Starting August 1st there will be the standard NO RETURNS ON OPENED NEW GAMES policy put in effect. I for one think that it's a great thing. So no more free rentals! No more wondering about if something was a returned item.

I'm just giving everyone the heads up.

Gah. This is sort of ******.

"Free Rentals?"

Hurray! That's a great policy.

Booooo!

I am sure people were using it as a free rental so maybe Gamestop had no choice but to change the policy since returns started getting out of hand.

How are EB and Gamecrazy with opened returns?

I'm still unclear as to why this is a good thing. So you buy a new game that may or may not have been returned to the store. If it's messed up, you return it. If not, you keep it. Honestly, I'm surprised they've been able to keep this policy alive for so long considering all the people out there that probably abuse it, and I'm sad to see it go. This was basically the one reason that I would go to Gamespot to buy games, though... this, and the fact that they get games a few days earlier than Best Buy or Circuit City.

I hope this will cut down on the amount of "used" games they try to sell full priced as "new". They almost got me with that trick, and a couple of my friends too.

I always find it quite interesting that people have a problem with buying an opened game, but no problem with returning a new game.

I had been hoping that the company would do this for PC games, but I hadn't expected it for all new games. Ah well, I think its for the best. Now all they need to do is fix the problems associated with people who do returns on the buy 2 get 1 offer with Gamebucks as the original fund. One more return where it tries to charge tax on a TIC and I'll go insane.

You nailed it on the head with that one.

On a side note for not a noob-

To not get it to charge tax with the TIC you need to ring out the refund onto gamebucks without selling anything with it. Then ring up the items with the new gamebucks.

When I used to buy playstation one games from them, I hated getting an open copy billed as "new". There were usually surface scratches on the game, whether it had been "used" or not. If I am paying for a brand new product, it should be flawless...

Well, I look at it this way (as far as buying opened games at full retail price). As soon as you open something it's used, and to places like Gamestop, Gamecrazy,EB etc. it's now only worth 50-75% of what it was new (even if you never removed the disc from it's spindle, to them it's used). So, if they are going to try and sell me a game that has been opened(regardless of it's condition), they should sell it to me for the discounted price. After all, are they going to give me full retail price on a brand new game that I removed the wrapper from but never opened the case if I'm trading it in? Not likely.

If someone is too foolish to not rent a game that they may be on the fence about, they deserve to get stuck paying full price and having to keep the game. And if they return it, they should only get the used price for it. I always research the heck out of a game to prevent having to deal with returning a game.

exactly!

FS

I haven't bought very many used games from GameStop. But usually the new games I get I intend to keep, because I've rented the game from the video store before deciding to buy it. So this really doesn't affect me that much.

Before I buy any used games I check the underside to see how damaged it is. If it's too scratched I'll ask for another copy. If they don't have another I'll take a pass.

Who the heck shops at EB / Gamestop / etc. anyway? Their prices always stink big time.

trigun-

I don't see how the pricing at EB, Gamestop, etc. is so different to you.

Much like the other options for buying games, such as big B&M (Wallmart, Best Buy etc.) and the Internet, places like EB and Gamestop have their good deals for those who want them.

With the buy 2 get one free at Gamestop and the 30% off at EB they are running, this month I've scored recent releases like Brute Force, NBA Street 2, .Hack Mutation, SW Knights of the Old Republic etc. for less than $30 each, and picked up a few games for library like LOTR Two Towers and Mario Sunshine for less than $15. I bought Rygar and Nightfire for $4.99 brand new yesterday.

I take advantage of the good online deals, and the occasional BB or Circuit City deals, but I've never had as much luck with them as I do with the actual game stores.

ANYWAY, back on topic. I shop at EB a lot, and they changed their policy last year I think. The guys there mentioned a lot of "free rentals" and the "ghetto wrap" new games as the main reason. Apparently, since they changed the policy, there are almost no instances of opened "new" games except the ones from the walls. All in all, it sounds like a good thing for Gamestop, Gamestop employees, and Gamestop Customers.

MrKen

P.S. If any of you hadn't bought Rygar, at $4.99 it is about the best bargain of the year. Nightfire, not so much.

Oh well, no reason for me to go to any gamestore anymore other than the occasional decent trade in deal. Best Buy get's my business from now on.

Here's my reason, though I may be in the minority on this one. I buy games when I get a good deal on them, but I usually don't have time to play them until much later (in some cases, years). If the game is brand new and factory sealed, I feel pretty confident that it won't be scratched or otherwise damaged. If the game is a returned item, then I have to put in time I don't have checking for flaws.

Wow, so many people abuse this feautre.

So, just because you didn't like a game means you can return it?(meaning you didn't research it). Wow. Now you won't shop at game stores anymore because you can't get 'free rentals'? Yes, that's what they are, 'free rentals'. I don't agree with Gamestop charging the same price for a 'new but returned game' though. My store, Game Crazy, we sell it for a few dollars less. Tehcnicly, its still a new game. But why is it still new? Let me explain...

If Joe brings in a copy of Ghost Recon, brand new, still sealed, we HAVE to buy it as a used game. We can not just 'return' it as new. Why? Because when we get audited, the Loss Prevention guys will see that the person neever bought it from us (a recipt is required).

Now, why can't we sell a brand new games that was boughten and return because of dislike, as used? Because when they returned it, they returned it as a new copy, because that's what there recipt states. We can not convert it to used, because LP (Loss Prevention) would catch us and grill our @$$. However, we are allowed to mark it down a few dollars (Instead of $49.99, maybe $46.99). Most people glady accept this.

Game Crazy's policy is all used game sales are Final. All new games must be unopened within 7 days for a return. Sure, we sometimes take back 'new' games, but its very rare. Not to mention the fact we let you try any game before you buy it, so you can't say you didn't know.

I for one and VERY glad GameStop is doing this. Why should we pay just because you didn't like a game? That's why there are videogame stores that let you rent games for a fee. Should we let you return a new game and dock $5-10? Maybe. Man, would Best Buy or Toys R US EVER let you a return an opened game, CD, Software (Unless of course its defective)? Nope...

Then again, they don't try to f**k you in the a$$ with their high prices. I've seen $49.99 games marked up at $54.99 at EB. Plus, you have to deal with the employees there.

Simply put, other than the occasional decent sell, this was the only reason to go into a gamestore and be hassled by the losers that work there and the geeks that shop there. Another member said it best in a thread a while back. "My IQ drops everytime I go in a gamestore." It's just not worth it to put up with the employees trying to sell you stupid crap, spouting off totally inaccurate information about systems, release dates etc. Without the "free rental" component, I'll just go to best buy where I can walk right in, grab the game off the shelf, take it to the check out with no hassles. I just avoid buying any hardware their so I don't have to deal with the damn hassle over the warranty sales.

Last time I bought a used game at EB they said it was guaranteed for life, and they said new games were only guaranteed for 90 days. Is this true?

EB price matches.

EB no longer price-matches (well most shouldn't now atleast).

Josh, you would rather go into Best Buy where you will be hassled to buy a warranty then a game store? Heck, atleast game stores have a pre-ordering guide, unlike Best Buy. Not to mention the fact that Best Buy employee's generally know jack squat about videogames. Oh well.

well, i NEVER return games. i buy them only after consideration and reading many reviews.

and a couple of times, i've gotten games that were clearly used (scratches, fingerprints, etc). this has never happened at gamestop; only at ebgames for me. now, if the stickers are broken or if it's their "last copy", i examine it and refuse it if i don't think it's in pretty much pristine condition.

i have games that are years old that don't look as bad as the "returns" that i got.

anyway, it looks like it is the standard policy of games to not take back opened ones. same for dvds too, right? i'm ok w/ that.

Read my post, I don't buy hardware there. They don't have warranties on games, thus they don't try to sell them.

I rarely preorder stuff, I'd rather wait and see what the best deal is. I don't care if they don't know jack about games, I keep myself well informed and don't need any assistance. Every time I go in a gamestore I hear an employee telling a customer completely false information about a game, false specs/info about hardware, etc. They're the ones that don't know jack.

Of course, I'm not implying that all gamestore employees are like this, just that I almost always encounter at least one of these types everytime I go in there.