GameStop Gripes

I know its trendy to trash GameStop if you are in the industry. I was going to steer clear of this topic, but I feel as though I should say something. So here goes...

Let's start with the experience I have at my local GameStop whenever I go in, which is admittedly less these days. I will often go in on a Thursday or Friday and ask the clerk, "What new releases do you guys have?" The clerk will then flip the page of the Maxim he is reading behind the counter and flippantly respond, "Check the shelves." Often times without even looking up from his magazine. This is not only rude, it is unprofessional. Knowing what games they have in stock and what games have recently been released are two of these people's major responsibilities. If a man came into an emergency room, suffering from anaphylactic shock, and asked for epinephrine, the attending nurse would not make him search through the medicine storage closet himself. This is obviously an extreme comparison considering you will not DIE if you are not able to find the game you are looking for (in most cases), but you get the point.

Let's get back on track, here. Following the clerk's annoying incompetence, I usually DO go and check the shelves myself. Unfortunately, most of the time, I only find used games and empty boxes used to promote a game that can be pre-ordered. What really bugs me about this is that they are often in the section marked new releases. I don't think I need to spell out the discrepancy here.

After a few minutes of wandering around and looking at the shelves in a vain attempt to determine whether or not the game I'm looking for is actually out and/or available I give up and just ask the clerk directly. 90% of the time they do not have the game I am looking for because it has been sold out or I did not pre-order it. This is annoying, but also expected, seeing as almost all "blockbuster" games have to be pre-ordered to ensure that you get a copy of them. If you DON'T pre-order them you will surely have to wait for the second shipment to come in for you to get your hands on a copy. GameStop is even nice enough to tell you the "in-stock" status of other retailers carrying the game and they CERTAINLY know the most about games and game sales being the foremost game retailer. RIGHT?

Well, let's look at a recent experience I had when buying Bioshock. I did not pre-order Bioshock. I never pre-order games. I suppose I'm just old-fashioned (i.e. lazy). So on the day that Bioshock was released I prepared myself and headed to GameStop. I asked the clerk if they had any copies. The clerk asked me if I pre-ordered. I said NO. He said NO. I then asked when they would be getting more copies in. He told me that there would be another shipment in a MONTH, and that I could pay for a copy now so I was assured to get one when the next shipment came in. He also went on to tell me that NO STORE IN THE AREA had any copies, so giving him my money now and waiting for a month was the quickest way to get one. I didn't give him my money, mainly because I'm a tightwad.

I then headed over to the Best Buy down the street. I figured I would see if they were getting a shipment sooner than GameStop, seeing as the clerk at GameStop had already informed me that no stores in the area had a copy. I walked in the front door and I was immediately met by a worker that asked if they could help me with something. I told him I was looking for a copy of Bioshock for the 360. "Sure thing," he told me, and took me over to a register. He asked the clerk at the register to get me a copy of Bioshock, after which, the clerk reached under the counter into a box FULL OF COPIES and pulled one out for me. I paid and walked out in stunned silence (after someone scribbled some unreadable symbol on my receipt).

What did I learn from this? The employees of GameStop are not only rude, unprofessional, know-it-alls, but they are also blatant liars. The claims they made as to the availability of a certain product were bald-faced lies. That is upsetting, but this practice of theirs isn't the most disturbing conduct of GameStop. Which brings me to the ultimate point of my rant.

When you go into a GameStop, the employees do not wish to talk to you. Unless it is to give their opinion on one game or another. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I am not disputing that point. It is when statements are made by the clerks as to the reason the in-game art is a certain way, the controls are mapped as they are, or any other part of the development process that I believe that they are over-stepping their bounds. Not to sound "uppity", but these people are not in the video game industry, they are in the retail industry. I can respect their opinions as gamers, but I cannot respect the fact that they recommend games to customers based on their "vast knowledge" of the industry. Especially since the games they recommend are often more expensive or "available for pre-order". Earth Defense Force 2017 was a great game for the 360, but it was a budget title. As such you never heard a GameStop employee mutter word one about it. Even though I SHOULD have heard about it when I asked "What new releases do you guys have?"

At any rate, I have gone on long enough. I guess my point is this: Don't let people tell you what you should or shouldn't like in a game. Every gamer has their own tastes, and that is a really cool thing. Also, don't get bullied into thinking you have no options for what you like, because we game developers are out here busting our butts to make gamers happy. In the end, if the gamers are happy, we are happy.