Opinion – Video Games Retailers

A few days ago, I drove to my local Game Stop to go pick up a copy of Mortal Kombat for the PS Vita. On my way there, I grew nostalgic and began to remember all of the good times that I had as a child in those stores. As I opened the door and walked into the store, that was when the memories stopped.

Posters for Call of Duty: Black Ops II took up the majority of the store and as I was browsing around, the woman behind the desk immediately asked me if I wanted to reserve myself a copy of Black Ops II. I replied to her that I wouldn’t support Activision, because I was waiting for them to come out with something more original. That was it, dead silence, it was as if I had committed a murder or something.

Now here’s the kicker. When I found the copy of Mortal Kombat for the Vita and brought it up to the counter, the woman told me that I could not buy it. My first thought was “wait a minute? You don’t want to take my money? Even though I’m willing to give it to you and chuck at your face… with a smile?” Her reasoning behind this action was because I didn’t reserve a copy and therefore I couldn’t have one. I was appalled and again thought to myself, “If you won’t serve me, I’ll take my business elsewhere.” So I drove to the Super Target across the street and had the game in my hands within the span of two minutes.

After being screwed over by GameStop for the last time, I have decided to never do business with them again. Here is my question: Now that we live in a world that is dominated by digital downloads and online purchases, does society really need stores like GameStop to exist? With a company like Amazon in existence that gives me a free two-day shipping option on any product that I want, do I need to drive to my local GameStop?

The answer is not so easy, because as the saying goes: its different strokes for different folks. For me, because I have Amazon Prime, I don’t have the urge to go out and buy anything unless I need food. For the other people who don’t use Amazon, it may be easier for them to just go to their local GameStop and purchase the newest Call Of Duty.

Before iTunes sprang into existence, people had to drive to their local record store to pick up the newest CD. Nowadays they can simply get on their phones and download the latest tracks from Apple’s online store because it is convenient. In this day and age where everybody wants it now, convenience is the key to being successful. When I was in that GameStop the woman behind the desk was not giving me what I wanted, maybe she was doing her job, or maybe she was getting back at me for slamming Activision.

She even urged me to wait until the next day to pick up a product that I could easily attain by driving across street. I was being inconvenienced for no good reason and that’s not how this industry works any more.

To sum it all up if I want to be bothered by in-store employees, who constantly nag me about reserving the newest Call Of Duty, I’ll go to GameStop.

But if I don’t have time to leave my quiet house because I’m busy working and I see something I want, I’ll go to Amazon. If GameStop wants to win my heart, they will have to cater to all markets, not just the mainstream by not giving into the industry’s demands. As it stands I don’t see that happening any time soon, so I bid you a good day.