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Comment by slimsag | Hacker News Reader

Gamestop is to Steam what Blockbuster is to Netflix, they failed to adapt and now they're obsolete. Not only that, they also have a horrible track record for customer service. The internet is littered with tales of horrible experiences from Gamestop, and the only people who might still shop there are grandparents shopping for their grandkids.

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It seems like most complaints about Gamestop aren't directed at customer service, as the employees are usually pretty nice, it's about the prices and policies. They'll buy a used game or take it as a trade in for next to nothing and then turn around and sell it at almost retail price. Lots of kids are basically throwing games away at Gamestop.

Add to that, the fact that a lot of stuff can't be resold these days. Special gear, hats for specific versions, one time registration codes, etc.

I'm all for buy low-sell high (I never sold because it wasn't worth the trade, but thats just me) - but buying from GameStop just leaves you with a gimp product.

A large part of that can't be blamed on GS. Developers are all after the PreSale bonus', DLC and anything that stops secondary sales.

As much as I love Steam, it is worrysome that I don't even have the option of reselling my games. (On the same token: I generally don't buy unless it's 50-75% off, so...)

I don't mind that fact that I can't sell Steam games, because the tradeoff is that I can download the game whenever I want and don't have to keep track of a physical copy.

They really need to pivot, and I'm not seeing them do it. To me the answer is obvious:

Blockbuster :: Netflix :: actual movie theatre

Old Gamestop :: Steam :: new gamestop with all but the rarest used games hauled away, & using the space for pod enclosures that create individual and co-op immersive experiences, rentable by the hour while parents shop at surrounding stores, run errands, etc.

Studios get immersive demos, suburban gamers have a new social activity, and gamestop continues to have a reason to exist.

The problem with your analogy is that while a movie can take two or three hours, a game can take dozens or hundreds, which means a lot more time spent in your "pod".

It's interesting to note, however, that a variation on this idea has already come and gone: arcades. Those were the places you went to when you wanted to play a game somewhere other than your home.

Arcades are a pretty interesting analogy to movie theaters. The reason theaters continue to exist, is that movies are released there first. Because they make more money there.

I wonder if games could release to arcades before releasing to the public. But somehow that doesn't seem quite as practical.

> ...they also have a horrible track record for customer service. The internet is littered with tales of horrible experiences from Gamestop

TBF, the same could be said for Steam.

Probably, but Steam is in a growing business, not a dying one.

The argument is more that not only is Gamestop in a diminishing market, people won't even miss it because they have unpleasant memories of it. If Gamestop was this cool amazing video game community hub thing that I loved, I might go there, and end up buying games while I'm there anyways.

Oh yeah, totally agree. But Steam is setting themselves up for the same scenario if they don't stay at the front of the innovation game |;)

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