GAME Over?

I heard today through the grapevine that my pre-order of the Collector’s Edition of Mass Effect 3 won’t be available – this, understandably, made me a tad grumpy.  As anyone who tried to pick up the Collector’s Edition of Mass Effect 2 post-lauch, the special editions of everyone’s favourite sci-fi RPG become exceptionally hard to get after launch.  The reason for all this pre-order woe: The chain of stores that I pre-ordered with, the UK’s GAME Plc, won’t be stocking any of EA’s March releases; games that includes FIFA Street, Tiger Woods PGA Tour ’13 and, most importantly, Mass Effect 3.

It’s worth noting that this is hot on the heels of GAME Plc, which own both the GAME and Gamestation chains of stores, being unable to secure stock of any of Ubisoft’s launch titles for the PS Vita on the grounds of “credit problems.”  Furthermore, though this may only have applied to a minority of people, I had to wait around to pick up my pre-ordered 3G Vita on launch day, as Sony had only released the stock to them that morning.  I also couldn’t help but notice the sticker that Sony had placed on the side of my Vita’s box that stated that it remained the property of Sony until it was sold to the customer.

The reasons for GAME Plc being unable to secure stock of EA’s March releases sounds distressingly similar according to a staff memo that was leaked on Eurogamer today:

We committed to only stocking products on which we could get the right credit terms, regardless of the title or the supplier. We will not stock products if the terms are not right for our business – a position we believe is critical to our long term health as a business – we have taken the very difficult decision to not stock EA’s March releases, including Mass Effect 3.

All of this sounds extremely concerning for the company and, more importantly, consumers.  Whist I appreciate that many gamers will roll their eyes at the thought of going into a branch of GAME, it is worth noting that they are the largest sole retailer of video games in the UK.  It’s not just GAME Plc’s stores either. HMV have also faced similar problems in securing stock in the recent past.

I’m sure that many of us tend to buy games online, be it through vendors such as Amazon, Zavvi, ShopTo or as digital downloads.  Buying your games that way is certainly more convenient and, more often than not, cheaper.  But there’s something important that you get in high street retailers that you simply don’t get online: you actually get to see new hardware in action, try out new titles, and find out what the employees at the store are particularly excited about and what they would recommend.  I realise that customer experience may differ from store to store, but the reason why I choose to regularly buy titles from my local branch of GAME in North Finchley is that the staff are both friendly and really know what they’re talking about.

I know, Tali. I know.

To GAME’s credit, they are doing their best to placate would-be Mass Effect 3 owners by offering a full refund on deposits and giving you £5 of store credit for the inconvenience.  This understandably doesn’t make the situation right, but it is a generous move, even if it is one that will reduce their margin even further on the next game you buy.

This is all on the continuing backdrop of general economic woe on the high street that has affected a number of businesses other than video game retailers; something very similar happened to book stores.  Supermarkets, thanks to their enormous purchasing power, were able to buy stock at high volumes and at a cheaper price due to the size of their orders, which undercut the specialist book stores, (who, remember, could only cut a profit on books as opposed to selling a wide variety of products and produce) and the book stores started going out of business in droves.  Not only did customers suffer – not merely for the lack of book stores but also the buying advice from their salespeople – but publishers did as well.  After all, there is something appealing about browsing what’s available in a book store where, more than likely, you’ll pick up a book or two that’s piqued your interest.

If video game stores did start disappearing from the high street, it would be a sad state of affairs for consumers.  If my local branch of GAME shut down, I’d have to trek several miles to find another specialist store — or buy my games from a supermarket where, as I’m sure you’ll all agree, the staff just don’t give a crap about games.

However, I think – with regret – that stores such as GAME will inevitably have to shut up shop and may need to do so in the near future.  The modern games industry has changed, and more and more people are getting their gaming fix from downloadable titles on their smartphones or tablets.  These games are not only (generally) priced smack-bang in the middle of the impulse purchase price bracket, but they’re also available on devices that people have with them all the time.  The interest in purchasing “full blown” games for consoles such as the 360, PS3 and Vita is also starting to gain traction in the marketplace as well; lower overheads mean larger profits for the publishers and, one would hope, lower prices for the consumer.

What’s more, publishers are decidedly unhappy with the used (game) market – a market that represents a significant chunk of revenue for stores such as GAME and, generally, value for money for gamers – and try to fight it with such shenanigans as online passes and, in the case of the Vita, games that will only award trophies to the first owner of the game.

Perhaps I’m being a bit old school, especially considering that there are great gaming deals to be had online, but I will certainly miss my fairly regular interactions with a bunch of avid gamers who just happen to be in the position to sell me games should stores – of which GAME is but one example – start to close down.