UPDATED-Gamestop re-entering vintage game market says CEO

[slackur]

^Pretty sure you got this right, judging from what the store managers have been chatting about.  Gamestop isn't about gamers who frequent the likes of RFGeneration; we are, in the grand scheme, a super-niche market.  They're after the youth culture that buy NES belt-buckles from Hot Topic, soccer moms who remember the first Sonic the Hedgehog, and white-collars who didn't care about sports except NHL '94 on Genny. 

And GS has been sitting on a small stock of such old games in a few warehouses for years.  After a system was discontinued long enough, the outer district stores field-destroyed most of the final titles they had left in stock because the reasoning was that if they didn't sell at the discount prices they were posted at, they weren't worth the cost of shipping to storage.  But long before that, GS had tons of stuff in their product distribution warehouses that they use to keep stocking product that sell better in specific areas.  We're almost certainly not going to see unsold, sealed NES toploaders or even A2600 Chase the Chuck Wagon; just common and some uncommon titles with the occasional rare that slipped through the cracks.  The condition will be on par with the product they stock nowadays; because even though these games have been in the company since buyouts from EB Games, Software ETC, Funcoland, and the rest, the condition of the titles were rarely accounted for, much less boxes and manuals. 

And we can bet that GS is currently searching for (or is already in negotiations with) hardware makers to supply retro console clones to play these on.

[Duke.Togo]

And we can bet that GS is currently searching for (or is already in negotiations with) hardware makers to supply retro console clones to play these on.

The idea of a Gamestop Entertainment System to play all the 'cool' retro games sends shivers down my spine. I'm just going to hope they are sitting on some Little Samsons to help lessen demand.

[slackur]

Oh, I can't imagine their branded clones would be any worse than some of the cheaper ones on the market.  Probably end up being the exact same with a GS logo, or simply selling some of the cheaper clones as is.

As for something Little Samson rare, you can imagine any GS exec who looks up price comparisons on eBay (something the CEO mentioned already as what helped convince him to get back into the market) that exec is gonna either raid the stock, or price it to sell as ludicrous as what he sees online.

[Addicted]

And we can bet that GS is currently searching for (or is already in negotiations with) hardware makers to supply retro console clones to play these on.

The idea of a Gamestop Entertainment System to play all the 'cool' retro games sends shivers down my spine. I'm just going to hope they are sitting on some Little Samsons to help lessen demand.

Brings back memories of the Sears Video Arcade, and Majesco SEGA products. I agree with slackur that it will probably be a GS logo, or just a straight up clone.

[ProjectG.U.E.S.T.]

Well, there goes the neighborhood. Seriously, I was really liking that mom and pop game stores had managed to find a niche that Gamestop wasn't dominating.

Also, who sees this driving up the price of retro items?

[blcklblskt]

Also, who sees this driving up the price of retro items?

I doubt it will.  At this point, there is more than enough supply of older video games to satiate whatever demand GameStop is going to induce.  I can't see GameStop's customers paying $10,000 for Stadium Events, but they would probably pay $10-20 for Super Mario Bros. 3.  I don't think eBay prices will rise much, if any.

[Duke.Togo]

I don't see this driving up prices. Gamestop understands that there target audience isn't people shelling out hundreds of dollars for rare carts, but folks that want SMB/DH, SMB 3, etc.

[ProjectG.U.E.S.T.]

I don't know, just based on the markup of their used game market on current gen stuff, I just have this vague nightmare about them driving up prices on the retro stuff because "people will totally pay for it." I can see your view on it. I'm just feeling paranoid. I don't usually buy into the Gamestop hate, though I don't often shop there.

[blcklblskt]

I don't know, just based on the markup of their used game market on current gen stuff, I just have this vague nightmare about them driving up prices on the retro stuff because "people will totally pay for it." I can see your view on it. I'm just feeling paranoid. I don't usually buy into the Gamestop hate, though I don't often shop there.

I don't see them selling much retro stuff at all.  There are better outlets for buying used games elsewhere.