can't form an opinion whether I'd trust it or not, or if they're "bad".

I can't see why it would be any problem for one to let them know who you are on XBOX Live or PSN.

 

[Kwaren]

Another way for Gamestop to rip me off? No thanks.

 

[Fr]anc[is]

GameStop Wants to Link Your Xbox Live Account to Its Registers

Some people may balk at the idea of GameStop knowing who they are on XBL or PSN

What a FUD article. I mean, Facebook has all your information, sites like The Escapist have Steam accounts, PSN accounts.

Everything is interlinked, makes sense for someone to actually do something with it.

I notice you left out the part of that sentence where I said how convenient the idea sounded.

Don't feel bad, he also left the part out of my quote where he didn't miss my point, where monopolies are a bad thing, and he wasn't a sarcastic git.

 

[Kapol]

So, if I'm not mistaken, the idea is that Gamestop wants to make it so you can go to your local Gamestop and buy points for your account there, and then they will be ready to access immediently, instead of how it is now, where you drive to Gamestop to buy one of the cards that you can use as soon as you'd like to gain access to your points with no finacial difference whatsoever. So the only real part that's being skipped is not having to type in the code, which takes about a minute at best. You still have to go to the Gamestop and buy them, and you still have to go home before you can actually use them. The only change other then not having to type in the code (and open the package if you're really reaching for an excuse) is that Sony and Microsoft will likely lose more money from it, which would then increase the prices a few dollars for the items online.

That makes no real sense to me to be honest. I may be missing something though.

 

[Webb5432]

I'm against it. I want the publishers to get as much money as possible so they can make more awesome games. And while gamestop says that this system would increase profits by giving them less per game but more through total sales, I'm sorry guys, but you cannot guarantee that you will make more through total sales.

Instead, why don't they just ask microsoft to make more point card variants? I've always been looking for a thirty-dollar one, maybe a sixty. I believe that would be more convenient (sry, forgot spelling).

 

[Lucane]

I have difficulty imagining how this is not the worst of both worlds.

I still have to leave the console, spend gas to get to a mall, and deal with GameStop employees.

Then, when I've paid for a game, I don't actually get the game. I have to go home and wait for the game to download.

Reducing "friction" when buying online? It sounds to me that what GameStop is saying is that it knows there is an audience of people who have online consoles, but either don't know how or are afraid of buying online, so that what you should do is give them your login credentials and let them shop for you.

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't be comfortable with that.

Yeah I'm see it as more work too I'd imagine that much of thier DLC/currency cards are gifts for other people than the buyers(sp?) since access to the store to buy the content should of been availible before you left the house.(Unless of course there are a ton of people who don't have debit/credit cards they can use for online payments but they'd still likely be better off getting pre-paid cards to buy what they like rather than giving out there personal information unless it'd be in a purely additive way.)

 

[LightspeedJack]

Guaranteed they would start sending you xbox messages advertising their latest deals. Fuck that...

 

[teutonicman]

This is dumb, really, really dumb. I still have to go to the store. Punching in the redeem points code is an extra minute before I can buy said DLC, I think I can wait 1 extra minute.

 

[William Dickbringer]

Because going to the store is so much more convenient than just hitting a few buttons on your controller.

I think it's made more for if you pick up a game and see some dlc you wanna get

 

[coldfrog]

I don't think it's the difference between clicking a button and going to a store, but rather I think it ties into the people who don't have a credit card and so can only buy points cards. Of course, what's slimy is that, the money people spend on the points cards pretty much all go to the developer/publisher. The money spent at the register? Yeah, you see what it says above. It says it'll generate more sales, but really it'll stop people from buying the points cards and encourage them to spend that money to give Gamestop a bigger cut.

 

[winter2]

Wait a minute.. Am I reading this correctly? Gamestop wants me to drive to them, buy DLC and then drive home to start download??? And this is convenient how?

 

[mjc0961]

Yeah there is no way in hell GameStop is getting my PSN and Xbox Live information. First, because they are a sleazy company, and second, how is driving all the way to their store and then all the way back easier than staying home and buying it right off my console?!

 

[Sixties Spidey]

How about, "No and fuck you."

Seriously, fuck DLC, fuck digital distribution, and fuck GameStop. I'd much rather'd punch the code in than give it to GameStop of all retailers. And God help them if they spam my Live inbox.

 

[Baldr]

I warned people that GameStop getting into digital distribution was not a great idea. They already have to many predatory practices in their retail.

 

[Baby Tea]

I really like this idea.
If I can spend the EXACT amount need to buy DLC, rather then buy a bunch of point cards that leaves me with left-over points that aren't even enough to buy a shirt for my avatar, then I'm all for it. I'd do it in a heart-beat.

 

[Cyberjester]

GameStop Wants to Link Your Xbox Live Account to Its Registers

Some people may balk at the idea of GameStop knowing who they are on XBL or PSN

What a FUD article. I mean, Facebook has all your information, sites like The Escapist have Steam accounts, PSN accounts.

Everything is interlinked, makes sense for someone to actually do something with it.

I notice you left out the part of that sentence where I said how convenient the idea sounded.

My bad. I maintain that it's very.. Pro privacy? FUD seemed the best term at the moment. I agreed with the convenience however and I thought my post reflected that. My apologies if that is not the case

 

[Jamboxdotcom]

I have difficulty imagining how this is not the worst of both worlds.

I still have to leave the console, spend gas to get to a mall, and deal with GameStop employees.

Then, when I've paid for a game, I don't actually get the game. I have to go home and wait for the game to download.

Reducing "friction" when buying online? It sounds to me that what GameStop is saying is that it knows there is an audience of people who have online consoles, but either don't know how or are afraid of buying online, so that what you should do is give them your login credentials and let them shop for you.

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't be comfortable with that.

this is exactly what i was thinking. i really don't see how this would be *more* convenient than the current system at all. sounds like a huge step backward, really. not to mention that Gamestop is positioning themselves as a completely unnecessary middleman.

also, someone mentioned that this might be convenient for people who don't have a credit or debit card. (not directed at the person who said that...) well FUCK people who don't have a credit or debit card! seriously! this is the 21st century. credit/debit cards are absolutely a necessity for the modern world. if people don't want to catch up, they can just go extinct like the cavemen they are. /rant (sorry, i work in retail/wholesale and we do a lot of shipping, so people who don't have an electronic means of payment piss me off terribly).

 

[Cyberjester]

anc[is]Good: Buying DLC in-store, with cash
Bad: Yet another fucking account to keep track of

Step in the right direction I suppose, or maybe diagonally sort of in the right direction. Still praying for DLC on CD.

This though, while it would be annoying for everything to be owned by one party.. Actually no it wouldn't. If MSFT bought Steam, then they could scrap Games For Windows Live and integrate Steam with Xbox Live and GFWL. Then they just need to get Sony to partner with them, that would force Nintendo to do a deal. Then everything is pretty darn convenient.

Annoying is an understatement. All videogame related media being owned by one company would cripple the industry. It's called a monopoly, there are actually laws and regulations in place to stop such a thing. When one company controls everything they have no need to be innovative or reasonably priced.

It's pretty much how it is in Aus at the moment anyway. You either have a monopoly and things get convenient, or you have price fixing so Aussies pay double the price of USA'ians at minimum for games.

Innovative.. Well Halo come out and the console shooter was born, CoD took a leaf of of Bungies book and Modern Warfare was born. Queue every single copy cat shooter in the last.. 5 years? Lets fight russians, knife is V, bouncy console shooter.

So as it is, we have none of the innovation and a market which has decided we're going to pay X amount per game simply because of where we are. At least with a monopoly there would also be the convenience factor.

I'd like to note that Google has the monopoly on searching, Apple has a market on digital audio purchases and Steam has.. At least the greater majority of the customers on their database. Facebook has the monopoly on social networking sites.

'shrugs'