Gamestop

My son is VERY into the games with figuriens to collect (Skylanders & Amiibo).
I can generally find new characters at Game Stop when Target and other similar retailers have the same ol characters.
I hit the jackpot there this weekend with Skylanders and had many to choose from!

There is really no reason for Game Stop to exist any more. They sell the games at or even above going retail rates. They rip you off with trade-​ins and the discount on used games isn’t even worth it anymore unless the game is ancient. Any time I go into one any more the clerks just want to push pre-​orders, they have no interest in talking about upcoming games, if they even know about them.

Gamestop is a weird place for me. In fact all game stores like this are. Holdovers of the old Babages stores from the 80’s. New video games aren’t things that often vary in price, so there’s no competition there. They always push preorders of everything, which I frankly find annoying. And even after talking to their staff for 20 minutes about something, indicating that I clearly work in the gaming industry, they card me to buy an «M» rated game. There’s no way in hell that I look 16. Absolutely none. Just weird.
I think what would set these stores over the top for me is if they had some way of demoing games in store. Many stores years ago that used to have rentals did that and it was awesome. Now its just a sad place that sells games at retail price and their only advantage is that you don’t have to walk through a Best Buy full of people to get to the game section.

I have mixed opinions of Game Stop. On the one hand, it’s a giant chain that pushes out mom and pop spots throughout the country. On the other hand, they have a really good used section. On the plus side, this section has some good games, but on the down side, they are overpriced.
This particular Game Stop is staffed with friendly and helpful associates. While I’ve gone looking for specific things a plethora of times, I think the only time I actually purchased anything here was when I stood outside at midnight to pick up a copy of Wrath of the Lich King. During that ordeal the store’s credit machines went down and they were only taking orders by cash. That was really annoying as I had to run across the street and lose my place in line to people who carry cash.
It also started raining while I was there, but the manager went and got me some paper towels to dry off my bike seat. That was an extraordinary level of service.