Behind the Scenes At Gamestop's Private Expo

Gamasutra has a look behind the curtain, at a game expo few people even know exist. The annual Gamestop expo has a lot of the air of old-E3, with a greater focus on business deals, swag, and benefits for the hard working Gamestopper. "What did the show accomplish? In some sense, it seemed almost to be a reward for the store managers -- who work long hours on the front lines -- to listen to the show-floor scuttlebutt. While the official line was that the show was all business, bringing the managers to Las Vegas, loading their arms with swag, and letting them play pre-release games is obviously a big draw for these 'professional gamers'. They were so enthusiastic, in fact, that a huge number stayed beyond the 9 PM closing time; kiosks had to be deactivated before the die-hard crowd filtered away."

hyperbole

[winmine]

it seemed almost to be a reward for the store managers -- who work long hours on the front lines

I hate the amount of hyperbole in game writing. Is gamasutra comparing selling warranties in a shop to trench combat? pfft

Re:

[TrevorDoom]

Anyone who has ever worked retail during the American Holiday Season would be more than willing to use war-analogies towards retail.

Re:

[pieaholicx]

Indeed. Try working for 8 hours at a Bed Bath & Beyond that just happens to be one of a limited number of entrances to a quite large mall. Let's just say, crowded barely begins to cover it.

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[log0n]

Arundel Mills?

Re:

[pieaholicx]

Indeed.

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[winmine]

Anyone who has ever worked retail during the American Holiday Season would be more than willing to use war-analogies towards retail.

Okay that sounds kinda fun, so I will: Trench Combat

• Lots of people
• Shooting bullets at you
• Hot and muddy
• You are going to die

Retail Combat

• Lots of people
• Shooting mean looks at you
• Dry and air conditioned
• You are getting a twenty dollar store credit holiday bonus

Re:

[Grave]

If you read the article (and of course you didn't), you'd know that the vendors paid for everything as a marketing expense. The total dollar amount is surely a million or more, but split over 30+ vendors, that's not much at all for a chance to demonstrate your products to the people who are selling to 25-30% of the US retail gaming market. If you win over those managers, they are a whole lot more likely to recommend your products.

I'm not sure how much this article makes sense for slashdot, as the majority

Interesting promotion!

[The Orange Mage]

I hear if you trade in your press pass from last year, they'll buy it back for about 5% of it's original price in shop credit, then resell it next year for about eight times as much!

E3 /air/? No thanks!

[jjustice]

The annual Gamestop expo has a lot of the air of old-E3...

Yuck, I don't know why they even kept that around. Why would you want hot, smelly, sweat-drenched air anyway?