Toy R US, Argos hit by poor game sales

I wonder if these falling sales are fuelled by the casual buyer and those who buy games only as gifts for friends/children being educated by those in the know that Toys R Us, Argos and HMV are consistently significantly more expensive than websites like Play and Amazon. Especially in the 'current economic climate', people will seek out the most competitive prices and these stores are simply pricing themselves out of the market.

While GAME and the remnants of Gamestation often price their goods similarly to the aforementioned stores, they get by thanks to specialising. The general populace will gravitate to GAME knowing they will be sure to find whatever it is the TV or their children says they need to buy.

Posted:2 years ago

Agreed with Chris on this one. Argos, Toys R Us and HMV aren't known for competitive pricing against the likes of Amazon, Play and ShopTo. Even with the supermarkets jumping in on the budget pricing of games like FIFA at launch to bring in the shoppers these stores need to find new ways to be competitive in a time where saving money is on people’s minds.

GAME also gets by as it is the main place for trade in games so they can save money by taking in games they don't play anymore.

Posted:2 years ago

Hmmm never considered going to Argos to buy any games. As for HMV, it`s often a good choice here in Ireland as they have new releases sometimes 5 bucks cheaper compared to Game or Gamestop. The only thing is that HMV usually doesn`t have pre-order bonuses or limited editions as they are most of the time either Game or Gamestop.

Posted:2 years ago

I swear I've never bought a game from Argos ever or even Toys R Us. I used to go to specialist game stores (until places like Amazon and others popped up).

Posted:2 years ago

To be fair to HMV, I've found that at times, they offer significantly more for 2nd-hand games than some of their competitors. On one occasion a few months ago, I was able to trade in something there for double what the other stores were willing to pay for it.

The only trouble is finding something with a low enough price to buy once games are traded in there - something generally needs to be on sale to make it worthwhile.

And Argos? I'm not sure they've ever been competitively priced as far as games are concerned. I can't think of any reason for someone to shop for games there, other than them not knowing any better.

Posted:2 years ago