A Reason To, And Not To, Go To GameStop

So you want to play Madden NFL 10, who doesn't.

Be the first to play it on Monday, as your local GameStop will be playing it in their PS3 demo unit. I have confirmed with several GameStop employees that they have received a PS3 version of the full game and will be putting it in their system after close on Sunday (I'm going to assume some are going to play it earlier).

While playing it at E3 (keep in mind this was in no way a finished version of the game) I couldn't help but notice the fact that every single play seemed to include the gang tackles. While it was nice to show off the new feature of the game, EVERY SINGLE tackle was a gang tackle, something that is completely unrealistic, perhaps it was because they wanted to show off the new feature, but if it is in the final version of the game I will be very disappointed. The demo is up now so go decide for yourself.

Make sure to read my full review coming next Thursday!

So here's why you shouldn't go to GameStop.

Best Buy is trying something new. Whether it will go nationwide or go away completely is yet to be seen. AggroGamer has confirmed that certain Best Buys are price matching GameStop's used game prices for their new games. Buy a new copy of Call of Duty 4 for only $44.99 or a brand new copy of Madden NFL 10 for $54.99 the day it comes out (hey, that's gonna be the used price when it comes out).

This has only been confirmed to be taking place in small cities, and raises 2 questions. Won't this completely hurt Best Buy's profits and is the sole purpose of this experiment to kill GameStop's business regardless of their own profit hits? Let's face it, a profit hit is nothing compared to the business gained by completely killing GameStop. But that raises another question. If Best Buy's intentions are to kill GameStop, I don't really see price matching a used game as killing the competition. Sure it'll seriously damage GameStop, but you can't trade in systems or return used games at Best Buy, something you can do at GameStop, sure you can trade in games for credit at some Best Buys but you can't get cash.

I doubt that Best Buy is intending to put GameStop out of business but the question has to be raised, if they aren't trying to put them out of business, why would you price match to begin with?