"Sainsbury’s DVD and games buyer Gurdeep Hunjan hinted that more hardware offers could follow: “We’re certainly looking to make a big impact on hardware, and we will continue to back that side of the market moving towards Christmas. Our promotion went really well. It is early days for us, and we are only just testing the market.”

I am not sure how you measure that "Our promotion went very well" when every indie and specialist store went and bought your cheap hardware.

Oh, by the way, thanks very much, I have four cheap 360's and Wii's to sell now, which will go nicely with the cheap FIFA's I also picked up from supermarkets.

Tell me again how this increases your profits? :o)

nice one, i agree when you have no support from suppliers, you have to do what ever to turn a profit,

I picked up 6 Wii's & 4 360's then bought my milk & coffee from my local independent store cheers.
your promotion made you nothing except pissing off the 2 people complaining that you didn't have stock on my way out as i had bought them all ha ha.

What a joke... a "successful" promotion?? Please stick to selling milk and bread - you will probably have to after the suppliers strangle stock of H/W to you..

Sainsburys DID gain from this and anyone who thinks otherwise is thinking one dimensionally.

She talks about offering her customers the best possible deal. How exactly can she do that when she stops regular customers from buying a cheap console from Sainsburys when all her staff are buying them for her, then she'll sell them on at a nice £30 profit!

I'll be watching to see whether GAME's deals on hardware improve after their blitz on Sainsburys....not holding my breath

Game sucks for yet another reason. Not letting people buy consoles at a discounted price.

I'm not going to go into the other reasons they suck, but I've got them all listed in my blog. Read it and you may never want to go to Game again...well at least if you live around my area anyway:

http://screwattack.com/node/2199

So there you go suppliers, even GAME think you charge rip off prices for your games and consoles.

It does not matter if you like or hate GAME
the actions taken highlight the stupidity of selling goods below cost and that damage it could cause our industry long term
And for that reason alone they deserve your support

Finally.. someone here who's talking sense. Its the huge supermarkets that are killing this industry, not your local game shop. It's amazing the amount of people who decide to chip in their own pennys worth when they have no understanding of what this price slashing is doing.

It's not the first time Game have done this. I remember years ago when I used to work for them we went to Woolworths to buy up all their cheap PS2s and them sold them as 'Manager's Specials'.

game have sunk to a new low. How do we expect to get the staff to be friendly and helpful when their CEO openly supports the cut throat tactics seen here. Game have consistently been getting worse in terms of service for many years. gamestation (also owned by Game) have been better but that is slowly changing too. Another reason for me to use eshops for my gaming purchases. In terms of support why should we support a chain that forced people to by bundles at xbox 360 launch, or will go on to make a bigger profit come christmas from regular people trying to make ends meet in the current financial climate. I have not seen any support from Game for the Uk gaming market or it's customers.

Much as I do have sympathy with indies who can't compete with loss-leading discounts at supermarkets, there's no way this sort of tactic of rival stores buying up discounted stock to then resell at a higher price should be allowed to continue. In fact, I'm astonished Sainsbury's, Morrisons et al haven't imposed a "one per customer" rule on these discounted items.

Discounts are great, but if they're not reaching the intended market (i.e. regular consumers who will also do a weekly shop when they pick up their Wii), what's the point?

@13. Why shouldn't it be allowed to continue??? You can't have your cake and eat it fella. You want supermarkets into a business where they don't really belong to sell stuff cheaper and that means it is free game. If a competitor jumps on the stock then fair play to them. Everyone talks about capitalism etc is a good thing for supermarkets to try and put people out of business but when an industry specialist (you know, the ones that actually brought this industry to where it is in retail) fights back you don't like it???

I am sorry but it makes no sense. One rule for supermarkets to pillage and sod the rest of us. We have just adapted to the market like so many people on here have told us to do and if disstributors gave these companies a good price in the first place then they wouldn't have to go to supermarkets and nick your stock.

Personally I applaud any indies and GAME for doing this. It'll completely skew the data on sales and market share but I think it needs to happen for the good of the business.

@ Gazzara
"Where they don't belong"?
What planet do you live on - oh, I forgot, the one where independents continue to bemoan their lack of support as a reason for screwing their customers, and Game monopolise the high street and screw the customer in doing so.
The whole bloody lot of you deserve to die out, selling second hand stock as brand new, offering poor customer service, "Comet" style sales techniques and over priced goods. The sooner the online market makes your business non-viable, the better.

@14

As I say, I completely understand where indies are coming from. It's a completely nonsense that supermarkets are now cheaper places to get stock from than genuine distributors. It makes a nonsense of the whole industry.

But... with my consumer hat on, I'd be really annoyed at seeing staff from rival shops walking out with armfuls of discounted goods only to put them up for sale on their shelves at full price. It's not dissimilar from those people who buy up loads of new consoles at launch to sell them for a premium on ebay. *As a consumer*, it just feels like the rules of the game are being broken.

The one positive thing that may come for indies out of this is that once the Supermarkets realise these tactics are just feeding their competitors and not really getting more genuine punters through the door doing their weekly shop, things might get back to normal and we can all enjoy some proper competition on a level playing field.

cheap stock, is cheap stock, i dont care where it comes from, you cant expect shops to stand by while other stores sell the same items for less than the price the supplier sells at, sorry if this looks bad, but if your were in business you would do the same, this wont stop until publishers do something, and as for 1 per customer, tesco only let you have 3 games per person, so i go up with 8 mates and clear them out on each promotion i want,

Game and Gamestation buy up all the discounted Wii from Sainsbury and then they sell it off for normal price.
That means we customers loose out. And game and gamesation GAIN.They are so selfish especilly the CEO of GAME, what a bitch.

(You know, the ones that actually brought this industry to where it is in retail)

Well naff off to whence you came then.

Because the retail games industry is rubbish as it stands. The gloating I read on this site and the bullying of consumers and gamers who don’t work in the industry is further evidence of the arrogance many in retail chains have.

The viewing and readership of this site has gone up, possibly due to the economy where maybe people have lost jobs and have time to spend blogging and also possibly because the consumer is waking up to how money and goods are being messed around with by greedy people.

Yes the supermarkets did use tactics and undersold, but all good for the consumer (no doubt it was short term). The gloating from game retail was very unwise and will and is backfiring on you all!

In a week when pretty much anyone who had a bank account with money in it lost faith in the banks, bank managers and are going to struggle to eat and keep a roof over their heads, are not going to have any sympathy for the fact that a chain is struggling, and behaving like a child. We are all struggling!

I will be telling all my friends and colleagues about how pompous you are and recommend they buy games and consoles form independent shops and supermarkets this Xmass! (Maybe you should have just shut up this time!).

The reason I see Game's actions as being wrong is that as far as I am aware, Sainsbury's didn't get a special deal from the distributors, Microsoft or Nintendo. They decided to lose money in the hope shoppers would purchase other things (like 3 extra games, 2 controllers and a trolley full of groceries) and make the money up elsewhere.

Game could easily subsidise their own console prices by increasing prices elsewhere or by stocking other products (a bigger range of 2nd hand games, more game figurines, game posters etc). Instead if thinking about how to increase their own product line, achieve better sales and gain extra custom they just decide to block legitamate customers of Sainsburys buying goods they are intitled to.

The Supermarkets may be big and powerful now but they weren't always like that - it took some clever thinking and good business practice - this shows that the men in suits at Game are just glorified retail store managers and can't come up with anything to keep their business afloat for the next ten years. Stealing from the consumer will only bring Game's inevitable downfull come sooner.

You stupid idiots... if Sainsbury sold a lot of cut price XBOX 360s and Wii's, ebay will be saturated with them. HA HA HA... Bloody stupid idiots... dumb dumb ****s...

@ 16 - pick your toys and dummy up fella and grow up. Who says that Indies etc do not have online businesses. If you think they don't you are pretty naive.

@ 20 - I totally agree that this industry has gone to the dogs and the main reason, I feel, is that there is no stabilisation there at all and that comes right down the chain. One rule for one group, another rule for other players. I mean even release dates get pushed all over the place, something that doesn't happen in other sectors. It can be pretty rediculous.

@ KB - I totally understand where you are coming from fella as a consumer but, and I know this sounds like a stuck record, the industry in the state it is in has forced this sort of thing to happen. The thing is these things will never stop until a precedent is set from the top of the pile and filters down. If supermarkets cap their units per customer Game, GS and Indies will just go in with friends and families and buy the stock up anyway.

It is really a 2 pronged thing. 1. to buy stock cheaper than disties will sell for (common business sense) and 2. To try and protect the pricing on the product. If indies etc could get the stock at prices that were reasonable there would not be the need really for pre-owned as they would make a good enough profit margin on their product. As they do not they have to deviate from the norm to survive. I also understand that the credit crunch has hit people really hard so people need to buy cheap but long term I feel that games will just be more expensive if the smaller guys and specialists do nothing to try and stop this pricing nonsense.

“I feel, is that there is no stabilisation there at all and that comes right down the chain.”

Absolutely, and find it astonishing and worrying how this very message is intrinsic to the problems within the global economy that has obviously entered the mentality of street level trading and supplying of no matter what goods.

CEO’s need to be shot publically. And regulation we once had needs to be reinstated. No need for over regulation of any market just lets return to a sensible model we once had, and work from that. At present we are all free falling!

"I mean even release dates get pushed all over the place, something that doesnt happen in other sectors"

This does happen in other sectors, from car manufacturing through to the movie industry, one recent high profile example of this was the harry potter film which was pushed back from november to summer next year, and from what i read it cost EA quite a bit.

What I find wrong with this is that GAME are telling the public that they are ripping us off by stealing stock from genuine consumers in Sainsbury and then marking it up in their stores!! Mind you anyone who pays GAME's prices must be stupid for shopping there in the first place!!

@DJ - i am glad we agree on something, lol

After reading this, all I can say after this which no matter what anyone says I think is "underhand" is that I along with a whole host of my friends will make sure we boycott the local Indies just for doing this.

What you all seem to be missing here is its the Supermarkets with the low prices keeping the industry alive FULL STOP

Using the consoles as an example although this applies to the games as well...........With peoples pockets being stretched by Mortgage rates, domestic bills in general, fuel prices etc they don't have the extra say £30. For most people its not a choice of oh well Sainsburyes have sold out I'll go pay £30 more from my local indie it becomes oh well I can't afford that now and they won't buy one. TELL ME realisticly exactly how that helps the industry at all.

Im sorry I am in the retail sector and have exactly the same problems but all I can see Is if things like this continues the games industry we all love so much and are trying to protect is just gonna get hurt and die, then where will you all be. Not laughing at the Sainsburys who still have customers thats for sure.

Why don't the supermarkets get clever and insist that a Game purchase is only permitted with a £40 grocery shop, Sainsbury's have done it with Petrol before so why not games too?

What's the betting that Game is still selling these at the full retail price when they should be "Preowned" Makes you think doesn't it?

Anti-Competetive behaviour like this should be looked at by the competitions commision as GAME have surely broken some sort of legislation by doing this.

@Gazzera

Throughout my time in the industry and since leaving it, the one consistent thing has been the whining of the independent. Less buying power, less stock depth and less ability to adapt to an ever changing market meant they were always the underdog and struggling to survive.

They're also always the first ones to shout about how the consumer needs to support them while the big boys bury them.

So, to argue that the indepedent is doing the right thing by removing consumer choice from the market place on the one hand, and then to inevitably bemoan the lack of consumer choice at some point in the not so distant future, you simply expose the hypocrisy of the situation.

GAME hoovering up all the stock and selling it as new is simply an abuse of power.

The retail videogame industry is in tatters and its last vantage point - that of second hand games - is becoming increasingly under attack by the publishers themselves.

You would all do well to work together and with your customers to build loyalty, rather than enforce it through car boot sale tactics.

Oh, I'm also plenty grown up thanks, "fella". I'm also perfectly aware of the online retail space. I bet it's all doing a great trade against Tesco Jersey and Play, eh? Bit more difficuly to pull this kind of stunt in that environment.

@ Gazzera

Sorry, just read the bit where you argue you're doing it to protect the consumer!

Thanks for that, how about asking next time?

Morons the thing you forget is Sainsbury's were only doing this for a week - if you think that everyone in the country was going to be buying them and selling them on eBay then you are the one who is being stupid.

It is actually people who would be looking for units as Christmas presents that will be affected by Game's tactics. I was planning on buying a 360 as I dont' have one, but they're all sold out - I wasn't going to sell it on eBay.

How is Game buying them all helping me get one at the price I can afford? Or to that matter, stopping them being sold on eBay. Most people with intentions like that could only buy 2 or 3 units to sell on ebay (with cash flow), Game can send employees with limitless funds coz it's backed up by the head office and 58 million sitting in the coffers.

Game and independents were not going to go out of business with one week of discounts from the supermarkets, even if the units were given away free with a packet of crisps.

Agree with 33...tried to find a 360 from 5 local Sainsburys stores the day after deal announced. All gone.

Disappointing enough, but to find out that GAME took a load....well....I will now make a point of NOT getting one from GAME, no matter what....

IF anything Sainsbury's have become another Distributor to the Independent Sector and if anything this breaks Gems Exclusive Distribution rights for Xbox in the UK.

At the end of the day Sainsbury's knew this would stir things up and they decided to go ahead to try and gain market share - this is surely where the abuse of power is as other businesses couldnt possibly do a promotion as big as this at a loss.

If anyone should do anything it should be Gem and Microsoft as Sainsbury's have introduced themselves as a supplier.

I wonder what Microsoft and Nintendo are thinking about a major UK retailer stopping consumers getting their hands on their consoles. After all, the lion's share of the money from is made on the games, not the hardware.

This action by Game Group has merely taken a group of potential new customers, who would be buying games, and turned this into stock on shelves of a greedy retailer.

''What you all seem to be missing here is its the Supermarkets with the low prices keeping the industry alive FULL STOP''

If in future your happy to buy your games only from a supermarket as a normal impulse buy such as your weekly shopping then keep spouting that tripe, as thats exactly what will happen. This may be fine for your average joe consumer but have you ever tried stopping an assistant in a supermarket and asking them about the latest releases, if they can pre-order a certain game. Good luck trying. Supermarkets don't give a rats ass about the industry, they just put the consoles at a loss leading price to entice customers into the store - once your in they don't care as its money in the bank because the likelyhood is your going to go there to do your weekly shopping too.

Supermarkets need to take their finger and shove it in someone elses pie, as they're helping grease the hole that this industry is sliding down.

SetoChaos YOU ARE A **** AND YOUR BLOG IS CRAZY!! WHY DO YOU MOAN ABOUT GAME, BUT STILL SHOP THERE. ALSO YOUR RANTING ABOUT BEING ABLE TO RETURN ITEMS FOR A CASH REFUND FOR UPTO A YEAR IS MADNESS. IF THIS CRAZY LAW EXISTED SURELY EVERYONE WOULD RETURN EVERYTHING THEY BOUGHT AFTER 11 MONTHS. ****!

Has anyone stopped to ask why Sainsburys chose not to run the promotion on PS3? They ran on Wii and 360 but not PS3. Was that due to the higher price point on PS3, or did Sony block it...? Interesting to get some views...

Its funny how on this website there are a number of stories about how Euk can not source stock due to various issues.

Yet EUK supply sainsburys, and it seems have plenty of support to enable sainsburys to go with this crazy pricing!

It seems EUK may not be on its way out as everybody thinks.

Harsh, but then again so is wishing someones livelyhood goes down the swany, as Darren Sandbach has. Mr Sanbach just sounds like some disgruntled ex-employee of games retail and quite obviously is also a bit of a w**ker.

Both good rebuttals. Well done, good luck with the business ventures.

game showing how much of a bunch of c**ts they are yet again, sooner they're crushed by download sales the sooner i can p**s on their graves

I felt moved to say something here,

Firstly let me say that supermarket chains will eventually own everything, and any assistence we do to help them is just bad folly, however, this does not give any other company the right to deny the consumer.

Infact such under hand tactics employed by the Game group and other independents so openly makes me sick to my core.

In the long run though, you have shot yourselfs in the foot... not only have you paid your goods via a larger competitor, you also have the cost to store your stock, and all those games that you wont sell due to those customers that couldn't get the console at that price.

such a sill practice of price driving, everyone here knows that the X360 will be under £100 at christmass, its comming into its last year as a console, and M$ ditch support so quickly its scairy (virtually over night if anyone remembers the original xbox)

In the long run this battle as it were isn't about consumers, its about profit, and whom makes most wins, arguably.

I have to admit, I dont think I have bought a full price game in years, simply because (not just my age) is that these products are not worth the full RRP expense.

£50 for a game is.... well beyond the pocket money of kids and to be honest most adults these days (me included)

If a company cannot secure a comftable cost price for thier products then there is only one way that company is going to go and you can thank the market in that.

personally I believe we are moving away from a consumer market to an imposed market. Just look at the games being financed and released on the consoles compared to the PC... I have seen my local GAME / GameStations and Independents move from half the store of PC Games to a pathetic 1 shelf in a dingy corner... kinda feel like a second class citizen as a PC Gamer to be honest.

bah... i could rant on and on, however in this instance, Game and its subsideries will pay the price in the long run, either by loss of consumer loyalty / confidence, or your biggest competitor making money from you.

Denying the consumer or Protecting your own business and the livelyhoods of those that work within your organisation.

You decide.

The common misconception here is that we're all fat cat retailers swimming in oodles of cash.

All is fair in love, war and retail. As a businessman in the current climate and they are to moan at every turn because things aint going to plan or seize every sing opportunity that presents itself.

One of those will result in catastrophic failure.

Do all the indies hear moaning support their own local independent greengrocer, butcher, fishmonger, baker or just do a supermarket shop?

Rhetorical question as you're all hypoctites on this issue.

http://www.game.co.uk/" onclick="window.open ( this.href ); return false;" class="comment_url" >http://www.game.co.uk/
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i am disappointed by GAME and it's actions for it has taken away an affordable console for my son for X'mas, and not least 1000 more people.
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i hope Sainsbury can restock at a cheaper rate, and bar GAME from selling it at overly inflated prices in this economy.
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Sainsbury have done good whereas GAME has done bad.
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Unless GAME can sell a wii at £99 I will be disheartened.

I can't believe anyone is backing a supermarket at the expense of a specialist. I have to declare my interest here as I used to work for GAME. It doesn't matter how rapacious you think GAME are being, they have NOTHING on the supermarkets. Do you really want a retail landscape even more dominated by the likes of Tesco and Wal-Mart? That way lies madness, and in plenty of European countries, selling below cost is regarded as anti-competitive and is illegal.

Sainsbury's don't care about the customer, and they certainly don't care about the games industry; they were doing this as a land grab, were too incompetent to do it properly and the specialist trade made them look like dummies. Get over it.

Game have sunk to a new low level of scum in my books, considering Game and Gamestation are part of Blockbuster i can hardly see the upermarket chains causing them to go bankrupt. With the economy being so knackered at the moment, the only chance alot of people could have is getting a 360 or Wii is by the kind of discounts that Sainsbury's had going.

And although i agree that if they hadn't bought so many there would be a wave of the cheap consoles hitting ebay. that will happen anyway no matter where they are purchased, doesn't mean that companies like Game should stoop just as low, doesn't make them any better than the quick money makers in my eyes.

I have refused to go and buy either of them and stopped buying from Game before i bought my Gamecube, best move i ever made

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