The game trading scheme that Tesco have been trialling is about to go nationwide. A press advert has been running in a number of national newspapers today which announces the trade-in values of a number of key titles. £14 for Alan Wake, £17 for Mario Kart and £12 for FIFA World Cup on PS3 all seem like reasonable prices to us.
Tesco say that the credit can be redeemed against anything in store and that customers will also be able to buy pre-owned games at applicable outlets (we assume they mean the huge stores with seperate entertainment departments). You can use the Tesco website to check, via their store locator whether your local supermarket wants to pay you for old games.
This is surely a bad sign for traditional games retailers who have been doing brisk business on pre-owned titles in recent years. Supermarkets muscling in on your business strategies is never a good thing for smaller retailers and with Asda and Argos both planning similar widenings to their pre-owned trials this is sure to be something that specialist retailers will be watching closely.
Source: MCV
cc_star
Will squeeze traditional games retailers and as with everything else supermarkets move in on, its the little guy that gets hurt the most.
People think its good for competition, which in the short term it is, but in the mid & long term it will lead to closures and less competition just like petrol stations where there is only about 25% of the number of stations there was before supermarkets opened their own… Same goes for all sorts of retail, one of the reasons that supermarkets are so expensive for food
bajere
as long as you have around 4 companies competing we will always get a better deal. like petrol, the more pricy game places will shut, and if im honest, i dont care. my wallet is more important than some Game fat cat Porsche. the indi stores are in decline anyway with new games, so its just another nail in the coffin for them which is sad as you get good service.
cc_star
You’re seriously saying petrol is competitively priced?
The high duty & vat doesn’t explain why prices haven’t fallen inline with declines in oil prices… the reason the supermarkets are effectively acting as a cartel.
Competition leads to either better service or lower prices (or both). Supermarkets have proven that in every area they move in on people go out of business leading to lower competition and then supermarkets to raise the prices whilst pretending to have a phoney price-war with each other. Extrotionate food prices prove this for anyone who uses a grocer & butcher to buy their fruit& veg and meat gets a far better deal than comparable products at a supermarket.
Back on to games, GAME will probably be OK but business with fewer assets will probably struggle on until the inevitable happens. As mentioned further down the comments, supermarkets are uncompetitive on service as they don’t carry back catalogue and they’re slow to put new releases on the shelves. in fact excluding the launch day specials which happens about twice a year now, there is little point in visiting a supermarket for games – unless your forced to because they’ve forced others out of business.
gideon1451
Nooo! Don’t kill off dedicated game shops! :(
SpikeyMikey23
the sad thing is, i havent stepped in a dedicated game shop for a long time. they just cant match supermarkets and online retailers and as much as id like to support them, they never supported me when they would only give me £5 for a 3 day old copy of the sims on ps2 lol
TSBonyman
Sounds like the perfect time for game retailers to strike a deal with the game publishers regarding pre-owned sales.
djsunna
i’m not gunna start buying my games from tesco they don’t seem to have all the latest releases and don’t reduce the price of older games, i had a browse in my local tesco and saw batman AA (original not GotY edition) for £38 in tesco last week.
gideon1451
I know what you mean, their prices are not very recent.
bajere
once they get the hang of it prices will fall in line. i find play.com great for delivery and price
E8_BALL_
my point as stated below
s/markets dont have a clue when it comes to gaming market
which if no more smaller outlets MUST improve
cam the man
My nearest shop where I can trade in games is about 40 miles away. The nearest Tesco is 10 miles away, so guess which one I will use.
3shirts
I have an Extra 2 miles down the road. Win
E8_BALL_
little stores where u get ps3/xbox accessories
hope the big stores plan to do same if their pushing the little guy out
also so far the range of games in s/markets is very limited atm
Rabid-Coot
My local Tesco and Asda have been trialing selling preowned games, both have the preowned games priced higher than a new copy of the game at an online retailer.
Rocket_345
Although i have a Tesco 10 minutes away from me i would rather go to a Game shop to trade in my games as they have a bigger range of titles to choose from out of the credit.
Danza Di Fuoco
I’d rather stick with Game and Gamestop, also the choice of games available is unmatched to what any Supermarket will hope to achieve.