Gamestop to buy Electronics Boutique for $1.44 Billion

[Omega Amen]

I have ordered games from both Gamestop and Electronics Boutique (EBGames). So I find this news interesting, and I am confident that others here will find that as well.

Here is a link to a USA TODAY article.

Any opinions? Is this a wise move for Gamestop or Electronics Boutique?

[Stephen]

I think its a pretty smart move. Pooling there resources I suppose. It should be interesting to see how things pan out...I wonder if there going to make a new name altogether, or go by Gamestop.

[Yumie]

Sounds interesting. I think EB and Gamestop are both good stores, so it will be interesting to see how this pans out.

[Godly Paladin]

Does this mean I'll finally be able to find Genesis stuff at my local EB?

[Link Antilles]

Looks like a very wise move, because other retail stores have been trying to shift their focuses to directly compete with those two stores in the last few years. Personally, I never cared too much for EB games, but this is a local reason. Gamestop always had the cool-well-informed employees to chat with, while EB games seemed to only hire the guys who basically rated games based off their amount and detail of gore.

Anyways, this whole deal is somewhat odd to me, because there are more EBgames then Gamespots in my area (3 to 2).

[Maverick]

Ive always liked Gamestop more... Yahoo I'm excited.

[Slater]

argh... Gamestop has had better service I've observed, but they also have pretty high prices compared to other places...

[Magekind]

Yes, they're not the cheapest guys around, and they don't have everything.

I bought BoF 5 from GameDepot, I believe it's called, off the 'net, when Gamestop didn't have any more copies. They've definitely got excellent service. Heh, I met the local Gamestop supervisor and employee down the hall in the mall a little ways at the Tilt playing Tekken 5... Yeah.

The guy that runs Tilt is awesome too, but that's off subject. And just here in St. George.

Not familiar with EB, but I think Gamestop could use the influx, so long as they don't lose anything.

[Rogie]

I'm actually surprised, as I thought that EB was more successful than GameStop all this time. Not sure why i thought that. Maybe my imagination. Oh, well, this is still big news!

[Mr. SmartyPants]

yeah i never liked EB games...

EB Games:
Cashier: "do you want to get a guide for blah blah blah blah"
Me: "Nah"
Cashier: "ya sure?"
Me: "yes"
Cashier: "positive?"
Me: "YES!!!!"

Gamestop:
Cashier: "Have a nice night!"
Me: "Thanks! you too"

[Sync]

Weird, for the longest time I had thought they were already under the same parent company, their webistes run off the exact same software and most of the images are exactly the same.

[Magekind]

They could have used similar templates. If you've ever been into web design...

Another thing might be that the parent company has decided to merge the two. I dunno, I didn't read the article. It seems like Gamestop's parent company was Babbages or something to that effect. That might have been a while ago.

[Cognitive Gear]

Nope, Gamestop and EB have ben two different companies til this. The reason they were so similar is because they were in such direct competition with each other. It's a marketing strategy. I used to work for gamestop, and it was kind of a joke that EB games was like gamestop's little brother. Everything Gamestop did, EB games had to also.

[glitch1501]

hmmmm...i never liked gamestop, eb seemed to have more pc stuff...

[Fsiphskilm]

[size=167]

[Roy Mustang]

yeah i never liked EB games...

EB Games:
Cashier: "do you want to get a guide for blah blah blah blah"
Me: "Nah"
Cashier: "ya sure?"
Me: "yes"
Cashier: "positive?"
Me: "YES!!!!"

Gamestop:
Cashier: "Have a nice night!"
Me: "Thanks! you too"

YES EXACTLY! That's why I stopped going there. They Hastle their customers. They even tried to get me to pre-order Resident Evil Outbreak File # 2 by telling me I had a very slim chance of being able to buy the game. "It'll be gone off the shelves"... Dude, we're talking about REutbreak, no one's going to buy it, The first one was the most returned game , When pre-orders for Halo2 were in progress, there were hundreds of extra Pre-orders in just one store, I over herd the employees talking about "3 hundred extra copies of Halo2 that no-one's come to pick up"...

I see that, I'm not the only one that feels like EB games place is like rush, rush, buy, buy, do you need to pre-order something.

Wingzero22

[kaji]

I know this isn’t really what the intended topic was about, but I would have to say that I prefer Gamestop over EB. Primarily because they have a much better return policy for used games.

[Debitt]

There are more EBGames around here than GameStops, so I can't fairly compare them, though I must say I've never been hassled at the cash register of an EBGames. (The one time I went to a Gamestop I asked for Guilty Gear X2 for the PS2 and the guy comes back and goes "duh...that's only for the XBox" )

In the end, I don't think I'd notice much of a change either way, though I'm optimistic - maybe the people at EBGames will stop hassling and the people at Gamestop will get smarter.

[Magekind]

Gamestop guys are highly opinionated, I think. But then, that just means you can ask them for their opinion. I mean, it's the ultimate buying experience when you get to know the guy behind the counter personally.

I've had Gamestop fellows try to push me into pre-ordering stuff. Not very often, but they did. And my Halo 2 copy was a special edition with the metal case and the bonus DVD that someone had obviously pre-ordered.