Post by leunas on Sept 29, 2006 19:15:49 GMT -5
(...YET another reason why I won't shop at Gamestop or EB...)
When you buy something, the base assumption is that while you might not be getting a product of sublime excellence, good-value and efficiency, you're at least buying a non-simulacrum. But Gamestop would just love to change all that.
If you're not a gamer, here's the deal: there are entire Chinese cottage industries that specialize in pirating video games, manufacturing them and then selling them on eBay. It can be hard to spot a forgery — a lot of times, the quality of production is actually indistinguishable from retail. The only way you can tell is by closely examining the cartridge itself, looking for a gold-printed "Nintendo" above the pins.
Needless to say, these games then get sold second hand to stores like Gamestop. Of course, Gamestop's supposed to be savvy enough to recognize a forgery... and definitely not supposed to sell them on.
Of course, get a gangly, pimply gamer willing to work for discount behind the counter, and excellence in both training and moral business practices get thrown out the window. So when Curmudgeon Gamer pointed out that Gamestop had just tried to sell him a forged game, Gamestop's response? "Wow! Cool! Learn something new everyday! This is between you and me, right?" And then the counterfeit game was again silently slid into the display case, waiting for a less observant sucker to come along.
(When I worked in video game retail, I had a similar experience...)
Comments
I worked at EB Games long ago. The store manager was a 50 year old Women who knew ZERO about games and gaming.
There was a group of guys who would come in only when she worked and trade in tons of cd-r PS1 games in jewl case's with home printed sleeves. She would always take them and the next morning I would always have to remove them from the inventory costing the store thousands of dollars everytime it happened.
We never caught the guys and she continued to take the games eventually I left the store and I heard she was fired not long after because the stores shrink percentage was through the roof. 90% of it was due to her taking pirated games.
www.consumerist.com/consumer/games/gamestop-were-selling-counterfeit-games-coooooool-203827.php
When you buy something, the base assumption is that while you might not be getting a product of sublime excellence, good-value and efficiency, you're at least buying a non-simulacrum. But Gamestop would just love to change all that.
If you're not a gamer, here's the deal: there are entire Chinese cottage industries that specialize in pirating video games, manufacturing them and then selling them on eBay. It can be hard to spot a forgery — a lot of times, the quality of production is actually indistinguishable from retail. The only way you can tell is by closely examining the cartridge itself, looking for a gold-printed "Nintendo" above the pins.
Needless to say, these games then get sold second hand to stores like Gamestop. Of course, Gamestop's supposed to be savvy enough to recognize a forgery... and definitely not supposed to sell them on.
Of course, get a gangly, pimply gamer willing to work for discount behind the counter, and excellence in both training and moral business practices get thrown out the window. So when Curmudgeon Gamer pointed out that Gamestop had just tried to sell him a forged game, Gamestop's response? "Wow! Cool! Learn something new everyday! This is between you and me, right?" And then the counterfeit game was again silently slid into the display case, waiting for a less observant sucker to come along.
(When I worked in video game retail, I had a similar experience...)
Comments
I worked at EB Games long ago. The store manager was a 50 year old Women who knew ZERO about games and gaming.
There was a group of guys who would come in only when she worked and trade in tons of cd-r PS1 games in jewl case's with home printed sleeves. She would always take them and the next morning I would always have to remove them from the inventory costing the store thousands of dollars everytime it happened.
We never caught the guys and she continued to take the games eventually I left the store and I heard she was fired not long after because the stores shrink percentage was through the roof. 90% of it was due to her taking pirated games.
www.consumerist.com/consumer/games/gamestop-were-selling-counterfeit-games-coooooool-203827.php