Trusted brand? TalkTalk Broadband repeatedly voted worst ISP? Bad customer service? Do me a lemon.

Fair point but you are talking about Broadband and if you ask most subscribers they will have a problem with their provider. Funnily enough I am with Talk Talk and can't complain no problems thus far (Touch wood). However when it comes to games you never know they could shake things up. We'll have to wait and see I guess

@1:

I believe they are trying to say that their "Best Buy" brand is a trusted brand.

Here's hoping that we'll get some serious competition with their arrival, we in Europe end up paying close to double what the US does, so here's hoping for some major price cuts. I doubt it, but one can hope.

Finally, if they are true in there word,it will certainly stop this GAME and Gamestation idiocricy. I hate buying from them so much, games cost too much in the UK and it's holding the industry back, £40 is about $80 THAT IS WRONG. £25 and where talking...

Indeed, they're really ruffling some feathers, this can only be a good thing.

"We think that European customers currently get a pretty bad deal, with poor service and pricing".

Whilst I can't complain about service, I'd agree with the pricing. They really can't say something like without stepping up and substantiating it... This should kick start a price war! Too bad it wont start til sometime in 2009...

Ha I doubt they'd sell games for less here than in the US. If they retailed for about £30-£35 then perhaps online retailers will drop prices to below £30

@4

You don't really think the U.K price point is down to Game?

I think you'll find that the publishers set the price. So Best Buy can either go with Games pricing, or the margin free world of the supermarkets.

i wish best but would stay the **** out of this country. all they do is muscle out the smaller business! i'm sticking my middle finger up at you right now best buy! go **** yourself!

i do feel for you all, having to pay double than us in the US, £ 30-35 should be enough. The publishers do set price, and they have they're work cut out. games arrive late and overpriced mainly due to all the different languages in the EU. You have the english versions, then spanish, french, german, swedish, honistly i don't know them all, but have read this IS the BIG factor in release dates and price. My advise would be to import if it's cheaper, though that really bit some in the rare with the CoD4 map pack.

p.s. as leader of clanZephyr on the PSN i have members in the UK and Ireland, and this is an honest concern of mine that we discuss quite often.

I'm guessing a lot of the readers here are customers and not suppliers. This may be a good thing for you but the small stores simply will not be able to compete. It's no good the high street stores slashing prices if suppliers don't cut theirs for the smaller stores.

Often is the case where a big store like a supermarket will sell a game at a cheaper price than a small store can buy a copy. Supermarkets can afford loss leads as they sell so many other types of goods, but for a small indie who only sells games, this isn't good.

Ehhh, that'd be £1.1b (good old pounds sterling), not dollars.

Wow. New shop arrives with a statement of how we are all getting a raw deal from the current market. They are so right, in fact they are so right that now i'm going to run to them to "save" me from this harsh world of videogame buying . .

. . or NOT - they are gna charge the same price or maybe even pull a HMV and sell a game for 3p cheaper, does it really matter. They are a business so their goal is to make money, and any business knows that you don't sell a game for £20 when you could sell it for £40 and people will still buy it. Same raw deal ... different sales assistant :(

@12

There's no chance they'll back up their BOLD statement by only reducing game prices by a marginal amount (pence rather than pounds). Can you imagine?

"You guys have a raw deal with the price of games, here have 7p off, better?"

Their entry strategy is all about pricing, that's why they've said the above. Best Buy will come in to directly compete with the big outlets (like supermarkets), bad news for indies, good news for us. So I turn it around on you:

"Any customer knows; why pay £40 for a game when you can pay £20"

(i'm not suggesting you can pick up new release PS3 games for £20, but low price will ultimately draw in the masses.)

@13

Surely your closing statement agrees with Ka0znrky, that they will be unable to slash the price of new releases.

I personally doubt they will be able to match the supermarkets prices on games, they won't have the ability sell games at cost as your not really likely to buy a new T.V whilst your there, in the way you might do your weekly shopping whilst in Asda picking up a cheap game.

@15

Ka0znrky was saying as a 'retailer' why sell games for £20 when you can sell for £40. I was saying as a 'consumer' why pay £40 when you can pay £20, similar but not the same.

Also think of your target market, supermarkets are convenient sure, but how many of the core demographic do things like weekly grocery shopping and therefore are alot more likely to use a gaming retailer than a supermarket. I personally think they'll combine supermarket prices with a gaming store environment, a potential winner... who knows?

I agree with your point as obviously I'll pay £20 instead of £40. My point is that I don't believe they are going to "save us".

I don't believe BestBuy will come in and undercut other stores by a noteable amount simply because they don't have to. Why would they eat into their profit margin when most consumers will go and buy the game whether its at £30 or £40 (for example). GAME have always been overpriced in their games (other than EA titles) yet they still sell incredibly well. If they sold them cheaper they would still sell but it doesn't make good business sense to do that.

@12

What I'd like to know is, how many people will happily accept the same 'raw deal' in favour of the 'different sales assistant' if the different sales assistant is a really good one that makes you feel comfortable parting with your cash and invites you to come back because he's given you really good service?

No jokes on the 'given you really good service' comment please guys.

;)

@18: lol the last line is very tempting.

I worked in GAME. People accept raw deals quite happily as long as you are helpful and attentive to them. The problem isn't with Best Buys staff who don't determine the prices (and who will be the same as any other store, some good and some not so good).

The problem is that Best Buy are pulling a PR stunt to try and make us feel they are on our side but once xmas hits they are going to be just like every other store.

As a former bussiness man, i will tell you that if you offer a much lower price than all your competitors, you will do much more bussiness. i did very well for myself though my competition hated me, let them hate, they're custermors let them know I did better bussiness, and they let they're friends know that too