Which chain that Gamestop bought out do you miss the most?

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EB is the obvious one that many will pick but personally I thought they were too much like Gamestop to begin with. Well, except for their website and the daily stock updates on classic games, which were awesome.

Regarding Software Etc and Babbage's, I'm actually not entirely sure if Gamestop bought them out or EB did (and Gamestop inherited them through EB). Either way, I remember shopping at both chains fairly frequently in the 1990's, but there was nothing that really made them stand apart.

I only went to Rhino Games once but what I saw was awesome. A chain that in the mid 2000's still sold NES, SNES, Genesis, and other classic games. At respectable prices too. I'm just sad I never lived near one before the Evil Empire bought them out.

My vote will ultimately have to go to Funcoland. It was just a fun store that sold current and classic games. I even remember the little newspaper price list they used to put out. I can remember many times scouring the prices to see what I would buy next.

These are the only chains I'm recalling at the moment, but if their are others that were bought out by Gamestop please post them here.
 
EB and Babbages are the only ones I ever shopped at before, and EB wins by a landslide. I still mourn the loss of the morning updates.
 
EB, I didn't like them much but they would have those awesome clearance deals like the stuff they would mark down to $2.99 - $4.99 for a day or two and then raise it back to full price. One example is Polarium DS for $2.99 new when it was $29.99 MSRP
 
Rhino. They stocked older games/hardware. What I miss most, though, is the trade-in promotion. Trade in 2 games worth at least $10/ea (which they would resell for $25), get a new $50 game free. Then you could just pay the difference if the game cost more than that, like Xbox 360 games or ones with pack-ins. For about a year, I never paid more than $20-$30 for a new 360 game, thanks to some smart flipping.
 
Without a doubt, Funcoland... they carried used games back to the NES-era, and actually had decent selections. Plus, they had these awesome trade-price fliers that helped alot with figuring out what games were worth flipping and which weren't.
 
FuncoLand - mainly because the nearest one always had a nice stock of NES hardware. I should have bought a R.O.B. there for $20 when I had the chance.
 
We had a Funcoland and Babbages in our area and both were terrible. Babbages had this really pushy lady... every time I went to buy a PS1 game, she would keep pestering me to buy a memory card or controller. She would always give away pre-order bonuses on a first come first serve basis to anyone who bought the game even if you didn't pre-order. I missed the Chrono Cross clock and Lunar 2 puppet because of that skank. Funcoland was run by this bipolar manager (who kept his job after GS bought them and is still there to this day), some days he's cool and other days he's just a dickhead.

I miss EB the most. Sure they were basically like GS but they actually had frequent deals/trade-in offers that were worth it. Also, it was great being able to get used guides for $2 and the employees were definitely cooler.
 
I miss Electronics Boutique 10 day (I think) return policy that they had for a while. Even if it was opened if you brought it back you would get the complete value back in store credit. If you beat a game or even if you just didnt like it just tell them thats why youre returning it.
 
FUNCOLAND by a mile. Old ass games and guides for (mostly) cheap ftmfw. The guides were especially cheap, I think most were like $2.99. Got the official EarthBound guide that way many years ago. I also loved how you could go in there and try out the games on any of the TVs with systems they had set up so you could try before you buy.
 
EB for its laid back knowledable no bull$*% gaming staff

Funcoland for its freaking huge selection of old school games, consoles, and accessories. And if they didnt have it in stock they usually have it there for you in 2-3 days.
 
[quote name='EnronLackey']EB for its laid back knowledable no bull$*% gaming staff

Funcoland for its freaking huge selection of old school games, consoles, and accessories. And if they didnt have it in stock they usually have it there for you in 2-3 days.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, funcoland used to take your name down and put it on a waiting list so that when a used copy of the game you wanted came in stock they would call you. How awesome is that?

I haven't done it in forever but I'm pretty sure GS will laugh in my face if I ask them to do that.
 
Gamestop grew from Babbages. They didn't buy them out.

For the poll, I vote Rhino. The trade 2 deal was how I got nearly every 360 game for about the first year or so after the console was released.
 
Maybe in the future gamestop will realize that there are still people out there who crave pre-N64/Sega/PSX stuff and start trading and selling again (hate to see how they'd price stuff). Although the chances look very slim of it happening, at least not now.

Remember people have backwards ps3's, so they are still playable.
 
EB for sure. I had a friend there who wouldn't put out Dreamcast games until I had a chance to look through them. Really low pressure sales environment, too.

I never got a chance to go to funcoland, even though there was one right by my house. It was turned into a GameStop before I had a chance to go there. I was 13 and had no money or transportation, so that didn't help. I vividly remember the commercial where the kid plays Gran Turismo on a giant screen in an arena, though.
 
The company started as Babbages / Gamestop, merged with Softeware etc. in 1994 and then merged with Funco in 2000, at which point the entire chain was merged under the name Gamestop Inc. In 2005, EB Games attempted a buyout of Gamestop Inc., and came to the realization that they didn't have enough working capital to make the deal work. At that point Gamestop, with their corporate backing which includes Barnes and Noble, decided that it was they who would buy EB Games, and that's how we ended up with one major video game retailer.

I miss Funco dearly, I really do, but that business model was destined for failure, and never would have lasted. Floor space is valuable, and the second hand market for everything has completely changed because of the internet.

Even if stores were to continue to carry games for older systems, eventually they would be left with nothing but the crap no one wants. At this point, collectors have snatched up nearly everything that has any value / demand for game consoles prior to PS2, there's really nothing left, so even if Gamestop were to announce tomorrow that they are going to start accepting trade ins for every console that has ever existed, it's not like there are droves of people with Super Nintendo games collecting dust in their basement that they want to get rid of, most of those people have already gotten rid of their old stuff a long time ago.

Parts of Funco still live on to this day, including the entire idea of trading in used games, which Funcoland started, and Game Informer magazine.
 
You'd think the game store business model as a whole would be prone to failure. If GameStop were not a pawn shop of games, and only sold new, it's pretty obvious they wouldn't be where they are now.
 
I guarantee you that Gamestop is shaking in their shoes at the prospect of the next generation of consoles being some sort of digital distribution only deal, that would absolutely totally put them out of business for good. I wonder if they have enough pull within the industry to make sure that doesn't happen.
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']FUNCOLAND by a mile. Old ass games and guides for (mostly) cheap ftmfw. The guides were especially cheap, I think most were like $2.99. Got the official EarthBound guide that way many years ago. I also loved how you could go in there and try out the games on any of the TVs with systems they had set up so you could try before you buy.[/QUOTE]

[quote name='KingDox']Yeah, funcoland used to take your name down and put it on a waiting list so that when a used copy of the game you wanted came in stock they would call you. How awesome is that?

I haven't done it in forever but I'm pretty sure GS will laugh in my face if I ask them to do that.[/QUOTE]

The more I think about it, the more it seems that Play N Trade is like a new version of Funcoland. They carry a selection of classic games, allow you to try just about any game in store, and even have the waiting list policy where you can request certain titles if they come in. I'm currently on my local PNT list for Earthbound and Panzer Dragoon Saga, but I doubt those will be coming in anytime soon. Or ever :cry:
 
In the next few years, approaching that final day of gaming history when the PS2 gets discontinued. It will bring alot of tears to the eyes of us all. But for all of us who were born in this era of it, will always remember how awesome it was.

and who loves to clean out gamestop after a system gets discontinued for good? Snag all those games you always wanted but didn't wanna pay over-inflated prices for them. I missed out on the Playstation 1's departure, but will probably have a bite of the PS2's exit.
 
[quote name='Ye0ldmario']
and who loves to clean out gamestop after a system gets discontinued for good? Snag all those games you always wanted but didn't wanna pay over-inflated prices for them. I missed out on the Playstation 1's departure, but will probably have a bite of the PS2's exit.[/QUOTE]

I was just thinking about this the other day. I was at an out of town gamestop, and they had a ton of used ps2 games. You know the 9.99 and under bin? Theirs was at least 10 feet long. I was thinking about the day when they'll clearance all of this and IT WILL ALL BE MINE MUA HA HA HA!!!

Ahem.
 
I just miss the competition. Deals before the Game$top buy out of EB were awesome and plentiful. Now the deals at G$ suck most of the time.
 
The only two on that list that were in southern Illinois/western Kentucky when I was growing up/in college were EB and Babbage's. All the Babbage's sucked, and most of the EB's I'd been to were cool so I had to vote EB.
 
[quote name='dafunkk12']Rhino. They stocked older games/hardware. What I miss most, though, is the trade-in promotion. Trade in 2 games worth at least $10/ea (which they would resell for $25), get a new $50 game free. Then you could just pay the difference if the game cost more than that, like Xbox 360 games or ones with pack-ins. For about a year, I never paid more than $20-$30 for a new 360 game, thanks to some smart flipping.[/QUOTE]

If thats what they did, thats why they are gone. Buisness HAVE TO make a profit.
 
[quote name='spmahn']The company started as Babbages / Gamestop, merged with Softeware etc. in 1994 and then merged with Funco in 2000, at which point the entire chain was merged under the name Gamestop Inc. In 2005, EB Games attempted a buyout of Gamestop Inc., and came to the realization that they didn't have enough working capital to make the deal work. At that point Gamestop, with their corporate backing which includes Barnes and Noble, decided that it was they who would buy EB Games, and that's how we ended up with one major video game retailer.

I miss Funco dearly, I really do, but that business model was destined for failure, and never would have lasted. Floor space is valuable, and the second hand market for everything has completely changed because of the internet.

Even if stores were to continue to carry games for older systems, eventually they would be left with nothing but the crap no one wants. At this point, collectors have snatched up nearly everything that has any value / demand for game consoles prior to PS2, there's really nothing left, so even if Gamestop were to announce tomorrow that they are going to start accepting trade ins for every console that has ever existed, it's not like there are droves of people with Super Nintendo games collecting dust in their basement that they want to get rid of, most of those people have already gotten rid of their old stuff a long time ago.

Parts of Funco still live on to this day, including the entire idea of trading in used games, which Funcoland started, and Game Informer magazine.[/QUOTE]

I used to think that also, but it is amazing how the trade stores around town get in tons of great old school stuff. I'm sure in 20 years all the good stuff will be out of circulation, but there are still alot of people that are pulling out their old games, some of them have games stocked in storage units, basements, ect... one of my friends purchased one of the local used stores last fall and it is amazing how about the time he gets low on old school stuff someone will come in with a box of old stuff, tons of people just have the stuff sitting in their basement. The bigger trade stores in the area like Disc replay get in so many old school games they have a huge back log in the back room, they get alot of rare stuff in, but it usualy sells the same day it comes in, the only way to stop that is price it so high that it stays on the shelf for a while, a local store called McVans prices rare games 10-20 above market to keep them on the shelves, but still sells a crap-load. Most people that say they are collectors aren't realy and they will trade that copy of Suikoden II that they bought for $150 last month in for a new copy of tales of vesperia.

As for my favorite, I'm not sure. I was a big fan of Software ect. and Funcoland. I also shopped at electronic botique sometimes, one local mall had 5 game stores in it and it was always amazing to me in high school how much difference there was in the TIV's and prices, I wish I would have had the cash to flip back then,i could have made a ton.
 
i know not many liked the store, but i loved going into software etc. EB games is also one to be missed. the EB Games now is just another face of gamestop. i also missed their badass sign. the paramus park eb changed their sign after many years just fairly recently to "gamestop".
 
[quote name='spmahn']I guarantee you that Gamestop is shaking in their shoes at the prospect of the next generation of consoles being some sort of digital distribution only deal, that would absolutely totally put them out of business for good. I wonder if they have enough pull within the industry to make sure that doesn't happen.[/QUOTE]

They don't need the pull. It's not going to happen this soon.
 
Babbages, because you actually *got* preorder items in-store, not "Oh, we didn't get it." as an employee runs out the back with five. And they actually marked price drops the morning they happened, and kept a clearance bin easily available... not to mention their TIVs always beat the EB Games we had later. Man, our EB Games sucked ass until recently... now our GameStop sucks ass.

I wonder how many people will catch on.
 
My local mall had an EB and a GameStop about 150 feet from each other. Once the buyout happened, the EB changed their sign. Now we have two GameStops 150 feet from each other.


???
 
I miss Funcoland the most. We would buy genesis/snes games off kids after psx and n64 came out in school for like $1 piece and flip 'em there. The store manager would let us hang out at the game selling counter and offer cash on stuff we wanted as people came up to sell to the store.

They also sold me about 70 copies of $.70-$1 madden's/super scope/menacer/etc.. games during my all time fav 'trade in 10 16bit games for $100 geoffrey dollars'. My buddy and I got our parents to drive us all over chicagoland clearing them out to trade into Toys R Us.

You can so tell when you walk into a former Funcoland or Babbages.


I also miss Babbage's but purely for the nostalgia of browsing in the store while at the mall. That place was ALWAYS $5 more than anywhere else.
 
[quote name='Bubbakja']

You can so tell when you walk into a former Funcoland or Babbages.

[/QUOTE]

This is so true. The GS near my house that used to be a funcoland is well set up, plenty of room to breathe and browse. Most other GS's are cramped as hell.
 
[quote name='Bubbakja']I miss Funcoland the most. We would buy genesis/snes games off kids after psx and n64 came out in school for like $1 piece and flip 'em there. The store manager would let us hang out at the game selling counter and offer cash on stuff we wanted as people came up to sell to the store.

They also sold me about 70 copies of $.70-$1 madden's/super scope/menacer/etc.. games during my all time fav 'trade in 10 16bit games for $100 geoffrey dollars'. My buddy and I got our parents to drive us all over chicagoland clearing them out to trade into Toys R Us.

You can so tell when you walk into a former Funcoland or Babbages.


I also miss Babbage's but purely for the nostalgia of browsing in the store while at the mall. That place was ALWAYS $5 more than anywhere else.[/QUOTE]

Holy crap, that seems to have been an incredible trade in deal! No wonder TRU is no longer in the used game busniess :lol: I'm sorry I missed out on that one.
 
Funcoland. Most of the reasons have been stated, but the price/TIV flyer was incredibly useful. I really wish GS would put some sort of pricing guide on their site, but then again...that would probably deter people from actually trading stuff knowing GS would pay jacks**t for them.

Though, I remember trading a ton to Funcoland and not getting much either, haha. I wish I didn't trade so many of my Genesis games.
 
[quote name='spmahn']I guarantee you that Gamestop is shaking in their shoes at the prospect of the next generation of consoles being some sort of digital distribution only deal, that would absolutely totally put them out of business for good. I wonder if they have enough pull within the industry to make sure that doesn't happen.[/QUOTE]

GS might be concerned with it. I know I'm terrified. The last thing I want is complete digital distribution. It will completely eliminate competition, and there won't be great deals for us, anymore.

[quote name='Rollett']If thats what they did, thats why they are gone. Buisness HAVE TO make a profit.[/QUOTE]

Exactly.
 
[quote name='hopeunknown']Funcoland. Most of the reasons have been stated, but the price/TIV flyer was incredibly useful. I really wish GS would put some sort of pricing guide on their site, but then again...that would probably deter people from actually trading stuff knowing GS would pay jacks**t for them.

Though, I remember trading a ton to Funcoland and not getting much either, haha. I wish I didn't trade so many of my Genesis games.[/QUOTE]


I agree on my NES games, I was trading in classics for like $3-5 :( When you're 12-14 not much of a choice though.

We traded ALL of our genesis games in when we got Sega Channel, also a huge mistake.
 
[quote name='Bubbakja']

I also miss Babbage's but purely for the nostalgia of browsing in the store while at the mall. That place was ALWAYS $5 more than anywhere else.[/QUOTE]

LOL, I remember when they got back into classic games, I was right after I got my NES in 2002 or so, I just about bought the GOLD plated zelda there for $49.99 but found it at a mom and pop shop for $13...I told the manager the next time I went in and he warned me that all their prices were so far above retail on the classics that they couldnt sell any.

I also liked how babages sold some games for dirt cheap, I bought abotu 10 copies of future tactics there for Xbox and PS2 for $5 and traded them to local mom and pop shops for $15-$20 apiece since they were wrapped new games....

P.S. the local mom and pop shops all know me by name and know that I have a tendency to find good deals so they are suspicious of me trading new games.
 
[quote name='Bubbakja']

I also miss Babbage's but purely for the nostalgia of browsing in the store while at the mall. That place was ALWAYS $5 more than anywhere else.[/QUOTE]

LOL, I remember when they got back into classic games, I was right after I got my NES in 2002 or so, I just about bought the GOLD plated zelda there for $49.99 but found it at a mom and pop shop for $13...I told the manager the next time I went in and he warned me that all their prices were so far above retail on the classics that they couldnt sell any.

I also liked how babages sold some games for dirt cheap, I bought abotu 10 copies of future tactics there for Xbox and PS2 for $5 and traded them to local mom and pop shops for $15-$20 apiece since they were wrapped new games....

P.S. the local mom and pop shops all know me by name and know that I have a tendency to find good deals so they are suspicious of me trading new games.
 
[quote name='ecwfan']There's one chain that was not mentioned, Planet X.[/QUOTE]

Don't think I ever heard of that chain. Was it regional?
 
[quote name='spmahn']I guarantee you that Gamestop is shaking in their shoes at the prospect of the next generation of consoles being some sort of digital distribution only deal, that would absolutely totally put them out of business for good. I wonder if they have enough pull within the industry to make sure that doesn't happen.[/QUOTE]

The day DD happens, is the day I STOP GAMING. I hate the idea of not owning a physical copy of a game that I can do with what I please.

The only way DD might sway me, is if game pricing went WAYYYYYYYYYYY down. I'm talking like $10 for a game. There's NO fuckin' way in hell I'd pay $60 for something I gotta sit there and download.

As for me, my vote went for EB Games, due mainly to their used guide section and many of the other things that made that chain leagues better than Shitstop.
 
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