Games Where do you buy your games?

[Konshentz]

When buying a new or used game, where do you go to buy it?

Lately, I've been trying to distance myself more and more from GameStop. I really hate some of the people that work at my local one and the weirdos that the store attracts. A lot of times if I'm pre-ordering, I just do it through Amazon. I get all the same bonuses and it's delivered on the release date and I never have to leave my house. The used games are usually cheaper as well.

I get all free PS+ and digital games from PSN or Xbox Live.

 

[dDave]

I will retail a new game extremely rarely at Bet Buy (for example, I did this for Smash Bros U) but generally I want to save money so that's not the first option.

The place where I prefer to buy games is at garage sales but that's usually not an option so eBay and Amazon take preference. I go for condition and price as my two factors.

I also like buying oldschool games that aren't sold in stores anymore. You have to know how to shop for these or you'll get taken to the cleaners. eBay and Amazon aren't bad but you have to be willing to wait a long time for deals sometimes.

 

[Crouton]

I buy a lot of games on Steam, since it's so cheap, especially during the sales!

For physical copies of games, I shop at two franchises here in Australia, EB Games and JB-HI-FI.

EB Games is sort of like Australia's version of Gamestop. I love their stores, the staff are always nice, I love the layout and they are generally super passionate about games.

My local EB games store is amazing. It's 4 levels high. The bottom downstairs level is a huge merchandise store, which sells not only game merch but also general geeky comic/tv and movie stuff.

The second level is where they sell most of their games for all consoles. And the third and fourth levels are a huge "Nintendo Experience" space. Where you can go any time and play all the latest Nintendo games in these really chill lounge type areas.

This store is also great at holding events. They do heaps of big midnight launches. And I mean really big, with often a thousand or more attending a launch. They hold a lot of tournaments as well and it's generally just a great place. I love shopping there.

 

[Konshentz]

That sounds awesome. We have nothing like that around my area. Just a couple of small Game Stops with smelly nerds working and loitering in them. Haha.

 

[Crouton]

That sounds awesome. We have nothing like that around my area. Just a couple of small Game Stops with smelly nerds working and loitering in them. Haha.

I have to admit, it is pretty cool. The people who run the store are really passionate about games and about making the store the best things possible. When we have big midnight launches, they go all out! They hire live music, sometimes DJs, have costume competitions with prizes, hire out ice-cream vans etc and just make it a really fun night.

 

[Konshentz]

That's what I hate about mine, they sometimes hire really random people that don't know a whole lot about games. I mean, I'm a big gamer so I know quite a bit, but I shouldn't know THAT much more than an employee at a video game store. Haha. I'm pretty sure they hired someone's grandma because she needed the extra cash. I guess it's just another downfall of living in a small town.

 

[Crouton]

Man there are so many huge gamers trying to get jobs at the stores near me that they would never hire someone who isn't passionate about it. All the girls and guys working at these stores are massive nerds, and you can often just chat to them for ages about games while you are browsing, they are all really knowledgeable.

I hate the feeling of being in a store and knowing more about the product than the people who work there. I've been to some pet stores with kids who seem to know nothing about reptiles trying to give people bad advice on lizards and it drives me crazy.

 

[Merc]

Steam and Bullmoose. Bullmoose is an awesome regional chain that sells books, records, CDs, games, geek merchandise, DVDs, etc. It's also really cheap AND they have their own rewards program so you earn points on purchases.

 

[Smelnick]

I haven't bought a physical copy of a game in a while. Most of my games I've just bought on PSN and just downloaded. I'm trying to get out of that habit though because my hard drive is filling up. Also, physical copies I can eventually pawn or trade in where as I have no options with the downloaded game. EB Games is really good, generally pretty knowledgeable staff. Whenever I buy a game in person, they're always telling me about their experience with it, so its pretty cool. Makes it more fun to buy a new game and makes you think less about the fact that its like 60 bucks lol.

 

[Crouton]

I haven't bought a physical copy of a game in a while. Most of my games I've just bought on PSN and just downloaded. I'm trying to get out of that habit though because my hard drive is filling up. Also, physical copies I can eventually pawn or trade in where as I have no options with the downloaded game. EB Games is really good, generally pretty knowledgeable staff. Whenever I buy a game in person, they're always telling me about their experience with it, so its pretty cool. Makes it more fun to buy a new game and makes you think less about the fact that its like 60 bucks lol.

Whoa what, they have EB Games in Canada? I thought EB was just an Australian franchise, and that Canada would use Gamestop like the USA. Mindblown.