Friday, April 15, 2011

Local game stores versus Corporation game stores

This came up in a conversation between my friend and I last night when we started talking about where we go to buy games. 

There are some of you that don't know of anything other that corporation game stores such as Gamestop or Walmart or maybe even K-mart. These are not the only ones but they are some of the only ones that were around where I grew up.On the other side there are the Local game stores that are kind of like mom and pop stores but owned by one person or persons but not controlled by some board of directors or anything like that. 

Of coarse there are other places to buy games such as online but thats if you are willing to wait for shipping (and most Corporation game stores also have websites anyway).

What I want to know is which one you support and if it applies which one would you rather support? 

I would prefer to support a local game store but I don't know of any near where I grew up so if I bought games they came from Gamestop or Walmart. Here are some pros and cons that my friend and I came up with.

Corportation:

Pros:
1) Games always in stock
2) Prices always set and known
3) Buys/trades all items 
4) Everywhere

Cons:
1) Greedy
2) Workers there are annoying


Local owned:

Pros:
1) Can negotiate prices (Buying and Selling/Trading)
2) Very good customer service
3) Might have rare items

Cons: 
1) Not everywhere 
2) Might not have some items in stock



11 comments:

  1. Con for large game stores are they screw you over so bad on trade in's they almost always double their money on trade ins bought. Their are no real local game stores any more around me if they are they are just small vintage games in the back of some different type of store.

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  2. i dont think i can name any game stores around here that arent a gamestop, walmart etc.

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  3. If by "corporate" you mean "Gamestop", then yeah, totally agree. I prefer vintage shops and other locally owned stores, mainly because they might sell rarer stuff. The downside is that they rarely change their prices and a lot of games are overpriced. You could negotiate with them, but from my experience, you must be willing to trade something to get the manager to start dealing with you.

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  4. i rater go to the ma and pop store i HATE gamestop

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  5. I feel exactly the same. Can't even think of any place to buy games in my city thats not a huge corporation

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  6. Good blog topic! I really dont like big corporations, but I do buy most of my games on steam ;)

    What I do hate though is Activision. Greedy fucks.

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  7. Nice post, I prefer to support the locals!

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  8. i rarely purchase video games but local is the way to go. corporations only as a fall back.

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  9. Yea big corporations rule the roost.

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