Kotaku: Ebgames

3G PlayStation Vita Delayed In Canada [Update]

Luke Plunkett — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 02:00:00 EST

The 3G edition of the PlayStation Vita will be delayed in Canada "due to extensive planning and testing with their 3G partner". More »

Do You Live In the Biggest Video Gaming City In the U.S.?

Brian Crecente — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 11:00:00 EDT

Huntington, New Yorkers spend more than four times the average amount of video games, according to a recent study by credit card spending tracker Bundle. More »

Gamestop Resurrects Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D Trade-In Hopes

Sam Winstrom — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 13:20:00 EDT

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It's hard to describe used copies of Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D as pre-owned when pre-played seems to fit the game so well. Despite the eternal save file, major U.S. retailers are still accepting Mercenaries trade-ins. More »

EB Games Pushing For Changes To Aussie Game Ratings

Luke Plunkett — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST

At the moment, Australia's classification laws are stuck in the stone age. There's support for changes from gamers, of course, but hardcore gamers don't have much in the way of political clout. Multinational companies, however, do. More »

A Call to Arms

Brian Crecente — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:00:00 EST

One of Australia's EB Games asks customers to visit a website to weigh in on the issue of the country's out-dated rating system. More »

Preorder Scribblenauts, Get a Rooster Hat

Brian Crecente — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 10:00:00 EDT

As if the ability to create mayhem and blend zombies with pirates using just the words you write on a screen weren't enough of a reason to pick up DS-bound Scribblenauts, the publishers are throwing in a hat to sweeten the deal. More »

GameStop Sells Played Games As New, Sources Say, Practice Could Be Illegal

Brian Crecente — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 19:21:30 EDT

The alleged practice of GameStop lending new copies of games to employees at their stores and then later selling those games as new, unused copies, may be a violation of federal law. More »

Australian Police Minister Urges People to Report WoW Sales

Brian Crecente — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 16:40:00 EST

The New South Wales Police are asking people to contact them if they see retailers selling World of Warcraft or other massively multiplayer online games. More »

GameStop Makes $1.69 Billion, Names Quarter's Best Sellers

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:00:00 EST

The GameStop corporation happily announced today that its earnings had shot up 5.2% for the quarter ending November 1, with over $1.69 billion in sales. During that quarter GameStop opened 191 new stores, 94 in the United States and 97 internationally. It also snatched up French games retailer Micromania, expanding its influence even further. We hope they bought the protection plan with their Micromania purchase, just in case it gets scratched or... or worse! More »

Ubisoft Re-Releasing Beyond Good & Evil?

Luke Plunkett — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 02:00:00 EDT

Beyond Good & Evil was great, yet largely ignored. There's a sequel coming, but since the first one was - yes - largely ignored, Ubisoft might have an uphill struggle on their hands convincing millions of people that this game is a good idea. So this strategy, while still unconfirmed, certainly makes a lot of sense. A Canadian GAF poster spotted this ad at his local EB Games, advertising a BG&E Greatest Hits reprint for $10. With a release date of September. Like we said, it makes sense, but we're still slightly sceptical; we're already halfway through September and this is the first we hear of it? Kinda defeats the point if you're not marketing it. And with the sequel still possibly years away, why re-release it now? More »

Xbox 360 Hard Drive Gets A Price Cut Too

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:40:00 EDT

Now that the Xbox 360 line-up has been giving a serious price gutting in the US of A, the cuts continue, with the 120GB hard drive seeing a $30 reduction. Previously at $179, it would have been an even harder prospective purchase for anyone picking up a $199 Xbox 360 Arcade. The hard drive add on is now slightly more reasonably* priced at $149 at both EBGames and Amazon. Thanks to Matt for the heads up. More »

EB Canada Offers Hazy Force Unleashed Buyback Guarantee

Mike Fahey — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 10:30:00 EDT

You may remember back in March, when EBGameStop announced a too good to be true buyback program of sorts for the PLayStation 3 title Haze, in which they offered gamers a chance to trade-in the title for full purchase price in case they didn't enjoy the game. Fortunately for GameStop, Ubisoft pulled the emergency brake on that deal, but now GameStop Canada has brought back their gaming guarantee, only this time for a title that might not suck. Players picking up Star Wars: The Force Unleashed within seven days of release have a week to return the title for full-price store credit should they dislike the game, or beat it early. More »

Suspect Arrested In San Antonio EB Murder

Mike Fahey — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 10:20:00 EDT

In January 2007 we reported on the murder of Amber Belken, a 24-year-old EB manager for a San Antonio, Texas area EB Games store. Belken entered her store around 9AM on January 29th, 2007 only be be found dead - suffocated with a plastic bag - around 2PM when EB managers arrived on the scene to see why she hadn't been answering the phone. Now, over a year and a half later, police finally have a suspect in custody. More »

Spore $80 Edition Announced

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:40:48 EDT

Excited about Spore but dismayed by the low dollar specs? Who plays $50 games anymore? Fortunately, EA has upped the ante, giving gaming's upper class snob a more premium Spore buying option, known as the Galactic Edition. In addition to the game, the $80 package comes packed with a "Making of Spore" DVD, a second DVD with the National Geographic Channel's "How To Build A Better Being" video, plus an "Art of Spore" mini-book, a fold-out poster that's already pre-creased and a 100-page "Galactic Handbook." More »

The Gamesman: 100% Kiwi Pwned

Owen Good — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 15:00:00 EDT

Geekpulp is reporting unofficial word that The Gamesman, New Zealand's largest independent gaming store ("100 percent Kiwi-Owned!"), will be consumed by the EB Games empire and rebranded. This comes on the heels of Kiwi-run GamesPlus, which also caved in last year. More »

GameStop President Steve Morgan Resigns

Mike Fahey — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:20:00 EDT

GameStop managers today received an email from CEO Dick Fontaine, informing them that President Steve Morgan would be resigning from the company. Morgan was previously Electronic Boutique's President of Stores-North America and President-Electronics Boutique Canada, appointed to the position of GameStop president during the merger in 2005. The following is paraphrased from said official email, the gist being confirmed by several GameStop managers via telephone conversation.

After 7 productive years with GameStop, Steve Morgan has made the decision to reapply his energy and drive outside out GameStop Steve will officially be leaving the company on May 2nd 2008. Steve has stated from the very first day we discussed his position with our merged company that his goal was to head up a company as a CEO. After two and half very successful years as our President he now feels that the time is right to pursue his objective.

Awww Steve. Follow those dreams. No word on who will be replacing Steve, though I'm sure we'll hear more once GameStop officially announces the resignation. More »

EBGames Try For Teh GTAIV Funnies

Luke Plunkett — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 23:40:00 EDT

Yes, yes, GameStop/EB Games are a cold, soulless, ruthless international corporation. But sometimes, just sometimes, someone gets into their system with a little spark. A sense of what it is to be truly human. That person's started writing up the site's legal disclaimers regarding pre-orders, with their GTAIV notice warning customers they can't be held accountable for their "delivery driver's truck getting stolen". Or, if you've ordered MGS4, any possible "inclement weather or Octocamo malfunctions". Not necessarily funny, just...unexpectedly cute.
More »

Some Guitar Hero Bundles Lack The Bundle

Mark Wilson — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 15:20:58 EST

Apparently some Guitar Hero III bundles are missing the game. As reported by our sister site The Consumerist, an EB Games employee looked on as his manager opened every Xbox 360 GH3 bundle box they had following a customer complaint, finding that none of them had the game inside. More »

EBGames Certainly Pitches The DS In An Odd Way

Mark Wilson — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 14:40:10 EST

"Fun for the whole family." "Nintendo's popular handheld." "Your mom can play Brain Age on it." These are all acceptable descriptions of the Nintendo DS. EBGames of Canada, however, went a different route with their sales pitch More »

PlayStation 3 20GB Now A Pretty Good Deal

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 20:40:00 EDT

It may not have had the damning consumer re-branding of "Tard Pack", but the original entry level model of Sony's PlayStation 3 was unquestionably deemed by PlayStation fans the ugly sister to its chrome-stripped $599 60 GB variant. Now, the 20 GB PlayStation 3, currently in stock at retailers Gamestop/EBgames, is starting to look like a worthwhile purchase at $379 USD. Featuring full backwards compatibility with PlayStation 2 titles, plus four USB ports—perfect for a complete Rock Band set up—the only thing it lacks in comparison to its slightly pricier sister model, the recently announced 40 GB version, is wireless networking out of the box and extra storage space. More »

Mass Effect LE Available Online Only Through EB/GameStop

fdemarco — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 19:00:00 EDT

If you were hoping to waltz into your local EB/GameStop on November 20 and pick up a Mass Effect Limited Edition, it looks like you're out of luck. According to the game retailer's website, the Limited edition will only be available as an online purchase. And I quote: More »

Hob Nob With Castlevania Producer Koji Igarashi

fdemarco — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 12:00:00 EDT

If you live in the Los Angleles area and are fan of the Castlevania series, there is golden opportunity for you to spend some quality time with Castlevania producer Koji Igarashi. To promote the launch of Castlevania X, on the PSP, Mr. Igarashi will be appearing at the Universal City Walk EB Games on Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2007 from 6:00-8:00 P.M. He will be signing autographs and posing for photographs with fans and hopefully he'll be wearing the jaunty hat shown in the photo. More »

Hang With A BioShock Big Daddy Near You

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 18:40:13 EDT

UK game outlet GAME isn't the only retail outlet invaded by BioShock's life-size Big Daddy. A bunch of—okay, maybe just six—Gamestop-owned retail stores will also be hosting the hulking cover stars of 2K Games' first person shooter. The Cult of Rapture site lists all the known locations providing homes to the brute, listed after the jump. More »

Rumor: Alvin and the Consoles

Kim Phu — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 15:40:00 EDT

Good gravy. As if it wasn't bad enough these fools had a Saturday morning timeslot growing up and every year around Christmas time we have to listen to that annoying song ("Last Christmas" by Wham, of course), now there's talk that these squeaky rodents might have a game coming out. EB Games has listings for Alvin and the Chipmunks for Nintendo DS, Wii, PS2, and PC in their database which could mean disaster for anyone's unprotected ear drums. I'm sure there are still some chipmunks fans out there roaming the earth, but it's time to let it go. More »

Pushing Pre-Orders: A Dissection

fdemarco — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 15:00:00 EDT

The BBPS has a great two part article called Exposed: The Ugly Truth Behind Pre-Order Pushing that is quite a good read. Author Xav de Matos managed several EBs and has quite a lot to say, good and bad, about the corporate process and the thinking behind it. More »

The Truth Behind Pre-Orders

Mike Fahey — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 14:28:14 EDT

Xav De Matos over at bits, bytes, pixels and sprites has outed himself as a former EB Games manager, ready to come clean to the atrocities he delivered unto gamers in the name of corporate mandate. In part one of a two-part series, Xav explores the reasoning behind the whole unnecessary pre-order process - why it is so important to employees and corporate that you lay your five dollars on the line for something that will be readily available on release day. I mean seriously, has Madden ever sold out anywhere that mattered? It's an interesting and candid look behind the whole tired business. More »

GameStop Offering 360 Elite Trade-Ups

Mike Fahey — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 11:20:28 EDT

After getting various conflicting answers over the past few days regarding GameStop and EBGames trade-in programs for Xbox 360 owners to upgrade to the soon to be released 360 Elite, it has now been confirmed that they will indeed be offering greater trade-in credit for core, premium, and original Xbox systems to aid the purchase of the shiny new black system. More »

Gamestop Reactivates PS3 Trade In Deal

fdemarco — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 19:00:00 EDT

An anonymous Gamestop tipster has informed us that Gamestop/EB is revisiting their PS3 trade in deal that was available for a short time a few months ago. With your trade in of a fully functioning PS2 with cables and controller, a second Sony PS2 controller and an 8mb Sony PS2 memory card, you will receive $100 dollars off your purchase of a PS3. As the 20 gig Ps3's are no longer readily available (and apparently will no longer be available at all), your trade in will most likely have to go towards the 60 gig version. More »

Digging Up Hidden Treasures At Your Local Game Store

fdemarco — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 19:00:00 EST

Often times it's very easy to find fault with corporate owned game stores. The main complaint with these places usually seem to be their admittedly terrible trade in values and their sometimes inability to fill pre-orders. But, there is a flip side to the coin as well. It's not uncommon that you'll turn up that game you've been looking for forever at a pretty reasonable price. Or you might find a game that you got rid of a while ago and wished you hadn't. And sometimes, if you're really lucky, you'll stumble across a game you didn't even realize you wanted, but the price makes it impossible to turn down. More »

EB Disses PSP

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 17:30:21 EST

Daaaaaamn. "Trade the Past... Play the Future"? That's pretty cold, EB. This image, courtesy of GAF member "Testicular Sound Express", clearly shows that the GameStop Corp-owned retailer loves the Nintendo DS Lite. More »

Canadians Get An EB Site To Call Their Own

fdemarco — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 19:00:00 EST

Sometime in the last few weeks, Gamestop has snuck in put up an EBGames.com website for our brothers and sisters in the fair land Canada. Formerly, Canadians wishing to order from the online retailer had to do their purchasing form the U.S. website and unfortunately, they still have to. More »

GameStop's Full Page USA Today Ad

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 19:20:22 EST

The GameStop corporation ran a full page ad in today's USA Today touting the company's policy of refusing to sell M-rated video games to anyone under the age of seventeen. The policy, which is now enforced via very extreme measures, is aimed at keeping violent and sexually explicit content out of the hands of kids... and GameStop Corp. out of the courts next time some yahoo files suit against them. More »

EB Games Prices Are Insane

Mike Fahey — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 13:40:16 EST

While the prices you find on the used shelves at EB Games and GameStop generally follow no logical pattern whatsoever other than the whimsy of a man in an office somewhere who was never played a video game in his life, this one is just ridiculous. It's bad enough some of us paid $3.99 for the Burger King games, especially now that they've dropped down to $.99. Now EB comes along and wants to charge double original retail price for a used copy of Pocketbike Racer? More »

EB Clerk Murdered

Brian Crecente — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 08:52:46 EST

A San Antonio EB Games Clerk ws found dead in the store Monday afternoon, police there said. More »

EB/Gamestop Offers $100 PS2 Trade-In Credit

fdemarco — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 15:00:12 EST

EB/Gamestop is offering a hundred dollars credit towards any PS3 system with the trade in of your old PS2. Surprisingly, unlike most EB/Gamestop deals, you are not required to trade in any games, but you must have all of the following items; A working PS2 system including all appropriate cords and controller, a second PS2 controller and any brand 8mb PS2 memory card. The offer is good through Feb. 18. More »

Tales From Retail Hell

fdemarco — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 13:00:08 EST

An EB Games employee known only as DC has whipped up a really great webcomic about the trials and tribulations of working at one of the world's largest game retailers. The art style is simple and cute and the story is dead on. More »

Giant Link Statue Spotted In Vancouver

fdemarco — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 11:00:17 EST

Kotakuite Landon L. had read yesterday's story about Nintendo of Canada's life size Link statue sweepstakes and, I'm sure, desperately desired to have the stationary hero all to himself. As he was walking through the streets of Vancouver, he happened upon an EB Games that was displaying a giant Link statue right in their front window. Despite being hassled by employees for snapping this photo with his phone, he was able to escape down the street with his prize and send it off to us here. More »

How Should Game Ratings Be Explained To Parents?

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 21:20:00 EST

Excuse me for this aside, but I had an experience during my Christmas shopping that I found somewhat troubling and I wanted to get your thoughts. This experience, while brief and seemingly innocent, I couldn't stop replaying. More »

EB/Gamestop FF XII CE Price Drop

fdemarco — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 15:00:46 EST

EB/GameStop's latest newsletter brings us news of some interesting price drops just in time for the holidays. The EB/Gamestop exclusive Final Fantasy XII Collector's Edition has dropped from $59.99 to $49.99 making it the same price as the plain-Jane edition. The Collector's Edition comes in the requisite fancy metal box, and includes: More »

The Midtown Atlanta EB Midnight Wii Launch

fdemarco — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 01:36:41 EST

So, I made it back safe, sound and without incident from my midnight Wii launch. I've set the Wii up, done the software updates and created my first Mii. Now, while my roommate is making his Mii I'm going to take some time to jot down what happened. More »