I've never liked them,

They thrive on offering a few dollars for a trade in then resell it for $40 (assuming it's $45 new).

There's literally nothing there used that's ever a steal, I mean never.  All of their used games are set at a marked rate, which means at any time you can go on ebay and find the exact game, at a buy it now price less than what they offer.  

There's 2 other used games stores here in Houston that I genuinely like (although 90% of my used games are bought on Ebay or occasionally amazon).  What I like about them is that used game prices aren't always set.  The store I visit the most (there's 3 on my side of town) is GamesPlus.  When they have too many copies of say Dragon Age on PS3, they'll mark one or 2 down to a very low price, like a quarter or more of the value it is new.  I just bought all 3 Resistance games at $2 each used, I think that's a steal, they had them marked down because they had so many copies in stock.  They'll also consider discounting if you talk to them right, like "hey I'm buying this used N64, can you give me 2 free games of my choice?" Etc.  That's a business model that encourages customers, I still can't understand why I see people inside gamestop.

I can say this though, in early 2000s, they were still selling SNES carts in giant bins.  I picked up Super Metroid, Mario World, Zelda link to the past, and a few other popular games for maybe $5-$10 each.  Go on ebay now and see how much Super Metroid goes for.  

Wondering how Gamestop is going to survive once all physical game discs stop being made, since a lot of their business is based on new releases, where as the 2 used games stores I visit rarely deal in new games.

Between Steam and Amazon, I have absolutely zero use for them now.

For the clientele at most of the stores now.  Ever seen the lines outside when the new Madden is being released?

Yes, the last PC game I bought was I think SC2 when it was released, had it pre-ordered there for some reason, guessing cause my work was across the street.  Even that pre-order was a bad experience, the only copy they had left, the box was smashed or something, don't remember, I was pissed.  It seemed like a copy wasn't really reserved for me, they just happened to have one left, wtf.  Then they kept pestering me for a strategy guide.  Another time, employee(s) inappropriately hit on my Sister while she was there with her son to get him a new game.  Really, I have endless gamestop stories over the last 15 years, 90% of them negative.

Again, I have no issue with game stores.  I value the 2 franchises in my city that cater to retro gamers like myself, have competitions on the weekends (smash-brothers, mario kart, etc) among other things.  

Gamestop just seems to have never been run by true gamers, at any point.  Just suits somewhere who bought up game franchises and thought, wow, look at all these suckers.

Anyone remember Babbages?

That's pretty awesome.

It's not that they never had decent deals.  Like I said, I scored a lot of the now super expensive SNES carts right before they stopped selling them and I'm glad just that day I happened to have an impulse to buy some (and I didn't even own a SNES at that point).

Nam flashbacks



Probably the most depressing post yet in this thread.

Ahh Babbages...

The only real reason I tagged along with my Mom at the mall during the summer.  I went to just look at the boxes mainly.  Rarely bought anything, I did however get a few games a year there from my Father, usually on my Bday and on Christmas morning.  My most memorable purchases/gifts from Babbages:

Age of Empires
Duke Nukem 3d (Atomic with that cool box coloring)
Quake I and II
Diablo
Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe (remember specifically getting it on Christmas from my Dad, loved it)

Really wish I had kept the boxes, would go great in my cave.