GAME
Image: Nintendo Life

Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Ollie reflects on just some of the eventful episodes from his days working in video game retail...

When news hit that GAME, the UK’s last remaining video game retailer (not counting the many wonderful independent stores left standing), would be bringing an end to trade-ins and pre-owned products from 16th February 2024, I felt a potent mix of thoughts and emotions.

On one hand, I couldn’t quite comprehend why the firm would come to such a decision; I worked there for the best part of a decade, and three key initiatives were consistently promoted to both staff and customers: reward cards, pre-orders, and trade-ins. For the latter, 100% of the money made from pre-owned sales went directly into GAME’s pockets, whereas new games would yield a comparatively much smaller profit. You could see why the firm wanted to push trade-ins.

Game Pile
Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life

But on the flip side, when you consider the rapidly rising popularity of digital games in conjunction with GAME’s decision to turn the vast majority of its standalone retail spaces into Sports Direct concession stores, it does make sense that the company would want to bring an end to trade-ins. According to GAME’s filings for the 12 months up to April 29th, 2023, the gross transactional value (GTV - full retail value excluding VAT, savings schemes, and publisher deductions) for pre-owned products totalled 16,478. This is down from 25,894 over the same period the previous year, so there’s no denying that the demand for trade-ins and pre-owned products is decreasing rapidly.

With all that said, I will miss trade-ins when the practice eventually goes the way of the dodo in the coming months. As a customer, it’s a great way to knock a bit of money off new releases by getting rid of a few older titles, and to pick up secondhand bargains for older games.

As an ex-employee, however, dealing with trade-ins for ten years (give or take) has resulted in a bevy of memories both good and bad, and I’d like to share just a few of them with you, dear reader.

So make yourselves comfortable as we take a trip into the not-too-distant past and see just what GAME employees have had to put up with…

That One Time We Had *All* The Skylanders

Skylanders
Image: Zion Grassl / Nintendo Life

Remember Skylanders? Oh boy, I sure do. I’ve practically had nightmares about them. As someone who was never particularly into the whole toys-to-life genre (I rarely even buy amiibo unless it's for a series that I’m really keen on), I wasn’t really clued up on the characters beyond that totally botched version of Spyro.

Disney Infinity wasn’t so bad because I instantly recognised a lot of characters. But with Skylanders, I’m truly sorry, but I couldn’t tell you the difference between Boomer, Chill, Countdown, Cynder, or any of them, and I frankly wasn’t paid enough to swot up. This wasn’t an issue for the most part: people would pick what they wanted from the shelves, make the transaction, and be on their way. The problems arose when folks wanted to trade them in.

Skylanders
Ah yes, it's...erm, that one. Jiminny Lockgood? — Image: Activision

It doesn’t matter what it was — whether a bunch of handheld consoles, accessories, games, or figures — when a customer came walking into the store hauling a gigantic cardboard box with an expectant grin on their face, my heart sank. 99% of the time, it meant they had a heap of bits and bobs to trade and I would have to drop whatever I was doing and spend the next hour sorting it all out.

During the height of the toys-to-life craze, a woman came into the store with her two sons, and all three were carrying massive boxes. I thought they’d be full of games, which would have been fine, but when they got to the counter and opened them, Skylanders. Three boxes full to the brim with Skylanders.

Our inventory process for this was to consult a binder that contained a full list of every Skylander, including their names, their till code, and a small, slightly blurry image of the figure. I spent the better part of three hours grabbing one figure at a time, carefully consulting the binder to match the figure with its blurry image, inputting the code, and moving on to the next one. And the worst part? The poor woman and her sons stayed in the store the entire time and when it came to tallying up, I don’t think we even broke £50. I felt terrible knowing that we were offering a fraction of what she’d get on eBay, but she didn’t care. Fair enough, then.

By the end of the day, I was ready to launch the figures into the ocean. There aren’t many instances where I’m glad to see a game series end, but if Skylanders ever comes back, I’m off to Mars.

That One Time I Got Attacked

Niko GAME
Image: Nintendo Life

For a decade, I met many, many interesting characters working at GAME. Thankfully, the vast majority of them were friendly, pleasant people who I was honoured to serve. The remaining were either rude, dismissive, angry, deceitful, or violent. Well… There’s only been one truly violent customer.

During my time at GAME, we not only dealt with video games, hardware, and accessories but also secondhand mobile devices. We were trying to muscle in on CEX’s territory and, to be fair, we didn’t do a bad job at it. We stocked a good range of mobiles, and we were meticulous when it came to ensuring they were of good, saleable quality.

One afternoon, I was taking my lunch in the upstairs office when a colleague came up to inform me that a customer had wanted to bring his mobile in and wasn’t handling the rejection very well due to the device's lack of quality. I was a Senior Sales Assistant so I was occasionally left in charge of the store. As such, whether we took this phone in was ultimately down to me.

I followed my colleague downstairs and glanced at the customer and the phone in question. It was a Blackberry (gosh, remember those?) and it was in terrible condition. The SIM card tray was battered beyond repair, the screen was scratched to hell, and there was no charger or accompanying box. Naturally, I said, 'No.'

After a bit of back and forth with the customer, I put my foot down and said, “I’m sorry, but there’s no way we’re taking this phone.” Immediately, he launched into a rage, trying to grab me over the counter, missing, and proceeding to pick up whatever he could find to hurl at me, all the while shouting expletives. Eventually, he picked up a particularly heavy charity box and aimed for my head. I raised my arm to block my face and the box caught my elbow, resulting in a nasty cut. The customer lumbered out of the store, running his hands across the shelves to knock off as much as he could on his way.

We called the police, showcased the CCTV footage, and that was that. I didn’t need any medical attention, but I was quite shaken up. The guy had the gall to come back days later to look at our mobile phone stock! He was soon arrested and went to prison.

That One Time Those Countless Times I Refused Scratched 360 Discs

Xbox Discs
Image: Gemma Smith / Nintendo Life

Ah, the beloved Xbox 360. It was such a great console, but my goodness, did it have some problems. The one that everyone is more or less aware of is the ‘Red Ring of Death’; a fault in which three of the red lights encircling the power button would light up signifying General Hardware Failure.

Less infamous, however, was the 360's other issue, which had to do with the console being moved while it was turned on (and sometimes even when it was stationary); the apparatus inside could cut a perfect circular scratch into the spinning disc, often rendering it completely unsalvageable.

That didn’t stop people trying to trade them in, though. All the bloody time. It was always parents, too, who would bring in Little Timmy’s game collection and apparently weren’t made aware that they were mostly useless. So, of course, they’d argue, even though the evidence was staring them right in the face. “We were told they all work fine.” Well yes, I’m sure an eight-year-old looking to get a new game is being completely honest, right?

We did have a little machine that would buff up scratched game discs, and it often worked wonders, but when you've got one of those circular scratches from the 360, pretty much nothing's going to solve it. Hmm... Maybe Microsoft should go all-digital, after all?

Nah.

That One Time I Got A GBA SP For Free

GBA SP
Image: Ollie Reynolds / Nintendo Life

In addition to regular customers looking to trade in their personal belongings, we'd often get owners of independent game stores coming in to shore off some of their stock via trade-in. It was a perfectly legitimate way for them to get rid of games or accessories that weren't shifting and swap them for products that they could sell. So I was always happy to help out.

One chap came in quite frequently — so much so that his daughter wound up getting a job at the store and proved to be one of the most efficient team members — and we built up quite a friendship over the years, right up until my GAME branch closed in 2017. He'd often come in with boxes to trade, but it was never a hassle; he was always on top of what they should be worth, so I never felt our time was being wasted.

One day, he came into the store in the run-up to Christmas and simply handed me a Game Boy Advance SP in perfect condition with an accompanying charger.

"You know we don't take these for trade-in anymore, right?" I asked.

"I know. It's yours," he said. He knew that having got rid of my GBA many years prior, I had always wanted to get another one. As a thank you for dealing with him for so long, he took a near-mint SP from his own stock and gifted it to me, no questions asked. I wasn't quite sure what to say. I know the consoles weren't worth a great deal of money — at least they weren't at the time! — but for him to remember that I wanted one in the first place was enough to nearly bring a tear to my eye. I'll never forget him, and I hope his own store is flourishing.

Skylanders
Okay, we know these ones! — Image: Gemma Smith / Nintendo Life

So that's it! Hopefully, you've had as much fun reading these tales as I had writing about them. It's been a fair few years since I worked at GAME and it's safe to say that the company has changed quite a bit in the time since. Despite its issues, I'll always remember my time there fondly — the ups, the downs, the laughs, the frustrations.

Mostly, I'll remember my colleagues, though; folks who, despite what the internet might have you believe, loved video games through and through. Even if they couldn't name all the Skylanders.