What are the consequences of......

garfberg · Post by **garfberg** » Fri Feb 22, 2002 12:08 pm

A local shop (which I hate) sells games and consoles just before the release date and they also charge for use of games and the consoles. What are the consequences of these actions as im curious?

Hawq1 · Post by **Hawq1** » Fri Feb 22, 2002 1:01 pm

Many stores sell things before the official release date, in some cases you can get games a week before you are meant to, this has been going on for a long time and companies seem to ignore it. As for charging for use of machines, hey its their shop, they can do what they like. Seems a bit tight fisted though and as I assume you mean the charges are for the demo units not very fair. What are the consequences? well probably very dew people trying stuff out before buying in that store, but the chance to get your games early. Just enjoy the oppurtunity to get stuff early and try the games in other stores.

garfberg · Post by **garfberg** » Fri Feb 22, 2002 1:07 pm

When i look at discs on the printed side there are some small letters and 1 part states:- No arcade use and no charging for use. So what would happen if those rules were broken?

Gmc · Post by **Gmc** » Fri Feb 22, 2002 1:18 pm

In the UNLIKLEY event of that happening, they would probably be fined.

DoughBoy · Post by **DoughBoy** » Fri Feb 22, 2002 3:43 pm

no, no fine. I'm assuming you're probably talking about Microplay, a very large video gaming chain. Every signle one of their stores charges money for playing their consoles, and not demo units like u see in EB, they use traded in systems and let you play for as long as you have paid for. I would have also assumed they're not allowed to charge, but since such a large chain is doing it, it probably doesn't matter. HEck they even rant Japanese video games, and it says not for commercial rental or sale outside of Japan, but they still do it. There's pretty much no consequences.

garfberg · Post by **garfberg** » Fri Feb 22, 2002 4:01 pm

The shop happens to be called the playhouse and i hate the owners guts so i wanna know if i can get him in trouble

DoughBoy · Post by **DoughBoy** » Fri Feb 22, 2002 7:04 pm

nope, chances are nobody cares enough. If a huge chain like microplay is doing it (which I don't like because they are really rude to me), then chances are it's alright. They're systems, so they can probably charge to play. I think it would be more illegal if u set up an arcade or shit doing that.

Jeeba Jabba · Post by **Jeeba Jabba** » Fri Feb 22, 2002 8:35 pm

garfberg wrote: A local shop (which I hate) sells games and consoles just before the release date and they also charge for use of games and the consoles. What are the consequences of these actions as im curious?

Hmmm...

In the case of say... A store selling xboxes on November 14 2001, I think Microsoft could sue.

LoUiS_ThA_KiLLa · Post by **LoUiS_ThA_KiLLa** » Sun Feb 24, 2002 9:03 am

Shenmue 1 would have been top of the multi format charts over here except shops sold it early and it buggered up the sales figures

Chalavet · Post by **Chalavet** » Tue Feb 26, 2002 1:10 pm

If you want to get back at that shop in the best way, it all comes down to word of mouth. Tell everyone you know about how bad your treatment/service was. You can make some flyers if you like and spread it around your school, or just go into the used game retail business and take away all of their customers :) . Either way should help in your quest. However, I don't mind paying to play a game. When I was a kid, I remember walking from my parents office to the nearest used game store to play Mortal Kombat for 15 minutes at 25 cents a pop. It allowed me to get a feel for the game for a very inexpensive amount. Try going to Blockbuster and doing the same thing. They will charge you $5 for your rental. So for 50 cents you can play the game like it was meant to be played for less money.

On a side note, I have had great customer service from 1 Microplay store. When I was in Winston-Salem, NC for a medical school interview at Wake Forest, I visited the local Microplay, and I met up with a fellow DCemu poster (although infrequent). He was quite helpful and friendly. It was funny to see what a small world it is.

acidrap123 · Post by **acidrap123** » Tue Feb 26, 2002 4:57 pm

if they get caught its a 500$ per game fine... there is an agreement that they have to sign to sell the games...

Vlad Tepes · Post by **Vlad Tepes** » Tue Feb 26, 2002 11:54 pm

I miss Microplay...the one close to my house closed a couple of years ago. Sure, they charged you to play, but they let you play any game in the store for as long as you wanted, and if you got tired of the game you were playin', they'd pop in something else for you to try out. When Street Fighter Alpha 2 came out for Saturn, my friends and I would go to Microplay and play it...it was a whole lot cheaper than the arcade down the road. And they were a reliable importer...I bought 15 or so Japanese Saturn games from them. And they let me play the Japanese version of NiGHTS before it even came out in Japan. Also, the guys who worked there were honest...if a game sucked, they'd straight up tell you...very much unlike the local Babbages.

miah · Post by **miah** » Wed Feb 27, 2002 12:44 am

Ahh.. I miss the 'Playstation Store' in the Sony Metreon. You can go in there and play tons of PSX and PS2 games, they'll let you play for about 15-30mins, sometimes longer depends on how busy it is.. Its also pretty much the best place to buy psx gear as they seem to have everything (well for obvious reasons).

garfberg · Post by **garfberg** » Wed Feb 27, 2002 11:37 am

Well i have just asked a friend who is the manager of a chain games store and he said the shop can get in very serious trouble and would be shut down! Thanx anyway!