I saw this article on Joystiq over the weekend and this is really the first time I’ve had to comment on it. Basically the author, Alexander Sliwinski, went to a GameStop to purchase God of War 2 and was offered an opened copy that had been on display. Mr. Sliwinski was flabbergasted that this would actually happen and left the store to purchase the game somewhere else, calling this practice “shady” because they didn’t offer him a discount.
Now, as you know from some of my older articles, I don’t really have that much love for some of the employees at these stores (at least in the central Michigan area) and their smug, know-it-all attitudes toward gaming. You may find this surprising considering I actually worked at an EB Games for about five months starting in the summer of 2003. Using the knowledge I gathered working there, I’m going to tear down the 8th wall and ask, “Is selling an opened game as new really that wrong?”
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When a hot new title like the one mentioned in Sliwinski’s article comes into a retail store, only a limited amount are actually shipped on the game’s launch day. This amount is usually enough to cover pre-orders, plus an extra handful for the people that didn’t or just weren’t able to reserve a copy. Once the shipment is received, the Point of Sale system prints out all of the pre-orders and the store employee typically tapes one to each copy, makes the calls to inform customers that the title has arrived, and then puts them in a back room, or behind the counter (sometimes in the glass cabinet) for safe keeping. Usually one or possibly two games are opened and the cases are placed out on the main floor for display, their disks having been removed, put into protective sleeves, and locked away in drawers behind the counter. The rest of the extra copies are placed in the glass cabinet and when someone walks in without a pre-order to purchase a copy, they are handed one of the sealed spares until the store is out.
It’s at this point in the process in which Mr. Sliwinski entered GameStop. He walked up to the cashier and asked for a copy of God of War 2 and having not pre-ordered, was only offered a spare copy. At this point the cashier went to pick up the store’s last one which was on display, grabbed the game’s disk from within the locked cabinet, and offered it for sale at full price. This is standard practice in many game retailers like GameStop or Gamecrazy. Mr. Sliwinski saw this and asked for a new (unopened) copy, and probably not fully understanding the clerk said it was new (probably as opposed to used). This prompted Sliwinski to simply walk out of the store and purchase the game at Best Buy. The proper response from the clerk should have been “I’m sorry, those unopened copies you see are reserved for customers that pre-ordered the game. This is the last spare copy we have.” Unfortunately this misunderstanding caused a loss of a sale and (what I feel) an unnecessary article written about this “shady business practice.”
Sliwinski argues that he should have received a 10% discount because the item was already opened. I suppose if you compare an opened copy of a game to a major appliance where discounts are often given for floor models, you’d be correct. However, unlike floor models where people have put their grubby mits all over the merchandise and it may even be slightly damaged, what your purchasing is on the disk which has never been inside of a machine, and which has also been protectively locked away its entire time in the store. In Sliwinski’s defense, we should also take the condition of the case into account and if it was severely damaged, or if the instructions were missing, then he should have been offered a discount. Having not mentioned this in his article though, I don’t believe this to be the case.
So with this in mind, why is selling an opened copy of a game as new wrong? Who is hurt in this transaction? I mean, if you’re simply going to go home, rip the plastic off of the case and start playing the game then what’s the difference? The only situation I can see that purchasing an opened copy as new could be a problem is when you have no intention on playing it. Either you’re purchasing the game as a gift for someone else who may need to return it, or you plan on doing something else with it like purchase the game at a discount at one place just to return it to a different store and get some additional credit towards a different title. Also keep in mind that when you purchase an opened copy as new, the clerk is supposed to place a sticker around the casing in an attempt to “seal” it. While the sticker can easily be removed without tearing, this is supposed to be your proof that you purchased the game new and therefore may return it for a full refund as long as the sticker has not been tampered with.
Anyway…seeing that article on Joystiq over the weekend just annoyed me. Why dedicate an entire article to the fact that you were offered an unplayed, opened copy of a game as new? Why not use your power on a well-read blog to discuss other unscrupulous practices at GameStop-type stores, like calling a game “used” and only selling it for a $5 discount off of MSRP? I suppose the same could be said for this article as well, to which I apologize. I needed a place to vent. 🙂
Having over 25 years of gaming experience, Zach knows a thing or two when it comes to one of his favorite entertainment activities. Additionally, he has also written many articles previewing and reviewing titles which can be found in various places around the net, including VGBlogger.com. 
Sometimes the game is NOT new. I’ve read stories that the employees “take the game home and “test” it and bring it back to the store to sell as new.
Sorry Zach, but I more agree with the writer of that story lol. It’s really just the principle of the thing, technically it’s not BRAND new since it’s been opened, and even if it’s only been taken out of the case and put into a sleeve that can still possibly put small use marks on the disc and stuff. I’d honestly do the same thing if a clerk offered me an opened copy for full price. I wouldn’t freak out about it and write some ranting story though, I just wouldn’t buy the game there and leave it at that, no big deal. If I’m going to pay full price I want the game to be sealed so I know nothing has been tampered with. But see, I’m just as much a collector as I am a player, so I’m picky on game condition and that sort of thing :). Most people I’m sure wouldn’t care if a game was opened as long as it hadn’t been used.
I’m no collector, and in this case – if the store policies and procedures were explained to me thoroughly so that I could understand what was going on and how it could still be considered as “new” – then I really don’t think I’d mind. As long as I could be certain that the game was unplayed, whether or not it had a shiny new plastic-y wrapper on the outside or whatever wouldn’t affect my opinion.
I’d only ask for a discount if something like the box was worn out, etc., some other factor, but I’d certainly not storm out mad and blog my anger.
Zach, I got your back on this 100%, bro. I mean, so what?! The game was opened, but it’s not like someone played the damn thing. Hell, when I first purchased the original DMC a long time back, it was unopened and there were still small scratches on the damn game. BUT IT PLAYED! That’s all I care about. Now, yeah, I can understand if someone wanted to go trade it in somewhere else, but if they did that, they’re just dumb. I mean, I don’t know.
I’ve bought plenty of games in the same way that this dood walked away from. I mean, it’s like walking into a clothing store and there is a shirt you want, but it’s the display one. So, am I gonna say “Hey, that shirt was on display, it’s been exposed to some light and might be slightly faded, and on top of that, it’s got a couple of pin sticks in it from the little pins you used to put it up there, it’s got a slightly stretched neck because of the coat hanger, it’s got some wrinkles in it”…etc etc etc. It’s a retarded argument.
I agree with you, Zach. The real crime is that these places buy a new game back like GoW2, then they call it “used” and sell it for five bucks less. We bought a copy of NBA 2K7 “used” for $5 less than what it was on 360…and that thing was scratched to hell. When we took it back to them, instead of saying “Oh, man, we should’ve lowered the price on it”…which by the way, they were also supposed to either resurface it or not even accept the game in that damn condition as is…they just offered to resurface it for us. That’s fine and all, but seriously…
As for Gamestop and EB Games, you know how I feel about those wanna-be elitest pricks. I ain’t shy about it…I’ve known some of them personally, and they all think they are gods because they work at a game store. Yeah, well I park my ass for work at a GAMING CENTER everyday. What now? I truly AM an elitest prick, but I’m not going to treat customers like shit over it.
The guy did need to have it explained to him a little more, but in all honesty, it just sounds like he was a whiny bitch-boy Counter-Striker with a bug up his ass. Bah to him, I say, and Viva la Display Copies!!!
funny. that happened to me yesterday. guys, there’s a resonable expectation of getting something SEALED when you buy a NEW game. period. it’s not a collector’s thing as much as it seems. what if that GOW II was a gift? even still, it’s a practice that needs to be addressed, as GS overdoes it way too much.
the gamestop near me orders maybe two copies of some budget titles, but they open them up and stick the cases on the shelf rather than stock them behind the counter. automatically. all the damn time. anyway, a few days down the road, that game case gets all dinged up and nasty from the constant handling, dropping, poking and prodding and that’s not a case a new game belongs in. that and the fact that is has stickers all over it saying NEW with the full price.
would you buy an opened game system from anyone labeled as NEW? i don’t think so. i’d support an instant 10% markdown if a game labeled as ‘new’ has been opened in the store. i used to work in an indie game shop and my boss used to open, play and rewrap stuff on occasion, which i always disliked when he tried to act like the game hadn’t been touched.
no less than five times that i’ve gone to gs to get a ‘new’ or budget game, it has takes the clerks up to five minutes to find the damn thing and in two cases, they didn’t even HAVE the game, just the case on the wall. yesterday, it took the guy about that long and yup, i found it amusing that he took my money first, then went looking for the game. that held up the ten or so folks behind me (the other register was being bogarted by some guys trading stuff in) and they weren’t too pleased, that’s for sure.
and don’t get me started on the other time the clerk DROPPED the ‘NEW’ game disc as he was retrieving it from its sleeve in the drawer… i gave him the laser eyes, especially as another worker almost stepped on the damn disc before he picked it up…
this practice can be avoided. they need to have a stash of blank dvd boxes they can sawp inserts in and out of. they have no problem doing this with games availible for preorder. it would be more cost effective to ship out a couple of paper dvd case inserts than to “gut” games and potentially lose sales.