For all the Gamestop haters out there...

[eticket109]

Re: For all the Gamestop haters out there...

Seriously, I had no idea they were stolen. He just said he wanted cash for 30 sealed copies of a game that game out last week. How was I to know?

Edit:
Wish I could've seen that video before it got removed.

His profile and other videos have a link to the first one.

All the videos are down on youtube but they're on GameTrailers now.

[ame]http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/263243.html[/ame]

[TheGrandMom]

Re: For all the Gamestop haters out there...

lawl. No?...

@ GrandMom
That last news story you posted...
I find it hard to actually care without knowing the full details of what exactly they did.
All it said is they pleaded guilty to a charge. And, something about purported. Whatever that means.

Edit:
Wish I could've seen that video before it got removed.

Google ( Google ) and Dictionary.com ( Dictionary.com ):

purport definition |Dictionary.com :

- to present, esp. deliberately, the appearance of being; profess or claim, often falsely: a document purporting to be official.

**RAWR!! eticket is the fastest draw on the forum................TODAY!

zero originality episode 1 - Google Search

[ame=http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/263260.html]Gametrailers.com - Zero Originality Episode 1-2 by JohnRazor[/ame] - If you want to see the entire video that was posted above its episode 1-1 and 1-2 together. Click the Gametrailers.com link at the top of this video and the other videos are on the right side of the webpage.

As to what they did, they were KNOWINGLY taking in stolen goods.

________________________

GameStop: GameStop Devours France's Leading Game Retailer

"GameStop has increased their European presence to 1,077 stores after announcing the acquisition of France's leading video game retailer Micromania. The acquisition covers 332 stores in France, a country where GameStop previously had no presence whatsoever. Congratulations, France.


R. Richard Fontaine, GameStop’s Executive Chairman, said, “As we have accelerated our growth in Europe over the years, we have kept a close eye on the European retailers whose passion for the business is reflected in the quality of their stores and evident knowledge of their staff. Micromania has been that type of retailer.

There you go, European retailers. If you try really hard to be the best at what you do, maybe one day GameStop will absorb you into their fleshy folds as well!

GameStop Acquires Micromania, France’s Leading Video Game Retailer from Private Equity Fund L Capital
Transaction Includes 332 Locations Throughout France

Increases GameStop’s European Presence to 1,077 Stores

GRAPEVINE, Texas—(BUSINESS WIRE)—GameStop (NYSE: GME), the world’s largest video game retailer, today announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Micromania, France’s leading video game retailer with 332 locations throughout the country, from private equity fund L Capital, its controlling shareholder.

GameStop, which currently has no stores in France, will operate 5,889 locations worldwide in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and, with the Micromania acquisition, the European store count will top 1,077 stores located throughout France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Spain and Portugal.

The transaction, for approximately US$700 million (€480 million) in cash, including the assumption of debt, is subject to clearance by the European Commission, and is expected to close in November of 2008. Under the terms of the agreement, GameStop will purchase virtually all of the outstanding shares of the company. GameStop intends to fund the transaction through cash on hand, a draw on its existing revolving credit facility, and a $150 million committed term loan from Bank of America.

R. Richard Fontaine, GameStop’s Executive Chairman, said, “As we have accelerated our growth in Europe over the years, we have kept a close eye on the European retailers whose passion for the business is reflected in the quality of their stores and evident knowledge of their staff. Micromania has been that type of retailer.

When the opportunity arose to purchase Micromania, and after meeting the executives who lead the company, we became convinced that expanding into Europe’s second largest video game market with Micromania’s management team and GameStop’s diverse experience was a great combination for profitable growth.”

Daniel A. DeMatteo, GameStop’s Chief Executive Officer, indicated that, “The transaction is a reflection of our belief that the European video game market is growing and will be an important part of GameStop’s worldwide growth.

Historically, our most productive use of capital has, by far, been the addition of new stores whether opened organically or acquired. With the addition of Micromania, we have begun deployment of capital that we believe will help us achieve EPS growth of 25% or more in fiscal 2009, and set GameStop up for continued growth in the years to come. We expect this acquisition to be accretive to our fully diluted EPS in both the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 and fiscal 2009.”

Pierre Cuilleret, who will remain Micromania’s President Directeur Général, said, “Micromania is a terrific brand. I am particularly pleased that the GameStop management team recognized the impassioned quality and importance of our sales advisors and senior managers. With GameStop as a partner, and with their history of seeking out new growth opportunities, I am very enthusiastic about our potential to expand the brand that has been built for over 25 years in France”.

Philippe Franchet, Senior Partner of L Capital, said, “Our strategy, engaged in 2001, to build the leading video games retailer in France under the management of a top quality team has paid out. It is this strategic position and the quality of the management team, under the leadership of Pierre Cuilleret, that the world leader GameStop has acquired.”

Citi acted as financial advisor to GameStop, and Lazard Frères acted as financial advisors to Micromania’s shareholders. Bryan Cave LLP served as legal advisor to GameStop and Ayache, Salama & Associés served as legal advisor to Micromania’s shareholders."
________________________

One ring to rule them all!

[Zoryn]

Re: For all the Gamestop haters out there...

Yeah yeah. I dictionary'd it as soon as I made my last post.


&& Cute video.

[Kyleet]

Re: For all the Gamestop haters out there...

I'm just not getting the hostility towards GS here. The whole buying for crap cash or more store credit to sell back almost full price has been around forever. Even the video itself said its not a new practice. Hell, used bookstores have been doing this for ages, but I wouldn't accuse someone who shops there of betraying fellow readers because they wanted to save a few bucks and don't mind bent spines and stained pages. It's the same kind of thing here. I don't think people should fault a used game buyer for choosing to shop at gamestop just because a seller was stupid enough to sell their game for change.

And no, I don't sell my games there. I don't sell my games at all. Even the sucky ones. But that's just me.

However I don't think you should ever buy a new game without the seals (though to be fair, shrinkwrap and seals aren't really much of an assurance of 'new' since the process can and is easily duplicated by many shops especially ones that do business online), although I have seen cases where they were out of the new copies behind the counter and would sell the display box with the 'new disc'. In that case I personally wouldn't buy the game there if all they had were new unless it couldn't be found anywhere else and I really really wanted the game.

Personally I don't do internet shopping because I've been burned too many times by ebay and also I don't like waiting :3

Also some people don't live in areas where they have access to many other options besides wal-mart and gamestop for their games. Depending on demography, on less-popular titles, wal mart usually delays their street date in favor of a tiny discount (usually 1-3 cents). This was the case with the FFXI expansions in my area. Sometimes the delay is only a couple days (friday instead of Tuesday), but sometimes it can be weeks. Meaning your options are to wait or get the game at GameStop. And sometimes if the wholesaler won't let wal-mart discount their game, wal-mart will choose not to carry it at all. So yeah there are times when Gamestop may be the only place to have the game you're looking for even if it is new.

Not withstanding the internet of course. But yeah... the waiting thing... :3

So... I don't think you should tell people not to shop there. Rather, tell people not to sell their games there. Really though, it doesn't really matter. If someone wants a cheeseburger more than they want a fair price for their game, they're gonna accept the price of a cheeseburger.

[Susurrus]

Re: For all the Gamestop haters out there...

I don't sell any of my games. I don't buy used games either, but for my personal reasons of I don't want someone else's used crap.

I buy new games from Gamestop on occasion, but not really much any more because the town I live in now doesn't have a GameStop. Only place to buy games in town is Wal-Mart. Or I could drive about 45 minutes to get to Best Buy, GameStop, CircuitCity, etc, or pick up a game at AAFES BX when on my way home from work or something. I usually just order online through Amazon, though. I don't touch Ebay.....

[Zoryn]

Re: For all the Gamestop haters out there...

I don't buy used games either, but for my personal reasons of I don't want someone else's used crap.

Hm. "Used crap"?


If it's the same game...And, in decent condition...
Would you really absolutely refuse to pay less?


Or are you saying the games you play are crap, anyway?


jk.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: For all the Gamestop haters out there...

I'm just not getting the hostility towards GS here. The whole buying for crap cash or more store credit to sell back almost full price has been around forever. Even the video itself said its not a new practice. Hell, used bookstores have been doing this for ages, but I wouldn't accuse someone who shops there of betraying fellow readers because they wanted to save a few bucks and don't mind bent spines and stained pages. It's the same kind of thing here. I don't think people should fault a used game buyer for choosing to shop at gamestop just because a seller was stupid enough to sell their game for change.

And no, I don't sell my games there. I don't sell my games at all. Even the sucky ones. But that's just me.

However I don't think you should ever buy a new game without the seals (though to be fair, shrinkwrap and seals aren't really much of an assurance of 'new' since the process can and is easily duplicated by many shops especially ones that do business online), although I have seen cases where they were out of the new copies behind the counter and would sell the display box with the 'new disc'. In that case I personally wouldn't buy the game there if all they had were new unless it couldn't be found anywhere else and I really really wanted the game.

Personally I don't do internet shopping because I've been burned too many times by ebay and also I don't like waiting :3

Also some people don't live in areas where they have access to many other options besides wal-mart and gamestop for their games. Depending on demography, on less-popular titles, wal mart usually delays their street date in favor of a tiny discount (usually 1-3 cents). This was the case with the FFXI expansions in my area. Sometimes the delay is only a couple days (friday instead of Tuesday), but sometimes it can be weeks. Meaning your options are to wait or get the game at GameStop. And sometimes if the wholesaler won't let wal-mart discount their game, wal-mart will choose not to carry it at all. So yeah there are times when Gamestop may be the only place to have the game you're looking for even if it is new.

Not withstanding the internet of course. But yeah... the waiting thing... :3

So... I don't think you should tell people not to shop there. Rather, tell people not to sell their games there. Really though, it doesn't really matter. If someone wants a cheeseburger more than they want a fair price for their game, they're gonna accept the price of a cheeseburger.

Watch the entire 90 minutes of his story and then maybe you'll understand better. Gamestop is one of the best examples of what is wrong with corporate America.

I've been shopping/trading/bartering on the internet since...........well since people started doing that shit on it. If you have a half way decent IQ you can shop/trade/barter using the internet perfectly fine. I have had "problems" 5 times and 3 of those times the issue was eventually resolved. I've used Ebay since it began and Amazon.com should give me a lifetime achievement plaque. LOL There are plenty of other stores/ways to buy your video games even if you have to wait an extra day or two. And its not like I don't shop a lot on the internet, quite the opposite in fact. (Which my husband will attest to quite emphatically!) I do at least 85% of my shopping using the internet.

The thing that pisses me off is how people sit there and go "Our government is violated by corporations. It's so corrupt....blah blah blah." But yet when we are shown what companies are some of the biggest offenders, we make all the excuses in the world to still support them by using them because we are too lazy to change what we do.

[Kyleet]

Re: For all the Gamestop haters out there...

The thing that pisses me off is how people sit there and go "Our government is violated by corporations. It's so corrupt....blah blah blah." But yet when we are shown what companies are some of the biggest offenders, we make all the excuses in the world to still support them by using them because we are too lazy to change what we do.

Yes, people are lazy :3 But for some people not shopping at GameStop or one of its affiliates might mean they just don't get the games they want. That was one of my points above. Besides that, GameStops are like McDonald's. They're just about on every street corner. People who live out in the middle of nowhere might not have internet (unless they wanna pay uber cash for satellite), they might not have cable tv, but they probably have a GameStop within 30 mins of their house. So, gamestop reform won't come from telling people not to shop there. Cause that's just not going to happen. And not just because of laziness, more because of practicality.

The lazy comes in when something illegal happens such as the stolen games stuff and used for new scams. Because GameStop isn't franchised (that I know of, though I saw a rumor they were going to start offering franchised stores this year, their site still says all stores are corp owned) there's a huge ladder to crawl up to get to someone who can do anything about it. Most people won't bother. And those that do will have to wait a long time I'd imagine for what would just turn into a settlement with no lasting effect on the company because of its sheer size.

So instead of doing all of that, people who have witnessed or been a victim of these illegal practices will do just what that guy did. Post their experience on forums, make videos and tell their friends who may or may not decide to stop shopping there.

I guess what I'm trying to say is if the illegal activities were as common as this would lead you to believe, there'd be a lot more suits against them, and a lot more investigations. Eventually (and that's a big eventually) the giant would have to turn its head and take notice. And if they really are that common, then the lazy isn't the people who keep shopping there, it's the people who have witnessed or been a victim of illegal and shady business practices who choose to make videos or rant about it to their buddies instead of going through labyrinthine legal channels that could take months or years to find the end of. In their position, I'd probably do the same thing though so I don't really blame them at all.

Now if GameStop decided to franchize... this would be a different story entirely since the buck would stop at the owner's wallet, which would be quite a bit smaller and more sensitive to lawsuits than the corporation.

But don't take my position as a "For Gamestop Glory!" one. If there were another game store 5 miles away with similar selection, I'd shop there instead. And I think that's how most people view GS or any store really. Hair salons and hometown restaurants get customer loyalty. Retail stores just like to think they do.

Sorry to ramble (I'm a little bored atm). It's just that I've worked at enough places and seen the crap that managers, district managers, regional managers, and on up can pull without corporate even knowing until someone slaps them with a lawsuit. And with a company that large, it's going to take a lot more than even a handful of lawyers knocking at their door to reform or shut them down, whichever the aim is. And its really hard to pinpoint the bad rung in that corporate ladder, so the only folks that get hurt by people not shopping at gamestop are the local employees who will lose their jobs when their store closes because it stops pulling in the clink clink. And GScorp will just open another one 10 miles away where people hadn't heard its not cool to shop at GS anymore. :3

[TheGrandMom]

Re: For all the Gamestop haters out there...

Yes, people are lazy :3 But for some people not shopping at GameStop or one of its affiliates might mean they just don't get the games they want. That was one of my points above. Besides that, GameStops are like McDonald's. They're just about on every street corner. People who live out in the middle of nowhere might not have internet (unless they wanna pay uber cash for satellite), they might not have cable tv, but they probably have a GameStop within 30 mins of their house. So, gamestop reform won't come from telling people not to shop there. Cause that's just not going to happen. And not just because of laziness, more because of practicality.

The lazy comes in when something illegal happens such as the stolen games stuff and used for new scams. Because GameStop isn't franchised (that I know of, though I saw a rumor they were going to start offering franchised stores this year, their site still says all stores are corp owned) there's a huge ladder to crawl up to get to someone who can do anything about it. Most people won't bother. And those that do will have to wait a long time I'd imagine for what would just turn into a settlement with no lasting effect on the company because of its sheer size.

So instead of doing all of that, people who have witnessed or been a victim of these illegal practices will do just what that guy did. Post their experience on forums, make videos and tell their friends who may or may not decide to stop shopping there.

I guess what I'm trying to say is if the illegal activities were as common as this would lead you to believe, there'd be a lot more suits against them, and a lot more investigations. Eventually (and that's a big eventually) the giant would have to turn its head and take notice. And if they really are that common, then the lazy isn't the people who keep shopping there, it's the people who have witnessed or been a victim of illegal and shady business practices who choose to make videos or rant about it to their buddies instead of going through labyrinthine legal channels that could take months or years to find the end of. In their position, I'd probably do the same thing though so I don't really blame them at all.

Now if GameStop decided to franchize... this would be a different story entirely since the buck would stop at the owner's wallet, which would be quite a bit smaller and more sensitive to lawsuits than the corporation.

But don't take my position as a "For Gamestop Glory!" one. If there were another game store 5 miles away with similar selection, I'd shop there instead. And I think that's how most people view GS or any store really. Hair salons and hometown restaurants get customer loyalty. Retail stores just like to think they do.

Sorry to ramble (I'm a little bored atm). It's just that I've worked at enough places and seen the crap that managers, district managers, regional managers, and on up can pull without corporate even knowing until someone slaps them with a lawsuit. And with a company that large, it's going to take a lot more than even a handful of lawyers knocking at their door to reform or shut them down, whichever the aim is. And its really hard to pinpoint the bad rung in that corporate ladder, so the only folks that get hurt by people not shopping at gamestop are the local employees who will lose their jobs when their store closes because it stops pulling in the clink clink. And GScorp will just open another one 10 miles away where people hadn't heard its not cool to shop at GS anymore. :3

Sorry but its this type of "oh well not much I can do about it" attitude that hurts this country. Things don't get done unless someone gets off their butt and does them so we can either be trampled or be the ones doing the trampling. If one out of 5 people that watch his videos stop shopping there and then show the videos to 5 more people and one of those stops shopping and shows it to 5 more people.... Word of mouth works and it does make a difference. The videos were not only about how the store affects the consumer but how the store affects the average person that works there too. No breaks, working off the clock, etc are abusive to their employees and people should avoid working there or warn friends/family not to also.

There are plenty of other stores to shop at and if you had watched his videos you'd know that. They are common chain stores that are all over the country. Using the "I live in a sand hut in the middle of Death Valley" defense is a crock. The internet is available via schools/cafes/libraries all over. Stores, both mom and pop and chain, are all over. Will you always get your games day 1 of release? Maybe not and thats a sacrifice that might even save you some money if you find its glitched/bad before you are able to go and get it or it comes in the mail.

[Feba]

Re: For all the Gamestop haters out there...

People who live out in the middle of nowhere might not have internet (unless they wanna pay uber cash for satellite), they might not have cable tv, but they probably have a GameStop within 30 mins of their house.

If you can drive 30 minutes to a GameStop, you can drive 30 minutes to an internet connection so you don't have to buy from fucking GameStop.

Or hell, if internet is that outrageous in your area, partner up with some neighbors to buy a connection and share it.

[Effedup]

Re: For all the Gamestop haters out there...

Sorry but its this type of "oh well not much I can do about it" attitude that hurts this country. Things don't get done unless someone gets off their butt and does them so we can either be trampled or be the ones doing the trampling.

I agree with the sentiment, and have myself said the exact same thing in the past...but current events have me leaning towards the "not much we can do about it" camp myself. My example is the huge financial bailout bullshit going on right now. Excuse my language, but I'm really fucking pissed about it. I've written my senators and congressmen about my opposition to it, as have millions of other people (read on CNN.com a couple days ago that there were SO MANY emails against it that the White House email system crashed), but as we can see it mattered not at all.

So yeah, the majority of the american people don't want this thing, think it's bullshit...and yet, it's gonna go through anyway. The Republicans and Democrats both know how unpopular it is, which is why they're making deals with each other, saying "We'll get our majority vote, but only if you promise to get yours as well so both parties can shoulder the blame equally".

Anyways, I know this has nothing to do with Gamestop (personally, I hate that place but I have bought things there from time to time, always older games you can't find in stores anymore), but in the grand scheme of things, I've never before felt like the wants of the general population of this country have mattered so little. My father, who grew up in the 60's, is calling for a revolution (I can just see him breaking out the American Flag shirt and fringe jacket again lol)...but I think American's have grown far too apathetic and selfish for that. It seems like nobody gives a shit anymore about other people's situation, and only want what's best for THEM.

I really need to stop watching CNN...my blood pressure is rising at an exponential rate lol...

[Feba]

Re: For all the Gamestop haters out there...

So yeah, the majority of the american people don't want this thing,

not actually true.

See FiveThirtyEight.com: Electoral Projections Done Right: News Accounts May Overstate Public Opposition to Bailout .

but I think American's have grown far too apathetic and selfish for that. It seems like nobody gives a shit anymore about other people's situation, and only want what's best for THEM.

And yet you're promoting the idea of "fuck it, there's nothing we can do. There's no point resisting".

Pot, meet kettle.