[itbe_Tyler]

GAME PLC (GAME and GameStation) has now officially gone into administration which gives them 10 days to find a buyer for parts of the company or all of it before it officially gets wiped out. They've announced the closure of 277 stores which equates to roughly 2100 job losses.

Will you be affected by the closure of GAME and GameStation? What will you do now? Or just give your general rubbish old opinions

[R94N]

It's sad but it is becoming more and more plain to see that physical media is going away. Things like XBLA, Steam and the PlayStation Store are helping to speed this along.

[The Deadly]

I used to work in Game many moons ago and its a shame. Unfortunately like many other companies that have gone out of business it hasn't moved with the times and it comes as no surprise to me that it has died.

[Nicola_Red]

My ex used to work there too. Then he moved to Music Zone which also went into admin. He works for the band Hurts now, so we'll see...

[bmstinton93]

I'm actually surprised by this. The shop is always packed whenever I go in. Also I always thought the gaming market was doing very very well. I swear I heard somewhere that it was better than the movie market. Yes, it's heavily online based now but I'd still much rather buy a console from a store and the preowned games were always great. This is such a shame.

[Johnny 1989]

I think it's a shame that all these stores are closing, have we really got to the stage now where we can't be asked to go to the shops. I know there's online shopping now but in all honest over the last few weeks it doesn't matter who I shop with it'd be quicker for me to hop on a train to Central London buy the CD/DVD/Computer Game, hop back on the train than it is to wait for it in the post, not only that the last few items have turned up damaged which means sending some back & waiting longer, etc.

I hate how empty our high streets are getting with all the boarded up shops, some of which survived for over 50 years, not only that so many people are losing their jobs now that the retail sector is starting to get limited in shop range.

[Travis Bickle]

I'm actually surprised by this. The shop is always packed whenever I go in. Also I always thought the gaming market was doing very very well. I swear I heard somewhere that it was better than the movie market. Yes, it's heavily online based now but I'd still much rather buy a console from a store and the preowned games were always great. This is such a shame.

Yes, it's always packed whenever I go in as well, so I am surprised in that respect. Gaming is still big, but people are simply buying more games online now. Personally, I get mine from shops, mostly as trades, but these are market forces and if the place was good enough to survive it would.

[Johnny 1989]

I think sometimes with these firms it's not always the shops themselves it's the sodding parent companies, Peacocks/Bon Marche are a classic example, both were doing well but the parent company was doing terribly & dumped their problems on the shops, even though they were doing well.

I'm dreading the High Streets in the next ten years, rows & rows of cheap pound shops & sod all else, urgh.

[Candyman]

I hope GAME can be saved, its the only dedicated retail store dedicated to console games. I also feel for the employees, I know someone who works at a GAME store and has lost his job this afternoon.

Hopefully a buyer can be found because if they go under there is only HMV and CEX (Gamesexchange) left, even then HMV are on borrowed time. And if that happen the high street is looking very bleak, these are dark days.

[The Deadly]

I can see Tesco taking over Game and making purely electronics based smaller stores. They could do games, tv's etc.

[English Bob]

Damn, this is bad news. The forerunner of Game, Electronics Boutique, was the first shop I used to buy my games from!

Wondering what will happen to my reward points balance on Game.co.uk now though...

[Johnny 1989]

I can see Tesco taking over Game and making purely electronics based smaller stores. They could do games, tv's etc.

And what a bleak future that is, endless Tesco's with their limited product range, etc. I hate the supermarkets, all the staff look miserable (probably because they're being worked hard for a pittance, and I say that as someone who knows several people who work in supermarkets) and quite frankly I'd hate to do all my shopping in one shop, it's dull.

[The Deadly]

I can see Tesco taking over Game and making purely electronics based smaller stores. They could do games, tv's etc.

And what a bleak future that is, endless Tesco's with their limited product range, etc. I hate the supermarkets, all the staff look miserable (probably because they're being worked hard for a pittance, and I say that as someone who knows several people who work in supermarkets) and quite frankly I'd hate to do all my shopping in one shop, it's dull.

Totally agree.

[Bonanzoid]

Play and HMV must be rubbing their hands in sheer delight. I liked Gamestation in particular, bar the utter shit they had their staff spout to me, it was a decent shop. Always had a wider selection of games than other places.

[dimtimjim]

Ben is right, the games market is doing well and there is certainly no issue there. Where the problems for Game come in are down to direct competition from online vendors who can afford to discount and still promise 'release day play' for mail delivered items, and as also mentioned by Deadly, competition from Tescos and the ilk. People can now pick up a copy of the latest game, while doing the grocery choppin'. Taking these two alternative options into account, I'm affriad Game we're left in a position whereby to get the sales they had to discount, and discount and squeeze the margin so small they slowly lost grip and have ended up where they are now.

The closure won't mean anything to me directly, as I always buy my games online if in no immediate rush, or on the odd occasion I'm excited enough about a game to buy it on release day (doesn't happen often - BF3 was the last one) I get it from Asda early in the morning before Game staff would even be getting outa bed, let alone opening the store to serve me.

Shame for the staff, but the brand - meh.

[Boboff]

You guys!
Honestly it's like a load of Balerina's looking over the hood of an HGV and commenting on why it don't go broom broom any more.

What about a little analysis of Board Room Pay, Liquidity, staffing ratios, Lease term agreements, purchasing direction, range extension, failure to implement key components of business plan, change in executive leadership, infighting in the boardroom, shareholder disatisfaction, and the fact the company employed mainly spotty teen boys..........

Listen, if Build a * bear can survive on the high street, it can't be that hard to get it right. Turnover - Cost of Goods Sold - Operating costs & Wages = + good, = -'ve Bad.

Umm, I think that might sound a bit harsh on reflection.... Sorry. But you know what I mean, Tims right, give the customer what they want and they will come back. Allot of games are bought by parent for kids, and they will go to a shop and ask questions. The fact Game didn't order enough Skylanders this Christmas to me is the main reason they deserve to go BUST! (The boy cried for hours)

[Yudster]

The fact Game didn't order enough Skylanders this Christmas to me is the main reason they deserve to go BUST! (The boy cried for hours)

Precisely! What the * is the point of a shop specialising in games if when you go in there they don't HAVE them - because they are popular?! We had exactly the same issue with Skylanders, and have had it before with Pokemon etc. What's the point in shelves covered in stuff when the things that people actually want to buy are conspicious by their absence?

[Boboff]

Skylanders is a great concept, you have to "rest" the characters, so to complete levels you have to buy loads of them, it's the Game that just keeps taking.

It's seems odd as well they spent so much advertising the things, and then when people wanted them, they didn't have any? Don't underestimate pester power, and the fact grand parents are lazy and only give cash.

[Yudster]

In some ways that's the most annoying thing - all the while the bloody things were sold out the adverts for them were on telly every five minutes!

[MK Chris]

This is of little consequence to me, as I'm not a big gamer (I've not bought anything from our Game store since before it changed from Electronics Boutique), but it's very sad to see a specialist retailer go. Apparently one of the Milton Keynes shops has shut with immediate effect, with the other two open (for now) - but surely that's got to be problematic to start with - three stores (two Game, one Gamestation) within the same shopping centre seems a bit ludicrous to me.

[R94N]

I'm dreading the High Streets in the next ten years, rows & rows of cheap pound shops & sod all else, urgh.

Our town already has three and another one is due to open.

[Johnny 1989]

I'm dreading the High Streets in the next ten years, rows & rows of cheap pound shops & sod all else, urgh.

Our town already has three and another one is due to open.

At one point we had a 99p, 98p & 97p shop all within 50 yards of each other selling the usual tat of toilet rolls in every colour except white (don't know anyone that uses coloured toilet rolls these days), foreign versions of famous brands (usually Kellogs, Coca-Cola, etc.) and cheap toys & they all look drab. We also have three chicken shops all next to each other (one poor, one average & one "posh") with a McDonalds opposite (if I have to eat in one of those places McDonalds would be the one I choose)

Sadly Gamestation has closed down since Monday, so far in Ilford we have lost: BHS, Oasis, Gamestation, Peacocks, HMV (for a second time, although the one that opened at Christmas was a temp one by all accounts) & Currys in the last 3-4 months, Ilford is a crap hole, I need to get out of there.

[DevilsDuck]

(don't know anyone that uses coloured toilet rolls these days)

Racist

[Bruvva]

The writing's been on the wall for Game for a while, it was telling that it was one of the few shops that didn't reopen after the riots in Woolwich last summer (the only others being a pound shop and Ladbrokes although oddly enough, GameStation wasn't looted). Essentially they were a victim of poor business practice (a number of towns had multiple outlets which just weren't needed) and the gamer market changing - the advent of Steam and other downloadable content (on xbox etc) would have hit them hard.

Also, the end of shops selling physical media is extremely nigh anyway - the next lot of consoles will mark a significant move towards DLC only which means the second hand market, which Game relied on for a fair chunk of cash, will disappear.

[dimtimjim]

I'm dreading the High Streets in the next ten years, rows & rows of cheap pound shops & sod all else, urgh.

Our town already has three and another one is due to open.

To be fair dude, you are refering to Loughborough. Pound shop = chic