GAME Swallows GameStation For £74 Million

Perhaps it might be an idea, for Spong to do feature or poll on this one. Go out into the street and ask gamers, which do they prefer Gamestation or Game.

Can also ask stuff like what's wrong with Game, that Gamestation get so right. Then give all the feedback you get to Game, so we can try to improve and hopefully preserve Gamestations image and identity.

Nice idea. Nice idea indeed.... keep your eyes out...

Spose I can answer some of them.

At Gamestation we approach customers on more of a one to one basis, talk to them as if we were friends. Were very open and casual where as game take the more formal approach like PC world staff.

Were also not afraid to voice our opinions on games. We have the product knowledge to the customers make the right decision, not make them buy a game that we get the largest profit on (not that Im implying anything).

I've never liked Game from a personal exprience back when they were EB. But gamestation has always been open, friendly and informal. As long as we get to stick to I.D. (what made us so successful) then everything should be fine. Its just a bummer knowing the store that was ur greatest rival, has now become ur daddy.

Thanks for your expressing all this for us Sora. We all hope everything goes smoothly for all of you.

i work for GAME, and have done since the days we were EB UK, in the stores ame employees are generally not happy about gamestation joining us, it is like haveing the step brother from hell suddenly moving into your house!

The two businesses have spent so long as rivals that for us to suddenly become friends under the same corporate ID is going to take a long time.

Back in the day when EB bought GAME, (yes i know the general concensus is that it was the other way round, but it wasn't...EB bought GAME then rebranded all the stores to GAME), there was a great amount of discord between the two brands, managers in the same town that did not speak to each other, staff in stores in the same town who would use customers to try and get one over on the other store, generally it was not a good place to work, and the customer suffered due to the general feeling of apathy of the staff.

Bringing gamestaion into the GAME brand has already started this again, but with the staff of GAME united against a new enemy

Jeff your obviously a t***er
I work for gamestation....It will ALWAYS be way cooler then GAME.
I think we will all get along nicely....cant wait to meet you....C**T

if gamestation is so much better than GAME, how come blockbuster could not wait to offload you? game station has been up for sale for ages, but no one wanted to buy a failing business!!! GAME has always been the better of the two, and always will be!

I go into every shop there is in the street when I want to buy games - but usually just order them online. I feel like most shops are trying to force you to buy stuff, but consequently, when they actually do, I don't really care.

What I like about Gamestation compared to Game is that they sell a proper range of games, from old to new, not just new ones.

I don't think there's anything wrong with either, as such - you know what to expect when you go into either shop so I don't find either disappointing. In the same way, though, competition is important, so it's a shame that that will change.

I don't think games should ever be about giant companies - I think what suits it are small shops that specialise. Big companies and computer software make me start worrying about the possibility of The Matrix becoming real.

you need to all come and buy two games in barnstaple north devon 1 in game and one in gamestation it can be any game but you will find out (hear) that game is better than gamestation and before you all go never heard of it i dont care i have lived all over the uk and feel that the beast pace for games was pink planet in bath they used to do every thing its now eplay and have not been for about 4 year
any way most people buy there games for online shops now adays

Guys, guys, no need for bitching in here pleasie poos. Let's all try to be civil here. :)
Even if GameStation is the superior store. ;)

Guess I'll have to try and find another store/indie that knows about games and does good deals, I think the bringing of these two names together only spells bad things for the edge Gamestation had over Game in the first place.

Well I'd say this is the greatest danger, Phil. If Game continue with their clinical PC World/mobile type shop coldness and thne try to extend that same crap through Gamestation branches, more people will move to the likes of ebay and play.com to get their games.

This is in turn could then see a major decline in the highstreet sales. Guess we'll have to wait and see what Game have planned.

I would like to express my disappointment with the decision on the 2nd of May to sell Gamestation to Game. Personally, I spent a long time deciding what I wanted to do with my life, but during this time I discovered video games. When it came to a time to seek employment, I looked at my options and realised that I would like to work in this field. I was fortunate to have experienced the first Gamestation store as a customer and proceeded to try and get and get a job with them. They were unique in their approach to this new market and also seemed to be in touch with their customers. It took a few attempts, applying for different roles, but eventually I was successful. Now, everything has changed. My job is no longer secure and now we have to follow our new owners. This is the worst thing that could happen to specialist games retail and will be a sad day for all involved.

OMG! THE REAL REASON why Blockbuster sold Gamestation is to save their own failing business. Everyone knows the rental industry is in trouble with DVDs going on sale at the same as rental. Blocky has been losing money big time and gamestation was the company keeping them in the game. They had to sell gamestation to cover their own loses.

Now with the money Blockys can attempt to recover (has any noticed a local Blocky close down near you?)

GAME bought gamestation purely cause its a major threat to their business. Gamestation is not a failing brand....far from it actually...and as proof, our branch at birmingham new street got the MCV star store award...so we must be doing somthing right eh?

Jeff is your ignorance a behaviour of all GAME employees?......Discuss

Sora - (proud Birmigham New Street Gamestation employee)

Completely off topic - is it just me or does anybody else get confused about what is "new" and what is "used" when they walk into Gamestation? Maybe it's just some weird policy in place in my local branches but I never seem to be able to figure out which is which as they never have any labels on the box to signify the difference?

Gamestation set up isn't that bad. Second hand stuff is marked as such and in a different place to new games. On top of that, you can usually tell by the price what's new and what isn't.

Game need to decide what they want Game to be. Sometimes I feel Game tries to be more than it is.

Truth of the matter is mobile phone shops are always empty because they look like those places people hate to be in long, like a doctor's surgery or dentist (and yes, Game too). Game's attitude of having staff approach customers can also be enough to make the sales feel desperate, just like those mobile phone shops. When I used to work at Game (around the time of DC launch and EB takeover), I used to hate approaching people (i'm confident enough to do it) but because it reeks of desperation and I know the customer hates it (as would I.

Along with that, you don't need a collar and tie to sell games. If Game got rid of that clinical phone shop/PC World demeanor and adopted Gamestation's down to earth outlook and style more people would stick around and shop.

Teaching staff about games and the games industry, as part of their training, might also be a good idea. Then we'd chat to them more about games, instead of buying and leaving quickly.

SPOnG would like to formalise some form of debate between employees of both companies, which we would then publish. Obviously we need to be sure of credentials, however, if you are involved with either operation, please get in touch at feedback@spong.com or directly to the Forum. We can then see how best to proceed.

Cheers

Tim

Sora
new street may have won the mcv star award, but who was specialist retailer of the year...............GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!

game station - 1 branch wins an award
GAME - the BRAND wins an award!

Gamestation won last year. GAME won the year before. This is voted for by publishers and the industry, not consumers, it's an indication of what the industry thinks of you.

GAME versus Gamestation - No one wins. Depends on the town and the staff. In some towns, GS staff are brilliant, in others they aren't. And vice-versa. There are crap GAME stores and crap Gamestation stores.

The two brands will be treated seperately - instead of allowing in other competitors, ie Gamestop, GAME have seen sense and cornered two sides of the market - Gamestation generally attracts 'hardcore' gamers with it's look and feel, GAME is more geared towards mum and family, and is also pre-dominantly on high streets, whereas GS is usually a bit to the side. That's not a given, but a generalisation on brand positioning.

At the end of the day, if you play games and work for a specialist retailer, whats the big moan? And for the record, GAME would not have bought Gamestation if it wasn't a profit making business. What's the point of buying a s**t business that loses money? Think about it.

Go figure dudes - I'm going to play games instead of reading about everyones arguments.

a real pity, but at least we can still watch blockbuster dvd on my widescreen LCD tv.
http://www.*************.co.uk/

[25 Sep 2007, 08:39: Message edited by 'tyrion']
Get back into the mist with your guerilla marketing.

it's pretty clear that Gamestation is a superior store.
end of discussion. kthxbye x