Too bad Eidos needs them to distribute their games. Otherwise it would be awesome if Eidos said aidios to GameStop.

While this is incredibly bullshit, and the upper levels of Gamestop are pure evil, I actually like the Gamestop in my area, decent employees, and the guy working there actually tipped me off on this. So...not all of them are bad.

You know who must be extra pissed about this? 
 
Onlive. 
 
Imagine trying to get that service out to more people, imagine making that deal to get those coupons into those boxed copies and how much that must have cost them, and now to hear that the world's largest video game retailer is just throwing away the goddamn coupons? 
 
I almost think they're preparing litigation as we speak.

Unfortunately Gamestop is the only place I can get more obscure DS games when they come out, so I do still go for that. But the moment I bought Mercenaries 2 NEW the day it came out and the guy behind the desk pulled the disc from a drawer and put it in the case I handed him from the shelve, was the last day I'll ever by anything disc based from them.

@ChrisTaran said:

Can not understand why anyone shops there. Why would you support this company?

because unfortunately not everyone is as into games as we are and most people who shop at gamestop don't read articles like this. The last time I walked into that fuckhole I saw nothing but confused parents who have no clue and assume that the gamestop employees are some benevolent force that will provide unbiased information in a way that allows them to make a smart purchasing decision. They just buy whatever the guy at the counter tells them to which usually means a used scratched game along with 3 pre-orders and a membership. fuck that place man. amazon is my #1 game purchasing site

@Burn1n9m4n said:

Too bad Eidos needs them to distribute their games. Otherwise it would be awesome if Eidos said aidios to GameStop.

haha... nice.

They open shit all the time and then sell it as new. It isn't anything new for them, only now they are taking tokens out of the box. Hopefully digital distribution will kill gamestop (although them buying impulse may make it more difficult) and I hope that Square Enix brings a lawsuit down on them.

@tmj: I'm aware of that. And there's no opinion to it. OnLive is an option, hence the coupon, hence GameStop removing it. But you still have to install a competitor's software (Steam) to run the thing, so har har on GameStop sort of (not really, this is a thing that sucks for customers).

First EA, then Ubisoft, then Microsoft, and now Gamestop. This is a fucking crazy week for bad news in gaming.

@Kermity said:

Makes me sad that I've bought stuff from them in the past. my mistake

Same here. But now I tell everyone I know not to shop at gamestop.

Wow. I had no idea the beagley boys ran gamestop. Where the hell is gizmo duck when you need him?

this is ridiculous. id be surprised if this is the last we've heard of this.

I haven't been inside a GameStop in about 5 years.

Just when you thought you couldn't possibly hate GameStop more. They make it so effortless and easy.

I usually don't have a problem with GameStop but damn, that's pretty bad. Don't see how you justify that one.

@drhans:

I'm positive people aren't buying retail copys of the pc version without steam, but i see your point.

Anyway boo on Gamestop, thats really uncool of them.

Keeping it classy over that the GS/EB!

Thankfully it's been years since one had to go to Gamestop to get anything.  Five or six years ago you might've been forced to go there to get games on the day of their release and to get niche titles.  Now game release dates have been standardized and  Best Buy, Target, Toys R Us and everyone else get new releases all at the same time.  Niche titles are often available at big box stores, but if they're not, no problem.  Amazon will have it, along with Buy.com, Newegg and dozens of other outlets.  Moreover, those online retailers are usually happy to send your game without charging for shipping if you're not in a hurry and provide promo credits for future purchases and/or dollars off the retail price.  
 
Need/want used games?  Hit up Half.com, where you can both buy and sell used titles for much better prices than you'd get at Gamestop.  There is literally no good reason to deal with Gamestop anymore.  Strangely enough, Gamestop doesn't seem to care.  Instead of trying to ingratiate itself to what could be a hardcore and loyal community of gamers, Gamestop continually takes the most anti-gamer and anti-consumer approach it can take in all regards.   It's a despicable company that doesn't even have the decency to try and hide how much it hates gamers.

Jesus. I've always had a hate of Gamestop, but never felt like I could really justify it. Now it's easy!

Fuck you Gamestop.

Glad I canceled my physical pre-order I had when I found it online for much cheaper. I think I will avoid shopping at Gamestop from here on. I would have been irate if this happened to my copy and I would have demanded an unopened copy or the return of all of my money.

Gamestop has always opened at least one copy of their new games to display the case with out the risk of that game being stolen. (Gamestop's are usually on such a small scale of a store they have no sort of security with antitheft devices) They were also clever enough about a year and a half ago to change their wording from "used" to "pre-owned".  So now as long as no one have purchased AND opened a game it is still for all legal reasons NEW.
Either way though, the whole taking out content shipped by the distributor is pretty shady. But seriously, what self respecting pc gamer buys their games at gamestop? my local store maybe has a total of 30 seperate pc titles, by far their smallest section. L2Steam or D2D people

i really hope they get sued. you can't sell a product as new if it's been opened. that's what defines "new." unless they notified every customer that, "Hey, we opened up your box and took out a coupon, sorry," then they've committed false advertising. but i'm not a lawyer. so i just hope someone can pin them with something.

Then GameStop should sell their copies as used.

Gamestop has always been able to sell "new" games with the box open and everything, which is why I don't buy new games there (unless it is release night). But now that they want to physically take items from inside the box and sell it full price, all the while getting profit from what was intended to be yours in the first place, seems like stealing to me. That's like buying a new game, full price at Gamestop without the case. They claim the game is "new" since the disc has never been played...but then again they are retards.

And this is why I don't shop at GameStop

I hate buying from GameStop. They sell opened games as brand new, they sell pirated copies of games (mainly GBA, DS) right next to authentic games, and they rip customers/developers off by reselling games. The only time I go into GameStop is to kill time or pre-order a new console.

They have long been the sole solution for buying very old $3-$5 used titles and dumping off crap that can't be sold due to condition or age on ebay/amazon.

I will not even use them for those purposes any longer.

I thing it would be a good idea to spread the word about this underhand jackanapery.  
Tell your gaming friends and other websites.   
All the better to effectively kick Gamestop square in their profit margins.

I'll still go to Gamestop. I've got a two big preorders there. They're not for the PC though. Wii and Xbox 360.

As if I needed another reason never to shop at Gamestop after they screwed me on Catherine's launch day.

That's alright, I'm happy to give more of my money to Amazon instead. I wasn't going to buy this on PC anyway, but it's just another reason that I can say "Eff you, Gamestop!"

Is that legal? Especially because once that game is open, it can technically no longer be sold as new. Not like Gamestop hasn't done that before.

Gamestop's next plan: Throw away Steam codes.  

Are they even allowed to do that? Is this even legal? I cant imagine that it is. Tampering with and removing items from a sealed product. So far as I know the only thing any retailer is allowed to do under these circumstances is sell the product as provided by the supplier unless they have explicit permission to do otherwise or not stock the product. In other words deal with it or piss off.

Also the wording of that letter just sounds like its from a soulless robot. "Our desire is to not have this coupon go to any customers". Either that or it was written by the Ferengi.

Well, I guess I'm not buying it from Gamestop then... Morons...

like i said in the other thread.  This is kind of dumb taking away content from people who actually bought the game from gamestop.

Normally if its on Steam, I buy it on Steam. But otherwise I go down on a list of shops, HMV, Gamestop and GAME, in that order.

I avoid GameStop and GAME since their staff seem to treat customers as irritating nats who interrupt the conversations they have with each other.

They are a last resort.

Looks like I'm buying Deus Ex from walmart then.

@Sharpshooter: You realize they do this on a daily basis anyway right?

They open brand new copies of games and put them on the shelves as "display" copies. What's odd is they have display boxes for games without final box art or even firm release dates, yet feel the need to open a brand new game and then sell it as new. This is the reason I don't hop there anymore. This incident is just a more public version of their typical day-to-day business policies.

I wouldn't be surprised at this point if we find out that GameStop sells used games in order to buy kittens and then drown them in inexpensive burlap sacks.

I'm hoping the publisher will step in and give Gamestop a smack in the face.

this is fucking silly. then again how is this any different than the common practice they have of gutting new games then selling them to you as "new".

fuck gamestop.

@Derangel said:

Glad I canceled my physical pre-order I had when I found it online for much cheaper. I think I will avoid shopping at Gamestop from here on. I would have been irate if this happened to my copy and I would have demanded an unopened copy or the return of all of my money.

Exactly! One more reason to hate Game Stop...

@MusiM said:

Gamestop's next plan: Throw away Steam codes.

I think their next step is to stop selling PC games if this is their attitude.

Doesn't come as a surprise from them.

Perfect thumbnail for the subject at hand!

GameStop should of refused to carry the game.

When I heard that retail copies would come with OnLive codes I thought 'HTF did they ever get retailers to agree to that?', so I'm not really surprised they're doing this, and to be honest I don't really blame them for wanting no part of it. It isn't reasonable to expect retailers to partake in something which could seriously damage their own business.

It should have been handled beforehand though, rather than having to crack open all the boxes and then sell them as 'new'. I wonder how this went down, because surely GameStop etc. never would have agreed to this if they had been consulted, and the publishers must have known that retailers would pitch a fit about it.

Soldifying the fact that OnLive works with a viable technology and business model.
 
GameStop is running scared.