Are Exclusive Games GameStop's Secret Weapon?

An anonymous reader writes "It's one thing to try to muscle out the competition, but when you start to lock down the sales of certain games, consumers lose. This is how GameStop hopes to compete against the big box retailers. With sales of games predominantly happening at stores like Walmart or Best Buy, they must feel that extreme measures are required. 'Chulip--an offbeat game involving kissing--has been released in the US to the cheers of fans of quirky games. The only problem is that EBGameStop is going to be the only place to buy it. Strategy gamers will be annoyed to hear that The Settlers for the DS will also be an EBGameStop exclusive. The game has been getting some favorable early buzz, but if you'd like to buy it on the 28th of next month... well, you know where you'll have to go.'"

Re:Resales

[ElleyKitten]

And they're real secret weapon is reselling used copies of games as new copies. This has happened to me a couple of times at different EB/Gamestops in my area.... So, buy that used copy off someone for a few dollars, and turn around and sell it to the next person as a new copy.... Check you boxes before you leave! If they don't have the seals on them, Complain right away! =)

I used to work at Gamestop, and actually what they do is so they can display new games without having anti-theft devices is they open the box and put the disc in a drawer and put the empty box on the shelf. Then, when they've sold all the sealed copies, they have to sell the unsealed copy. It's still technically "new", since it hasn't been bought, but it's just as crappy (if not more, since Gamestop doesn't warranty "new" games). Even when the box would get stolen and no matter how scratched the disc got, we'd still have to sell it as new. Yeah, it's pretty crappy.