GameStop stores as promised have started carrying PlayStation Vita demo units. Depending on which of the 3,300 stores showing the Vita gamers visit, they should have access to a handful of the 25 launch titles to try. Among the mix will include FIFA, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, and Wipeout 2048.
GameStop on Wednesday touted strong early results with its iOS trade-in program. The progress had "exceeded our expectations," the game retailer's president Tony Bartel said. It believed that many customers post-holidays would be using GameStop as a way to clear out older iPads, iPhones, and iPods that had been replaced with gifts.
Amazon has shown ASUS repeating its pattern of early tablet shortages after sending cancellation notices to early buyers. Orders for the quad-core tablet have been dropped due to a "lack of availability from suppliers," Amazon said. It encouraged shoppers to try third-party resellers trading through Amazon for alternatives.
GameStop revealed on Friday that some of its stores will get the ASUS Transformer Prime as soon as this weekend, albeit for demonstration purposes only. It will become the first retailer to let customers get their hands on the quad-core Tegra 3-powered device. The tablet is available for pre-order from the gaming retailer now, with online orders due to begin shipping on December 19.
Video game retailer GameStop has potentially revealed US pricing information for the unique memory cards that the PlayStation Vita will use. The 4GB card will cost $30, an 8GB one $45, 16GB will be $70, and the 32GB version will cost $120. This is somewhat similar to the prices of the cards for the PSP system at GameStop, which are $38 and $51 for the 4GB and 8GB cards, respectively, and $125 for the 32GB version.
GameStop may begin carrying the ASUS Transformer Prime tablet as soon as November 28, according to its webstore. This is a little earlier than the rumored early December timeline heard before. The listing also reveals the 32GB tablet will cost $540, marked down from $600.
GameStop's mobile plans became real Friday after the company started up a tablet test program to sell tablets online and in stores. Android tablets like Acer's Iconia Tab A100, ASUS' Eee Pad Transformer, and Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be available in 200 of its stores. Each will have both access to Kongregate's Arcade app store as well as seven free games, including EA's mobile versions of Dead Space and Madden as well as Sega's Sonic CD.
GameStop's plans to be involved in tablets will involve rebranding an existing Android tablet, company head Tony Bartel said in an interview Monday. Rather than make its own, the company will use its existing refurb center to adapt existing tablets and preload them. While he wouldn't name it, he explained to GamesIndustry that it was in testing.
GameStop confirmed some rumors Monday and started up trade-ins for iOS devices. Nicknamed iTrades, the promo lets US visitors trade in virtually any generation of iPad, iPhone, and iPod for either cash or store credit. Devices only need to be free of personal engravings and significant damage.
GameStop could take the unusual step of becoming an Apple reseller as a way of staying relevant in the modern gaming world. A rumor Monday claimed that the store would soon sell iPads, iPhones, and iPod touch players. Quick checks from 9to5 found that GameStop had just started Apple device trade-ins this week, likely in an attempt to keep up its focus on selling used goods over new.
GameStop on Friday sought to quickly contain the bad publicity surrounding its decision to pull OnLive coupons for free games from Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Those who bought copies of the game before it was temporarily pulled from shelves will get both a $50 gift card for the store as well as a two-for-one deal on used games they might buy. It's stil unknown if or when the action RPG will return to shelves.
GameStop has responded to the backlash after it was found to open PC copies of Deus Ex: Human Revolution and removing coupons for the game on the OnLive games streaming system by pulling all copies of the game from store shelves. A copy of the e-mail sent to franchise stores was sent to Wired urges stores to pull the regular PC copy of the game for a later return and refund to maker Square Enix. Surpisingly, Square Enix supports GameStop's decision.
GameStop drew widespread criticism from gamers Wednesday after it confirmed that it had been altering copies of Deus Ex: Human Revolution to silence competition. Store field operations manager Josh Ivanoff sent a memo asking staff to "immediately" open boxes and pull the OnLive coupons for a streaming version of the action RPG from all standard copies. While the note only said that GameStop didn't want the coupon to "go to any customers," GameStop spokeswoman Beth Sharum tried to portray it to Ars Technica as an act of subversion by Square Enix.
Apple is the top US retailer, at least in terms of sales per square foot, a RetailSails analysis indicates. The firm recently surveyed the last four quarters of over 160 retailers, and remarks that Apple's sales were about $5,626 per square foot, up 49.1 percent year-over-year. The figures are based on global results, not just those from US stores, RetailSails points out.
GameStop during its Investor's Day event on Friday outlined major plans to get into remote gaming and the tablet field. Its purchase of Spawn Labs, which provided remote console streaming for developers, will let it offer an OnLive-like streaming service to play many games, including console titles, on a tablet, a notebook, or other devices with large screens. The Dallas Morning News was told that GameStop would still try to protect its retail business by limiting the streaming to buyers who register their games with the Power Up Rewards program and may take on an additional subscription fee.
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) President Andrew House said in an interview with UK-based via MVC that the electronics giant has plans to sell its PSN games in retail shops. These titles are thus far only available online through Sony's PlayStation Store on the PS3 itself. The company is already doing so in the US with retail chain GameStop, but wants to do so on a larger scale.
Gamestop on its own accord has started taking advance orders for the Nintendo 3DS. All its US stores are taking minimum $25 deposits to reserve one of the handhelds ahead of the March ship date. Full launch information, including the release dates and prices, isn't expected until January 19.
GameStop has confirmed that it has encountered shortages of Xbox Kinect controllers and bundles, as demand has proven greater than initially expected. Executive VP Tony Bartel suggests "expanded audiences" have been showing interest in the controllers, which are expected to bring sales performance similar to Nintendo's Wii launch.
GameStop's vice president of merchandising and marketing, Bob McKenzie, has criticized Sony's business strategy for the PSP handheld. In an interview with Eurogamer, the executive pointed to a "disappointment" over the selection of PSP games that were released this year, compared to the higher number of games that arrived on the market last year.
A new company is sending out letters claiming that websites that use rollover images and pulldown menu are infringing on its licenses. What seems to be a patent troll, Webvention, is asking for a one-time license fee of $80,000 in what's billed as a temporary campaign, Ars Technica reported. Failure to comply would result in getting dragged into a lawsuit, as Novartis has recently for its webpage.
Sony will soon release a pink DualShock 3 controller for the PS3, as revealed by this pre-order page at electronic games retailer GameStop. The listing reveals the controller ships on September 21 and costs $55, or the same price as PS3 controllers in other colors. The new color is officially dubbed Candy Pink and is said to be suitable for girls and households with kids.
Sony today gave PS3 and PSP owners the option of an official extended warranty for their consoles. The Protection Plans give the consoles either one or two years of coverage beyond the built-in single year of coverage. PSP owners can also choose an accidental damage plan that covers shattered screens and other ill effects.
Despite official confirmation from Nintendo, the black Wii console seems to be all but confirmed for North America thanks to a monthly print ad from GameStop. The ad shows a bundle that includes Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, Wii MotionPlus and the console along with one Wiimote, and was supposed to remain undercover until May 4th but was leaked early thanks to an anonymous GameStop employee.
Sources from electronics retail stores such as Target, GameStop and Future Shop indicated that a black Nintendo Wii will arrive in North America in May. The bundle would be slightly more advanced than the original, Kotaku said, and would include a copy of the Wii Sports Resort game and the Wii MotionPlus accessory, all for $200.
Sony late on Monday said it had achieved a record for single-week PlayStation 3 sales last week. The combination of Black Friday deals at Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop and elsewhere, along with the usual increase in holiday shopping, helped the company push over 440,000 PS3s for the week ended Sunday. Upticks were also seen for PSP sales and for games across all platforms, though the company didn't provide exact numbers.
Several alleged screenshots from a Norwegian GameStop inventory system show what appears to be several 250GB PS3 bundles, according to Joystiq. The gaming systems have been paired with titles such as Need for Speed: Shift, FIFA 10, Uncharted 2, and Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time.
Sony's loosely-defined launch date of early September for its redesigned PS3 gaming console was not only wrong, but stores are already sold out of the first shipments. Earlier this week, photo evidence showed the console arriving at certain Best Buy locations and now there is word of other electronics retailers also getting limited runs of the game system. Not surprisingly, retailer shelves were picked clean and the PS3s are now sold out at many of the stores who got the shipment.
