GameStop & EB Games Merging (GameStop buys Electronics Boutique for $1.44 billion)

[quote name='CheapyD']You have no idea what changes, if any, there will be. They may choose to keep the store brands completely seperate.

Obviously, this does not seem good for gamers, but you certainly can't assume specific problems like that at this time.[/QUOTE]


If they do not keep store brands separate, will affect CAG saleswise, promotionwise ? I'm sure EB brings you more money than GS.
 
Wow this sucks big time, and to think I just got an EB Edgecard last week.

I just hope Gamestop doesn't carry over their "No instruction manual or box guranteed for pre-played games" crap that they have with Gamestop's website, thats why I never order games from there. If this is true then eBay might be where I shop again for my games, and that's NOT the place I want to shop online right now.

Hopefully this is a Phillips Maganvox type of deal where both companies are still run individually.


The only good thing I can see about this is Gamestop's stocks going pretty high, those people can sell off their stocks now and make a good profit!

This is the equivalent of Wal-Mart buying Target out to me. Which is bad, very bad.
 
[quote name='bowmanarmy']Man every one is copying EA, if you have compition, buy them or crush them[/QUOTE]

yeah, you are right - I can't believe that they were the first to think of this strategy.
 
called a few ebgames around here and they said they think after the merger happens you will only have a set number of days to use your credit. They dont think the credit will be able to be rolled into new Gamestop credit.

this really sucks if this is true cause i got over 400 bucks of ebgame credit.


one store said the worse thing that could happen that all outstanding EBgames credit will be worthless as soon as the merger happens but i doubt that will happen cause when one company takes over another that other company takes their debt and outstanding game credit should be concider outstanding debt
 
[quote name='Kayden']The biggest problem... No more guaranteed cases and manuals when ordering offline. Nor can you bring your online items back to the store for credit.[/QUOTE]

Keyden, the biggest problem will be merging to icons together
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I have 2 GS and an EB within 15 minutes of each other. Maybe one of them will close down and have a *huge* sale. So while this whole merger crap is bad in the long run, in the immediate short term it could be hot.

/wishful thinking
 
[quote name='eldad9']People who swear for no reason.[/QUOTE]

How in the hell can a location be a swear word? :p Would you rather, "What the fuck!!! fucking no one is going to benefit from this!!!" :whistle2:#
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This merge makes me sad... I hadn't been to a Gamestop ever until 3 days ago, and that was only because I wanted the exclusive item they had for Guild Wars. They hardly ever have sweet deals like EB, and the people that work there (specific case I know..) are far too pushy. I hope my local bros. at EB get to keep their jobs at the new store...

Hope my Edge card is still good...
 
[quote name='Kayden']The biggest problem... No more guaranteed cases and manuals when ordering offline. Nor can you bring your online items back to the store for credit.[/QUOTE]


that has yet to be announced...we don't know that yet.
 
The biggest thing I see as a result will be a fair number of store closings and layoffs/lost jobs.

In my city we have an EB at the mall and a Gamestop a few miles down the road at a large shopping center. It is possible that both of these stores may stay open (assuming that they are both sufficiently profitable). However, in situations where you have both an EB and a Gamestop in the same mall, in the same shopping center, across the street, etc. it is likely that the company will not keep both stores. Both would serve the same location and market segment so it would make no sense to keep both open. Store managers and long-term employees may be offered transfers or promotions, but depending on the number of stores being closed they may be let go instead.
 
[quote name='smalien1']Maybe the stores'll be mixed between the two, they could call it GameGames!!
Does anyone notice that gamestops are darker than EB's? Same relationship between B&N and Borders.... I smell a conspiracy.[/QUOTE]

I like Electronic Stop! Better. It describes the broken crap they will be selling! :)
 
This seems (at least, right now) like bad news for us, but no one really knows what's going to happen. Personally, I hope the changes are minimal, becuase we have two EB's here, and no GS. I've always preferred EB over GS, mainly for my EDGE card and better preowned selection.
 
In new england and new york gamestop is so much better than eb, glad to see this happen. Maybe now we'll get gamestops in canada? Right now we have eb's here. I'm suprised though, I always thought eb was much stronger than gamestop.
 
I certainly don't like this. I buy 95% of my games from EB or EBgames.com and only shop @ GS when I can get something that's harder to find sent from another store. That's the only use I've ever had for them. EB has the best prices, game condition, customer service, sales/promotions, website, stock, and from my experience their employees are even more friendly. I don't see how anything positive can come out of this from a consumer point of view. Hopefully the stores will continue to operate as seperate entities, or if not GS must adopt many of EB's policies.
 
WOW...I had to check the date to make sure it wasn't April Fool's Day again. My mouth is still wide open 10 minutes after reading this...
 
[quote name='mcwilliams132']that has yet to be announced...we don't know that yet.[/QUOTE]This is true. However, I think I can safely say that these kind of policies that were instituted by EB (I think they also started the original Trade X # of Games for a New Game deals) were done to gain an edge on competition, not to mention EB.com's vastly superior deals on preowned games.

What's more likely to happen now that they're one company - both sites will now offer 15% off and free shipping on preowned games, or neither? Will they both continue to offer B2G1 free offers occasionally, or will it happen less often since they have greater leeway to shift inventory now? The same goes for guaranteed manuals and complete condition.

Not to sound overly negative, but this is probably what most of us are thinking, since there's only one real player now in the preowned/specialty games market. The note about PC games someone said was definitely true, too, as Gamestop has largely gave up on their new and used PC games division for a while now, in the meantime EB hasn't.

Very disappointed...
 
I can't believe this either. I rarely shop at Gamestop but I have to say most of the time when I go in their the clerks are friendlier than they are at EB. The prices tend to be higher but they do give you more for trade-ins. They actually have a trade-in 3 get an extra $10 in credit going now...good if you picked up some cheap CC games.

This right now is pretty much on the weird o meter!
 
Gamestop is cheaper for ps1 rpg's (eb was going up in price while gamestop was going down), has more, and they have tons of penny guides and seem to think you're doing them a favor by buying them. All I really buy at either store are penny guides (used $2 ones as well sometimes), and ps1 rpg's.
 
[quote name='jalu6']i wonder if this means they'll be closing stores. Some of the malls by me have two EB's and a gamestop in them. Certianly there is no need for 3 gamestops with no competition around.[/QUOTE]

Oh, I wouldn't worry about that- there's a mall near me with 3 Gamestops within about 3 blocks of each other- one in the mall, one across the street, and one around the corner. All 3 have done fairly well.

See, this just gives them a good excuse not to ship games from store-to-store... they'll be too close together, so they'll make the customer go instead. :roll:
 
I think this means we're going to stop seeing the great sales of Eb like the current april sale. Gamestop hardly ever has sales as good as the ones EB runs.
 
this is.................interesting. I think it could be a good thing. Just cause GS is eating EB doesn't mean everything is just going to switch over to GS rules. The new company may be something completely different. Someone mentioned that they will be able to compete at a higher level--we'll probably benefit from that fact with a lot more sales than usual, maybe even bigger stores.
That would be awesome if EB had some close out sales, but i doubt that'll happen.
 
I guess now I know why the conference call was moved from 9am to 4pm, since the announcement is at 1pm.
 
But we have to look at the bright side of this deal if there could be one:

1. If GS would take the EB trade-in method of a Gift Card instead of Credit Slip.
2. When you pre-order a game GS will have it in the computer instead of a Slip.
3. For GS to take after the sales that EB have.
 
[quote name='onetrackmind']I definetly don't like this. I love EBgames but i hate Gamestop[/QUOTE]


Yeah, I HATE Gamestop. The stores, even the online store is terrible. EB is great, and I buy most of my games from there, and most from their good online store.

It will be like the TechTV G4 "merger", just will destroy what was once great.
 
Wow--i'm pretty shocked at this as well!

At my local mall, they have just rennovated a whole new section that now houses a GS that has been operating for about 9 months. Of course, the mall also has an EB just a few feet away. What's going to happen I wonder?
 
I prefer EB.com a great deal more than Gamestop.com. However, I don't mind going to Gamestop B&M.

I am just waiting for the "Gamestop sucks" sig images now... :roll:
 
[quote name='cdeener']I wonder how any of the employees of GS and EB will take this news?[/QUOTE]

My brother's on the "wait and see" game. He's a manager of an EB. He was shocked when I told him. The district manager has not contacted him yet. No one knows what will happen yet.
 
[quote name='Scorch']My brother's on the "wait and see" game. He's a manager of an EB. He was shocked when I told him. The district manager has not contacted him yet. No one knows what will happen yet.[/QUOTE]

Hope everything works out for your brother.
 
Yea it would be tough for people that work at EB and Gs. While it is unlikely they will close that many stores, they certainly will be able to elimate some positions. I mean do they need one DM for GS and one for EB in the same area?
 
[quote name='cdeener']I wonder how any of the employees of GS and EB will take this news?[/QUOTE]

I'm extremely shocked. Going to work in an hour but won't know the details till after 4 probably. I doubt my job's in any kind of jeopardy though.
 
It all rolls down to this...the Gaming industry is a multi-billion dollar industry now.

You pay $50 (soon to be $60) for a game that took 6-10 million to make (And thats the really, expencive games only! [Halo 2, GT 4, etc]) and the games take 2-3 year development.

You can buy a Movie DVD that costs $20 at release and that movie cost them $100-120 million to make with 3-4 years development time.

Whats that mean to you? That means that when games were set at $50 bucks, no one played them (Except gamers) so they had to be $50 bucks to make any money. But now the industry is making hand over fist in cash, leading the industry to make only sequels and limiting innovation...Here's Mega man 84! and it hasnt been good since Mega man 2!! Why release crap? Because you (the consumer) eats it up. Even for $15 dollars they make profit.

Very rarely do games not "Break even".

So in 5 years enjoy having every EA game cost $70 dollars, when EA signs a contract with Gamestop to only release their games via Gamestop. Dont think it will happen? Maybe not, but if EA and Gamestop LOVE money (And it seems they do), then this is a possible future.

From what I hear, this is the "O" face game companies make when they fuck you in the ass with games that arent different from the last one and disapointments.

pi7face0sm.gif
 
[quote name='cdeener']But we have to look at the bright side of this deal if there could be one:

1. If GS would take the EB trade-in method of a Gift Card instead of Credit Slip.
2. When you pre-order a game GS will have it in the computer instead of a Slip.
3. For GS to take after the sales that EB have.[/QUOTE]


Agree. I hope GS can upgrade their computer to the level of EB.
 
Well, Gamerush will definately get all of my gaming business now.


Personally I think both EB and Gamestop suck ass. When two pieces of crap merge all you get is a bigger turd.
 
[quote name='screwkick']Well, Gamerush will definately get all of my gaming business now.


Personally I think both EB and Gamestop suck ass. When two pieces of crap merge all you get is a bigger turd.[/QUOTE]

But the real question on everyone's lips is will it be a sinker or a floater. ;)
 
[quote name='Mookyjooky']It all rolls down to this...the Gaming industry is a multi-billion dollar industry now.

You pay $50 (soon to be $60) for a game that took 6-10 million to make (And thats the really, expencive games only! [Halo 2, GT 4, etc]) and the games take 2-3 year development.

You can buy a Movie DVD that costs $20 at release and that movie cost them $100-120 million to make with 3-4 years development time.

Whats that mean to you? That means that when games were set at $50 bucks, no one played them (Except gamers) so they had to be $50 bucks to make any money. But now the industry is making hand over fist in cash, leading the industry to make only sequels and limiting innovation...Here's Mega man 84! and it hasnt been good since Mega man 2!! Why release crap? Because you (the consumer) eats it up. Even for $15 dollars they make profit.

Very rarely do games not "Break even".

So in 5 years enjoy having every EA game cost $70 dollars, when EA signs a contract with Gamestop to only release their games via Gamestop. Dont think it will happen? Maybe not, but if EA and Gamestop LOVE money (And it seems they do), then this is a possible future.

From what I hear, this is the "O" face game companies make when they fuck you in the ass with games that arent different from the last one and disapointments.

[/QUOTE] Your numbers are way off...
High end games cost of game development/marketing is closer to $20 million.
Halo 2 cost $40 million to develop/market.

Also, most games do not "break even". Its a very low number percantage of games that make a profit. I believe its around 15%. Publishers make their money on the big franchises, just like record companies.

Learn more here:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_09/b3922094.htm
 
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