More goings on with the struggling retailer…
Even though the UK launch of the PSVita went pretty much without a hitch a few industry eyebrows were raised as embattled retailer GAME admitted, (in light of not stocking any of Ubisoft’s PSVita titles and canceling all The Last Story customer pre-orders ), that they are unable to stock a lot of new titles.
What’s more interesting, however, in an interview early today with Eurogamer, Group Marketing Director for GAME, Anna-Marie Mason left many a gamer scratching their heads.
Who was this company she was talking about? It certainly wasn’t the one we’ve come to know…
Here’s a few choice moments from the interview, which yes I’m going to dissect.
Anna-Marie Mason on why GAME can’t/won’t get stock:
There’s no one specific reason. There isn’t one specific catch-all reason.
Um yes there is – you’re broke. Having worked in retail myself for quite some time I’m fully aware that suppliers etc are unwilling to provide goods for business without any credit insurance.
We do endeavour to give our customers the widest possible range, whether it’s GAME, Gamestation, online or in-store.
And so far you have failed in this ‘endeavour’
We can’t stock absolutely everything. That’s just not possible.
True, but as someone who claims to be a specialist you should be stocking more than your competitors, particularly those who also stock vegetables.
Either that or stop claiming yourself as a specialist games store and perhaps, you know, start selling bread & milk.
You can see, there’s a finite amount of space in a store.
Then quit filling up valued space with tones of grubby looking pre-owned games, shovel-ware and 3rd party peripherals nobody wants and make way for more new releases at more competitive prices.
Anna-Marie Mason on gamers who are now afraid to pre-order games with them for fear of GAME cancelling orders at the last minute after the retailer refused to stock several new releases:
Well, we know our customers really well.
Clearly not.
Most of them have a really long history with us, and they know as a business we are absolutely committed to giving the best possible range as much of the time as we possibly can.
But you don’t give the best possible range. This is a fallacy, one that GAME continues to pimp to the mainstream press even though it is out-and-out bullshit. Both ASDA and TESCO have a wider and more varied range of new titles than GAME, so please stop with this nonsense – it’s not true and hasn’t been for some time now.
Anna-Marie Mason on being more expensive than everywhere else:
In a marketplace like video games, there will always be somebody that’s selling the game cheaper. That’s not what we’re about. We’ve never tried to be, or never wanted to operate like that.
And that’s why you’re going down the shitter. You don’t understand the very consumers you rely on at all. People just want a bargain, they don’t want to be force fed crap they don’t want or need.
What our customers get from us, whether they shop with GAME or Gamestation, is more than a sterile transaction. They get the opportunity to transact with us in the way they want and they get added value.
Again, customers don’t want to be pounced on the moment they walk through the door. GAME have been pushing this failed business model for as long as I can remember and look where it’s got you – fighting for survival.
And what’s this ‘added value’ you keep harping on about?
Quit hiding the fact that you’re games are more expensive than everywhere else behind buzz-words and business speak that equates to nothing more than corporate clap-trap.
Our customers will vote with their feet.
It would seem the have.
Am I being overly harsh on GAME? Perhaps, and in truth I would love to see GAME become a proper video game store again; one that truly offers a real gaming related experience for its customers, but it’s hard not to get frustrated when you see key members of the business, such as Anna-Marie Mason, continue to delude themselves about their current business model and the relationship they have with their customers.
And anyway, it’s a damn sight cheaper than blowing £300+ on a PSVita plus games and ranting about that…
“They get the opportunity to transact with us in the way they want”
In that case:
1: STOP pouncing on me when I’m browsing, and asking if I want help – I have a brain, and if I can’t find anything I want, I will ASK.
(This is typically done by junior staff that tend to be of an age where they weren’t even born when Streets Of Rage came out, so it’s highly unlikely they’d ever be able to help me.)
2: STOP Trying to sell me other shit when I’m at the counter – NO. I Don’t want a fucking game guide. I have the INTERNET, and I know where Gamefaqs is.
3: I KNOW THAT I CAN PREORDER TITLES – IF I WANT TO, I’LL TELL YOU.
4: I KNOW I CAN TRADE IN MY GAMES. YOU’VE BEEN ABLE TO DO THAT FOR THE LAST 20 YEARS, AND POSTERS ADVERTISING THE FACT ARE PLASTERED LEFT, RIGHT, AND FUCKING CENTRE ALL OVER THE SHOP. I DON’T NEED TO BE TOLD EVERY COCKING TIME I BUY A GAME FROM YOU.
I’m fed up of being patronised when visiting a games shop – There’s a time and a place for that type of spiel, and it’s not when you’re serving a guy who tends to wear t-shirts which advertise his gaming/geek credentials. Seriously. Use some fucking common.
I was looking for a copy of Xbox 360 Skyrim about a month back and none of the GAME stores in Plymouth were stocking it.
They stock 3 or 4 of the most recent releases (and only about 6 or 7 copies of these it would seem) and everything else is a shitty preowned game that looks like a tramp sicked over it. And unlike Gamestation GAME are cunts. Cunts who don’t check that the games aren’t scratched to fuckery before accepting them as tradeins.
All of the staff are FORCED to pounce on customers.
Everything that makes Game/Gamestation shit is all the fault of the head office and he fucking clueless, 40k a year monkeys that try to run the business.
The staff don’t want to hassle you, they don’t want to sell you add ons and they don’t want to upset you.
They do it because they have to and they hate having to do it more than you hate having to hear.
Game are shit, but don’t blame the poor shop staff for being forced to do the bidding of the cluless suits.
I could tell you horror stories you wouldn’t believe about their head offices & practices.
I’ve lost one job due to speaking out on the internet and I won’t make that mistake again, especially as it wouldn’t be my neck on the line this time.
I worked at GAME for a few weeks before fleeing in horror, so I would believe your horror stories and could probably add a few of my own.
I lay none of the blame on the shop staff, who are usually 20-something gamers who thought working in a games shop would be a dream job (poor them, really). But cunts in suits are spoiling everything at the moment and game shops are just one of those things.
Ultimately I imagine only the indie games shops and the high street chains will survive, as GAME’s management are too terminally fucking clueless to change.
Oh, believe me, we know it’s head office barking down these commands. DaddyBrown is actually ex-GAME himself, and had a blog similar to Stupid Fucking Customers for a while (before shutting it down due to the obvious risks involved), so I have heard plenty of horror stories through him, among others who’ve worked for them in my social circle.
My post is directed to Anna Marie Mason more than anyone else, because no – I’m not getting the opportunity to transact the way I want, and to see her say I am? That’s a fucking insult.
It shows quite plainly they have no faith in their staff to use a bit of common and only use the patter on older, more obviously non-gamers buying for the kiddywinks, and no faith in a large percentage of their customer base who know what they want, and don’t like the feeling of being treated like Johnny Idiot.
Honestly man, we’re not ripping on the staff here. We know too many, current or past. This is entirely the fault of management.
I wasn’t having a go, I know everyone here is big enough to understand that it’s the fault of the management and the poor staff are the innocent victims.
Some people do blame the staff for everything though, so I thought I would make my comments heard for the benefit of the ignorant folk who sit on that side of the fence.
It’s interesting to note that nothing has been mentioned about Gamestation in the press, despite them being the same company.
Every time Game fails to stock a new release, Gamestation also suffers the same fate.
Game’s reputation is taking a bashing but Gamestation is invisible thus far.
Not sure if that’s a good thing or not for the workers of Gamestation?
Yep, was Senior sales, Deputy Store Manager and Acting Store Manager over the course of several years. Actually went back there on losing another job but on discovering that it wasn’t as good as it used to be and was getting worse I promptly left.
There was a time when GAME actually used to be not too bad a place to work. The staff were actually treated with a little more respect and shopping there could actually be a good experience, (depending on the store of course).
Shame, really, that they’ve become just another broken, outdated, high street retailer that hasn’t evolved. They might sell video games, but considering how they’ve turned out they might as well be selling fried chicken or net curtains to old ladies.
Ironic considering the industry they’re part of.
*Update*
Looks like GAME are announcing another 35 store closures. They currently have 610 outlets, which they intend to reduce to 550 by Christmas 2013.
They’re also shutting down Gameplay.co.uk
The most bitter pill to swallow is that GAME bought up all the competition and are now themselves looking like they could go bankrupt.
Friend of mine is store manager at our local Gamestation. He doesn’t paint too rosey a picture.
Gamestation still has a modicum of respect though, so if it were up to me I’d re-brand the whole company as GS, close all the excess stores where 3 or more stores are within minutes of each other and then reinvent the companys image and direction. Be a proper games retailer again; concentrate on providing a genuine experience as opposed to the corporate hard sale consumers are subjected to now.
Yes it might be easy for me to act the armchair businessman and pontificate on how they should run their business, but the fact remains that in their current form they’re not going to last another generation unless they make some radical changes.
I totally agree with you.
For that to happen though, they will have to sack everyone at head office and get a new team in.
The current head office team have consistently proven that they are out of touch with their audience and it’s clearly evident that they’re incapable of change or just don’t care. either way, they’re useless and should go.
The best thing that could happen is for someone to swoop in and offer to buy Gamestation off them. Nobody has any money to do that though so it would take a radical move from someone for this to happen.
If Asda/Tessco want to sell games, I don’t understand why they don’t put an offer in for the Gamestation chains.
Think about it, it actually makes a lot of sense.
They truley would have a monopoly on the industry and consumers would have a proper dedicated shop.
It’s win win.
Dunno if anyone else has suggested this (I can’t be the only one) but maybe they could consider focusing more on the ‘game’ aspect rather than the ‘store’ aspect of being a game store?
Clear out some of the tat like grubby second hand wii peripherals (that you can get new at poundland), get some arcade machines in and try to make the place a cool place to hang out?
Maybe run some tournaments? Either for new games just coming out to drum up some interest (rather than just having a rolling demo playing or a demo unit gathering dust) or some classics to get some interest in older games kids may not have heard of? They must still have plenty of 2nd-hand units, why not have Goldeneye/Mario Kart championship? Sell some old n64s, controllers, games or maybe more copies of the latest remake.
I think Game having a slightly more corporate image compared to Gamestation may be why Gamestation always seems more popular. They seem to have a bit more leeway, seem to be more knowledgeable on games.
Kill off the “Hello, can I help you” stuffed shirt pouncing on you as soon as you’ve set foot inside that seems to be part and parcel of the usual corporate dullness – mum & dad can get that when they’re picking up the shopping at asda. Make the stores focus on GAMES.
Sadly, this may mean the places start to reek of BO and lynx again if they’re chock full of teenage boys (and those of us who aren’t teenagers will look increasingly more like sad losers/paedofiles) but that’s pretty much their core market, isn’t it? I blame nintendo for making games family friendly, Game have lost focus of who their customers are.
No idea whether that would work or not, but if they’re going down the pan anyway, what’ve they got to lose? Make the places dark, smelly, full of kids, play loud music. The game equivalent of an indie music store.
Sorry, that’s a very rambly series of loosely connected thoughts, that I really ought to edit into a more coherent point, but I think you get where I’m coming from. Somewhere that would find it quite amusing to see Game go out in a blaze of glory.
I said just that in the comments section of the last GAME article.
They should maybe think about turning GAME into a cyber-cafe of types. I mean, they CLAIM to offer the customer some kind of “added value” over the other competition, but I really cannot see this.
If the place embraced the gaming culture more and was a reflection of this, then they definitely would.
Here’s another idea GAME (you won’t be reading this I know.) How about holding monthly tournaments. Give a pile of prizes such as those cool Zelda figures or plush toys or throw in some decent pre-owned games etc.
Get people to pay a pound or so as entrance fee. But to drum up loyalty, offer free tournament admission when pre-ordering full price games (or something along this lines).
Of course, the GAME head office are completely out of touch. They don’t understand their market. They’re treating it like a sterile music/dvd store.
[goes and checks] Hmmm, indeed you did. Well done sir.
Here’s another idea then; why don’t they hold regular monthly tournaments? They could do classic games kids haven’t heard of (or whatever the latest dull fps is) and give away handfuls of their unsold overpriced gashopon as prizes? Or, y’know, some vouchers, as that doesn’t really cost them anything and means you come back to spend them.
‘course, the problem with them drumming up more trade like this is they’d have to spend more money fumigating the stores. Don’t know what your local Game stores are like on a weekend/school holiday but the ones round here absolutely reek.
Maybe they could give away some decent deodorant as prizes?
Or just start stocking hygiene alongside all the games? Like DaddyBrown said, the supermarkets seem to manage a better selection along with other stock as well…
There are a ton of ideas Game could employ to change the fortunes of the business; unfortunately they’ll most likely just plod on as they are, refusing to accept that their current business plan hasn’t worked and eventually just die out.
Just look at what happened to Woolies – As they got more and more desperate, and fell deeper and deeper into debt, they got more desperate to push products on the counter (“Would you like one of our extra-large fat bastard chocolate bars, sir? only a pound!”), which in turn drove customers away.
Well, it did for me, at least.
Anyone know if that tactic’s working for WHSmiths yet? I notice they seem to have stopped bothering with games but have ramped up the sales of chocolate oranges at the main counter.
Ahhh, the halcyon days of getting boots/smiths vouchers for christmas, then seeing which of them had the games you wanted, eh? Traipsing back and forth between the stores, trying to decide…Or was that just me?
Not at all. In fact, where me and DaddyBrown reside, Smiths and Boots are across the road from each other. Crossing the road between them to find which had the best games was a regular Saturday occurrence for me back in my childhood.
GAME is right next to them now.
I wasn’t living in Cheltenham back in the days of owning my Speccy, but I do remember the excitement of catching the bus to Glos, jean pockets full of pocket/birthday/Christmas money as I perused the video game sections of WHSmith and Boots.
Not a huge bar of chocolate in sight.
Comparatively both stocked more new games than the current GAME/Gamestation ‘specialist’ stores in Cheltenham/Gloucester.
No one bugged me with ‘teh latest offerrrrz!” I was left to my own devices, buying what I wanted and not what some store assistant thought I needed as the ‘perfect accompaniment’ to my chosen purchase.
…times have changed, and not for the better it would seem.