"...but if you're going to go to all the trouble to hold up a game store and take the time to make the clerk go in the back and get you a PS3, wouldn't you probably load up on other stuff too?"

Because there's no actual merch on the floor.

A few years back, my local Funcoland was broken into in the middle of the night (the robbers broke a large pane of glass and walked in) and robbed blind... of its gutted game cases. They took every new game off the shelves in the front of the store and left everything behind the counter intact.

Sucked for the dudes at Funco, they had to make dummy cases for for almost everything and discount it all 10%.

Backward_Z

Arma

KentKarma

xrobx

Good thing though, the manager at the GamStop here is way to nice a person to be robbed.

Gigith

mergedwarrior

@zegota:
While not an exact adress, the article does state it's in the south 1000s on Stapley. See map here.

BPMο

wonderwes

EnigmaNemesis

Haha, thought you might get a kick out of it. ^_^;;

@salmon8:

Getting hours like that is the same throughout the company. In general, the more hours you want to schedule...the more you've gotta sell/perform. No DM can really "stand up" to get hours from their area VP's. It's a plain ol' "work your ass off and it still may not pay off" type of a thing.

@Ra_on_the_Moon:

All of the locations here in the greater Seattle area do NOT have actual cameras. On occasion, the fake ones are mounted.

As for hours for closing, I ran a low-goal, metropolitan location and there was NO way in hell I ever truly had enough hours to be able to have 2 or more closers on more than one night of the week (sans the Holidays). Simply impossible. Some districts just get lucky I suppose...

djgil

... Not that I would know.

RPharazonius

Yeah, I could totally see Mario whipping out a desert eagle and putting it to the skull of some dude trying to steal Barbie's Horse Riding Adventures.

Ignatius

Might have to steal it several times, you might get faulty guitars.

Ignatius

y2julio

This whole situation is just sick. It might be one thing to close in a mall store alone, where the worst is getting overrun by families with six kids. Closing alone in a strip center is just an invitation for trouble. GS needs to man up and realize they cant staff their stores like a busted gas station.

Zensation

Hope it was worth it prick.

liqideos

Scazza

It makes absolutely no sense to me why they would want cash from a fucking GameStop, because we barely have any.
The only fortune to be found lies within taking the systems we have, which also is never too many.

The best thing is, these guys are probably already caught or will be within a week, because when I got robbed, Private Detectives had pictures of all 3 robbers one week later and I testified against them and put them in jail.

Anyway, it's pretty cool that this got posted on here, I'm glad it received some attention. The store manager actually kept his cool for the rest of the day and worked it out, I would have taken the day off, haha.

Cheers

ScreechSkater

PSN: Lp47

Altima NEO

Beelzebozo

I'm sure Gamestop could afford the security guards atleast, because they're fucking rich! And just to keep the atmosphere friendly, they could all dress up as video game mascots.

StevenRafael

Billkwando

Thats again why its funny they only grabbed a PS3 and not a bunch of games, the games would be much easier to turn back in to cash, it really suggests they specifically wanted a PS3....or, the more sinister possibility, they came for Wiis and took the PS3....this time.

@djgil: I had to LOL at "our Esteemed Colleague DAIMACCULATE" even as I greatly appreciated the props :)

DaiMacculate

sobjw

OT79

Serious advice to follow. Take the counseling, start not showing up for work, and be honest...say you don't feel safe working there. Maybe they fire you, or maybe they give you some cash, but working in a game store is a high-risk environment these days. Start looking for work elsewhere.

You don't need the stress.

And I believe it is true that once you've been robbed you're more likely to get robbed again. The job can't possibly be worth it.

Islandkiwi

icebomb

SSJPabs

zegota

no surprise there.

joelface

Can't say it's all that surprising considering the level of "intelligence" that exists in the Metro Phoenix area.

Been hearing way too many stories about this chain getting robbed, it might as well be a 7-11.

mva5580

salmon8

@sobjw: Agreed. I think it is fucking sick that the higher-ups and suits are willing to sacrifice their employees safety by having only ONE person close, all for the sake of saving a few bucks for such a huge company. I'd like to see a few of the execs/board members who relegate these shifts work a few nights alone in a seedy part of town.

NinjaBurg3r

Ra is on That 70s Show

Dauragon C. Mikado

sobjw

Trowble (XBL/PSN)

It was robbed at least twice that summer, and talking to other store managers in the metro area, they said a lot of reps refused to visit the store because of the location- total racist hogwash.

The sign posted in the window after the store closed was priceless- I snapped a picture of it for posterity. It read: "This gamestop is now CLOSED! This location will NEVER be open again" and my favorite thing- "Do not knock or pull. Do not ask any questions"

Gee, thanks.

Mega-Driven

Glad to hear that you're okay. I'll echo what has already been said on here. Do what you can to make yourself feel better.

dead_red_eyes

Papa Midnight

Papa Midnight

Papa Midnight

Destrudo

HD porn -- I've read that porn stars often have really bad skin (everywhere, I guess? ewww.) and so it looks gross when you can see it that close. Apparently the plastic surgery scars show up in HD too. You have to use different, more expensive and time-consuming makeup for HD to make people look good and your average porno doesn't spend much time or money.

I'm sure there's guys out there who get turned on by bimbos with serious acne and horrific fake-boob-implant scars, but I have faith in my fellow Kotaku-ites that they have better taste than that and they like pretty girls. ;)

Evil Tortie's Mom

jasoncourt

MetaKz

Lyner

KM91

kaiesis

Oh INEEEEEEEEED good sir!

@ReidP:

Man, sorry to hear about what happened with you!!

[GameStop corporate hears about the incident]

Home Office Girl: ZOMG, one of our stores was robbed @ gunpoint!
Home Office Dude: Well...? What did they take?
Girl: 4 PS3's, 4 360's and a ton of software product! Should we call the cops?
Dude: Fuck no....call the insurance company! QUICKLY!

[Monday morning conference call]

DM: Good afternoon everyone...
Managers: hhheeeyyy.....
DM: So I heard about what happened last week...
Managers: .......what are we supposed to do?
DM: Watch every person in the store. If that doesn't work and you're being robbed, give 'em what they'll want. They definately will now think you are an easy target and has a 70% chance of returning to your store to try it again, but this time for more stuff and will try bolder tactics. Sound good guys? Okay, here are your budget numbers for the week
Manangers: ........................... >ulp<

djgil

The Shape

Actually they stole the PS3 because they heard ADV films are exclusively making anime blueray dvd's cuz we all know otaku are the most likely to hold a innocent person at gunpoint when it comes to Japaneses merchandise

king0v10GU

JOAT

Raynre

I might seem bitter, but I had a gun pointed at my face Thursday, and the entire incident is considered a LP issue.

ReidP

Robber #1: What should we rob?
Robber #2: A Gamestop, we can get a PS3 too.
Robber #1: Why do we want a PS3?
Robber #2: Because I've seen the commercials for it. It can float off the ground, so we won't even need a getaway car!
Robber #1: Sweet!

(After the robbery)
Robber #1: It's not floating us to safety!
Robber #2: Maybe it needs to be plugged in!
Robber #1: Wait, we're saved! There's a bus stop up ahead!
Rober #2: Oh noes, I do not have exact change!

(end)

Ah....that was fun and pointless.

Islandkiwi

I personally have been robbed, smash-n-grabbed, attacked & SHOT AT enough times to not be surprised by events like these. They truly all boil down to location/neighborhood. For EB Games, I worked mall locations which were naturally very secure and in a very high-end shopping center as our esteemed collegue, DAIMACCULATE mentioned.

But the demographics always say, "put the stores near the families". Gaming has become so mainstream I can locally (Seattle & areas) head on down to a 7-11 and pick up a copy of Halo 3 if need be. And this trend will always bring out the worst in people by providing more opprotunity for them to commit a crime.

Two things I feel can help reduce hearing about these kinds of stories:

1) Security. Alot of mall or lot locations simply don't have it or it's just not adequate. Store managers (with their DM's & possibly higher-up's help) need to get property owners to realize that crimes like this on their lots will de-value it in the eyes of other renters...and more so, customers. No customers? Retailer leaves. No good retailers? Property owners lose $$$.

2) In-Store training. Everytime something like this occurred in my district of stores, regardless of the company I was working for, put very little effort into actual PREVENTION. Or even actual assertion into employees that things were safe. All it broke down to were lame little topics @ meetings or conference calls. And that just doesn't cut it. They need to train and be educated on deterring these crooks. I implemented my own steps @ EVERY store I worked in after learning my lessons. And if there are any managers/assistants out there in Kotaku-land reading, you should encourage the same. No location is really safe. See: [kotaku.com]

Sorry for taking up SO much posting space as this is most likely a waste of time to my fellow Kotakuites. But I respect the retail level, and moreso the people who work there, in our world of gaming. But I just felt I had to chime my more-than-two-cents.

That...and PS3's ARE fuckin' heavy.

djgil

Anyway, all kidding aside. It's sad to see that this is probably going to be more common as time goes by. We're going to have to start watching ourselves at night when going to the local GameBrothel.

First Cooking Mama at MLB Spring Training, now this. What's happening to my home?

Destrudo

ReidP

I'm glad I work in a mall instead of a strip store. And I'm SURE that the reason the PS3 was stolen instead of anything else, was because they were out of Wii's, 360's and DS's, as we have been since Christmas.

ServiceMaster

ReidP

"The two men had apparently been casing the store..."

And this is the problem: Gamestops are, on the whole, pretty damned easy to "case", as they attract all sorts of 'unsavory' and antisocial types who can loiter and just look like they're there for the same basic reasons as the yammering and stammering, hygenically-challenged geeks. It's also safe to say that they get more than their share of part-time employees who do the casing for their more, um, brazen compatriots. The honest employees, on the other hand, don't exactly deter theft by their mere presence, either.

Also, is it me, or is there a higher 'thug interest' correlation with PlayStations than any of their competitors' consoles? Does Sony have Chad Warden to largely thank for that??

jollydwarf

bluesquareapple

Though I suppose it'd depend on the quality of this HD porn as well. I'm not really a connoisseur of such things.

Ampillion, Dayman. Fighter of the Nightman.

Lstormy10

as long as your don't kill someone, you've already robbed them you might as well get your jail-times worth. now if you kill them you might as well pull your pants down, spread 'em outside and pray to god you get the death penalty ;)

Zaos

--

Hmm... I think I know where that GameStop is...
Although, someone should've told them the good one (the 60GB model) is no longer in production. I guess the 80GB one's okay, too.

BPMο

KYLE_ELYK

It's appropriate that you write "kthxbye", as your ass has now been banned. Haha!

This whole GameStop robbery fiasco is insane!!! They're truly becoming more and more like 7-11 everyday. I wouldn't want to work there, that's for sure.

dead_red_eyes

Gospel X

No, you're wrong.

Mpalm.

Jamaicangmr

Tzero7

pcgecko85

Unlocked everyone in Brawl!

/shudder.

Ampillion, Dayman. Fighter of the Nightman.

Well, because Uncharted is the only game for PS3 AMIRITE?!HAHA

Seriously, if the coveting of the console tells us something, it's that when the price goes down low enough and games start coming out exclusively for it, it'll sell like gangbusters.

BlackDove

fragdurarsh

Yeah, I'm not surprised at this, while I'm not specifically saying "they asked for it", being a pawn-style operation and operating in some of the shopping centers where I've seen them located recently is going to expose you to more risk of this. They should either resurrect the EB brand or create another "premium" brand of store that they can put in high-end shopping outlets with better security (not that there aren't some GS stores in nice malls now, but even more so) and close some of these stores.

Because then we can further enforce the fortress-ghetto dynamic in our society, which we all know is really productive :P

DaiMacculate

GUNDAM-RX-78-2

Ampillion, Dayman. Fighter of the Nightman.

Though i don't usually laugh at console jokes... that gave me a chuckle. Good work.

Mpalm.

Dudemeister

Elixir

If they are on foot, well then a get-away-car would be handy. Hasn't any of their Grand Theft Auto games taught them how to steal properly? I pity the future of criminals.

DELICIOUS BUNNY

Get over yourself dude. I guess you havent attained enough common sense to realize that i was merely pointing out that of other videogame news that can be displayed, its yet another go go robber man. And yes, I know they crack on any system. Insert Atari joke here. kthxbye.

Wildarmsjecht

littletad

I hate hearing these stories. It just reminds you that you have a bunch of douchebags are out there who don't want to make a living like the rest of us.

zeruel

tehFluffz

MoeB

Ampillion, Dayman. Fighter of the Nightman.

icepick314

Seita

@Gadgetron: Dear Pats fans, "players" is not capitalized.

New England educational system = mediocre.

njhardcoreguy

Wildarmsjecht

LittleBigPlaneteer

ca$h

ChewyChew

People these days.

sUKi

Gadgetron