Game News 2.0

Varik

The movie is seven samurai from the sound of it.

johnny_ultimate

EA removing Mirror’s Edge and the two Bad Company games from digital stores. Between this and the imminent eShop closures, this is a reminder of the problems of digital distribution - games can just be disappeared at the whims of a publisher.

https://twitter.com/wario64/status/1638212897703854081?s=46&t=nwvJe3fJtU0siJ7wj5mjTA

Zero-Cool

Removing it because of the online features. Mirrors edge online feature is it's leaderboard. Just turn off the leaderboard and leave the game on the store ffs.

CatInABox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120384970#Comment_120384970

Mirrors Edge is staying up actually. They say that including it in the list to be delisted was a mistake. Not sure if I believe that or not....

johnny_ultimate

https://www.gamestop.ie/notice

IMO - announcing the end of all pre-orders and gift cards is not the sort of announcement that fuels consumer optimism about the future prospects of your company. I mean, the writing has been on the wall for Gamestop in its current iteration for a very long time, but these seem like pretty extraordinary steps - removing very basic offerings seems truly ominous.

JimBurnley

Very ominous. Sounds like someone pressed the button on their exit strategy

RobertFoster

Oh no, where will I get my Funko Pops now? 😜

It's a shame to see another games retailer going, though GameStop always seemed to be the most expensive.

What's left once GameStop and Argos are gone? Smyths and (sometimes?) Tesco, Currys, and Harvey Norman for new releases, CEX if you want second-hand or to trade in? I still miss HMV and Virgin tbh.

Jordan 199

Well I'm going to my local Gamestop on Friday to pick up my copy of Resident Evil 4. It might be the last time I visit that shop.

I will miss the place as their employees were super and the manager was brilliant.

JimBurnley

Its through their trade in deals that I've played any of the big new releases in the last 5 years. So fairly gutted about this tbh.

sniper_samurai

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120388406#Comment_120388406

Smyths or Amazon seeing as most of the UK games websites don't ship here anymore due to Brexit. It's the same with blurays, unless you can get it from Golden Discs or Tower Amazon is the only avenue outside of niche specialist label stores.

Also seen on Twitter that the stores will be closing in June/July.

shawki

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120388411#Comment_120388411

“GameStop will cease pre-ordering of upcoming items and those who have pre-ordered already are asked to present your receipt in store to receive a full refund of the deposit paid in cash in connection with your pre-order. Customers who have paid their deposit in connection with upcoming products using their store credit will be offered a discount corresponding to their full trade-in value on the next purchase.”

Zero-Cool

****, so i have 40 deposit on resi 4 from a trade in and supposed to be getting a tenner off the purchase on Friday as I'm GS Pro, sounds like i went get the tenner off and i have to check with them about my deposit? I called that GS would throw a spanner in the works with this pre-order but Jesus.

johnny_ultimate

Assuming closure is now on the cards - and a few other posts on social media very much seem to suggest it is - that'll also create a messy situation around PSVR2 as I believe it's a Gamestop exclusive here. That's exactly why retail exclusive launches are a bad idea. Can't even be bought on Sony's own Irish website from what I can see?

sniper_samurai

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120388746#Comment_120388746

Staff were apparently told yesterday that stores will be closing June/July.

Zero-Cool

I rang my local and they said my resi 4 *should* be good for Friday and i still *should* get the tenner off as it was all arranged before this notice. Not holding my breath. Yeah, bad situation for PSVR2.

It's not at all surprising but still a real shame. I'm fully digital so part to blame, but it's still one less place to trade in your console when the next gen comes out.

Things are dire for the gaming retailers in Ireland. I just ordered all the parts for my new PC build. It's ridiculous that I had to go as far as Germany to get parts. I know there are a couple of Irish options but they are not competitive on price and have **** inventory.

sniper_samurai

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120388814#Comment_120388814

Yeah, been pricing parts myself off Amazon DE. Some of the custom pcs available on there are mad, I found one with a Ryzen 5700x, 32gb ram, 1TB nvme and a 12gb RTX3060 for under €1000. And you could get the same build with a 4070Ti for €1550.

RobbingBandit

Gotta wonder where will all the stock go if there is a fire sale in Galway or Drogheda is there a customer base in those two random selected locations enough to buy everything Henry Street had 70% of their used games left when the store finally shut it's gonna be a slog to clear out everything that can't go back to suppliers and there's no one interested in the PS4 and Xbox one titles littering the stores.

marcbrophy

In contradictory news, IGN just tweeted that they had a first profitable quarter in 2 years!

https://twitter.com/IGN/status/1638609259687452683?s=20

shawki

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120388959#Comment_120388959

It’s not contradictory if you actually read it.

“Furlong also said that GameStop will pave 2023 forward to continued financial success by cutting excess costs, especially in Europe.”

Zero-Cool

I saw from a few places now where users claiming to be employees saying the same thing, Gamestop leaving Ireland in June/July. Shite for the staff and double shite that Argos will be going at the same time. Then it will just be Smyths for new games and CEX for trades.

marcbrophy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120388982#Comment_120388982

I did read it, but I thought that cutting excess costs was a little different to axing an entire country from your business!

Mr Crispy

Best wishes to all their staff. Hope they all land on their feet.

Meanwhile, CS2 is official.

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/counter-strike-2-officially-revealed-ahead-of-a-summer-2023-release/

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120389066#Comment_120389066

I'd say there were too many under-performing stores that keeping the higher-performing stores in the most populated areas open just wasn't worth it.

I suppose even just having a few stores open means additional overheads such as regional managers, marketing, dispatch, legal and accounting teams etc.

recyclops

Too many stores in small enough towns and dependency on the trade in model where most people I know go game share and get games on the cheap.

Subscription and digital is the future.

marcbrophy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120389097#Comment_120389097

Yeah, I guess I just got caught by corporate double speak again!

"We will cut unnecessary costs!" = Let's stop operating in Ireland 🤔

Grumpypants

Fundamental flaw in their design is the second hand games are still very expensive. Sometimes only a fiver cheaper than the one.

I'd be in buying games all the time if they were reasonably priced. But if I can get it new online for 10-20 cheaper than in GameStop then why would I shop in there.

EoinMcLovin

https://youtu.be/N8-QidyLp0c

https://youtu.be/WGck_8QNHTk

https://youtu.be/K3xwRlECI7w

https://youtu.be/-lkEOEEKYD0

https://twitter.com/charlieINTEL/status/1638612879107563520?t=e6di1jOMm0IaJTh_9F8RcQ&s=19

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Potential-Monke

The writing was on the wall when they changed the loyalty system imo. It went from pretty good at higher levels to the same as everyone, so screw loyalty. And the new offerings were pathetic, which you had to pay to join (if you didn't migrate from Levels 3/4 to Pro). Will be a shame though, it's how I've been managing to get new PS5 releases for ~€35, by trading in the last one. Was going to trade in Hogwarts Legacy against Dead Island 2, not so sure now even though they'll still be open then, doesn't look like I can trade in against a pre-order now. At least it gives me another month to try and finish Hogwarts.

I don't like this digital future, but it's coming regardless. Just remember folks, we're all to blame by wanting and taking subscription services. We (the customers) caused this (partially). I'm not innocent, I have Plus and GP, and have only spent a fraction on games last year compared to previous years. I'm hoping someone will fill the market, but I can't see it happening, gamers appear to be very entitled and want everything for free or cheap even at a loss to the seller.

Also, Amazon as the only alternative. That's a horrible place to be too. They're a bigger factor for retail to be closing. I try not to use them, have only used them twice in the last few years. Principle, but it'll make no difference anyway. I'm also completely against scalping, but there is a nice middle ground that, imo, Gamestop filled once you had the "loyalty" discounts.

Maybe now is a time to see if we can push for legislation allowing us to sell game licences, if it's even possible. I know on PC it should be, but would be messy.

marcbrophy

Maybe Golden Discs could get into the games market?

I think it'd need to be an existing retailer though, who add it to their line-up as an option. Don't really see anyone starting a new dedicated gaming shop franchise in the dying embers of the market.

If GD started selling games, even just online, would at least be another option!

Even Brown Thomas are in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway. Not that I'd personally shop there!

They'll probably end up in fcuking DIY shops, cos that's all we seem to have anymore in Ireland 😆

Jordan 199

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120389852#Comment_120389852

This shop previously sold video games. Now it sells yard brushes and wheelbarrows 😄

sniper_samurai

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120389873#Comment_120389873

Still better than Fu*ko Pops.

Jordan 199

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120389881#Comment_120389881

Well, you could have wheelbarrows filled to the brim with funko pops 😄

recyclops

I bought my launch day ps2 in golden discs dun laoghaire. Good times.

McFly85

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120389852#Comment_120389852

Weirdly enough I remember Mulveys in Dundrum selling Amiga games when I was young! All small enough games that were usually about £5. Used to drive my dad mental because he loved going there at the weekend and couldn’t be left in peace as I would constantly badger him to pick up whatever I found interesting that day.

And I think that was the only place I got to use the Atari Lynx. It had on California Games, and I was blown away.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120390021#Comment_120390021

Just think: future archaeologists are gonna dig up those shítty little plastic dolls and wonder WTF, why did our era worship these things? They must have been important 'cos there are a billion of them 😂

Penn

Definitely one of the biggest impacts of Gamestop closing will be when it comes to console releases. Obviously it'll be 4-5 years before the next generation of consoles starts coming out, but a new iteration of Switch or even a successor to it could be within the next few years. With a possible Xmas rush and no Gamestop or Argos, it could be absolute chaos for parents trying to get one. Getting PS5/XBX was difficult due to supply shortages, but at least you had various outlets to try get one from. Now you'll be limited to Smyths, Tesco maybe, and then the likes of Currys etc.

TitianGerm

Maybe an opportunity for CEX to get into new stock in limited quantities.

Stock new consoles, new first party peripherals and big new releases.

Retr0gamer

It's going to end up pretty bad for hardware in Ireland as said. Getting a GPU was a nightmare made worse that the hardware manufacturers have lumped Ireland in with the UK in terms of supply. Due to Brexit it made it impossible to find anything and if you did you'd be screwed on customs charges.

Zero-Cool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120390498#Comment_120390498

If that was to happen, the staff would buy a new console for 500, sell it straight into cex for 550 and cex then sell it for 600. Everyone's a winna... except the customer.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120390568#Comment_120390568

Yeah CEX were able to gouge desperate parents pre-Xmas with second hand consoles because they can pretty much charge what they want. Whereas if they started selling new consoles/peripherals, they'd have to sell them pretty much at RRP. Wouldn't put it past them to arrange for somehow selling to themselves or family at RRP, trading into CEX for less than the RRP, then selling again for way over the RRP.

I think they were selling second hand PS5s for about 800 back in 2020.

RedXIV

I wonder if any of the independent game stores will look to tentatively expand in this space? I know most are focused on second-hand or retro gaming like RAGE but there's at least one I know of that does do new releases, albeit at tiny quantities.

sniper_samurai

And now in game's news Atari are acquiring Night Dive Studios.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/atari-enters-agreement-acquire-night-220300554.html

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120390762#Comment_120390762

They would be stupid to expand into it. It's a dying market on its last legs. Independent stores can't buy huge amounts of stock either to offer discounts which means they will always be more expensive than amazon and the likes. In the US the only new games that retro shops offer is over priced japanese imports but again there's very little worth playing that stays in japan these days. Smyths would be the only one I can see continuing with it for a while but once the profits drop they will drop it.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120390795#Comment_120390795

Needless to say I hope it doesn't have any adverse effect on that studio's output; being as they something close to magicians in how they can make these disparate games playable again.

I still live in hope one day the licensing nightmare frees up a NightDive remaster of the NOLF games.

CatInABox

The last few consoles that I bought, I bought online. Delivered to the door on launch day. I get that it's sad that these bricks and mortar stores are closing, but they aren't the only places to buy a console, and in fact, I'd say that the majority of console sales were probably through some other channel at this point.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120391217#Comment_120391217

For the PS5, I ended up getting three of them. My original pre-order in Smyths which I ended up giving to my brother because my nephew wanted a PS5 for Xmas, one in Tesco (which went to another family member), and I ended up having to go with a diskless PS5 for myself, which I got from Game in the UK and had to have delivered.

There are definitely options, but even though I ultimately ended up with three, it was a struggle and more down to good timing than anything else. It was probably as much due to shortages as well as demand, but even ordering online is not without its troubles. They don't always announce when pre-orders are going live, then you have website crashes, payment issues etc. At least with physical stores like Gamestop, a lot of the time you can walk in and pre-order and you're given a position on the list. Once you do it early enough you're all but guaranteed your console.

SuperBowserWorld

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120390795#Comment_120390795

The Atari logo is timeless.

I am not sure what or who owns it these days and what do they do.

Mal-Adjusted

It's a sad enough story. The Atari brand and associated ip's were bought by infogrames interactive who rebranded themselves as Atari and pretended to be the original company. They went as far as getting their shovelware crap and rebranding them with Atari's well known games, so their **** moon-crafting game became an Asteroids sequel and their awful Alan Wake/left for dead rip off became the new Alone in the dark.

There was even talk of releasing hardware at one point but I never really knew what happened to that. It's a sad ending to a one-time giant of the industry.

I always loved night dive for their work on game preservation. Their crowning achievement was bringing beck the two system shocks. But I'd hate to see the studio ruined.

Retr0gamer

That zombie Atari did at least give us the first western release of ikaruga on the GameCube. They did one thing good.