I so have always wanted to be able to give them 2 stars simply because their staff is knowledgeable about games, which they are, but I just can't do it. The issues with this "shop" are too corrupting of the experience of just trying to buy a game that it overshadows any good that could come from this place.
I will provide anecdotal experience, as simple examples.
First of all, this particular brick & mortar Gamestop (used to be EB Games, in the mall-proper, and when they were, they were the BEST for miles in any direction) is so tiny that they carry almost no PC games in stock, except customer sell-backs and the occasional viral game/MMO, like World of Warcraft or Guild Wars.
Second, the shop is very poorly organized. There's really not much to add...it's just...a mess, organization-wise.
Now, the fun story. I was an avid World of Warcraft player and always liked to pre-order the expansions. However, when it came time to pre-order one of them, I didn't have the opportunity (money was tight...lots of bills and my income wasn't great at the time). Two weeks before the midnight store openings, I called corporate and verified this particular store would not only be open at midnight, but that I could actually, and I verified with the regional manager of Gamestop, buy TWO copies of the game, or one Collector's Edition and one regular copy, at the midnight sale, should there be any left by the time I got in the door.
I went to the store at 3pm to verify with the store manager this same fact, and was told "just get here really early to be near the front so that you can get them, since they didn't ship us a lot of spares. I just went through the pre-orders and the shipment, and we'll have about 50 regular and 5 collector's editions to purchase at the event, all the rest are our pre-orders, though we'll be getting another shipment tomorrow." Yes, I'm specific about these numbers since I raised hell that night over the issue.
I went to the store 5 minutes after they closed... Yes, I stood in line, in the cold, from about 9pm all the way to midnight. I was the third person in line. When midnight hit, some person claiming to be the manager, openly stated that only those with pre-orders would be let in the door for the first hour. WTF?! Direct contradiction to corporate, and their manager. I raised a stink about how they were handling the opening, as did the others who were evidently given the same info. We were let in, but then told we could only buy one normal copy...no seconds, and no CE's.
I reported them to corporate, who apologized in advance as it was his understanding that their employees violated the rules of the midnight sale and held the non pre-orders for their friends. HUGE no-no and I have refused to deal with this store ever again. Needless to say, I got up early the next morning, went to the target at the same mall, right across the parking lot, and picked up TWO CE's of their more than 50 sitting on the shelf, and they had a whole pallet of standard editions.
In my opinion, this particular Gamestop needs to be shut down and have their stock and their 1 or 2 GOOD employees merged into the one over at Southland...
I can't say much about their prices, as they are the same, chain-wide... However, they are about where the rest of the industry is, if on the slightly higher end of that spectrum for chain electronic game outlets. read more