These are a few things that i got pissed off about,

It's a sunday, i get a call from my dad. My dad went Cohns and since we bought a lot of stuff from them including a couch which is why he was there. He informed me that they gave him a free item because we bought so much stuff so he got a PS3. He gets home and we set it up in our den, where our Xbox 360 was. We moved the 360 upstairs and had to buy a regular RCA cable because our dog chewed up the cable that came with the system so we bought a HD cable for our HD tv which by the way, we also bought at Cohns. So since we didn't have a regular RCA cable we went to our local Gamestop store to buy the cable because i also go Xbox Live that day! We went to Gamestop and me being a filmmaker i walked over and bought what i thought was the right video cable. The cable had Red and White for audio and a composite cable which wasn't video it was just some weird thing that didn't really go to any thing. This stupid pointless cable was also made buy guess who? Gamestop. So i buy it for $15 with there low prices! and discover that it doesn't have the Yellow out for video. now shock and pissed off i went back to Gamestop and talked to the same guy that check me out. The cable was out of the box, i had it for ten minutes and i showed him the receipt and here is what he said "well, i don't know how long you have had it and since there is no box i'll give you back $2.50 under it being used" What! Remember me geeky guy? the person in the black tee shirt from Old Navy? so, i took my $2.50 and bought the right cable...

Two days later, i went to buy a new game for my brand new PS3. So i played the demo and thought "Iron Man" was fun so i went down and bought it. I didn't do what the Gamestop rant websites that always say to demand a shrink wrapped copy so they don't pull the "In storage in a month but we put it back in and charge $60" thing. So just wanting it i grab the box, un-shrink wrapped and low and behold he grabs the disc out of a drawer and pops it in the box. I look at the disc and it has a huge Scratch! New my ass...

This happened a long time ago but i still remember it. This is what i like to call "Gamestop's release date". What i am talking about is my theory, here's what happens. The gaming company that makes the game sets a release date let's say the 15th. So they send off there shipments of the game on the 12th or 14th depending on where the store is. So they get the game in the day before it comes out and here is what they do, they keep the box in the back and on the day it comes out they keep it in the back and tells the customer that they are wrong and the game comes out on the 16th. After they close on the 15th, they stock the shelfs with the game because they don't want the customer to see them "Stocking"! who would have thought stores would do that huh? so on the false date they give out the game. This is if you do not have a Pre Order, if you have a Pre Order then they will give you the copy because you have a Pre Order. Example to back up this theory... I bought a "Tony Hawks Underground" with a Pre Order and when they asked if i had a Pre Order i said i had one so they gave me my copy. Now to games later i buy "Tony Hawks American Waste Land" a later game with out a Pre Order. I stalked the games site for months drilling the date in my head so when i went to GameStop they said " Sorry dude, it comes out on the 16th today is the 15th" thats when my head exploded. What! 16th! Lies! it comes out today! "Nope, sorry dude" BS.

This is why i dislike GameStop.

When Gamestop receives a shipment of new console games (Xbox 360, PS3, PSP, Wii, etc), they automatically open one copy of the game. They remove the game disk and place it into a sleeve and file it away. They take the open case including the manual, mark it with a price and place it onto the shelf (as a display box) to be manhandled by who knows how many people.

Granted, Gamestop needs to be able to display that they have a game in stock. I take no issue with this aspect of their merchandising. What I take issue with is when that opened copy becomes the last copy in the store. The clerk will pull out the game disk from the sleeve that's been filed away, go get the manhandled box off the shelf, place the disk into the case and then proceed to sell you the game at a brand new unopened sealed game price.

Here are my issues with this practice:

1. The box is opened. The minute you leave the store, the game is automatically non-returnable for any reason. You walk out, it's yours. So, if you find that you really didn't want the game, that's too bad because it's already out of the wrap.

2. Selling opened merchandise labeled as 'NEW' is a very deceptive and fraudulent practice. By unsealing a factory sealed item, at best, this item must be sold as a demonstration or opened unit and labeled and discussed as such. It can no longer be labeled or sold as new. At worst, this item is now used... especially if you consider item #1 above. At best, it's considered 'open' or 'demo'.

3. After a game has been opened, you have no idea exactly what the staff may have done with or to the game disk. Someone could have taken it home, played it in the store unit, or even replaced it with a counterfeit copy. Because these clerks are not paid that well, playing opened games may very well be one of the perks of working there.

4. There is really no difference between the staff opening a copy of the game and a customer opening the copy. Except that when a customer opens the copy, it's considered used. When a Gamestop employee opens a game, it's still considered new (as thought of as if it were still factory wrapped). Worse, some employees have even gone as far as offering to shrink wrap it for me which *might* solve issue number 1.

5. Once a game is opened, you have no way to guarantee the game disk you have received is genuine.

Finally, the worst part of this issue is that Gamestop sometimes only gets one copy or two copies of smaller titled games. So, you walk in and ask for the game, then they try to present you with the opened copy deceptively labeled 'NEW' and charge new prices!

I've discussed this issue with various managers and their staff at length about why this is a dubious, deceptive and fraudulent business practice, yet Gamestop still continues to operate their business in this way and has for many years. If Gamestop needs to have a copy on the shelves for merchandising, they either need to mark the opened copy as 'Demo', 'Opened' or 'Used' and discount it appropriately or they need to not sell it at all. Once a game is opened (by anyone) it is no longer factory new and needs to be discounted and labeled appropriately. Alternatively, Gamestop is large enough they should be able to produce placards or other similar place holders stating the game is in stock without having to open or display a live game box.

If you find yourself confronted with an opened game being sold to you as new, don't purchase it and walk out.