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Death of the Indie Game Store

Posted by Zonk on from the late,-lamented dept.

tjmcgee writes "Independent game stores are usually hard to find, and when you do they are generally overpriced. An article on the Next-Gen site explains why the independent game store is all but gone. The article is very funny but kinda sad." From the article: "There's a lot of competition out there. There's no getting around it. Everyone is selling games now. Chances are your grandmother is hocking copies of Vice City every Monday between Bingo and Salisbury Steak night at the Shady Tree rest home."

3 of 84 comments (clear)

  1. Time for change (see Netflix) by philipx · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Looks like it's a good opportunity for them to move all web. After all, it did work for Netflix - if somebody could come up with a similar system for games, we gamers/geeks are fairly notorious about going after new tech/stuff.

    It may not have the appeal of a brick and mortar store, but you can offer so much more.

    --
    __________
    Don't belong. Never join. Think for yourself. Peace!
  2. an idea for focus by bornyesterday · · Score: 2, Interesting
    The thing about EB and Gamestop is that they mostly don't focus on PC games. At the gamestop here, they have a single shelf hidden in the back corner for non-console games. And as someone who doesn't have a console, that's a pain in the arse. I'm more likely to buy new games from BestBuy than one of those stores.

    What I'd really like to see is a PC gaming specialty store. Not just with new games, but with classic games, and with hardware upgrades for your computer - video cards, memory, processors, etc. I grant that it probably wouldn't be profitable, but it sure as hell would be nice.

  3. Indie stores are much cheaper for some games by nystul555 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I keep seeing everyone say they are overpriced. Maybe my area is different, but the indie stores around here aren't bad at all. They sell new games for the same as the major retailers, but they don't focus on that much at all. Several of the best don't even sell new games.

    Where indie stores really shine is in the used games. I've found them to be MUCH cheaper than Gamestop, EBGames, etc. For example I recently picked up a complete boxed copy of Final Fantasy 1 in decent condition for the same price Game Crazy wanted for just the cartridge. I also picked up Dragon Warrior 3 for half of what the bigger stores wanted. I could go on and on with examples, but I've found them to always be much cheaper on the classic games. Also, you can actually haggle with them and get a better price for a larger purchase or a purchase with trade-in. Good luck with that at a major game shop.

    The other place where they shine is the fact that they actually have knowledgable staff. I can go into one of those and find out the going rate for Waterworld for VirtualBoy and background on Neo Geo AES systems or anything else I ask about. The workers at the big stores don't have the faintest clue what I am talking about. I'm also lucky enough to have a major indie store that imports thousands of Japanese games, which I am a big fan of. Without them I would be stuck paying Lik-sangs massive markups.

    I'm not saying indie stores aren't going to go away some day, but they definately have a place and if you are interested in classic or foreign games you don't have much of an alternative. If the ones around here ever closed I guess I'd be stuck with Ebay and importers.