Gamestop pulls Deus Ex

[Jagos]

Link

GameStop can be a little defensive about competing efforts to sell games online, much in the same way record shops have few nice things to say about the iTunes Store. Yesterday, the company was caught opening copies of Deus Ex: Human Revolution on the PC in order to remove a coupon code that would have given customers a free copy of the game via the OnLive streaming service, and then selling the opened copies as new.

Good to know that Gamestop hates Onlive with a passion. I'm very shocked to see them pull coupons directly though. They probably should have just recalled the game until further notice.

[Kim]

OnLive's pretty rad if you've got the internet for it.

Gamestop management is full of fucks, but don't blame the workers themselves. They're just doing what they're told.

People eventually started pulling the PC version of the games completely from what I've heard.

[Aerozord]

this is just spite though, I mean these people are still buying the game from gamestop

course why you would support gamestop at all is beyond me >_>

[Flarecobra]

Gamestop's been pretty good to me in the past... Hell, the main store I go to actually donated games to the rec buildings in Iraq.

But that's just crazy though.

[Arcanum]

So GameStop is trying to make amends. Essentially giving a refund on the PC copy with a $50 gift card.

I don't know how many people were affected by this though. I mean, do people even buy PC games from GameStop anymore? 'Cause at my local EB Games (Canadian Gamestop) the PC section seems to shrink every year.

[Ramary]

Brick and mortar shops are fighting a losing battle basically with digital distribution. Although consoles are still a good market, since DD is not as big on there yet, on PC it is essentially unwinable for them, that is one of the reasons Gamestop bought Impulse.

I can pretty much guarantee that normal video game shops will die out once console DD becomes popular. I mean, online shops like Amazon alone are already hurting them, DD on consoles will just be the killing blow.

I think Gamestop knew it, and that is one of the reasons they pulled this.

[Marc v4.0]

Pulling it is one thing, but opening a product and taking out part of it to then turn around and sell it as a complete product is bullshit.


I had a Gamestop in a new town pull this bullshit with me on my copy of DA:O. Some employee had decided they wanted the New Copy Only bonuses and tried to sell me an opened product, without the codes, as new.

[Krylo]

Originally Posted by Marc v1.0

Pulling it is one thing, but opening a product and taking out part of it to then turn around and sell it as a complete product is bullshit.

I'd say they're both bullshit given the reasons (there are good reasons to pull things, this was not one of them). It's more like pulling is just a plain ole steaming pile of bullshit, while opening a product, taking part of it out, and then turning around to sell it as a complete product is like a triple decker bullshit sandwich on whole fuck you bread with extra bullshit sauce on the side.

[Aerozord]

You know, this is actually a pretty big deal if people make a big enough stink about it. This isn't just a customer service issue, tampering with a product then selling it is a legal no-no.

What gamestop did is fraud, false advertising, and clearly illegal.

[Jagos]

People, they sell products as new like this all the time. Link

I was assigned to "gutting duty." Gutting duty involved 1. Removing discs from their brand new cases/game boxes, 2. Putting said discs into cardboard sleeves, 3. Storing the discs in the alphabetized drawers behind the counter, and 4. Prepping the now shrink-wrap-free - and totally empty -cases/game boxes for display by labeling them with prices.

"Gutting" is done for both new and used games. This is the reason why, if you are the unfortunate person to get the very last copy of a brand new game, your case/game box has no shrink wrap on it, and has quite obviously already been opened (by me). Ever seen those old movies showing prisoners wearing striped uniforms and breaking rocks with sledge hammers and just looking completely miserable? That's what gutting duty feels like.

Gamers on message boards constantly say - and yes, they typically write the following in caps - "HOW CAN THEY SELL AN OPEN COPY OF A GAME AS NEW WTFFFFFFF GAMESTOP SUX BALLZ?" The answer from GameStop's corporate perspective is this: Gutting keeps shrink to a minimum. Definition of shrink: Customer theft. Irrefutable fact: If you put an empty box on the shelf, there is no incentive whatsoever for a thief to steal it.

Gutting also provides store employees with a very useful visual cue that tells us what's left in stock. Don't see a box of Gears of War 2 on the shelf? Then someone bought the last one. Meaning we're out of Gears of War 2. Period.