GameStop, Amazon, & Play-Asia

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At one point in my life, I thought GameStop was the only store where I could purchase games.  Through looking for past generation games , I decided to also purchase games from Amazon.  When I found games that were never comming to the USA or games that would take months to come to the United States, I found Play-Asia.com

With all the advertisement on tv, for me, GameStop seemed liked the only place to find and purchase a ton of video games at.  After finding Amazon and Play-Asia, I only go to GameStop if I want a game immediately, such as the new fighting game Injustice: Gods Among Us.  The game is currently being played at the bar I go to every Tuesday.   For anyone into playing fighting games competitively  knows that getting a new fighting game immediately is a must.  Before last Tuesday, I was going to buy Injustice on Amazon.com for 49.99 instead of 59.99 atGameStop but impatients won me over.  I woke up, drove to GameStop, picked up Injustice, brought the game, and walked out.

I did like the opportunity to try out the Wii U, Luigi’s Mansion on the 3Ds XL, and have a conversation with the GameStop associate before leaving.  Thankfully the associate was knowledgeable on Injustice, making the conversation pleasant.  Sometimes there are GameStop associates who have no idea what the game is I’m buying or even anything on video games.  Unfortunately, GameStop associates with little knowledge of video games, is a huge reminder that GameStop is just another retail store that so happens to have to focus on selling games.  Sometimes I just want to buy my games without having to constantly say “no” to three or more deals the associate is required to say before I purchase a video game.  When new video game systems come in, the older games get taken off the shelf, pushed to a smaller section, and eventually taken out of the store.

When I do not care about getting a game immediately or want an old game that I can no longer find at GameStop, I turn to Amazon.  Amazon has low prices on a majority of their video games, old and new.  When I wanted Kid Icuras Uprising, new and with the stand and cards that comes with it, I brought the game from Amazon.com for 27.99.  At one point in time, there was a shortage of Fire Emblem Awakening  at GameStop but not Amazon (for those that wanted a hard copy instead of downloading the game).  I could sit down in my nightgown, log on to Amazon, shop through a variety of retailers on Amazon or Amazon itself, and order whatever game I wanted.   With Kid Icarus‘ controls, I couldn’t imagine playing the game without the stand.

Last year, I decided to buy Nier Replicant, Tales of Xillia one, and Tales of Xillia 2 off of Play-Asia.com.  GameStop has never had a section for buying import games or import systems.  Play-Asia is primarily a website for shopping for items (video games, accessories, movies, etc) from Japan and other Asian countries.  When I want a blue or red PlayStation Vita, I will look to Play-Asia.com if  the colors never come to GameStop (apparently most different colored video game systems don’t come to GameStop, unless in a bundle with some game I may or may not want).  Shipping is free for the most part and there are constant deals going on for a lot of items every day.  Since I live in America and not Japan,  I waited for Tales of Xillia one and two for a few weeks before I could play the games.  One really cool thing about Play-Asia is that I get a coupon with my purchase so I can get a deal the next time I buy from Play-Asia.

Of course I am not saying that either GameStop, Amazon, or Play-Asia is better than the other.  This discussion could have gone further if I bothered with trading with Amazon or GameStop.  I am the kind of person who hates letting go of her video games, so a topic on trading with either Amazon or GameStop will have to wait.