Game not stocking Mass Effect 3. End of world? Thread

I just discovered that Game, the retailer, won't be stocking Mass Effect 3 when it comes out.

As a long-standing supporter of Game, EB, and other games retailers, I find this news troubling.

Eurogamer.net

Guardian.co.uk

Their shares are crashing, and... Bleh. Let's all start blaming Steam. And Origin. Plus the Pirate Bay.

How is it Steam, Origin and Pirate Bay fault, they got nothing to do with this problem?

Lets start blaming their really bad consumer policies instead.

Maybe my sarcasm was too subtle.

Ambient_Malice wrote: Maybe my sarcasm was too subtle.

It was...

Frankly the company has my sympathies on the matter but I'm actually left to wonder what EA is doing to make their games so hard to obtain?

They don't have my sympathy; they've had a complete dominance of the UK retail market for nearly a decade after buying and pushing out all the competition - then they started bringing in dodgy practices like taking pre-orders for used copies of games instead of new copies. Their customer-facig policies are equally dodgy.

Game expanded too quickly and is now succumbing to its own running costs now that online mail order has taken over the boxed retail space. The reason why Game aren't getting EA games is because they can no longer afford to buy them. It's that simple - the same reason why thjey struggled to get games a couple of weeks ago, and why they are also not stocking Nintendo titles (e.g Mario Party 9). Game is dead.

Edited by: ambershee

In Australia, we've got Game, EB Games, and GameTraders. It's my understandind that EB's parent company, GameStop, owns one of the others.

I... feel really sad about retailers struggling. While there's an element of comeuppance for milking the market dry, I loathe a future where everything is Postal and Digital. Brick and mortar shops have a sense of presence that online catalogues just can't duplicate. Just a few weeks ago I bought Metal Gear Solid 3 on PS2 from GameTraders. That sense of browsing through the shelves beats an impersonal algorithim presenting games 'to my taste'.

I'm hoping their demise will allow independant game retailers to flourish again - the kind of retailers that handle niche and import titles on request and know their local market / customers.

ambershee wrote: I'm hoping their demise will allow independant game retailers to flourish again - the kind of retailers that handle niche and import titles on request and know their local market / customers.

Yea... that's a fair point. I think the GameStop-owned franchises have a problem with being profit-driven. It's the same problem which killed the Borders bookstores.

Ambient_Malice wrote:

ambershee wrote: I'm hoping their demise will allow independant game retailers to flourish again - the kind of retailers that handle niche and import titles on request and know their local market / customers.

Yea... that's a fair point. I think the GameStop-owned franchises have a problem with being profit-driven. It's the same problem which killed the Borders bookstores.

So I purchase all my games from a place called dungeoncrawl, they import all their games to Oz, sell them for US prices on the AUD dollar so 60USD for 60AUD regardless of the dollar (they have to make money) but it is worlds above 120aud for the same thing from EB. They have a store front next to the ModDB office (scweet) however since they import it can mean you wont get the game on release day.

You just need to look harder and you will find a good local store, give your money too them.

@Henley - Game became so dominant in the UK that local stores simply do not exist any more. I used to always shop at a local retailer whose name I can no longer recall. Independant game retailers in the UK are now a really rare thing, and many that do exist aren't worth shopping at since they have to be more expensive to compete.

We have one good dedicated local game store in South Africa, BT Games, which does a good job and has all the titles one would expect. Most of South Africa's game titles are supplied by Megarom to general media shops like Incredible Connection, Musica, Look & Listen and to the specialised BT Games. Steam, Desura, and Origin's game prices are rarely cheaper than buying it from the store. Only specials are worth it.

Mass Effect 3, much like Diablo III, is a highly anticipated title that will fly off game store shelves across the world. Game is making a big mistake not stocking it, but it does open an opportunity for competition to get their foot in the door a little bit.

It's not a mistake - they want to stock it. They cannot afford to buy the stock.

ambershee wrote: It's not a mistake - they want to stock it. They cannot afford to buy the stock.

I see. So am I correct in saying the bigger they are, the harder they fall?

Apparently Game Australia are still going to be stocking it. So there's some good news. Then you remember Mass Effect 3 is Origin-based... so they're basically selling you a turd in a box.

But UK customers still lose.

Don't blame game/gamestation its EA's fault for being greedy.

Not everyone wants to buy from games on demand or wait 2-3 days for a game that they can walk down the street to get.
EA have been taking more money by taking it from the online, etc... from those who could barely afford games on release games. At the moment £40 is a lot of money to be throwing away while EA are the ones that are trying to charge £45-60 on a single game.

Also yes you can party blame the online community too since its programs like steam, origin that are putting people out of jobs while keeping EA's pockets full.
Pre-owned games are for people who can't afford games on release.

The game industry itself is just trying to milk money now, they have little respect for the gamers, its been pretty bad with terrible CoD games that make Rip-off dlc while company's like 343i try to keep to decent prices, don't rip you off with Halo waypoint unlike that wannabe Elite crap.

Edited by: Ronnie42

Yes, EA are so greedy that they don't want to give their stock to a company that cannot afford to buy it. Would you give a loan to someone who you know won't ever be in a position to pay you back?

343i are Microsoft. They don't need to charge you for Waypoint, because you already pay for it by subscribing to Live and buying 360 games, first party or otherwise. Call of Duty is Activision, anyway, not EA.