Wal-Mart ranks last in game pricing

[Mara]

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , the world's largest retailer, has built its reputation as the discounting price-leader on a broad range of products, but a new report suggest it is being undercut by rivals when it comes to video games.

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=technologyNews&storyID=5052529

[NotSoFast]

They're also the last to get new, highly anticipated games. At least around here, anyway.

[Chylde Roland]

They're also the last to get new, highly anticipated games. At least around here, anyway.

That's because you're in the shadows, dude.

Actually, I find Wal-Mart around here to be very slow in getting the new stuff, too. I usually only go there to get older games, because their sale prices are usually very good. Or, I get console hardware there, as their regular prices are the lowest, especially on memory cards for my PS2.

[Ojnod]

I buy all my hardware at wallly world, however I never buy games there. When some new console comes out they always have them when I need them. Like the PS2 right before christmas of that first year. And then the xbox, a month after it was released, wal mart was the only place that didnt force me to buy 3 games and an accessory with it.

[MasterChief]

I usually get my stuff at Best Buy or EB, Walmart is usually a last resort.

[Rafal Dudek]

heh we dont even have a walmart here in NYC metro area. There is one in long island, a few towards upstate and a bunch in NJ.

[Gaim Mastr]

In my experience with many different Wal-Marts I've found their prices to be on the high end for PC software and usually 3+ weeks late getting the newest games on the shelves.

I know that when it comes to PC games, most Wal-Marts take the wait & see approach. A game has to have good press and high sales the first week or two before they'll stock it on their own shelves.

Basically they're way too out of touch with what PC game consumers want to risk taking up shelf space with every new game that comes out.

I go to Wal-Mart as a last resort as well. Otherwise I have my games shipped to me or I pick them up when I make it out of the swamps on into the big city, which is an hour drive one-way for me. :lol:

[Terry Penrod]

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With no less than 6 Gamestops within fairly easy driving distance as well as multiple Best Buys, a large MicroCenter, a huge Comp USA, a massive Circuit City, a gargantuan Sam's Club very close by and a mammoth Fry's Electronics up the highway, Walmart just isn't necessary for PC games. Beyond those everyday choices, there is also the convenience of Gamestop.com, GoGamer.com and every other online retailer for games old and new.

Even then, I had to pull teeth to get an initial copy of Divine Divinty and jump through hoops to find a new replacement for my cherished old Outcast CD that got ruined along the way. I'm also having a heckuva time finding ANY unused copies of Fallout 1 & 2 for a freind who never played them but has since discovered the splendors of great SP CRPGs. Friend or not, he's NOT getting my only copies of those titles, or the box, or the manuals. Just not gonna happen.

Cheers, Terry

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[Gotanypop]

The problem with a store like walmart is that the people managing the software section were probably in housewares yesterday, and in sporting goods the day before that. They have absolutely no product knowledge about PC games for the most part. I have seen release-day prices on 1 and 2 year old games there just because no one realizes that software pricing is a dynamic thing. They just throw the stuff on the shelf and forget about it.

[Terry Penrod]

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Ain't that the truth.

Most all the big, mass merchandising retail chains have untrained store clerks that float around every department as needed.

Before their financial collapse and eventual closing, my nearest Super K-Mart had a rather large game section and occassionally some great prices with a few hard to find PC classics. So once in a while, I'd scope it out on my way through the everyday housewares aisles and automtiove section adjacent to it.

I remember one evening around Christmastime when I stood in line to buy a game at one of their satellite cashier stations and this really nice, old grandmotherly clerk was being peppered right and left with questions about games from a whole crowd of frenzied shoppers. She hadn't a single clue what any of them were talking about and was obviously getting quite frazzled - almost to the point of tears. So I spoke-up and volunteered to answer some basic questions as a veteran PC game fan who was up on all the latest titles and gear - if anyone cared to ask. Well, it was like a school of hungry sharks feeding on a bloody corpse because they all immediately turned to me and began shouting out their questions all at the same time.

Right about then, a floor manager came by and saw the scene, asked what the heck was going on and the nice lady behind the counter explained. So he kind of moderated what became a little, impromptu Q&A session about PC games, making sure that everyone waited their turn while interjecting any info relevant to store pricing, stock availablitiy, return policies, etc. We must have stood there for another twenty minutes too but eventually each and every customer got satisfaction and either bought what they needed or went away feeling like the got good advice. Most didn't even bother to thank me, the manager or the clerk but a few did and it was sort of gratifying.

When that episode was over and all the other customers had dispersed, I paid for my game and left. But before I did, the manager apologized for not having the authority to simply give me the game for free or even to offer a special, personal discount. However, he and the lady clerk did thank me profusely and wished me a Very Merry Christmas.

Cheers, Terry

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[MarkN]

That's pretty cool, Terry. And I can relate to some people's rudeness in stores because it seems more and more to increasingly becoming a problem with many of them to simply say "please" when they ask me if they can borrow a pen or could I do this or that for them. I just wanna ask 'em, in the most sincerest sarcastic way possible, of course, "Correct me if I'm wrong but you're an adult, right? Then you should know that it's polite to say 'please' when asking someone to do something for you. So why can't you? It's really not too difficult to do, and gets a better response from whoever you're asking."

And as if that's not bad enough, people also have developed a selective loss of hearing whenever I ask them, clearly and loud enough to be heard, if they'd like to apply for a store credit card, and then they ask me, "What?" We have to ask this of every person who comes to our lanes, which gets very tiresome for us and the guests, especially when they get asked more than once in a day, but since it's a corporate rule, well, that just shows ya proof of putting profit before guests, which is kinda ironic cuz if you wanna make a profit then you should care about your customer base.

Anyway, sorry to get off-topic there (I do that sometimes). I thought Toys R Us actually had worse prices than Wal-Mart, at least for PC games, since they still charge initial release prices for some that have gone way down at other places. I hardly ever get PC games at Wal-Mart since they tend to sell watered-down (i.e. sanitized) versions without all the excessive content. In other words, they don't sell Mature games, not unless I just hadn't looked closely enough the rare times I do go in there.

[Gravgon]

I'll tell you what wal-mart is good for its good for them 9 dollar pc games that they put without a box just over published games that are so old they can only make you laugh. I got a nice copy of dungeon keeper 1 and 2 in a double cd kit for 9.99 and I still can enjoy brewing up a goblin horde every now and then :)

My first and last real pc game purchase there was soldier of fortune only to find out I got the version for kids with no gore haha what a rip. At least now they have a game stop right next to wal mart.

[Chylde Roland]

Very true, Gravgon. I also tend to pick up my "bargain bin" games there. I got Legaia 2 for my PS2 at the sweet price of 14 something.