Next Xbox - No Disc Drive?

[Raz]

Would Gamestation/GAME happen to offer more money on trades for members? At least that's what Gamestop does here in the states, (And those greedy bastards bought out all of my favorite used game stores too! Even worse, they don't have the equipment or policies to test their bricked coasters before they put them on the shelf.) and the clerks will barely offer you 50 cents, sometimes even less, for used games unless you have a membership card.

Even then, it's still in store credit, though. *insert rage face here* All the Gamestop exclusive DLC pre-order content is an even bigger "**** you other guys" than that.

To put it shortly, I know how it feels! And I find it funny how one monopoly (MS) might kill another in the UK. Maybe it will encourage the growth of newer, smaller VG store chains? The thought of tabletop game stores stocking up on video games is a great idea too, they really could use more sells from a broader variety of customers; all the tabletop stores I visit are usually empty! (And maybe we would see more people playing Civilization the old fashioned way in the process? xD)

Nope, we don't have a membership system like that. Any time you purchase a game you're asked to take a points card; the cards are pretty useless, you save points up and can use them for money off another game. You get 10 points for every £1 spent. 1000 points = £2.50, so you need to buy a tonne of games before you even get £2.50 off a game. Launch titles here are around £40. so you're looking at 30 games before you get that. You also seem to lose your points if you don't make a purchase in a while....

So basically, you get the same offer no matter if you use their loyalty program or not, and it's usually a terrible price you get while they sell the games for three or four times what you sold it for.

I really do hope some small retailers win out of this, I think we've let the idea of "superstores" go way too far. The one thing I liked about video game stores years ago is that all the staff were really interested in games, you could go in with no cash and just chat to the staff for ages. I believe the hiring policy is different now, I've heard that Gamestation do their recruitment through the Job Center in the UK rather than through individuals applying for a job.

It'd be sad to see all those people put out of a job, it really would, but I think that the business practices have put GAME where it is now. They choked out the independent market by being the biggest players in their market, and they're now being squeezed out by the supermarkets who are bigger bullies than they are.