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Gamestop To Be Resupplied With PS3, Wii
GameSpot reports that GameStop will be resupplied with Wii and PS3 units within the next few weeks. They have some details on how the two console did in comparison (more games bought with the Wii than the PS3), and point out the best sellers for both systems. From the article: "The executives also recapped the launch performances of the two systems. For the PS3, Sony's Resistance: Fall of Man and Electronic Arts' Madden NFL 07 were the biggest sellers, while Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Ubisoft's Red Steel stood out from the pack of Wii launch titles ... While GameStop and its EB Games brand collectively account for about 25 percent of the US gaming market, the company believes it didn't receive that much of either system's day-one shipments. Executives said that they've never been satisfied with their launch day allocation of any new machine, but added their main concern now is the flow of follow-up shipments — which both Sony and Nintendo have promised will come at a steady pace."
So, can someone share their slashdot wisdom and tell us what we need to do to get a wii (at the retail price)? Get up early Sunday morning and go to Walmart? Is Costco a better bet? Call in the morning to ask about restocks? I'm sure someone here as relevant experience getting consoles post-launch when they're still in high demand like this.
A store that ran out of an item is getting more of that item?? NO WAI!!!
-- I prefer the term "karma escort."
To all of the Ebay resellers that endured week long lines, biting cold, searing heat, slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, all for ownership of a PS3 that they might sell it for 400% of retail price before Christmas, I say unto thee: Ha ha! Pwn3d n00bz!
-Now I may be an idiot, but there is one thing I am not sir, and that, sir, is an idiot.
Whew - almost an hour passed without a random Wii article! Thank god we have another... (Somewhere, a Nintendo PR exec is smiling.)
Today I went to a local EB and a Gamestop, and the word seems to be that they'll get a new batch of Wiis on Friday. This sounded good, until I realized just what Friday this Friday is. I'm debating over whether it's worth fighting an army of irate grandmothers to get mine this week.
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Wii's I can believe - one gamestop got a few in today - but the rest are saying February for the PS3. If by weeks you mean months - then yes - I can stop trolling for typos.
My local Redmond Bear Creek GameStop claimed they would be getting "very few" Wii systems on Friday, probably around 5 or 6. I'll try again after the holidays.
Gamespot reports that Gamestop...*blink*
The Braying and Neighing of Barnyard Animals Follows.
So does this mean only Gamestop will be getting new systems? It seems kind of obvious to me, "Wii and PS3 to ship more units"
While GameStop and its EB Games brand collectively account for about 25 percent of the US gaming market, the company believes it didn't receive that much of either system's day-one shipments.
They won't get more than 25% of the ongoing shipments either. They used to be a specialty retailer that added excellent customer service to the product you could get elsewhere. Recently, the bent over backwards to please the game publishers under the mistaken impression that if they didn't give in to their demands the publishers would give preferential treatment to the big guys (Wal-Mart, Target, etc...). Now that they don't offer any additional value, the publishers not only don't need them, but they actually have incentive to push them out of the market to reduce used game sales. Now, they get crappy allotments, they have to take pre-orders on everything because they can't return unsold merchandise to the distributor, they can't take returns from their customers for the same reason, and instead of being helpful the employees are reduced to bullying their customers in order to meet the quotas that keep the company in the black. It's only a matter of time. In the meantime, you may as well shop for your gaming gear at Wal-Mart, because you'll get equivalent service, and Wal-Mart has better stock levels.
I'm sure that story would actually surprise a lot of people.
microsoftword.mp3 - it doesn't care that they're not words...
Supply is the greatest challenge facing both of these systems in the Console War largely because they both can (probably) sell any system they can ship because of how high the demand for the systems are; with it being "Christmas" and they're shiny and new they're in demand.
2 &name2=&type=0 ); not having enough units at this time of year can be a mistake that will take a year to recover from.
Typically, in the November/December timeframe a system will sell 4 to 6 times as many units as it will sell in any other 2 months in a year ( http://www.vgcharts.org/usaconscomps.php?name1=PS
Earlier versions of closed video game consoles generally have more easily accessible holes in their protection, allowing the use of free software or other freeware. Compare an early Xbox console to an Xbox version 1.6, or compare a PSP with firmware 1.50 to a PSP with firmware 2.81. Even when the manufacturer supports the use of free software, as was the case with some PlayStation 2 consoles, the capability is often discontinued: Sony stopped making Linux kits for the PS2 and stopped making the full-size PS2 that was compatible with the hard drive. It remains to be seen how long Sony will maintain the "Other OS" installer for the PLAYSTATION 3 console.
Can anyone tell me if they get dark blue on black for the Wii topic page? I can't read a damn thing of the article intro.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
I really cant fathom that EB and Gamestop control 25% of the gaming public. If 1 in 4 people really are stupid enough to take 1/10 the resale value on their games to buy one at 15% more than they can get them elsewhere, then I can start to understand Bill O'Reiley's comments regarding gamers.
Wake up folks, EB and Gamestop are the video game equivalent of a pawn shop. Its there for the sole purpose of taking advantage of kids that dont know better, the poor or people with way more money than sense.
There are a couple of GameStop and EB Games locations in my neck of the woods that claim to have already received a second shipment of Wiis, but they aren't selling them. Instead, they're holding on to their supply for Black Friday.
I have to wonder whether they really have been resupplied, or if they're just putting it out there to draw in customers.
Even if they do have stock, I can't say I really understand the point of holding on to it. The only people who are likely to find out that GameStop has consoles are the gamers who have been poking their heads into every location and asking daily. Sure, they might come back Friday and buy a Wii, but they would just as soon have bought it today.
Meanwhile, the faceless shopping hordes will probably remain ignorant that GameStop has consoles in stock. If they're looking to get somebody a Wii for Christmas, they were likely going to head to a few specialty gaming shops anyway. So GameStop gets the same customer flow as they would otherwise, but manage to piss off their customer base in the meantime.
Not that I'm bitter...
Ceci n'est pas une sig.
Video game store to receive shipment of video games! Film at 11!
Read my blog.
I see ebay auctions with only a few minutes left closing in on the low 800s now. By the end of next week, ebayers probably won't be able to get retail for one.
If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
Just wait. There's an ebb and flow to these things. We're past the big launch weekend so supplies are high (in the hands of ebayers). As those supplies start to thin out, and with Sony unable to adequately restock retailers, and with breeders getting crazy as the holidays draw closer and closer and they still haven't gotten little Johnny his PS3 yet so he'll love them, ebay auction prices will go back up. They'll go down again after the holiday but should still remain somewhat above retail until Sony can fill the retail channels.
If you're sitting on a PS3 that you're going to ebay, I'd suggest you hold onto it for a week or two before putting up your auction. You're gambling against Sony's inability to fill the market, and the closer you get to Christmas the higher your potential selling price will be. Sell now and get a "guaranteed" $800-900, or wait and maybe get $1500+ but risk getting less than retail if Sony pulls a miracle out of their ass.
I've promised two younger brothers that I'll be getting them Wii's for Christmas. One of them told me, specifically, last year "Don't get me a present, just remember me when the Wii comes out". So he got an IOU, and thats coming due this year. The other one is off to college and can't share the machine with him, sadly, so I'm on the hook for those two. I'm also buying a Japanese Wii on the 2nd since I live in Japan and, umm, I want one for me.
My plan is that I'm going to take the Japanese Wii back with me and they can have fun using it over the Christmas vacation when I'll be home (its Wiigeon free for Zelda, and thats the only title that matters, right?). When I go back to Japan, I'll take the Wii back. By that time the stores should be getting their third shipments so they should be able to take the cash I'll give them and get their Wiis without having to wait in line or get shot by somebody wanting to speculate on eBay or whatever the stories of craziness are this year.
Help poke pirates in the eyepatch, arr.
While I'll agree some locally owned places offer better trade-in prices, there's a lot of areas where there's no other way to sell used games, except for selling them between friends. My friends from college & I usually trade our games amongst each other until we've all played what we want, and then the original buyer will trade them in for some 'new' games...
Have you been touched by his noodly appendage?
The problem with your thinking is that you are presuming everyone has huge sums of money for games. Most people don't. GameStop does not give 1/10 the resale value on games unless the sales rate for that title has plummeted while quantities of the game has soared. It's much closer to 1/2 the resale value. There are always places that will undercut MSRP for games, and thus not make any profit on them. But those places don't offer trade-ins, which by the way generated nearly $1 billion in credit for customers last year. That's $1 billion that could not have been spent otherwise.
The people with more money than sense are the ones who buy systems at way above retail from eBay. If you think that GameStop is "taking advantage" of those people, then I'm terribly sorry you don't grasp the concept of a company being in business to make money. You don't become the largest video game retailer in the country by not providing a great service that benefits your customers. I think you've probably either never been to a GameStop/EB Games, or don't know at all how the trade-in and used system there works.
My local GameStop (Hays, KS) already got more PS3's. I don't know how many, but two of my friends that didn't get their pre-orders filled on launch picked up theirs this evening.
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For those of us who live or work in Redmond, it's a nice boost to have two out of the three console makers in our backyard. If you're a DigiPen student, then chances are you know some folks from NOA and MS, meaning access to both their company stores. Lucky!
-- jchenx
There's no other way to sell used games? That's sad. Hopefully, one day your country will have its very own branch of eBay, however.
"I Know You Are But What Am I?"
I do agree that even considering bringing your used games to EB/Gamestop should warrant a few bullet holes in your kneecaps, but there have been occasions where I'll find a gem of a game in the used area for like $5.00. This is why I frequent EB/Gamestops in my area. I don't know about that 15% stat, but around my neck of the woods Walmart is the cheapest retailer, but only by about $0.30.
disclaimer: I've been known to store numbers in my ass for which to dig out when quantities are required.
"By the end of next week, ebayers probably won't be able to get retail for one."
Of course. Remember, this is eBay, would you place a bid on "Only $599.99 ($120 shipping and handling)?"
It's not worth the time and hassle for me to use eBay. It also helps that I only trade in stinkers that I shouldn't have purchased in the first place. No one wants a stinker, but EB will still take them off my hands.
Ah, fair enough then. I try to avoid ending up with too many stinkers, but when I traded in my XBox 1 and armfuls of games for my 360, I think I got more for the stuff than I would have through eBay.
"I Know You Are But What Am I?"
Many gamestops have gotten additional Wii in the past few days but have been forbidden from selling them until Black Friday. That's how they know they'll have more "after the holiday." This is straight from a store manager.
I don't normally pick up too many, but I have a nasty habit of purchasing games that my wife wants when I know that she isn't going to play them for more than a few days. I sold off five of them for the Wii because they were offering an additional 20% towards preorders. Easy, quick and I was going to be there anyways.