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GTA 6 is shaping up to be a disaster for retailers - Polygon

ShadyAcshuns said:
Both can be achieved without plastic boxes with codes. Just sell digitally.
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I agree that this bullshit "physical" version shouldn't exist.

Guerilla Munch said:
We still have no idea what the true scope of the game is, but it's certain to be unprecedented. What if it's 300+ gigs? Are people expecting them to ship it on multiple blu rays? I'm not a fan of digital when I can avoid it but GTA exists in its own dimension outside the industry at this point.
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It doesn't matter, some games launched on multiple disc (Rebirth), some of them had no data - disc was still yours and you could do anything with it.

Right now Rockstar is killing physical media and there are ton of cheerleaders defending them, this doesn't surprise me at all...
 
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Grildon Tundy said:
Rockstar just shot themselves in the foot.

I don't know how much the rest of you know about GameStop culture (I'm an expert), but pre-orders and shame are huge parts of it. It's not like it is in a digital-only landscape where you can become successful by being an asshole. If you screw someone over from GameStop, you bring shame to yourself, and the only way to get rid of that shame is repentance.

What this means is the GameStop customer, after hearing about this, is not going to want to purchase GTA VI physically or digitally, nor will they purchase any of Rockstar's games.

This is HUGE.

You can laugh all you want, but Rockstar has alienated an entire market with this move.

Rockstar, publicly apologize and sell disc versions or you can kiss your business goodbye.
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leonardo dicaprio bravo GIF
 
Diablos said:
And your contribution to society is ... what?
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Animated GIF

A

Thread 'NeoGAF, did I just get called out by Microsoft's JEFF BELL?!'

I'm sorry I'm creating such a stupid topic, but I feel compelled to get to the bottom of this. Lock this if violates some rule I'm unaware of or if you deem the topic too stupid.

Ever since E3, I've made a number of posts poking fun at Microsoft's Corporate Vice President of Global Marketing, Jeff Bell. For example, this.

I check my PM box this morning to find:
4zondhs.jpg

This guy joined yesterday, and has never posted. Is this "bell801" guy Jeff Bell? Did he join NeoGAF just to call me a loser?
4u4mywk.jpg
 
I'm definitely not buying any Video Game for the Nintendo Switch 2 which is on a Game Key Card and I wouldn't especially buy any Video Game which has a Code in Box!!!
 
Kotaro said:
Yep. No disc no buy. Rockstar is making HUGE mistake
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Grildon Tundy said:
Rockstar just shot themselves in the foot.

I don't know how much the rest of you know about GameStop culture (I'm an expert), but pre-orders and shame are huge parts of it. It's not like it is in a digital-only landscape where you can become successful by being an asshole. If you screw someone over from GameStop, you bring shame to yourself, and the only way to get rid of that shame is repentance.

What this means is the GameStop customer, after hearing about this, is not going to want to purchase GTA VI physically or digitally, nor will they purchase any of Rockstar's games.

This is HUGE.

You can laugh all you want, but Rockstar has alienated an entire market with this move.

Rockstar, publicly apologize and sell disc versions or you can kiss your business goodbye.
Click to expand...
Mood Loco GIF by Pingu

3 billion dollars in pre-orders. Roughly 39 million pre-ordered copies. In mere days.
Absolutely delusional / divorced from reality take, boys.

Even though every GameStop I visit in Canada seems to want me to wish retail dead, I do not. But come on.
 
AGRacing said:
Mood Loco GIF by Pingu

3 billion dollars in pre-orders. Roughly 39 million pre-ordered copies. In mere days.
Absolutely delusional / divorced from reality take, boys.

Even though every GameStop I visit in Canada seems to want me to wish retail dead, I do not. But come on.
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knowyourmeme.com

Japanese Culture (I'm an Expert) | Know Your Meme

Japanese Culture (I'm an Expert) refers to a copypasta which spread primarily on NeoGAF making fun of a poster who claimed to be an expert on Japanese cult
knowyourmeme.com knowyourmeme.com
 
German Shocks said:
Yeah, no shit Sherlock.

The biggest game of the century, and it gets no real physical release whatsoever.

Why would any gamer pre-order a simple code at a brick and mortar store, lol
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I agree, but in my situation, I'm in Australia, I can pre order the physical case on Amazon for $5 less than anywhere else for pre order, PS store or other retailers, guaranteed delivery on release day - they always actually are for me. And I get some artwork on a case and if I'm lucky, a physical copy of the map which they have hstorically always included. So for $5 less, I'd rather that than order it on PS store and get nothing for $5 more. I would like the disc and agree its f**** but there is some benefit to ordeing the case I guess.
 
With most physical games released at launch needing huge patch downloads to even be playable, physical isn't what it used to be.

Digital only for the majority of releases just makes sense from a business perspective as well. It would be nice to have a complete physical edition come out eventually with all patches included, but I don't think most publishers would say the production costs would be justified.

Hopefully they don't lose any sort of licensing deals down the line and delete your games like they are doing with your movies.
 
I have no empathy for GameStop workers.

They try and gaslight people into believing used games are "new", peddle the stupid membership, and occasionally try and sneak in a warranty on a game youre buying.

So yeah, they can go pound sand.
 
Look GTAV PS4, these retailer earn a lot in the 2nd hand market. Bacially R* want maximize its own profit, avoid early leak and left themself much time for optimizing the final version of game before release.
 
5-6 years ago. I would had pre order it and got the ultimate version too. Wouldn't care if it was 100 bucks. But rockstar today, I just don't know if the writing and pacing and the gameplay will be fun. Only thing I can believe that will be great, is the world if self. Shit gonna look nice and feel alive I'm sure
 
That happens when you ignore the elephant in the room for over a decade. Should've kicked out everyone pushing for digital when you still had some bargaining power. Now it's too late.
 
cafecat said:
Look GTAV PS4, these retailer earn a lot in the 2nd hand market. Bacially R* want maximize its own profit, avoid early leak and left themself much time for optimizing the final version of game before release.
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^ Finally someone says what I've been saying everywhere. That is 100% the real reason, killing second hand sales to maximise profit, quite smart of TT/R* when you think about it. The other reasons are valid, but I'm convinced this is the real reason for their desicion.
 
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There's zero reason to pre-order the game at a store. Why would you want an empty box? I don't pre-order a game I haven't even seen (gameplay), and there's another zero incentive to do so, considering it's a digital only product. It's not going to run out of copies. And it's bullshit to think the game doesn't fit on a disc. TLoU2 and RDR2 also had 2 discs to solve that issue.
The only hope we have is that the rumor about a real physical copy is true. The one that comes later. If I wasn't going to for the PC version (much) later on, I'd be waiting for that instead.
 
German Shocks said:
Where's the original post?
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Almost verbatim as the one just posted, but about x company (can't recall if it was Sony or other company) messing up because they don't understand Japanese culture or something.

It's not uncommon to see the copypasta posted with different takes based on the topic at discussed.
 
Think of it from the consumers point of view. Why would they preorder a digital code in a box from a retailer rather than just from the PlayStation store? Especially as the retailer doesn't have the premium version. The only reason they would ever do that is to perhaps get the map in the box, that's it. I think people value the two extra missions and 5 ingame stores more so they're opting for the premium edition that's not available at retailers.
 
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Seomel said:
Sony and xbox are middleman here. Taking much larger cuts than retailer
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They are getting their (maybe a bit smaller) cuts anyways on top of the retailers. This is purely to kill any used game resales down the line which R* makes no money on. Smart for them but sucks for buyers and offline ownership. I'm actually surprised it's taken this long.
 
Assuming I were Rockstar and doing greedy Rockstar things, right now everything would be going exactly according to plan.

The world is convinced that there won't be a disc version. The I-don't-care crowd buys digital anyway, normies don't even think about it, and collectors are giving in - making an exception this once. People are pre-ordering because there is no prospect of a disc - the numbers are going through the roof - it's a fucking slam dunk.

As soon as the game is released and these pools have been milked dry, I would press a disc version - not a standard one, but a premium one. A few gimmicks, a steelbook, a sleeve, stickers, a map - all cheap items costing just cents that make the product feel more valuable to the customer. The most expensive part will be the two or three 100GB Blu-rays, but I'll call the whole thing a CE and pass the production costs directly onto the consumer. The CE will cost €129.99 of course.

Digital Deluxe content will be included - I'm not a monster heheheheheee

A significant portion of pre-orderers will instantly double-dip because they want to display the game of the decade on their shelf. Players with no or a crappy internet connection will grab it, physical-only purists will grab it - it's free money, it would be absolutely mind-boggling not to do it this way.

But for now, of course, appearances must be maintained, otherwise players would hold back initially and intentionally wait.

A disc version will come in the future, mark my words.
 
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cafecat said:
Look GTAV PS4, these retailer earn a lot in the 2nd hand market. Bacially R* want maximize its own profit, avoid early leak and left themself much time for optimizing the final version of game before release.
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Who gives a shit what Rockstar/T2 want?

This should be rejected by consumers just like NFTs were before, but of course we have so many corporate cucks and Rockstar fanboys that they will still gobble up this game without asking any question. Fuck me, society is so stupid... Guess what will happen next?
 
Those employee quotes are pretty sad but GTA6 wasn't going to save these retailers or create some new on-flow effect for physical games.

It's been mostly dead for awhile, but something I realized is this truly signals the end of the whole "midnight launch" spectacle of video games if numbers are the way they are now for GTA6.

It's kind of there with hardware still if you look at Switch 2 in some markets, but it's not the same.
 
Hilarious to see the pre-order sales figures. Two fingers to all the bizarre hate for this game online. Nothing like puncturing a tiny bubble to make those inside it realise the real scale of things.
 
Do that not realize that pre-ordering was only necessary when
1. People wanted a physical copy
2. People wanted a collectors edition with extras
3. People were unsure if stock would even be there if they didn't pre-order

Now there is no reason to pre-order.........'nothing but air'
 
Zacfoldor said:
The game probably wouldn't fit on 1 disc even with the PS5 compression.

It probably wasn't designed to kill anything just to keep them from having to provide 2 discs like they did with RDR2.
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My guess is this game would have been more than 2 discs, Given expected volume of sales on such a game that's a logistical mess and cost they don't want to fuck with.
 
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