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Does GameStop Promote Microsoft Over Sony?

Microsoft is into giving gifts. Just ask anyone who goes to any trade shows or anyone who has worked for a GameStop or EB in the past decade or so. I was working at an EB when the first Xbox launched and to help promote it, Microsoft reps handed a ton of goodies to EB managers and assistant managers at the annual company meeting. Just recently, when I was down to GameStop, the employees were talking about their upcoming meeting in July, and they all fully expect to get preferential treatment from the big M$.

Now, I also distinctly recall our assistant manager at the time being all psyched about the PS2, and about how much he liked it, and about all his reservations and skepticism concerning Microsoft's new game console. …then, that meeting happened, he came home with a bag full of free stuff, and his tune changed considerably. That tune also changed in regards to customers, even though that stance switched back again during/after 2001, when certain PS2 gems like Final Fantasy X , Gran Turismo 3, Twisted Metal: Black, Grand Theft Auto III and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty hit. Oh, and if you didn't know, this year at E3, Microsoft was handing out free Xbox 360 Slims to the press…and all this time, Sony never really did much for GameStop/EB employees. They freely admit they get a ton of stuff from MS but they know they can't expect much from Sony.

Look, free stuff is cool. But has anyone noticed that many GameStops do seem to hold more of a Microsoft slant, both in the placement of their products and the attitude of employees? Granted, I would hope most stores aren't like this one , and in fact, I do go to a GameStop location that hires some pretty cool guys. They're really not biased one way or the other; if the game is great, they'll tell you. If it's a personal preference and doesn't jive with the critical reception, they'll tell you that, too. I'm not implying that all GameStops are all about loving Microsoft, but I am suggesting that Microsoft's business tactics have resulted in some artificially created love on the part of the retailer and its employees. Not that there's anything wrong with that in the realm of business, I suppose.

It could just be me. But in terms of how Microsoft and Sony treat GameStop employees, there is indeed a distinct difference based on personal experience. Take from that what you will.

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Jawknee
Jawknee
14 years ago

Pathetic. SO much money wasted on postage, warranties and protection plans all because MS couldn't be bothered to make ea reliable console.

johnld
johnld
14 years ago

why should they improve the console anyway? they're trying to hold on to any plus they got on their side. they want to say we sold (as in shipped) more 360s than ps3s. they just keep giving their console away like at the press conference. just once i want to see them try to give a 360 and getting the response "why are you giving me this piece of crap?" and by piece of crap i mean hardware wise. i'll play it but its still a piece of crap until they fix it. and none of that taking out the red LED ring bull****


Last edited by johnld on 6/28/2010 5:09:16 AM

JasperLoons
JasperLoons
14 years ago

I don't know about individual stores, but definitely in their weekly ads. When it comes to multiplatform games, they show the 360 version about 90% of the time (that's just a guess).
I seriously look at the ads every week now just to see if they do it again.

th3_bLy
th3_bLy
14 years ago

I joined just to make a comment =D Anyways, I currently work at a GS and no one in my store is like that. Granted, we all have our favorite consoles, but we tend to talk more about the games available for the consoles. Though, when we make console suggestions I always suggest the PS3 first lol.

BikerSaint
BikerSaint
14 years ago

th3_bLy,
Welcome to PSXE.

I'm glad to hear that your GS has broken away to form it's own renegade Black Ops GS Spinter cell!

VIVA THE ONGOING REVOLUTION!!!

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
14 years ago

Welcome to the show, always good to hear from an employee.

AntDC
AntDC
14 years ago

It's funny because it just doesn't make business sense to be an employee of a store and boast about how the cheaper console is "better". Here in NZ PS3 tends to get more advertising in store and unlike you guys in the US Sony gets reasonable TV ad time as well. In saying that though the Playstation has always tended to be more successful in European countries…

Robochic
Robochic
14 years ago

since one of the gamestops in my mall came under new store management it's done a 100 % turn around, use to have nothing but fan boys for xbox as their employees and everything for Xbox was upfront, now it's totally different went in their and I know the store manager and he fired anyone who promoted one company more than other he required the employees to know ALL companies and the store is Sony on the left, M$ on the right, then nintendo on the same wall as M$ but
the Wii is taking up most of the wall with DS LOL.

But I see where u are coming from Ben I have seen other Gamestops that aren't near my house but in the same city and they are sony haters, so I dont; shop their but I have faith that if gamestop hires more store manager that just have a heart for gaming no matter what company they like or dislike i think they could have higher sales and happier customers.

InBlackestNight
InBlackestNight
14 years ago

There is this real winner in my gamestop. He looks like a live action version of comic book guy. One time he was telling a kid (couldn't have been older than 6-8) how much he sucked at punch-out. The kid was just trying to figure the game out. Then when he asked why the ps3 wasn't hooked up the guy told him that the ps3's always quit and it was a piece of crap and they always have a ton of ps3's returned. The poor kid just looked stunned. I mean he was a kid. The employees they hire seem to have no real social skills at all. I remember when Hot Shots Golf came out and I went in to buy it and they didn't even have it on the shelf (it had been out a few days) and they had to search for it. The guy told me "I didn't even know people bought this junk for the ps3" It was almost like they didn't want people to have access to the game. By the way, love the big 360 ad over the comment box. Real nice touch for a ps site.


Last edited by InBlackestNight on 6/28/2010 12:09:45 AM

Mavfan321
Mavfan321
14 years ago

The sad thing is it's not just the retailers it the media there is a blatant Xbox bias on just about all of the biggest sites. It's interesting that they can be so excited about another Halo, or GOW release and when it comes to interesting outside the box stuff (which tends to be on PS3) the reports are more cynical. IGN seriously has constant polls and this is a mock example (hyperbole of course but not too far off the mark.)

How Excited are you for Halo 15?
A.OMG I CANT WAIT WILL CHANGE GAMES FOREVER. B.THIS IS GOING TO KILL ALL.
C.YES!!!
D.Awesome I can't wait.

What do you think of the early screens for The Last Guardian?
A. Cool
B. Huh?
C. Wait this isn't the Halo poll?
D. B and C

sirbob6
sirbob6
14 years ago

I also noticed that at the e3 awards on ign. For example in the best shooter catagory Killzone 3 and Soccom 4 was not even nominated, however gears, halo, and games I have never even heard of were nominated, or in best racer GT5 was beat out by Need for Speed. I mean come on!


Last edited by sirbob6 on 6/28/2010 12:52:27 AM

Mavfan321
Mavfan321
14 years ago

I could be wrong but they may have been another site because I know what you're talking about. If it isn't still shows the bias by IGN if it is another site shows the bias exists elsewhere. There is one site where one editor posts PS3 reports with pictures of essentially gay men frolicking on the beach. It's really ridiculous.

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

ROTFLMAO! Ben, you're asking? I mean, how can you even doubt it? Just about every person posting here has a story about the day they were in GameStop when the drone behind the counter was being biased about the PS3 or even telling outright lies about it in order to get customers to go with a 360 game. How many times have people been asked by a GameStop Drone if they want the 360 version, only to smile broadly, look the drone in the eye and pronounce "There is no 360 version, this is a PS3 exclusive."? Of course many have also heard the drone reply that such and such a PS3 exclusive game (one that's developed by a Sony 1st party) will be coming to the 360.

I don't honestly believe that there is any question. GameStop is biased. Even their website is biased in terms of what products are displayed first.

Underdog15
Underdog15
14 years ago

Not sure why you got so many downvotes… It's obviously true. Especially about people here having stories.

BlackBriar
BlackBriar
14 years ago

GameStop's I know, Push Xbox like its Sexy new system that everyone needs to know about; Are you Serious!?! Both guys and girls employees need a reality check.

sirbob6
sirbob6
14 years ago

A fun reality check is to simply ask them for 5 360 exclusive. They say gears and halo, then they stop for a short period time and look down in shame.

sirbob6
sirbob6
14 years ago

I have noticed a bias, however it is not overly bad, just a large pyramid of unsold 360s that haven't been touched for over a year and a few biscuits who don't know anything, and I mean anything, however they are fun to "play" with.


Last edited by sirbob6 on 6/28/2010 12:26:25 AM

regular14
regular14
14 years ago

In my gamestop most of us are huge ps3 fans. the one guy who was super pro-xbox had his xbox broken and now is a huge ps3 fan. And one guy loved his ps3 but kept it on over night everynight until the damn thing broke and now is a xbox fan, but fu** that guy he's a di**.

realmadpuppy
realmadpuppy
14 years ago

The store Manager and most of the employees are PS3 centric at my gamestop. they have never pushed the 360.

BikerSaint
BikerSaint
14 years ago

After a intense one-sided argument(MY side) with a 360 counter biscuit in the GS store farthest from me(8 miles), he most foolishly decided to try getting even by purposely slipping a 360 disc(and manual too) into the PS3 case I wanted.

Since I was on one of my marathon multi-console games collection hunts, I had about 27 assorted USED game boxes(GB, Xbox, 360, PSP, PS2,& PS3)that I had brought up to the counter, & I still had 4 more GS stores to still check out, so I was in a hurry & didn't watch the a-hole with my usual hawk eye.

Well, I didn't find out what he did till I got back home many hours later, and only after the store had already closed too.

So the very next morning I went back to the store, went right up to him in front of all the other customers, and told him that if he ever tried purposely to screw me with a game disc swap like that again, I would come back in, break that same disc in 1/2 & then use the broken ragged edges to dry shave his face till his zit-filled craters were unrecognizable.
plus, I'd then make him give me my rightful PS3 disc too.

Needless to say, as of that very warning, I've never, ever had another problem with him.
Plus the fact that afterwards, whenever he saw me coming in the door, he would suddenly run into the back room and stays there until one of his other co-workers went back & told him that I was gone.

One day just to further screw with him, I stayed there just hanging around a couple of the racks closest to the back room & after about 35 minutes, he must have gotten antsy & thought I left, cause the back room door slowly opened up a bit& he popped his head out.
Well, I just jumped right out towards him from between the racks with my arms outstretched & I yelled "BOO at the top of my lungs.

His eyes suddenly went wide, & he darted back in, and I swear that I heard a heavy deadbolt click into place.
I then gave him my most maniacal laugh as I finally walked out of the store.

Hmmm, now that I think about it, I've never seen him around since.


Last edited by BikerSaint on 6/28/2010 1:03:36 AM

laxpro2001
laxpro2001
14 years ago

haha wow that was an entertaining story! Hopefully you taught him a lesson so he won't screw with anyone else's games.

WolfCrimson
WolfCrimson
14 years ago

loool! Holy crap Bikersaint, you certainly ain't no saint to that kid! I'm glad you're not, though! XD

ElectricTiTAN
ElectricTiTAN
14 years ago

The Gamestop in my town has some real cool people working there. They never try and push a system on anyone, or recommend you buy the game you want on another system.

piratedrunk
piratedrunk
14 years ago

My EB is actually really good the people there are cleary interested in games from all systems with most actually favoring the ps3. When it comes to the company as a whole however it is pretty easy to see the bias.

ElectricTiTAN
ElectricTiTAN
14 years ago

johnld, I gave all your post in this topic thumbs up simply because your avatar is a 3D Dot Hero Megaman!

DazeOfWar
DazeOfWar
14 years ago

I never have any issues with the GS I go to. All the employees play each system and love them all. Hell one time I was in there some guy asked what system the employee liked better out of the PS3/360 and he told him that he didn't have an opinion on it because somebody always wants to argue about it. I also do like that the manager (she) is good looking.

kraygen
kraygen
14 years ago

The closest gamestop to me is of a more rare variety. The manager is 360 fanboy who spouts the usual xbot crap, but for some reason he only hires people who seem to know nothing about any video game console.

I've heard employees in there telling people they don't know what hdmi is, so how can they know if the console has it. Ummm where do you find these people.

The manager actually told me not to fill out an application once because I knew too much about video games, didn't make sense to me, but maybe he was afraid I might tell someone to get a ps3.

___________
___________
14 years ago

yes they do and theres a simple reason for that.
M$ are not tight a$$ed like sony, they actually spend money on advertisement.
i went to the shops today and not only EB but Kmart, Target, toys R us, game, JBHIFI, DSE, myer, david jones, they all had banners and advertisements for the new 360 and kinect.
i never saw any of that advertisement when the ps3 slim came out, nor do i see any for sonys move controller.

if it was not for the game cases sitting on store shelfs you would not even know the ps3 has been released here!
not to mention all the TV adds i have seen for the new 360, honestly every single add break its on.
i was watching the simpsons on fox 8 this morning for 2 hours and saw the add for the new 360 six times!
not to mention the countless emails EB M$ and co have sent me!

thats why gamestop advertises the 360 allot more than the ps3, because unlike sony M$ dont mind spending a little cash.
as the saying goes, you have to spend money to make money!

Snaaaake
Snaaaake
14 years ago

You do have a point there but we're talking about biased people here.

They're GameStop employee, not Microsoft's.
They got no right to lie to customer's looking for PS3 stuff, not only just bad service they're giving, some extra sale were turned away by those guys.

If I'm the manager of one GS store I'd be pissed to know that my employee is ruining my business, just who's the one that's running the store?

Manager or a regular staff?


Last edited by Snaaaake on 6/28/2010 6:12:06 AM

___________
___________
14 years ago

true, though ive never experienced that.
if any of my employees were acting like that, than they would be thrown out the door so fast their hats would spin!

the guys at EB are really friendly there always asking me what part im upto in a certain game, weather i liked it or not things like that.
the guys at game though a different story, there so uncooperative.
once i bought sonic unleashed from them and asked if i dont like it can i bring it back?
he said yes within 7 days with receipt so i did that and they refused to take it back.

there always so lifeless too, its almost like there dead!
today i bought dead space extraction from game, walked up to the counter and the guy just stares at me.
no hi how are you, or how can i help you.
so i said ill take that and pointed to the game, he grabs it pops the disk in tells me the price, and hands me the game once i paid.
as little effort exchanged as possible.
what happened to customer service?

where do they pick up these drongos?
whenever i went for a interview we were always told the first thing you do is greet the customer, if i was to do that where i work id be fired on the spot! and rightfully so!
customer service is everything!
one happy customer = thousands of potential customers.
one unhappy customer = thousands of lost customers.
companies have sadly forgotten that these days, its time they get a harsh wake up call and wake up to reality!

Bjorn77
Bjorn77
14 years ago

Must be something American, I really notice a shift here in Holland. PS 3 game racks are becoming bigger and bigger. Only 2 years ago most stores had a bunch of XboX games and only a few PS 3 games. Now they are about 50-50.

But there is a difference in public though, The XboX rack is visited by young adolescents drooling over shooters and the PS3 rack is for the older gamers.

laxpro2001
laxpro2001
14 years ago

Well obviously! Ben I thought this was common knowledge by now. It's true GS promotes MS over Sony. Now we know why.

I wouldn't be surprised if IGN also got some goodies because I used to visit that site and if you clicked on news or a review about a multi-platform game, it would always link you the xbox version.

Now there can be a simple explanation for this like they base it off system sales and we'll never actually get a confession out of them but regardless the reason, its bull sh*t.

Dancemachine55
Dancemachine55
14 years ago

As an EB Games employee, I ask people what they are looking for and for what purposes before tellling them.

IT'S CALLED CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!!

One guy couldn't decide, so I outlined the pros and cons of both 360 and PS3:

eg. Xbox Live is the best online service, but you have to pay for it. PSN is close to Live, and is free, but lacks cross game chat a party settings. Sony has more and higher rated exclusives, but 360 has the most popular exclusives (Halo and Gears). PS3 has blu-ray and wifi built in. The new 360 Slim now has wifi built in. 360 has Kinect, PS3 has Move. Move is better for hardcore experiences like SOCOM 4, but Kinect is more innovative and casual friendly, like with Dance Central and Kinect Adventures.

What console do your friends have? Do you prefer to play multiplayer fun matches or have a great single player experience? Do you want to use it as a media player and store your videos and music? Do you have a hi-def tv, LCD or plasma?

My dear friends at PSXextreme, you have just been served by a fellow EB Games employee.

laxpro2001
laxpro2001
14 years ago

Well you made an extremely good argument for both systems there, leaving personal opinions out and were genuinely trying to help the customer, and by doing that it is truly respectable. It's really nice to see customer service from a gamestop employee.

However we were just not "served" as you claim. You are an out lier. I have been in about 10 different gamestops and 8 out of those 10 have sucked hardcore in customer service. 2/10 had outstanding customer service going above and beyond their call of duty to find me a game. But in reality most gamestops are biased towards the 360.

I'm sorry if you felt like we were attacking you because we aren't. You truly do sound like a very good employee who is well-informed and willing to give the customer the right information to make a purchase that will best suite their needs.

I wish all GS/EB games employees were like you as it would do wonders for the company's reputation.

Ben Dutka PSXE
Ben Dutka PSXE
14 years ago

I really wouldn't say Xbox Live is the best online service, anymore. Those days are long gone, IMO.

Jawknee
Jawknee
14 years ago

LIVE offers nothing over PSN besides Cross game voice chat.

Which is mostly useless.

kraygen
kraygen
14 years ago

If I were to try and decide whether xbox live or psn were better for online play, personally I'd go with psn, they have the exact same quality of connection, but psn has a lot less 8-12 year olds cussing like sailors every time they die.

Take quality communication over angry language bile any day.

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

I'll pick at one thing you said, Kinect is not more innovative or casual friendly than the PSEye or EyeToy were, and Move includes the PSEye. Therefore it's a bit of a wash.

laxpro2001
laxpro2001
14 years ago

I just like how he actually said what features live had over the PSN because most of the time when you hear someone say Live is better, they have no actual facts to back it up with.
Obviously to me cross game chat is not worth the 50 extra you have to pay!

Also as far as Kinect goes, it definitely does seem more innovative and I would describe it as casual friendly since those are the only games your are likely to see for it.

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

@Lax

You're right, Dancemachine was actually being pretty fair and obsessive.

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
14 years ago

OK, I'm not sure, but I think that my comment may have been edited. Either that or I have suddenly become dyslexic. I could have sworn that I wrote that DreamMachine was being fairly objective, not 'obsessive'. Two completely different words. Not sure how they can get crossed, unless my browser's spell checker decided that I had so poorly mis-spelled objective that it would substitute obsessive.

Either way, I was not calling DreamMachine obsessive.

xXxSeTTriPxXx
xXxSeTTriPxXx
14 years ago

absolutely,every gamestop i go to does this.first off i don't look like your stereo typical gamer(and i do stress stereo typical) i'm the biggest nerd you can meet(and damn proud of it)but with swagger,if you will.i carry myself a Cretan way,so most people couldn't guess i'm a big gamer(either that or they think i play nothing but sports games and fps lol).so when i go into gamestops,it's like they tag me as the guy that doesn't no much about gaming like i'm not well informed on the medium.and every time it's sales pitch after sales pitch for the 360 (you should get this for 360 or the 360 is better because etc)it goes through one ear an out the other because i know what i'm coming for so i'll spend 30 max in gamestop.in alot of cases the game associates don't know wtf there talking about it's funny,because you would think they would hire gamers for the job.sometimes i just want to yell stfu plz at them but it's a job and as long as there not giving me the wrong change i'm cool.but yeah thats my rant,i've always thought this,it's good it's being talked about with in the gaming community finally.very good topic indeed and great read.


Last edited by xXxSeTTriPxXx on 6/28/2010 3:50:10 AM

Anonymous
Anonymous
14 years ago

hey guys whats up?

well my EB/Gamestop witch i have 2 in each side of my local mall are both pretty cool i never run in to any promlems(sorry bad spelling). heack on of my gamestop have there Ps3 games right up in front of the store it goes like this in upfront in the left side of the store are all ps3 and ps2 games on the right sides Wii and DS games and in the back there are the 360.

oh by the way today is my birthday i am 24 years old and i am still a gamer and proud of it.

WolfCrimson
WolfCrimson
14 years ago

Happy birthday!

phade2blaq
phade2blaq
14 years ago

Maybe GS/EB just wants us to buy American ! The U.S. hasn't had a major player in the video game console business since Atari folded !

The video game console business has been for the most part dominated by the Japanese starting with Nintendo and Sega and continuing on with Sony !

Maybe GS/EB is just promoting MS as a way to keep them viable in the game business !

Either way, the proof is in the pudding as the best console available (the PS3) will shine regardless what MS and GS/EB does !

Wage SLAVES
Wage SLAVES
14 years ago

That would be a nice sentiment but true American products are typically made superior. Those days are long gone because if you open the boxes of each China is dominating the game industry and everything else..

Mamills
Mamills
14 years ago

i know what you mean i have seen employees give M$ preference over sony,

the 1 gamestop/EB Near me has cool employees though, last time we had a conversation about how cool 3D Game heroes was. but then a manager started to persuade me to buy Alan wake.

then im like "I don't have a 360"

then she's like "oh we have those for cheap too"

guess whe was just trying to move a unit or 2, but me n the other employee just ignored her n went on talking about how good red dead is going to be

JackC8
JackC8
14 years ago

Last time I went to Gamestop, I wanted to buy a "new" game but one of the employees apparently took the disk home and was busy playing it, so they weren't able to sell it to me. They offered to sell me a used copy (which they apparently define as a game that was played by someone OTHER than an employee) for about $5 more than Amazon wanted for a new copy. Plus tax.

If they want to cater to xbots with that sort of fraudulent and overpriced rubbish, be my guest. I've got 19 PS3 games – one purchased from Gamestop, 18 purchased from Amazon.

kraygen
kraygen
14 years ago

yeah I'm sorry but apparently gamestop doesn't even know what new is. To me, once it's opened, its not new any more, I don't care if anyone has played it or not, you opened, it's used.

dork02840
dork02840
14 years ago

i do not support either gamestop or EB that much unless for pre-order or used title. my main source of games now is Newbury Comics in Warwick, RI. they do not always have the newest title but they almost always have them slashed from what gamestop would ask. for example i bought god of war 3 for about 45 about 6 weeks after it came out. it did not drop down to like 40 bucks until the beginning of this month. i got it at a reduced price long before sony slashed the price.