Game Crazy will close all of it’s locations following a Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filed by its parent company Movie Gallery. It’s over! After being battered by competition for years, the second-largest movie rental chain in North America, Movie gallery, is no longer able to support Game Crazy.
Movie Gallery has claimed that the steps it has taken over the past two years to confront the “economic and competitive realities facing its business” were insufficient to keep it afloat, leaving the Chapter 11 filing the only practical option. With that said, several things are going to happen in relatively short period of time:
- Good: Gamers are about to land in the middle of the biggest liquidation sale ever so I hope you saved some money from all those crushed cans of energy drinks. those games you have been holding back on getting will soon be yours along with guides, used systems and peripherals.
- Bad: Losing Game Crazy’s AMAZING customer service. Limiting customers pre-order choices which will most likely be headed up by GameStop until the small companies like play-n-trade rise to compete in the void. GameStop has issues of its own like a customer named James Collins filing a class-action suit against the company, for “fraudulently, unfairly, unlawfully, and deceptively [misleading] consumers”. Also, less competition means less price battling.
In my area Game Crazy is only 3.5 miles away while GameStop is 9.2 miles away. Most of the gamers live on my side of town and will now have to travel through the congested city to the only game store to pre-order from. I have been a loyal supporter of my local game crazy. I am saddened by not only the loss of the store but also a few friends who will soon be out of work. I will miss my phone conversations with Kyle and Nate about my pre-orders, whats new, what someone just traded in and how they need help passing a certain level. Not to mention them resurfacing my games that have been sliding around the ambulance for the last shift. Also gone, my code 3 game pick ups. I know people have wondering what that ambulance outside was all about on release days…
In the long run we as gamers might be able to benefit from this, as the smaller companies do have a chance to rise up in the market. However, this is a big loss and Game Crazy will always be remembered for its crazy logo.
