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Oh wow, that's insane. On top of that people could just easily emulate them, though I prefer having legitimate copies. Though I wouldn't pay that much for any game...
And fucking Super Mario Bros. is 43,000 points! This is just stupid. I could go to a Microplay about half an hour away from where I live and get that for $5. *sigh*
I saw this and got angry. There's a lot of people who are going to think these deals are worth it, lets say you spend that 35k on a retro game worth $5, you're getting about a 0.1% return. Gamestop is probably sitting on a mountain of classic games but god forbid they sell those instead of the shovel-ware for Wii. It's so obvious that they have a stranglehold on the game market and I absolutely hate it.
Gamestop's Rewards program has some neat stuff (got some cool posters and swag), but it's absolutely true, a lot of the things on there are ridiculously priced. I generally stockpile points and get nifty t-shirts and posters, but that's pretty much it. ;S thanks for this rant, glad I'm not the only one who feels dumbfounded at this idiotic practice.
I noticed their rewards program transfer rate is fairly simple. 1$=1,000 points. Thats why 50 bucks off any trade in item is 50,000 points, the lancer replica is 150,000 and so on.
So that means they are charging 43 dollars for super mario bros. when you can literally play a flash version on any web browser for free.
that's absolutely beyond insane. That makes GameStop seem like a bunch of raving lunatics.
So that means they are charging 43 dollars for super mario bros. when you can literally play a flash version on any web browser for free.
that's absolutely beyond insane. That makes GameStop seem like a bunch of raving lunatics.
Or you know, these are probably marketed towards less savvy people and hipsters thinking "Oh man if I had that then people would believe I'm a gamer!" Plus these points are just bonuses for buying crap anyways, why bitch about a free service?
This is so fucking stupid. Fuck you in your stupid fucking ass Gamestop. I can't believe they would...do...things. I forgot what we were mad about. Shit.
That's unbelievable. It's not like the NES cartridges are encased in gold. I always use my credit on X$ Off coupons, where it makes the most sense.
@Suigyoken
Why bitch? Because this particular "service" doesn't reward ANYONE unless you can actually spend thousands of dollars on gaming gear or trade in that much.
Here's an apt comparison: you know ticket redemption arcade games, right? Put in a token, play a minute, earn tickets based on performance or luck. Then you trade those tickets in for prizes at the counter. On the top shelf are all the high-ticket items that no kid could ever hope to win, but at least there was the glass case full of 10-ticket to 100-ticket prizes that were easily obtainable.
This Game Vault is like a ticket redemption counter where the ONLY available prizes were the ones on the high shelf. Kids would be spending hours winning tickets, but it's ultimately a futile effort unless you have the patience and the deep pockets to play day after day, week after week. Then you finally get your Creepy Crawlers kit after spending who knows how much money when you could have easily gone to Toys 'R' Us and spent $30.
Why bitch? Because this particular "service" doesn't reward ANYONE unless you can actually spend thousands of dollars on gaming gear or trade in that much.
Here's an apt comparison: you know ticket redemption arcade games, right? Put in a token, play a minute, earn tickets based on performance or luck. Then you trade those tickets in for prizes at the counter. On the top shelf are all the high-ticket items that no kid could ever hope to win, but at least there was the glass case full of 10-ticket to 100-ticket prizes that were easily obtainable.
This Game Vault is like a ticket redemption counter where the ONLY available prizes were the ones on the high shelf. Kids would be spending hours winning tickets, but it's ultimately a futile effort unless you have the patience and the deep pockets to play day after day, week after week. Then you finally get your Creepy Crawlers kit after spending who knows how much money when you could have easily gone to Toys 'R' Us and spent $30.
You know who does the points thing well.... Club Nintendo.... last month they had majora's mask for 150 coins.... which is basically registering a wii game and 2 3DS games.... so what 150 bucks for games your already gonna buy for the wii or 3DS. Might as well register the slips and get game rewards. I mean this month they have 150 coins for Mario party 2 on the wiishop, not to mention they have 250 for a 3DS game case thats completely customizable with 4 slips. Plus if you register a total of 600 coins you could get a prize which is usually something rather rare. Well Except for the Mario hat.... but hell last year they had a Mario Statue, and this year they had pins. Its like if club nintendo was like "were adding downloadble games to our rewards list!" then each game is like 1000 points, but club nintendo does good with their reward pricing I mean I have 500 coins and I'm just waiting for good games for the 3DS to download.
"The only people who could hope to earn enough points are the ones who live and die by GameStop's services, who trade in every damn game they ever buy as if GameStop was some glorified rental chain, or who are so loose with their money that they would gladly spend thousands upon thousands of dollars per year on games alone."
Gee, Tony, let's not cast judgement on how other people might live or anything. I doubt they do so to get Gamestop Rewards anyway.
I pretty much just amass points and then, once a year, blow it on T-Shirts if I can ever remember my password. You're getting ranty over games that aren't even worth getting and apparently wouldn't have even accrued enough points for one t-shirt. Big f'n deal.
Of course the corporate end of GS doesn't have a clue what they fuck their doing, they don't consult the actual gamers they employ. They barely give them enough hours per week to have more than one or two people in the store. Its a miracle people become assistant managers or manager st all.
Gee, Tony, let's not cast judgement on how other people might live or anything. I doubt they do so to get Gamestop Rewards anyway.
I pretty much just amass points and then, once a year, blow it on T-Shirts if I can ever remember my password. You're getting ranty over games that aren't even worth getting and apparently wouldn't have even accrued enough points for one t-shirt. Big f'n deal.
Of course the corporate end of GS doesn't have a clue what they fuck their doing, they don't consult the actual gamers they employ. They barely give them enough hours per week to have more than one or two people in the store. Its a miracle people become assistant managers or manager st all.
@The Silent Protagonist
I'm getting ranty over a shitty company that makes a token effort to "reward" its customers when actually it's doing nothing of the sort. This service of use to no one, but the fact that it exists means that GameStop believes that it will urge folks to frequent GameStop even more. I fail to see any incentive.
I'm getting ranty over a shitty company that makes a token effort to "reward" its customers when actually it's doing nothing of the sort. This service of use to no one, but the fact that it exists means that GameStop believes that it will urge folks to frequent GameStop even more. I fail to see any incentive.
If you are actually purchasing things for the purpose of earning rewards points, you're doing it wrong.
You mean the Super Mario Bros. game that has over 40 million copies in the world?
The one you could get on Ebay for a little less than 5 dollars?
Why is GameStop still relevant?
The one you could get on Ebay for a little less than 5 dollars?
Why is GameStop still relevant?
Here's the way I look at it...
Ignore it and it will go away. Anyone who uses that stupid program deserves to be ripped off.
The NES and SNES games are easily available through other means like the Wii store and emulation. No one with half a brain would ever buy thousands of dollars of GS goods to redeem for fucking Double Dragon.
If that person exists, I want my fellow gamers to exterminate them ASAP.
Funny, I still have my old copy of Quake III: Arena. I might have to fire that bad boy up later.
Ignore it and it will go away. Anyone who uses that stupid program deserves to be ripped off.
The NES and SNES games are easily available through other means like the Wii store and emulation. No one with half a brain would ever buy thousands of dollars of GS goods to redeem for fucking Double Dragon.
If that person exists, I want my fellow gamers to exterminate them ASAP.
Funny, I still have my old copy of Quake III: Arena. I might have to fire that bad boy up later.
Hmmmmmmmm yah I don't think this is even available in Canada sooooo just going to buy my old games the cheaper way :|
@Corduroy Turtle
Of course not, but the rewards are an incentive to continue patronage. Much like how Achievements are meant to add a little extra value to a game outside of the main activities.
Nonetheless, if you are a company and you're going to run a rewards program, you have to be reasonable about it. You can't make the ceiling so high that only the most dedicated of the dedicated can reap any benefits. Even then, the benefits should be reflected by the level of dedication. A LOOSE copy of Super Mario Bros. is hardly a proportional reward for transactions in the thousands of dollars. Either you make the points value much, much, much lower or you offer a reward of greater worth. Something like super limited edition consoles unavailable in stores, or some obscure piece of gaming memorabilia that is only available in limited quantities.
Of course not, but the rewards are an incentive to continue patronage. Much like how Achievements are meant to add a little extra value to a game outside of the main activities.
Nonetheless, if you are a company and you're going to run a rewards program, you have to be reasonable about it. You can't make the ceiling so high that only the most dedicated of the dedicated can reap any benefits. Even then, the benefits should be reflected by the level of dedication. A LOOSE copy of Super Mario Bros. is hardly a proportional reward for transactions in the thousands of dollars. Either you make the points value much, much, much lower or you offer a reward of greater worth. Something like super limited edition consoles unavailable in stores, or some obscure piece of gaming memorabilia that is only available in limited quantities.
I screwed up the ticket redemption analogy. Let me revise that:
The Retro Game Vault is like a ticket redemption counter where the only prizes available are the glass case plastic spiders and Chinese finger traps, only they are marked at the high-shelf ticket values.
The Retro Game Vault is like a ticket redemption counter where the only prizes available are the glass case plastic spiders and Chinese finger traps, only they are marked at the high-shelf ticket values.
..it's not like people are going out of their way to try and earn points in order to buy those games. They're points you earn buying what you were going to get anyway, and then you can redeem said points on coupons if you're inclined.
Christ, talk about making a big deal out of nothing.
Christ, talk about making a big deal out of nothing.
@Tony Ponce
I'm not disputing that these point values aren't ridiculous as all hell, but it's more the fact that its a free thing. Hell I have some friends who are managers at Gamestop, and customers aren't stupid, you'll get the dudebro guy looking up if his game is cheaper on Amazon. Gamestop's point thing is just a hook for people who absolutely can't resist free things on top of their purchases, and rely on word of mouth and general advertising to pull other people away from other retailers to shop more at Gamestop (obviously.) I don't see the need for quotes on the "s" word, but it wasn't there before and people bought games and other garbage fine, but now they can get something extra in the long run that doesn't have to aspire to the higher point items.
I'm not disputing that these point values aren't ridiculous as all hell, but it's more the fact that its a free thing. Hell I have some friends who are managers at Gamestop, and customers aren't stupid, you'll get the dudebro guy looking up if his game is cheaper on Amazon. Gamestop's point thing is just a hook for people who absolutely can't resist free things on top of their purchases, and rely on word of mouth and general advertising to pull other people away from other retailers to shop more at Gamestop (obviously.) I don't see the need for quotes on the "s" word, but it wasn't there before and people bought games and other garbage fine, but now they can get something extra in the long run that doesn't have to aspire to the higher point items.
Well that's pretty retarded. People are saying "let's not bitch about free stuff hmmmkay?" but even from a business standpoint it seems rather ridiculous. I'd say that a rewards-program where people don't have to spend thousands of bucks to net 5 dollar valued thing would draw in more customers. What exactly is the draw of these insane prices?
God I cannot for the life of me remember the last game I purchased at a Gamestop. Seriously. It has been probably 3 years or so? I have not traded a used game in over 8 years. I stopped going to Gamestop with buying interest after they gave me a "new" copy of a game that was already opened, scratched, and the manual bent. I watched the lady turn with her back towards me and hide what she was doing. Fuck that and fuck them I said. It was not the first time I had been screwed by Gamestop and definitely not the only time I heard of others having similar (or worse) experiences. I would only theoretically buy a game from them if it was significantly and I mean significantly cheaper than anywhere else.
I signed up for this bullshit program because I like to play flash games on Kongregate.com, and you get 5-30 points for getting the "badge of the day" each day on that site. Little did I know how worthless said points were. The rest of the service is no better than this "Retro Game Vault."
Still better than some of the prices I see on Amazon.com.
Sounds like Gamestop to me, though. The thinking is probably less "let's sell retro games!" and more "let's cash in on that reward points idea!" Seriously, it's just like Gamestop to overprice their shit, to deliver the best mediocre experience we can hope for.
I lost hope with them over a year ago.
Sounds like Gamestop to me, though. The thinking is probably less "let's sell retro games!" and more "let's cash in on that reward points idea!" Seriously, it's just like Gamestop to overprice their shit, to deliver the best mediocre experience we can hope for.
I lost hope with them over a year ago.
Come on guys, they're having a really hard time. It's not like they get an ass load of money off of used games or anything.
If you spend that much on games, you know how to get this kind of stuff for free. If you just want a free T-shirt or poster every now and then, this is a way to get that. I don't really see any controversy when no one with half a mind would actually use this to get retro games. If you do, it's your own dumb fault.
In 2003, the game store down the street from my house was selling Super Mario Bros. for $0.25. I can't imagine the economy is so bad that it should now cost thousands.
so if its such a crap idea why are cartridges for my sweet sweet killer instinct sold out and i agree with @tony ponce people are so entitled now...
Two years ago they had no reward point program.
Now they have something.
It's better than Best Buy's Reward Zone, which is the only real competetive offering. Everywhere else you buy games has literally nothing. You buy a game for $60 and walk out. This, I get a $10 off coupon every month or two.
::shrug::
Now they have something.
It's better than Best Buy's Reward Zone, which is the only real competetive offering. Everywhere else you buy games has literally nothing. You buy a game for $60 and walk out. This, I get a $10 off coupon every month or two.
::shrug::
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