EA no longer distributing through GAME after SSX + Nintendo?

Arbalest

Arbalest

黒い剣士
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Going by Eurogamers post on the matter, it looks like GAME & Gamestation are set to stop selling EA titles within their business after SSX. What does this mean? well The article they have links to a post which EA themselves sent out saying that if you ordered the Mass Effect 3 collectors edition, then you need to re-order it from one of four sites: Amazon, play, zavvi and shopto.net.

So it looks like GAME are losing ground in the gaming business, they cancelled everyones pre-order of The Last Story since they ended up not getting any stock for it, they never sold Tekken 3D, no Ubisoft games for vitas launch either, and from what i can tell, that's only the tip of the iceberg for this. I could see them going down fully sooner rather than later i think now. Bit of a shame.

EDIT: going by other people, though i'll fire a source here when i get it. GAME/Gamestation will stop selling most nintendo titles too. What the heck is going on with them?
 
Cautious seller
Looks like Sony are very concerned about the financial state of both HMV and the GAME Group. I noticed on Wednesday that my Vita memory card packaging had (purchased from HMV) a sticker acting as a seal, stating that it was the property of Sony Computer Entertainment UK Ltd, their address and 'Not to be removed until point of purchase by Consumer'.

The same sticker was on the cellophane wrapping of Everybody's Golf that I picked up the following day from GAME. I thought it may be related to the just the Vita, but queue today, after hmv.com letting me down on my Jak And Daxter Trilogy order (stock delay, but the game has even vanished from the site completely, which set alarm bells ringing), I cancelled it and decided to pick it up in town as I had some games I wanted rid of anyway. And lo and behold... that very same sticker is on the cellophane, this time from Gamestation.

I know that stock is often provided on credit, but for it to remain property of the supplier till sold? Is that something that happens often or is it something new? I can't blame Sony for wanting to get stock into the shops, yet covering their own bottoms if either HMV or GAME go under. I did text a friend who got hers from Amazon... no 'Property of' sticker on hers.

Maybe both companies are in a worse state than publicly known.
Plankton1975 (PSN ID)
PS: What with the Vita and the games for both it and the PlayStation 3 I've yet to finish, that's my gaming sorted for a while. Journey excepted, I must resist new shiny things for a while now... for both my backlog and bank balance's sake. Wish me luck on that.
PPS: Ooooh! A shiny thing! (runs off into the distance after it).

GC: Well spotted. The reason for the sticker is exactly as you suggest: to cover themselves if GAME go under. Although we didn't realise that they were being used in HMV as well. We have a feeling buying games on the High Street is going to be very different come Christmas…
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A couple of letters to the gamescentral section of the metro earlier in the week.
 
No nintendo titles?... What.

Just.

These are the worst decisions ever made in the history of business. Not stocking ME3 or Ninty titles? Two of the biggest cash cows on the planet? Game is gone. This is the end for them, no doubt about it... Glad I spent my last few penneth of card points while I could.
 
GAME employees must be feeling very worried at the moment. Despite the assertive wording in the memo, it's plain to see they're in major trouble, and swiftly losing the ability to recover. I can't imagine a company like EA is going to feel pressured to risk itself for GAME by this tactic.

R
 
GAME are basically in financial hell. I'll be amazed if they even last until the end of March.

Which sucks, as I have a £10 voucher, but **** all to use it on.
 
I got an email earlier from them saying that my Mass Effect 3 order had been cancelled :(. So I went into my local store and asked why. They told me that Game had been essentially shafted by EA and that they couldn't say why. What they did say though is that there is going a lot of lost revenue now that ME3 is no longer available. So a bit after a bit of digging I found that Eurogamer site and read the memo. Game really are in a bad position.

The guys at the store seemed concerned as well as annoyed as they had preordered the game as well so they couldn't reorder it elsewhere. According to them and the memo it only affects the March releases thus far but I'm sure this is only the beginning.

From what I have read from these sites I can gather that it is all about money again. They are unable to secure enough credit to convince EA to part with the games. Which is to say is fair enough on EA's part, would you lend your stock to firm that the banks won't lend to?

In my own opinion I don't really care if Game disappears or not, I don't use them and I was only forced to buy ME3 from them as they were the only ones to stock the collectors edition.

It seems ME3 really is quite popular, in a matter or hours all the listed sites; Play.com, Zavvi and ShopTo have all sold out, I think I only just managed to make my pre-order with Play in time as they're not even listing it anymore.
 
Joshawott said:
GAME are basically in financial hell. I'll be amazed if they even last until the end of March.
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Pretty must what Josh said, GAME have been having credit issues for a while now either not getting copies in at all or getting very few copies in at all

Some one said to me the other day, he bought his vita from them but they didn't have the rayman origins game which he wanted so he came to us -blockbuster-

I know some people had there ordered for FFXIII-2 cancelled as well -mainly the crystal or collectors editions-

I feel bad for every one that has pre-ordered with them as now how the hassle of finding someone else to get it with.

not getting games in is a big blow but not getting ME3 in is possibly what might kill them off all together. People just aren't going to want to use them anymore

I get most of mine from work but when I do have to order online I used zavvi, play, shopnet mainly
 
In terms of what GAME have been lacking recently, we know that they cancelled pre-orders for The Last Story, and literally did it the day before it was set for release. They didn't get Namco-Bandais Tekken 3D, even going as far as to say they'd never be stocking it. The Ubisoft Vita games is also known. They aren't getting any of the Vitas Ubisoft games in, whether it goes beyond just the vita i don't know, but yeah.

Also, the only known nintendo title not to get stocked at GAME/Gamestation is Mario party 9. A minor title i guess, but considering it is a Mario title, it brings a lot to be concerned about.

I actually read a shares thing which was based just after the EA situation was made public, and the shares fell by 15%, hitting just under 5p. They did a comparison to what the shares of GAME was back in May 2008, and they where at about 285p per share instead. If you ask me, it would appear that something has been going wrong for a while, and we've only recently caught wind of it.
 
Maybe it is a case of games companies hitting back (for a long time Game & Gamestation have profited from preowned games of which the games companies receive no money).

Also I seem to recall Game buying conoles from Supermarkets when they were in sale promotions, only to them sell them for more at their own stores (as these were now 2nd hand none of the money from the resale would have gone to the games companies).
 
mangaman74 said:
Maybe it is a case of games companies hitting back (for a long time Game & Gamestation have profited from preowned games of which the games companies receive no money).
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I think it's far more likely judging from that letter that their credit with certain suppliers has simply run out and they won't give them any more stock. My guess is that it's gone something like this: Game run out of credit, then say "We need more games to sell to make the money to pay the invoices". Suppliers, seeing this as a sign they're about to go under, refuse to give them any more stock on credit. And probably start calling in all overdue invoices as well. While Game might even have a solid plan for the future, suppliers can't afford to take the risk for them. They're probably only asking their suppliers for more credit because they can't get financing from anywhere else (again, really not a good sign).
 
It's worth noting that The Last Story is being distributed by Nintendo.

When I go into my local GAME, the only Nintendo 3DS games they have which are new are Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7 and Super Pokémon Rumble. I have a £10 voucher I need to spend before they die, so I'll probably go in sometime in the week (if they last that long) and put it towards something like eShop points or a Circle Pad Pro or something - just to use it. I was planning on putting it towards Kid Icarus: Uprising, but I doubt they'll be stocking that now.
 
Game/station are on the out and I'd be very surprised if we had them as they are in the next six months. They're ether going to be GameStops or they're going to be vacant lots.

Or worse, Clothing stores.
 
ConanThe3rd said:
Game/station are on the out and I'd be very surprised if we had them as they are in the next six months. They're ether going to be GameStops or they're going to be vacant lots.

Or worse, Charity stores.
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fixed for ya
 
Used up all £12.50 of Game reward card points today. Crazy Taxi and Colin McRae 4 on PS2 plus £10 of PSN credit. Don't need to shop there ever again now, so I'm safe.
 
Ryo Chan said:
ConanThe3rd said:
Game/station are on the out and I'd be very surprised if we had them as they are in the next six months. They're ether going to be GameStops or they're going to be vacant lots.

Or worse, Charity stores.
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fixed for ya
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I'd be inclined to agree (what with Charity stores providing no economical benefit to the greater system) but at least Charity stores vaguely threaten to be of use. Clothes stores are about as much use as a chocolate tea pot that's already on fire.
 
Ryo Chan said:
ConanThe3rd said:
Game/station are on the out and I'd be very surprised if we had them as they are in the next six months. They're ether going to be GameStops or they're going to be vacant lots.

Or worse, Starbucks stores.
Click to expand...

fixed for ya
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Another possibility overlooked.

I find myself getting less and less software from Game, since they vaguely have anything that I want or for ones I do want, they say to order it from their online store
 
ConanThe3rd said:
Ryo Chan said:
ConanThe3rd said:
Game/station are on the out and I'd be very surprised if we had them as they are in the next six months. They're ether going to be GameStops or they're going to be vacant lots.

Or worse, big profitable retail chains employing free staff paid for by the government with tax money.
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fixed for ya
Click to expand...
I'd be inclined to agree (what with Charity stores providing no economical benefit to the greater system) but at least Charity stores vaguely threaten to be of use. Clothes stores are about as much use as a chocolate tea pot that's already on fire.
Click to expand...
You're all behind the times. Why have people working for nothing for charity when you can have them working for nothing for a for-profit company?
 
ayase said:
ConanThe3rd said:
Ryo Chan said:
ConanThe3rd said:
Game/station are on the out and I'd be very surprised if we had them as they are in the next six months. They're ether going to be GameStops or they're going to be vacant lots.

Or worse, big profitable retail chains employing free staff paid for by the government with tax money.
Click to expand...
fixed for ya
Click to expand...
I'd be inclined to agree (what with Charity stores providing no economical benefit to the greater system) but at least Charity stores vaguely threaten to be of use. Clothes stores are about as much use as a chocolate tea pot that's already on fire.
Click to expand...
You're all behind the times. Why have people working for nothing for charity when you can have them working for nothing for a for-profit company?
Click to expand...
Because then David Cameron will be mur-

Wait, that doesn't sound too bad, actually
 
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