Why does everything about GameStop feel like a scam?

This is what I would expect from a place that hires 19-20 year olds at minimum wage. I had the same creepy feeling that you did since my son became a regular customer about 6 years ago. Exactly what you said about them giving you non-shrink wrapped games as new, I experienced, especially when you want to return the game they sold you as "new." Since the shrink wrap doesn't exist, the game is considered "used" when you go to return it. Also, with regard to the deposit for newly arriving games, it doesn't guarentee that there will be a copy held for you when you go there. You get a stupid computerized call telling that the game will be in the next day but if you don't show up (or even if you do) they no longer have a game in stock for you and you have to wait for it on back order.

At this point, I'd feel less sleazy walking out of a strip club than a GameStop ... http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/24/screw-you-gamestop/

good review with experience.

Ha ha... so true!

I just get all my games from Amazon.com. They usually give you a $10-20 off coupon for your next game (effectively lowering the price by that amount for your next game). Also, the Gold Box deals will sometimes take $2.50 off current and upcoming titles. Best of all, I can resell the game to Amazon directly for what's sometimes a decent price, or sell it through their used section to somebody else.

I would have to agree. I have bought numerous "new" games form them and they come open. I have since stopped shopping there. After numerous problems on several different occasions. Including their online store.

I love this review but there's only one problem with stuff like this... we're talking about a corporation with several thousand stores.  A few locations cannot represent all of them.  You make incredibly good points.  Particularly about the whole "NEW" game thing.  But other things you talk about are so much more subjective.

--Take for example being able to tell new games from used and how everything is in disarray.  Well, the Gamestops I go to this is hardly the case.  For me in particular it is always that they separate the used and new but they don't really organize the shelf.  Part of that is due to customer moving so much around as well.

--The idea of a whole bunch of people looking like employees... this is way to subjective, I think.  Because what about when you walk into other stores?  In the Gamestops by me you couldn't get an employee mixed up with a customer unless you were blind... they all have to wear badges. 

--I really REALLY agree with you on Gamestops trade in policy.  Sometimes you get more... IF THE GAME WAS JUST RELEASED.  For example, I can get 25 bucks for Mario Kart Wii and they'll sell it for 45 used.  But what bothers me is how you could trade in a game.... like say The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess.  I don't remember how much I got for it but last I checked it was 45 bucks used.  However, more than just Gamestop is to blame there.  Nintendo plays a big stake.  However much they are told to sell it for NEW (remember, they don't exactly price all NEW games) makes a difference in how much it can be sold for USED.  Nintendo refuses to lower the MSRP price on games like Zelda, Metroid and Super Mario Galaxy.  Sony and Microsoft have these "Greatest Hits" and "Platinum Hits" and well... pretty much the price will drop.  Since Gamestop isn't an independent store, they have little control over how much some developers can tell them to sell the game for.   But I still agree with you.  You're not getting much bang for your buck.  I understand that some games will get devalued over time, but how much they're sold for used should definitely reflect that too.  Because while they can't choose how much a game is NEW they CAN decide how much it is sold for used.

--In terms of reserving games... you can do that in a lot of places.  Well, depending on the game.  When it came to say... Halo 3 the 7-11 Down the Street was taking reserves... so was Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Target.  None of these places gave a discount price.  But usually after the game comes out you can almost always find a better deal than Gamestop.  I often prefer to buy my games from Best Buy, myself.

But you are so right on in many of your points.  Especialy the idea of buying a new game. I spent so much time looking for this game called Knights in the Nightmare.  When I finally found it, the guy had to pulled out the box and then pull out the game from a sleeve.  I thought, "What the hell is this?"  The box looked as though it had been through an awful lot... and it's a DS game for heaven's sake.  How do you mess up one of those game cases so easily anyway?  It most certainly didn't look like a "New" game to me. 

You are spot on on Gamestop, I would buy a "new" games from them, and after going home, I realized it's been opened and missing the instruction manual.. I used to do all my game shopping at EB before they merged with Gamestop, even though I could get games for cheaper at Frys or Bestbuy, because they allowed open box returns, so you'd never worry that you'd stuck with a game that you realized that you didn't like after you played it.. I buy a LOT of games from them back then, and I only returned maybe 1 or 2 games, but after they merged, they no longer accept returns, and now I rarely buy games from them anymore..