Inside Info about GameStop's Retro Game Trade-In Program -
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
- An insider report about GameStop's Retro game trade-in program and how it operates.
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►Original story about the GameStop Retro ROC - mashable.com/20...
I'm imagining buckets of rare games being tossed into the garbage because nobody even bothered to clean them prior to testing...
I know, absolutely heartbreaking! This will really have a much stronger influence on the retro game market than we originally expected. Especially if they're drastically decreasing the overall supply of rare games by throwing them out!
:'(
That disturbs me most of all. They're not just a potential rip off, they're actively damaging game collecting.
That is the nasty part. I thought me begging my mom to pay $79.99 + tax at an Electronics Boutique when Chrono Trigger first came out was expensive and now I catch word of what is a relic (that I still own) potentially being destroyed because the younger generation has no clue how to handle cartridge based games. That is destroying a piece of history.
It's truly sad... I'm so glad that I kept my old games. I haven't shopped at a Gamestop in years... screw them, and all their dirty shenanigans.
What do you think about this inside info? Are you surprised about it? Did you know about the secret Ebay selling program?
►Original story about the GameStop Retro ROC - mashable.com/2015/07/16/vintage-video-games-restoration/#4KEB.sPbSkqU
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►More #CUPodcast vids: bit.ly/1pOBDVH
►Follow on twitter! twitter.com/patthenespunk & twitter.com/pxlsicle
+MariosCorner so you knowingly just admitted to Fraud?
thats crazy they would do that. This will bite them in the ass.
wait pat i don,t see you
Pat the NES Punk I'm not surprised. 7 years with Gamestop and they do the bare minimum to get you caught up yet they expect a huge return.
Pat the NES Punk It does not surprise me at all that they don't care about quality assurance. Just profits.
Just from my own experience. I was a funcoland store manager for almost 4 years from 1998 to late 2001 and it was just before the xbox launch when I moved on. Once people found out about our stores in the region they flocked and sold old games in droves. We didn't have to worry about counterfeit things back then because printing technology wasn't that great. Only a few minor things would be discovered like someone actually opening up a cart and swapping boards. Trade ins would take forever because we tested every game and system that was in good shape. By testing we just put the game in and waited for a boot up screen, if not we cleaned it and tried again, etc. There would be days where we were dead for an hour then some guy would bring in 2 or 3 old systems and 40 games to trade for a playstation. We would only have me and 1 other guy working (funcoland was more understanding about payroll a bit)and the guy at the buy station would be tied up for almost an half hour minimum per customer. Now flash forward to a busy location where 2 people are working and there is 7 people in the buy line with 3 bags of trade ins each, and only 1 guy manning the floor and the sell counter. I've guest worked in one of those stores and it isn't pretty. If you think you had time to test all those games individually you're out of your tree. When funcoland sold their stores to gamestop within about a year the remodeling was underway. All the TV's and game system kiosks were moved out and replaced with racks to sell TOYS. Yep. Toys. Like worthless wrestling and action figures. Gone were the days of walking the floor and talking about games and having people try them before they buy them and just trying to have fun while you worked. Yes the cleaning kit and Game informer subscription peddling sucked but if you didn't factor that in, I loved my job. Just working 70 hour weeks as a salaried employee was awful. Even if Gamestop kept all the system or even 2 testing kiosks the guy behind the counter wouldn't have time to test everything not to mention open carts and eyeball everything for authenticity. Back then it was simpler today in a massive market game store company it's impossible. While I'm not defending Gamestop I can only wonder if they would have just kept the funcolands as retro stores and gamestop as new product stores where we could have been right now. The things IAN has probably seen in his store and his challenges I can relate to completely. You can literally write a book on this stuff. And if anyone is curious it might be still out there on the internet. Search for ACTS of GORD. A good read on a game store owner's stories.
The saddest part is how anything that didnt work they just destroyed. didnt even try to clean them.
lothrazar yea I was just going to say this. It's just more games gone that are never coming back. Truly hate this aspect about Gamestop. Creating more rarity when it doesn't need to exist
I can see an NES's cart door flapping open, saying in a Rodney Dangerfield voice "Ehh... no respect, no respect!".
Man, that dude had a crazy amount to say. Really appreciate the insight on this!
MrMario2011 almost TOO detailed... seems kinds fake..
Junior Sanchez the story seems fishy to me. Thats my opinion. Thanks for sharing yours, or whatever that was...
WOW! So shocking and upsetting on so many levels. Thanks for sharing Pat
I LOVE storytime with PAT!
a retro game store recently opened up near my house and I seriously couldn't be happier to have that. I quit shopping at Game Stop years ago and the internet is starting to get a little too unreliable/expensive for buying retro games. I like having a place where I can physically see and try out what I'm wanting before I make a purchase
......so it's exactly like we all thought??
YJZep not only exactly but somehow worse.
As someone who worked at GameStop for about five years I can absolutely verify that the employees were not trained properly for the retro initiative.
We expressed our concern about not being able to properly test these games, open to verify authentic boards, on top of none of the training modules diving into fake labels and such. When we asked our District Manager it fell on deaf ears. We were told to take all games in without question unless they were physically damaged to the point of being unplayable.
Gooooooo GameStop!
So my whole thing with this is how fucking many games have they destroyed unknowingly?
Way too many.
No game not even the crap ones should be destroyed there is a home for them all. But some rare games may have been destroyed because these fucks.
Except for Shaq-Fu
Mustang McKraken I have shaq-fu it's a terrible terrible game.
That's the NUMBER ONE reason to keep retro games out of GameStop's hands. They don't care about the market.
I'm truly shocked even here in another country and have never been a GameStop. I hope the whistleblower doesn't get into too much trouble but fair play to him for having the balls to contact you.
I know it's off topic, but Pat I'm really loving the book you made. I got it today and it's really entertaining
Thank you!
One of the best pieces you have ever done, absolutely wonderful.
"Best I can do is a nickel." - Gamestop
Hmm, surprised no one brought this up. Will you do these sorts of these voice over gameplay videos from now on, Pat?
I think for a long story like this, it makes sense. Maybe in the future it will return, depending on the topic.
I liked the new video format, however the usual format that you and Ian use works fine to.
This show goes off the rails when Ian isn't there.
Wow... I didn't like Gamestop before, but this is truly a tragedy to befall on the retro community. Never again will I even consider walking into a place that clearly cares *so* little about the products it holds, and even *less* so for the customers that they service. I collect a fair share of retro games myself and the idea that someone could trade in something like Action 52 to only have it not get recognized by their directory and then give the customer *literally* *five* *cents*!? No. Just no.
Asterisks
**How to use asterisks 101**
Jon Dryden I don't think anyone was calling me that. even if they were though, who cares?
I wouldn't really agree with that. My stance is more on the lines of "why care?"
Agreed, but not everyone knows the value of their games, you know?
Add Gamestop to the list of corrupt multinational corporations, not a surprise, nothing new. Support your local independent Retro-Gaming stores or online sellers.
Pat.......... you just made the list!
:(
Hoosier High Way Pat is a godsend for the retro gaming community. YOU should be on the list for even thinking such a thing.
You with the face! .............You Just Made The List!
Hoosier High Way You don't think I know about the gift of Jericho? I love to drink it in maannnnnn!
this is going to go viral, I can just tell
Damn pat! This format has me on the edge of my seat! Every time you chimed in, it got better and better. "I'll find out his wholesaler eventually" good stuff.
Is Ian okay? I think quite a few of us are genuinely worried now :(
Icon of Sin they record a bunch of episodes at once.
Ian will be back at the next recording session
He was in the chat during the NES marathon. It's just stomach flu IIRC.
Vasid Disav Praise kek.
CAMZAB Ian's soul is now trapped inside of a copy of RPG Maker where Max can play with him forever.
hope they don't replace him
Thank you Pat for always looking out for the gaming consumer! We need more people like you and Ian.
just shut down the program
Not to mention, the more legit carts they destroy, the rarer the games become, the more they can charge. Why should they care when they're only giving pennies on the dollar for this stuff and selling an infinite supply of fakes?
No clue about their secret ebay store, but I was 1 of the guys who got the fake "Chrono trigger" from them and sent u the order receipt. Before that, I traded in 16 PS2 consoles that I got 37.50 a piece for in store credit. They paid that amount whether they worked or not, which I found odd? It's apparent now that they were selling them on ebay to various overseas companies, some military related, that combined the internal components, cpus, etc. to make radio controlled bombs!
Where did you hear this about the ps2s, that has to be the craziest thing I've ever heard! Not surprised though. That shows how much of a scummy company they are and how much they don't care about what they sell. No wonder ps2 consoles are getting expensive now.
Even ones that are broken have gotten expensive, as even my local Goodwill of all places had an original fat model PS2 with no drive face plate 2 days ago listed at $30 with no cables, or controllers. I was like WTF?!?!
gurleyz a lot of ps2 also get scrapped in 3rd world countries for the gold and other metal inside them .also they are cheap DVD players for them out there. That what I've been told by the guy who buys any broken ps2 off me
Well that's kind of sad
That they get scrapped so easily
Thanks for sharing. I have never bought retro from GameStop and never will after hearing this!
I buy my retro games at Game Over Video Games. If one of their games carts are not functioning I'm able to replace it in store. Other times I have to make sure the game carts have any signs of damage or if any of the issues, which I know of, can be easily fixed. I think anyone with the knowledge and skill set of both technical thought and retro knowledge can save these games from death and can notify the store employees of any issues.
"training people takes a lot of money"
??? You train the manager, and then once a week you have people come in an hour early and he trains the employees. it adds like 20 hours of pay a week plus whatever it costs to fully train the manager. Surely that isn't an insurmountable amount of money?
Z3rostar You make a very good point.
Pat, I went to my local GameStop the other day and to my surprise, they were carrying the retro games IN STORE! They had a Super Mario Bros 1 and 3, Legend of Zelda, and some Nintendo 64 games behind a glass case.
The manager also showed me some Super NES and N64 games they had behind the counter. So I guess now they will be doing the retro games in store.
I genuinely haven't been inside a Gamestop store since 2008, and have never regretted it. Now I'm almost proud of myself.
they offer 20 bucks cash for earthbound. amazing, I hope they go out of business
Thanks for the reveal, whoever you are, dude!
It's amazing how different Pat sounds when he is uninterested in a topic or a quote (mumbling quickly through something in one of yesterday's videos in a monotone voice) versus when he is engaged in a topic. In this video he sounds like a pro newsreader!
I really like how you had GAMEPLAY over the podcast rather than u just talking :) thought that was awesome
This is really terrifying, especially hearing about them deeming product as dead because they didn't bother cleaning connectors. How many retro games are going to end up in landfills because of this program? Not even considering what happens if they end up shutting the program down with a bunch of product left in stock...
Whoever this whistleblower is, he's an American Hero!
I feel really bad for that guy. He clearly loves retro games, so that must have been a nightmare.
Such an insightful story. Thanks for sharing.
I just think about the amount of dirty but working games, systems, controllers, hookups and accessories that are being thrown out by GameStop. If their own employees don't know enough to do basic things like clean the cartridge contacts or the cartridge socket on the console then they have no business even touching ANYTHING retro. Anyone here who buys or collects retro knows damn well that this stuff almost always needs to be cleaned before it can be expected to work. Fuck GameStop, just thinking about the amount of retro product they are throwing away is pissing me off.
This was a great story. I just wish that if you had to have the pics cycle through over and over, it would have been nice to have them off to the side so they weren't covering up the game. I know it seems dumb, but having something to watch helps me concentrate on what I'm listening to.
Thanks for the insider information on this Pat, it's truly a service to the retro games community. But holy fuck.... I can't fathom this. My respect for Gamestop can't get any lower than it is now...but it has.. somehow.
Once I went into game stop so I could sell a few Wii games and I saw metal gear on nes sitting in the back. The cashier let me look at it but he said "Someone just turned them in and you can't buy it" That wouldn't have bugged me so much if I already saw the price sticker on it. Plain as day, covering the title up. It was crazy. I think the price on it was about $25-$30. Somewhere around there.
Yes I am on of those Johnny come lately. But, I definitely would not sell my collection even if the retro bubble was about burst. But as far those shows, Pat hit the point that criticizing current gen games or even last gen would be great. Even the game chaser can start looking for the "rule of rose" or "kuon" style games that are shooting up in value and are difficult to find in the wild for a great price. There is so much they can do, and also everything in time becomes retro, doesn't always have to be cartridge based games only. Oh and on the side note, miss you Ian and Godspeed amigo!
Rock Man why buy it when you can just emulate it?
Not surprising at all. GameStop is a pig of a corporation.
gamestop's opening the retro program to all stores? time to make a bit of cash...
CeX here in the uk, if they don't have the game etc in their system, they will tell you, if you still want to sell they will ticket the item and ask you to come back later (could be next day) as they need their guys to find out a pricing, and everything actually does get checked, usually you're told 30 minutes unless it's really busy and may take longer, or if it's slow 10-20min. (some things they don't test, but that's usually low cost items).
Great investigative work Pat, keep it coming!
chilling...but not surprised
sounds about right, that's why I don't shop at game stop. I believe I even applied at game stop many many years ago, and wrote in application that I had like every system and 1000's of games, and got no call back, I doubt they still care to this day who has experience and who doesn't as long as the money keeps flowing.
Jason Rotbergs dude it's so true. A friend of mine and I applied at gamestop for seasonal positions. She's a skinny young girl, good looking, who's "into gaming". On my app I listed numerous hardware and software products I was knowledgeable of, while hers said windows PS Xbox blah blah blah. They hired her. AND she just recently got a promotion there. It's fucking ridiculous. I'm happy she got the position but there are no worries of prerequisites or knowledge. They'd rather have a cute girl that is able to use their charm to push sales.
Samuel Paredes-torres agreed, I doubt they even care for these retro centers, they could just hire someone for minimum wage ad be like clean this and do that, now go to work and not pay no mind to anything.
Samuel Paredes-torres well duh
SMEG STAR lol. Here's some more info. I went to a job fair on veterans day. In a security uniform with my dog tags, walked by there booth and asked how much per hour, I think then it was 9$. So game stops solution to helping veterans is minimum wage. Lol. I kept walking.
I also bought a few games from them and applied to their store back in 2009. Listed the fact that I took my systems apart and cleaned them as well as the games. Mentioned which systems I owned and that I was passionately into gaming. No call back.
To this date, I'm glad I didn't work for them. I can't stand them now.
Man the last time I was at a Game Stop was in June of 2014 to pickup and to return and exchange a Wii-U console. The last time I purchased something from Gamestop's website was some original Xbox games Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2.
Many thanks to your insider, Pat. Luckily, he wasn't saying anything we didn't suspect before getting the scoop.
Retro gaming is a complete business. If you are in the business of buying and selling you really need to know what you are doing. Thats why small game shops are almost necessary in this hobby and why gamestop either needs to hire people who really know their stuff and pay them well or leave the business for others
I'm so lucky to have 1UP Games right around the corner and there prices are more than fair. It's even more of a plus because they care and their customer service is way better than any Gamestop employee would ever be (myself included when I was employed by Gamestop).
hay pat thanks for the info. I'm from a country that does not have any retro stores and to find out that game stop is someone else on ebay has made me think twice about buying, to put it a bit more clear. I mean, to find out who i am buying from. Thank you
I am SO glad I kept all of my old games as a kid. I know they are all legit and they all work, and I will never let them go.
Great reporting pat
Whoa... This is a messed up situation all around.. I mean I don't shop at Gamestop very much now this idk if I can even go back honestly. I'm just going to keep going to Best Buy and my local retro game store (20 minutes from me) since I like the game selection they have there as well as the people they will talk to me about the old Xbox games or N64 games (I still own both). I'm more then happy to give them my money.
Your best video in quite some time Pat. investigate some more detective Nes Punk and find these whole sellers .
The problem is that all these little local game stores already suffer lack of trade ins.
Wow this is crazy thanks for posting this.
And this is another reason I prefer to buy at the local retro store rather than the G.S.
Sometimes I'm glad that there is no *_GameStop_* in my country TT^TT
Thanks as always Pat, I have always had concerns about Gamestop, and this definitely backs those concerns up.
Wow that's far worse than I ever thought. I guess that wholesale buyer and a select few others are making bank and the rest get screwed.
The retro-trade in this isn't nation-wide, I went into my local gamestop and asked; no plans to do the retro thing outside of a handful of busy stores.
I agree, it's not a shock at all. But whoever this is, he deserves our thanks for trying to legitimize it for us retro gamers. It's a shame it never worked out but what can you do. It's a multi-billion dollar corporation that's trying to fleece people out of money. Thank you Pat, and the unknown emailer for releasing this story for everyone to be better educated for the future.
I've seen the "deliberately broken" game scam before.
Someone took a $3 SNES game, clipped a couple pins on the ROM chip and then called it a defective EarthBound. A big collector could tell what game it actually was by looking at the label on the ROM chip for the game ID, then Google the game ID to get the title on GameFAQs.
this isnt a surprise at all, wonder if gamestops gona go the way of blockbuster next year.
They're gonna need a bigger dumpster.
Doubt it, Blockbuster only closed thier retail locations because they were bought out by direct TV for their streaming rights. I talked to several guys that were working on the team getting them out of bankruptcy, and they said that the way numbers were turning around they could have kept the stores going for years, and there were plans to expand their trade in program and give GameStop a run for their money.
I'm not surprised about this, but it still doesn't make it ok. Definitely sharing this video.
Thank you for doing game footage.
Gamestop done fucked up!!!
If i buy retro or even new games i buy either from a small store or eBay
Harriet the Spy is an underrated movie
So we were right
I'm still amazed that Gamestop doesn't have retro systems or even a retron in stores to be able to test the games. Even if you can spot a repro board or Mask Roms swapped with EPROMS, swapping a Madden into an Earthbound shell 'looks' real.
Hope Ian- is doing good-we miss him. And wish him well.
It's all about the money.
mushrooms and coins
Thank you! I'm never buying Game Stop again!
that nba jam one just get me.
Good video Pat.... I went to GS the other day to look for the Nes Classic Edition (no go:( They had a gamecube & 6 games behind the counter.. I asked the clerk if i could check em out she said no they get shipped to headquarters etc etc. Def a flawed system they have got going. Strange they won't just sell brick and mortar style like everything else. I would be terrified to purchase anything retro from them. Whatta Joke.
I now begin to wonder how full their dumpster was after staff threw away games that were supposedly not working.
Yet another reason to only visit your local/independent "Mom & Pop" stores.
And even then, as a buyer...Check it!
Except Mom and Pop charge 10% or more above eBay, so fuck them too
spman because they have the task of paying their stores rent as well as dealing with low foot traffic?
Yeah, like there's never been a problem ordering from ebay. Those sellers offer great guarantees and return/refund policies.
In my eyes, its not enough to simply not buy any retro games from Game Stop. This business model simply existing is poisoning the retro gaming market, making it worse for everyone in the hobby. I won't be fully satisfied until they leave retro gaming and never come back.
Since when did Pat become ReviewtechUSA?
They'll throw out classic NES games, but they'll put truck loads of "Shadowrun" (360) and "Kinect Adventures," which they can't even give away, on the shelves.
I earlier commented on Gaming Through the Decade's Channel saying that Gamestop doesn't have a proper appraisal system. But this...this is abhorrent.
...Pat here...Back to the story...
This sounds like a retrogamers nightmare.
Crazy to realize that there are billions of people on this planet that know nothing about videogames but a Justin Bieber video gets a billion views.
such a sad pathetic world we live in.
well not just buying from them because they're bogus. but think about all the rare games going into the garbage! repros are bad enough already but they could be literally throwing away rare and valuable titles that should be in the community. that's more worrying than anything else
Who in their right mind, would accept $0.05 for any game trade? I'd laugh in the employee's face and leave if they tried to insult me like that. Screw GameStop and everything that they stand for.
gamestop sent me a Xbox 360 w/ a 250gb hard drive. was only supposed to be 120. they sent a 120gb drive too. I'm assuming their fuck up working in my favor would not be a common thing tho. only time I ever delt with gamesstop.
Pat are we going to Get a spanish version of your book? That Will be sweet!!!
"both EVOs"? My assumption was he was talking about the SNES game "EVO: Search for Eden" but.. there is only one EVO game to my knowledge.
WTF was gamestop thinking. It's like they only saw $$$ and didn't think out the actual process
Somebody try putting a Sega label on a SNES cart and seeing if they take it as one or the other
My apologies for the two times I bought retro from them. Never again. It was cheap stuff, the cartridges were OK. The discs were all loose so don't bother if you are looking for CIB.
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This is too good!!!! Thanks Pat!
Pat I Love your CPU Podcasts! lots of NES Love from An Aussie! Oi oi oi! hope Ian is getting better!
*sigh* I miss Funcoland.