GAME (retailer)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The GAME Group plc | |
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| Type of Company | Public (LSE: GMG.L) |
|---|---|
| Founded | As GAME 2002, beforehand Electronics Boutique UK 1995 |
| Headquarters | Basingstoke, UK |
| Key people | Peter Lewis, Chairman Lisa Morgan, CEO |
| Industry | Video Games |
| Products | Game Consoles Computer Games Accessories |
| Revenue |  £34.7 million GBP (2004) |
| Slogan | The Next Level |
| Website | www.game.co.uk |
The GAME Group plc (LSE: GMG.L), usually known by its high street trading name GAME, is a UK based video games retail company with over 500 stores across Europe in a variety of guises and its European Headquarters and Warehouse in Basingstoke, England.
GAME is the largest retailer of video games in Europe.
Electronics Boutique PLC (a UK and Ireland video game retailer with nothing more than a licensing deal with Electronics Boutique in the United States) purchased GAME in 1999, who were active in the UK, Swedish and Irish markets. It also purchased the BarrysWorld online gaming service, the French retailer ScoreGames and the Spanish retailer CentroMAIL to add to the bundle. In 2002, the Electronics Boutique stores in the UK and Republic of Ireland were rebranded as GAME, and the company name was changed. Despite the name change, a 1% sales royalty to Electronics Boutique remained until January 2006, despite court challenges by GAME to have it overturned.[1]
In 2004 GAME announced that their first store in Denmark would be the group's 500th across Europe.
The company operates a loyalty scheme for its UK and Ireland schemes which offers a 2.5% cashback on all purchases, and has over 5 million members as of 2004. The website has recently begun to use the Reward Scheme.
The company also offer a 'trade-in' policy for used games, which are bought in good condition and sold on at a profit. These include GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS, PSP and Game Boy Advance.
GAME has also recently employed a "Deal of the Week" scheme, which allows for newly released games to be reduced heavily for a week in order to sell high numbers of stock.
GAME has recently changed its Returns policies to give you more time to return unwanted or duplicate gifts; Any software may be returned for refund or exchange within 28 days of the purchase date, providing that the seal remains unbroken on the software, and the return is accompanied by a receipt or other proof of purchase. Goods purchased on-line can also be returned to your nearest GAME Store with the original invoice and credit or debit card used on the original purchase to process the refund.
GAME's flagship store is in Oxford Street, London, although many of their best stores can be found around the country, dubbed, "Centres of Excellence".
GAME has been criticized about their pricing on their 'preowned' products, as occasionally a 'preowned' video game will cost more than a brand-new game. This is likely due to special promotions such as "Deal of the Week". It has also been spotted that GAME price some new video games at the front of the store for a larger price than the same video game at the back of the shop. This however, is more likely due to price changes being actioned incorrectly, rather than any malicious intent. The key factor being that all products company-wide scan at the same price on the till and there is no way to charge more or less for a identical product as it holds the same barcode.
[edit] References
- ^ "Game loses EB royalty case", The Register, Friday 28th February 2003.
[edit] Trivia
- In the Nintendo Gamecube game Super Smash Brothers Melee there is a shop seen in the opening cutscene, in Onett, that is called GAME with the same purple font as the retail store. It is unknown if this is just coincidence or advertising.
- The original GAME logo had a green triangle in the top chamber of the letter A.
