Am I the only one who finds this annoying?

[Darth_Fatso]

Am I the only one who finds it annoying when you go to places like Game Stop or FYE and buy a brand new game only to find the game itself has been opened and/or removed from the cover? Normally while I find that pretty annoying it doesn't stop me from purchasing new games from these places but today I ended up buying Dead Space brand new at Game Stop but when I got to the counter they only had one new copy left and the only cover they had for it was the display cover which is pretty dinged up. I don't mind buying a used game with a banged up cover, but if it's supposed to be brand spanking new I personally don't want my games to have been opened allready and maybe this is me just being picky but I expect the cover to be in decent condition as well. But what really got me is when I got home, like I allways do I like to inspect the disc and to my suprize it had severall scratches and finger prints on it. Again if it had been a used game this wouldn't be a problem but when I pay full price for a band new game I expect it to be unopened and at the very least the disc to be scratch free. Suffice to say I'm gonna be taking it back tomorrow to exchange it for another one or some credit.

Also again maybe it's just me being picky but does anyone else find it annoying also that Game Stop sticks the price tag on the cover of their used games? Not the plastic sleeve but the actual cover/picture.

 

[plasmid303]

It is annoying. I have a friend who used to work at gamestop and he told me they called those opened new games "gutted" games, which is self explanatory. From what I can understand the reason why they open the gamed is, obviously, they need a display box on the shelves and just don't want to shell out the time and money to make photocopies of a game box sleeve and game publishers usually don't provide sleeves. From what I hear publishers take issue with having their game covers copied, which is understandable for piracy reasons.

When you get a gutted game you're essentially getting the very last new copy your store has in stock. The game is still new, but I can understand why you'd be cautious.

 

[Darth_Fatso]

The thing is this wouldn't have been as much of an issue if the disc wasn't scratched. There have also been time when I bought a new game and they had severall copies left but the one I got had still been opened.

 

[BuDDaH]

IMO ... If a game had been opened and displayed then it is not "brand new" anymore ... When something like this happens, I want the Game to be sold cheaper. If the clerk dosen´t agree, then I walk out of the store right into the next store.

I don´t understand why you are supposed to pay full price for something that many people had their greasy hands on ...

 

[The Tuggernaut]

This is why I only buy factory-sealed games, in-store. I've never bought a game/dvd that has been pre-owned, or not sealed. I'm picky that way.

 

[The Entity]

I find it annoying too!

I just hate it when a new game has fingerprints, little scratches or stuff like that on it.
And also the instruction booklets are removed and I have seen it happen a couple of times, that they have folds and what not too because of that removal process.

I don't know how it is in the United States or in other countries, but here in The Netherlands, this "gutted game" practise is really common.
There are two local gamestores who do this to only one copy,like you mentioned, but toy stores or multi-media stores around here gut all their copies and put the empty covers on the shell.
They don't only do this with games, but also with cd's and DVD's.

There were two or three times, that I had to return DVD's because they wouldn't play right because of scratches made during the gutting

 

[lerath666]

I worked at Rapestop for 4 years. they do ALOT of seedy buisness practices.
For the record, Game companies DO send Gamestop EXTRA cover art so they don't need to gut games, becuase customers HAVE complained to the game companies. Gamestop dosn't like to use it, as in some cases these extra cover art is somewhat faded. there is also the issue of the case to put the art in, Lamestop is cheap.
Would you Like to know why your copy of the game was scratched and covered in fingerprints?
Gamestop allows it's employees to "borrow" new games for up to 4 days to take teh game home and learn about it, so they can better market it to customers. Used games as well as new games are permitted to be " checked out".
when the game is returend, It is the responsability of the store manager to check the game and ensure it is still in " sellable condition" Note I said " sellable" not new. If the disc is damaged, the employee is sopost to be required to buy it.
Having worked as a member of the management staff in those stores, let me tell you, there RARELY is time to do that, and most managers simply let the employees handle all that themselves, never actualy looking at the disc.

" is the disc still good?"
" uhhh... Yeah, it's ok Boss"
" file the disc and get to work straightening the walls, they're wrecked again"
Typical converstaion would be the above.

How do you feel now?

(FYI, for those of you that don't know, EB games is teh same company as gamestop, Gamestop bought them a few years ago, and EB does the exact same thing)

 

[BadMoon]

I worked at Rapestop for 4 years. they do ALOT of seedy buisness practices.
For the record, Game companies DO send Gamestop EXTRA cover art so they don't need to gut games, becuase customers HAVE complained to the game companies. Gamestop dosn't like to use it, as in some cases these extra cover art is somewhat faded. there is also the issue of the case to put the art in, Lamestop is cheap.
Would you Like to know why your copy of the game was scratched and covered in fingerprints?
Gamestop allows it's employees to "borrow" new games for up to 4 days to take teh game home and learn about it, so they can better market it to customers. Used games as well as new games are permitted to be " checked out".
when the game is returend, It is the responsability of the store manager to check the game and ensure it is still in " sellable condition" Note I said " sellable" not new. If the disc is damaged, the employee is sopost to be required to buy it.
Having worked as a member of the management staff in those stores, let me tell you, there RARELY is time to do that, and most managers simply let the employees handle all that themselves, never actualy looking at the disc.

" is the disc still good?"
" uhhh... Yeah, it's ok Boss"
" file the disc and get to work straightening the walls, they're wrecked again"
Typical converstaion would be the above.

How do you feel now?

(FYI, for those of you that don't know, EB games is teh same company as gamestop, Gamestop bought them a few years ago, and EB does the exact same thing)

Yep I worked for EB years ago. I hate everything about the company and their stupid pushy sales people.

 

[lerath666]

Yep I worked for EB years ago. I hate everything about the company and their stupid pushy sales people.

that's Part of what got me "fired" from there. I did not approve of certain stnadards and practices they did, and so my DM decided to "find a reason" to "get rid of" me.

 

[BadMoon]

that's Part of what got me "fired" from there. I did not approve of certain stnadards and practices they did, and so my DM decided to "find a reason" to "get rid of" me.

I straight showed up one day in Jeans to great the new manager. She asked me if I was working today. I told her no, showed her around and started to walk out. She asked if I was sure I wanted to do this. I said without hesitation, "Sure am!". Got in my car and went back to bed.

First off they lie to customers to get them to pre-order. They actually turn away sales when a game is released in order to try to "Teach the customer a lesson". They think that if they do this people will pre-order more. They made people buy bundle packs for both the PS2 Launch and Xbox. They actually forced people into buying games and accessories they didn't want. They even wanted us to call homeless shelters and hospitals to solicit used games.

The problem with the company is that it is run by people who really don't know anything about games nor their customers. I truely believe under the right leadership that the company would be very successful. However, they turn people off by their business practices and lack of knowledge.

One funny story and then I'm done because I get fired up talking about this. LOL!

I was on a conference call and my DM liked to use the term "Gangbusters". So on the call she asked if we were going to have a successful launch of "The Thing" on PS2. I blurted out, "Don't worry Penny I am going to gang bang every customer that walks through the door today for The Thing". Dead silence and then people just started laughing like crazy on the phone. She never said anything. I don't even think the dumbass understood what I said.

 

[Mighty_Jabba]

IMO ... If a game had been opened and displayed then it is not "brand new" anymore ... When something like this happens, I want the Game to be sold cheaper. If the clerk dosen´t agree, then I walk out of the store right into the next store.

I don´t understand why you are supposed to pay full price for something that many people had their greasy hands on ...

Because of this stupid practice I actually stopped buying games in stores and get them online. It's cheaper and they always come sealed. One story I had when buying my PS3 in HMV: they had a deal on it where you could get two free games with it. But the game I wanted was not in stock so they allowed me to take something else and told me to bring it later to replace it for the one I wanted. I did that and the game I had for a week went back on the shelf.

 

[El Skutto]

So on the call she asked if we were going to have a successful launch of "The Thing" on PS2. I blurted out, "Don't worry Penny I am going to gang bang every customer that walks through the door today for The Thing".

Man, I LOVED The Thing on my Xbox. Totally underrated game, IMO.

 

[Darth_Fatso]

Well luckly I've yet to encounter any problems when returning new or used games to GS but after this I don't think I'll be doing any buisness with them for a while.

 

[Chimera 1]

Am I the only one who finds it annoying when you go to places like Game Stop or FYE and buy a brand new game only to find the game itself has been opened and/or removed from the cover? Normally while I find that pretty annoying it doesn't stop me from purchasing new games from these places but today I ended up buying Dead Space brand new at Game Stop but when I got to the counter they only had one new copy left and the only cover they had for it was the display cover which is pretty dinged up. I don't mind buying a used game with a banged up cover, but if it's supposed to be brand spanking new I personally don't want my games to have been opened allready and maybe this is me just being picky but I expect the cover to be in decent condition as well. But what really got me is when I got home, like I allways do I like to inspect the disc and to my suprize it had severall scratches and finger prints on it. Again if it had been a used game this wouldn't be a problem but when I pay full price for a band new game I expect it to be unopened and at the very least the disc to be scratch free. Suffice to say I'm gonna be taking it back tomorrow to exchange it for another one or some credit.

Also again maybe it's just me being picky but does anyone else find it annoying also that Game Stop sticks the price tag on the cover of their used games? Not the plastic sleeve but the actual cover/picture.

That happened to me when I bought street fighter 4. The case was broken. I told the guy it was broken and he gave me 15% off. So I don't mind the case being messed up but I always make sure I get a discount.

 

[p!tu]

Its complete Bull^^^^, and thats why i just go to target or if im going to trade something to my PLay n Trade. ^^^^ game stop.

 

[hellboy120]

In my local game stop,I always see raggedy and old game guides. They shouldn't put that in front of the shop. Of course,never get discount from that old game guide. Better to buy from the Internet,but worse to wait.

 

[BuDDaH]

Gamestop allows it's employees to "borrow" new games for up to 4 days to take teh game home and learn about it, so they can better market it to customers. Used games as well as new games are permitted to be " checked out".
when the game is returend, It is the responsability of the store manager to check the game and ensure it is still in " sellable condition" Note I said " sellable" not new. If the disc is damaged, the employee is sopost to be required to buy it.
Having worked as a member of the management staff in those stores, let me tell you, there RARELY is time to do that, and most managers simply let the employees handle all that themselves, never actualy looking at the disc.

True Story ... A Friend of mine was working at Gamestop in Austria. When Crackdown was released, my friend took a copy with him to "check" the Game like you said. The next day when he came back to work the area manager was there to fire him. They said he stole the Game ... They even called the Police. My friend said that irt was common to take games Home with them. They were looking for a reason to fire him and boom they found a reason ...

I never buy at these shops.

 

[Solidus]

Am I the only one who finds it annoying when you go to places like Game Stop or FYE and buy a brand new game only to find the game itself has been opened and/or removed from the cover? Normally while I find that pretty annoying it doesn't stop me from purchasing new games from these places but today I ended up buying Dead Space brand new at Game Stop but when I got to the counter they only had one new copy left and the only cover they had for it was the display cover which is pretty dinged up. I don't mind buying a used game with a banged up cover, but if it's supposed to be brand spanking new I personally don't want my games to have been opened allready and maybe this is me just being picky but I expect the cover to be in decent condition as well. But what really got me is when I got home, like I allways do I like to inspect the disc and to my suprize it had severall scratches and finger prints on it. Again if it had been a used game this wouldn't be a problem but when I pay full price for a band new game I expect it to be unopened and at the very least the disc to be scratch free. Suffice to say I'm gonna be taking it back tomorrow to exchange it for another one or some credit.

Also again maybe it's just me being picky but does anyone else find it annoying also that Game Stop sticks the price tag on the cover of their used games? Not the plastic sleeve but the actual cover/picture.

Darth, I had the same concerns about Gamestop, but I now buy my games from Best Buy or Amazon.

And honestly, I dont know why the Gamestop people place their price stickers on the cover art of the games (instead of on the plastic sleeves). What, are they afraid that someone's going to steal their precious price stickers?

 

[Solidus]

Its complete Bull^^^^, and thats why i just go to target or if im going to trade something to my PLay n Trade. ^^^^ game stop.

Right on man!

 

[Fives]

what really sucks is when you preorder a game and by the time you go pick it up they're all sold out and you get the display (opened) copy........at the same price . thats why i never preorder anymore and just buy my games at Target or BestBuy.