What's happening to gameStation?

GarryG · Post by **GarryG** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:06 am

I went into my local GameStation at the weekend and it was absolute rubbish!

Yes all the retro is gone, but they didn't have a single copy of Spore (currently being flogged BIG TIME in every other shop selling video games!) and the selection for everything overall seemed poor, yes worse that the Game that is just a one minute walk away!

Makes me wonder if they are baing run down... or is this just an isolated instance?

David · Post by **David** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:11 am

Blaring music.

Morons behind the counter.

It's like a sports shop but with video games.

gmintyfresh · Post by **gmintyfresh** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:26 am

Always smells a bit funny too.......

firebreather · Post by **firebreather** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:28 am

I cant believe gamestation will stay in existence all that much longer, it simply doesnt make business sense for a company to have 2 stores in virtually the same location as they do near me and im sure do have in many other towns, ive noticed both Game & GS appear to be phasing out anything older than the 360/PS3/Wii. How long beofre the PS2 is considered Retro it appears the gamecube already is.

STranger81 · Post by **STranger81** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:28 am

I dont go in Gamestation now.

The only reason I went there was for the retro stuff. Saturn Games Â£2.99 buy one get one free and the like.

But in our Branch (Derby) upstairs where the retro was they played whiny emo music at loud volume, and you were served by people who looked like they were from a Tim Burton film.

And I found with Gamestation they felt the need to comment on what you were buying? I know this happens with a lot of shops but they were terrible. Plus you couldnt get to the counter because the goth friends of the staff were huddled around the tills talking about how amazing it is to be an individual. Even though they all look/dress/talk the same.

Plus it used to stink in there. I think its a special Gamestation plug in air freshner they have that makes the smell reflect the shop itself. s**t.

David · Post by **David** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:30 am

the 2 in Glasgow city centre are like that too.

It's like all the staff decided one morning to have a contest to see who is the smelliest and the most oddly dressed.

And do they not get lunch breaks??? every guy who works there is like 4 stone.

STranger81 · Post by **STranger81** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:33 am

David wrote: And do they not get lunch breaks??? every guy who works there is like 4 stone.

Thats brilliant! They all looked malnurished in the Derby branch too. In fact im thinking about setting up a direct debit for Â£2 a month to give them a better quality of life.

Plus the mad hair! That must be company policy. It was either massive spikes or so floppy that they could only see through one eye.

Antiriad2097 · Post by **Antiriad2097** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:35 am

Ours is pretty good, the Manager knows his retro stuff as he's an older bloke like us and the other staff don't take the mick when I ask them for some random tat on the cheap.

Game selection is better than the Game down the road and the prices are better too.

Weird when they're the same company, but our local Game is terribly overpriced for practically everything.

David · Post by **David** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:39 am

actually one of the glasgow shops has a fat guy. He must feel like a giant when he goes to work.

Actually, he might just be a wee skinny guy too, but his 5000+ face and body piercings make him look bigger.

boggyb68 · Post by **boggyb68** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 9:26 am

The one I used the most is in Orpington (edge of SE London, even though it's called Kent) and I found it fine, no smell, staff friendly and not emo, and a great selection of cheap older games for just about every system.... probably all the others were like this at some point...

Haven't been in for ages though, so it may have changed...

The one thing which was in it's favour was that there is no Game shop there, so it was the main games shop (apart from a Chips branch down the road which was run by a rude ars*hole who charged ridiculous prices throughout the shop)....

B.

Bub&Bob · Post by **Bub&Bob** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 9:29 am

Yeh, I don't like my local Chips - Ok, there is a good amount of retro but they are selling a gold N64 (with a really battered box) for Â£100!

They do have a Lynx with 10 games for Â£69 which I considered.....

Fred83 · Post by **Fred83** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 9:31 am

goths work

EvilArmourKing · Post by **EvilArmourKing** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 9:32 am

gmintyfresh wrote:Always smells a bit funny too.......

No place in the world smells as bad as Manchester City Centre "Crack Convertors".

Two minutes in that place and you feel like throwing up.

It is one of the most disgusting smells you can EVER imagine.

I dare any of you to drop in when visiting!

Mootown · Post by **Mootown** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:00 am

As a blanket response to many of the above posts, Gamestation isn't being run down and did in fact stock Spore across the chain (in fact it sold rather well - knocking warcraft off the top spot for once)

Smell in store believe or not is often down to the actual customers - when I worked in store there were some particular stinkers who used to come in on a regular basis. It also doesn't help that a lot of the older stores don't have air con, in a lot of cases this is down to the structure of the buildings, ie in Leeds for instance the building is a listed building and you can't do an awful lot to it.. It's hard to lose the smell once it's in there!

In terms of losing all the older consoles - it's always going to happen. The space is needed for the current gen systems unfortunately - especially as they make all the money. Business and all that

There's not as much profit in selling the odd PS1 game to retro lovers.

I like retro as much as everyone but Gamestation needs to keep with the times - I'm sure you guys can appreciate that. Ebay is the saviour of retro if you can hit on a good deal.

batman877 · Post by **batman877** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:07 am

STranger81 wrote: But in our Branch (Derby)... it used to stink in there.

Sadly it still does! All the retro stuff has gone (unless you count the 30 or so Gamecube and XBOX titles) and the prices have gone up.

The thing that annoys me the most with these stores is that they sell 'new' games that are unsealed with heavily thumbed boxes and discs.

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