Game OVER.

[The Curmudgeon]

The retail sector in the UK took another major blow today when Game and Gamestation, pretty much THE places to go to for buying new and used games, folded today with debts going into multi-millions.

I'm no financial expert - but I had NO idea this was even on the cards, even though it's been rumoured for months now, especially when they were refused initial copies of Mass Effect 3.

So yet another high street store - and chain - folds in the UK, and it was arguably the only real "specialist" game store in Britain too. Now, if you want to buy a new game you have to go to one of the supermarkets or HMV (a music store) or... fuck. That's it.

Another triumph for the online market, I suppose. Is the US as screwed when it comes to games stores as the UK now is?

[trashcanman]

Actually, one of the big stories of this recession regarding entertainment is that gaming has thrived with record sales. People are calling it a "recession proof" industry. It's interesting to learn that that's not the case in the UK. Man, that really sucks to have the major gaming chain fold like that. I'd hate to have to buy games at fucking Wal-Mart or go online and have to wait for shipping on new releases. Game stores are just all-around much better places to go in my opinion. The employees are friendly and always know their shit, and the selection is a thousand times better. Let's hope another chain can fill the vacancy over there.

[The Curmudgeon]

Yeah, Game and Gamestation were always cool places to go to. It seemed every time I went in there they had a Foo Fighters CD playing in the background. No bad thing. And all the cool/tacky shit like Mario toys etc. Really fun place to shop. Lines of games just across the aisle from tins of fucking beans is what we seem to be stuck with now.

I found it surprising as well that they folded, because I thought that, yeah, the music biz is fucked but I always figured gaming was pretty much the strongest it's probably ever been. There's probably big reasons why it's happened, whether its downloading via PSN or whatever or second hand game stores or.. pfff. Pass. A damn shame, regardless.