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Behind the Scenes At Gamestop's Private Expo

Posted by Zonk on from the crouching-manager-hidden-gamer dept.

Gamasutra has a look behind the curtain, at a game expo few people even know exist. The annual Gamestop expo has a lot of the air of old-E3, with a greater focus on business deals, swag, and benefits for the hard working Gamestopper. "What did the show accomplish? In some sense, it seemed almost to be a reward for the store managers -- who work long hours on the front lines -- to listen to the show-floor scuttlebutt. While the official line was that the show was all business, bringing the managers to Las Vegas, loading their arms with swag, and letting them play pre-release games is obviously a big draw for these 'professional gamers'. They were so enthusiastic, in fact, that a huge number stayed beyond the 9 PM closing time; kiosks had to be deactivated before the die-hard crowd filtered away."

13 comments

  1. hyperbole by winmine · · Score: 2, Insightful

    it seemed almost to be a reward for the store managers -- who work long hours on the front lines I hate the amount of hyperbole in game writing. Is gamasutra comparing selling warranties in a shop to trench combat? pfft
    1. Re:hyperbole by TrevorDoom · · Score: 1

      Anyone who has ever worked retail during the American Holiday Season would be more than willing to use war-analogies towards retail.

    2. Re:hyperbole by pieaholicx · · Score: 1

      Indeed. Try working for 8 hours at a Bed Bath & Beyond that just happens to be one of a limited number of entrances to a quite large mall. Let's just say, crowded barely begins to cover it.

      --
      http://blog.heavensdomain.net
    3. Re:hyperbole by winmine · · Score: 1

      Anyone who has ever worked retail during the American Holiday Season would be more than willing to use war-analogies towards retail. Okay that sounds kinda fun, so I will: Trench Combat
      • Lots of people
      • Shooting bullets at you
      • Hot and muddy
      • You are going to die
      Retail Combat
      • Lots of people
      • Shooting mean looks at you
      • Dry and air conditioned
      • You are getting a twenty dollar store credit holiday bonus
    4. Re:hyperbole by log0n · · Score: 1

      Arundel Mills?

    5. Re:hyperbole by pieaholicx · · Score: 1

      Indeed.

      --
      http://blog.heavensdomain.net
    6. Re:hyperbole by Duffy13 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Hows that stick feel? Does it itch or leave splinters?

      --
      "Now you know, and knowing is half the battle!"
  2. Overhead! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    To pay for it all, an additional markup of 5% will be required on top of the normal 30% for all their products.

    1. Re:Overhead! by Grave · · Score: 2, Informative

      If you read the article (and of course you didn't), you'd know that the vendors paid for everything as a marketing expense. The total dollar amount is surely a million or more, but split over 30+ vendors, that's not much at all for a chance to demonstrate your products to the people who are selling to 25-30% of the US retail gaming market. If you win over those managers, they are a whole lot more likely to recommend your products.

      I'm not sure how much this article makes sense for slashdot, as the majority of people who actually care were attendees anyway.

    2. Re:Overhead! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I love articles like this- I mean what sense does it make to show demos and give away products to people who sell your games for you? Insert sarcasm. Seems like a very, very direct correlation there. In any other branch of sales in the world (from selling medicines, to student loans, to whatever) this practice would be condemned for putting bias on the seller. But in the world of straight-up retail, it's just good harmless fun that might not impact business whatsoever.

  3. Interesting promotion! by The+Orange+Mage · · Score: 2, Funny

    I hear if you trade in your press pass from last year, they'll buy it back for about 5% of it's original price in shop credit, then resell it next year for about eight times as much!

  4. E3 /air/? No thanks! by jjustice · · Score: 1

    The annual Gamestop expo has a lot of the air of old-E3... Yuck, I don't know why they even kept that around. Why would you want hot, smelly, sweat-drenched air anyway?