A Dagger For Blu-Ray: GameStop Deems Discs Un-Tradeworthy
Blu-ray sales may be on the uptick, with sales up 72 percent so far over what they were last year at this point, but apparently the format isn't so hot at GameStop, which is apparently phasing out accepting the high-definition movie discs in return for cash or store credit.
Because the PlayStation 3 is the most popular Blu-ray player, gamers have driven what little success the format has had as it edged out HD-DVDs but has thus far failed to push DVD players out of the vast majority of living rooms or even make up for drooping sales of the older format.
On a tip from a friend, I spot-called several GameStop stores in Tucson and found that none of them take Blu-ray for trade-in anymore. Most of the stores hadn't been taking them for a while.
We've contacted GameStop for confirmation multiple times in the last month but the company has yet to get back to us.
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Gamestop doesn't even sell videos any more, so why would they bother with Blu-Ray movies?
What the hell is blu-ray?
Never bought one, never will. Discs are dead.
Here in central MA we have a gamestop and a moviestop right next to each other. i wonder if moviestop will take them?
Gamestop hasn't taken DVDs for a while now. They stopped aelling DVD last year (I made out like a bandit on a bunch of old DVDs that I got for next to nothing during their closeout sales). I don't think this is part of some anti-Blu thing. It's just that they want your movie business to go to Moviestop. I'll bet MS takes Blu-Rays, no problem.
To the best of my knowledge, they stopped taking movies altogether quite awhile ago. I don't think it has anything to do with Blu Ray in specific, it's just general policy. Movies just never sold all that well at Gamestop, and took up valuable floor space.
@Kensuke Nakamura: I think the point is that its more of an indicator of Blu-Ray's failure to take off as a widely accepted format.
Not a shocker, they've been phasing out their DVDs for years. The last time I was in Gamestop, they had gotten rid of all of their movies.
Blu-Ray isn't going to immediately have the same level of success as DVDs enjoyed over the past ten years, simply because they're not the generational leap that VHS to DVD was. However, Blu-Ray will continue to grow and expand as HDTV adoption rates grow and player/disc prices fall.
Digital downloads will compete with Blu-Ray, though they will exist side-by-side for a very long time, as downloads cannot compete with Blu-Ray in picture and sound quality or bonus content. There is also a large number of people who simply prefer to own and collect physical media (like myself) who don't see value in paying to download a file vs. getting an actual tangible product.
@BZMedia: Maybe thats what you think but personally I like having a real disc rather than depending on my hard drive or streaming.
What happens if your hard drive crashes and don't have a back up? Or what if you can't afford high speed internet?
In my case I use Netflix Instant Watch(but most are not in HD) and buy Blu-Rays, however I would rather own a disc that I can sell later on if I need money then have nothing in return at all.
Movie Stop takes them though, they only deal with DVD and Blu-Ray
@BZMedia:
There is no legal, DRM-free alternative to Blu-Ray for owning high definition movies. I'm not foolish enough to buy movies that are tied to a particular device (I will rent them though), so Blu-Ray is my only option.
Discs are not dead, and will not be for a long time.
They STILL DO take Blu-rays. However, some stores may not want to take them back at all, or they have been told not to take them. You only get, on average, about 6-7 bucks per Blu-ray.
@BZMedia:
Comparing streaming or downloaded video to blu-ray video is like comparing night and day. The highest bit rate I've seen for video downloads is from Amazon which uses 6 Mbps for 1024p24 HD video. Compare this with blu-ray discs which have a maximum A/V bit rate of 54 Mbps (40.0 Mbps for video).
Discs won't be dead until everyone has 100 mbps connections and online video providers stream true hi-def video. Considering OTA broadcasters max out at about 19 Mbps and cable providers frequently provide even lower bit rates for HD channels.
In other words, discs are very much alive.
@Cyberxion101: Whenever I looked through the movies they did have at Gamestop, if I found anything interesting, I noticed that I could order the DVD online for at most just a couple of dollars more. If not cheaper than Gamestop had the used DVD for sale. I think that is why they never sold well for them.
@bigmil87: Saying that using hard drives is a bad idea because of what happens if you don't back up your data is like saying your car sucks because of what happens if your brakes fail.
@Morac: I would add that discs won't be dead until ISPs are constrained from interfering with that 100 mbps connection you're fantasizing about. The telcos and cable companies will happily charge you for a big fat pipe, but if you try to use too much data that comes from other sources or use that fat pipe to compete with their video cash-cow, they'll look for ways to make it expensive for you.
I think Blu-Ray is getting ready to suffer the same slightly more successful death as DVD audio. Apparently, there's a price point that consumers are willing to pay for certain products. Nowadays, DVD and CD prices are in line with VHS and cassette prices 15 years ago...Blu-Ray, however, is a much higher fee to pay for something that - unless you have the proper set up at home - provides a negligible difference in quality considering the price difference.
@TerribleDecade: Yeah. They got out of the Video business last summer. They actually had buy two get three going then. I got 2 Blu-Rays and 3 DVD box sets for about $20.
Couldn't agree more. I can't justify spending an extra 10-15 bucks per movie just so I can have slightly better quality. Instead I bought a DVD Upconverter and I've been happy with the results since.
this article needs to be cleaned up. Since Gamestop doesn't take movies anymore, the article suggests they're no longer trading PS3 games.
the "story" really has nothing at all to do with "Blu-ray."
It is NOT a negligible difference in quality. If you have an HDTV (which you should, otherwise you dont need blu-rays), the different between blu-rays and DVD is huge. Yes there is a huge audio difference as well, but you do need a decent home theatre to experience that as well. But you cannot honestly tell me you don't SEE a difference because if you do, you need to get your eyes checked.
@R3PUBLIC0N: Dumb analogy. The reason that using a hard drive to store all your media might be a bad idea is that in the case of failure, you lose everything you don't have backed up to another media.
If you have the disc, just because your dvd player dies doesn't mean you can't take it to another drive and play the media you purchased.
I can't think of a better analogy right now, but suffice to say, yours is wayyyy off the mark.
I see where you're coming from but I think you misunderstood me. I do notice a difference in the quality, but I don't think it's the same impressive gap that we saw with DVD's when they replaced VHS. My vision is fine and I have the right setup to play Blu-Ray, I just personally don't think it's worth the extra money. But to each his own.
@1stMarDiv: You'll start the see the actually Blu-Ray disc prices dropping soon, and many of them are actually not expensive at all if you don't want a BRAND NEW movie. You can get players as cheap as 100 bucks too.
@Marc Melton: i have both (blu-ray and upconverted dvd) i don't want to spend at least ten bucks more for a movie i don't love. ...AND considering the CRAP that hollywood has been putting out the last few years, blu-ray will have a hard time beating the ticking clock of digital downloads. (i still have more hd-dvds than blu-rays, and i haven't bought one of those in months.)
@Jason Foster: I can't fathom digital replacing all discs, for one, it's practically the same price. Also, if you ever decide to get rid of it, you can't At least the discs have a resale value and are easily brought over to a friends house to watch.
@dbshaw: The problem is that the story paints an inaccurate picture, being that Gamestop has long-since stopped taking movies at large. I don't think they would have made a exception for Blu Ray even if it the format was widely accepted at the time they made this decision.
As one with several friends working at GameStop, I can say with complete confidence that, at least in the midwest region, GameStop phased out movies sales long ago.
It was a good idea. It was all crackheads trying to make some extra cash or people trying to add a few bucks to trades. No one ever bought movies unless there was a huge sale.
Point is: why would they take Blu-Ray if they won't take DVD? Why does everyone take the fact that Blu-Ray didn't overtake DVD in 6 months as a sign of its demise? At worst, Blu-Ray has become the new LaserDisc: a format for fans who want a better quality experience. LaserDisc was doing fine until DVD, which surpassed it, helping change the standard before the public at large accepted it.
@Marc Melton: There's a noticeable difference between DVD and Blu-Ray, but not enough of a difference for me to justify getting a player and shelling out 10-15 bucks more per movie than DVD at this point. Maybe if it was only a few bucks more, or if they players were cheaper I would be more inclined to think about it.
Also not everybody has HDTVs yet, so lots and lots of people don't see a need to pay extra for extra quality that they won't notice.
On this whole hard drive tangent - that's actually a strength of downloadable content. There is a record that you bought the content, so in theory you could download it multiple times. I believe that's the way music services work. Maybe it's a pain, but at least you don't lose stuff forever. If your Blu-Ray disc breaks or becomes unreadable, you'll have to pay for a replacement. I know at least some companies will send you a new disc for the cost of shipping/handling, but that's $6+.
@dbshaw: How so? Because GameStop refuses to take it? By that reasoning, we should say PC Games are not a widely accepted platform considering most GameStop's do not stock them.
@Kensuke Nakamura: Not much considering publishers hate GameStop's trade-in program as it is considering they get absolutely nothing back for it.
@TerribleDecade: Exactly what I was thinking. I can't remember the last time I saw a movie for sale at GameStop.
@Kensuke Nakamura: "How much does that hurt Blu-Ray?"
This action does not hurt Blu-ray. It merely illustrates what a failure Blu-ray is. Blu-rays are so unsuccessful that GameStop cannot sell them used.
@superberg: I'm pretty sure it took way longer than 6 months for DVDs to overtake VHS. I wouldn't call DVDs headed for demise, even after all these years.
@Cant_stop_the_rock:
"that's actually a strength of downloadable content. There is a record that you bought the content, so in theory you could download it multiple times."
In theory, this is true. In practice, you will find that it is not. Neither Amazon nor iTunes will allow you to re-download music -- at least not without an impassioned request to customer service.
If you take care of your discs (ie, leave them in the case when not in use, and but the case on the shelf, instead of in a hockey rink), then you're fine. Blu-Rays have an improved scratch-resistant coating to keep them in good condition.
As for downloads being the future... they're convenient, true. I love NetFlix Instant Streaming. But a Blu-Ray is significantly greater quality than any downloaded video I've ever seen. And I've used Xbox 360, iTunes, and PS3.
@Radi0logy: "you lose everything you don't have backed up to another media."
But since you can simply back up everything there's no problem, right? External USB drivers are incredibly cheap nowadays. You can get a 1TB drive for less than a hundred bucks! Actually, to me you're an idiot for not backing up your stuff because nowadays it's so easy and inexpensive to do it.
I don't know where this "Blu-Rays are $10-$15 more" keeps coming from.
Walk into Best Buy on a disc's launch day. It's usually $17-22 for Blu, and $15 for DVD. Walk down the Blu aisle and notice all the discs on sale for $15-20. Look at Amazon.
Blu does cost more, but not $10-$15 more per disc. And while some movies might be fine without Blu quality (Clerks, for example), there are plenty of stunners out there: The Dark Knight's IMAX scenes in particular.
secondspin.com
Gamestop stopped taking DVDs because it was relatively unprofitable, and because it was risky. I can't tell you how often I would have people trying to sell six copies of a movie that came out the following day, saying they were "gifts."
@Papa Midnight: Bingo. The decline in shelf space gamestop gives to pc games (ya they still do have em) does in fact coincide with a decline of pc gaming.
Besides, like I said, its an indicator.
Blu-ray is an interim format, destined ultimately to be forgot and historically lumped in with dvd's as the same thing. Its got the same form factor as dvd's but costs more and requires not just a blu-ray player but an hd tv to take advantage of what it offers. What I'm going to start upgrading my 300 dvd collection to blu-ray? I don't think so.
Something game changing will come along soon. You'll tell cause it'll be different. Like discs were different than magnetic tape.
@superberg: your best buy is apparently cheaper than my best buy
new releases (barring a sale) are in the $30-40 range on blu ray normally. sure, some sale titles are $15-20 ... but they are movies you could pick up on DVD for $5 most of the time.
Blu Ray replication in large runs can't cost more than $1/disc more than DVD ... yet the price difference between formats is almost always at least $10/disc.
There's a huge premium on the format right now and I'm not buying any new movies unless I'm getting them for $5-10 used, $10-15 new ... which what I typically paid for my DVDs (of which I have around 300). Don't even get me started on the costs to convert my collection from DVD to Blu Ray *sigh*
@Cyberxion101: The Gamestop near me stopped accepting all movies a few years ago. The said it was because movies were pirated too easily, so they would only give $1 per movie, which no one was willing to trade their movies in for.
@Vejadu: Also because people tend to skip every other generation of movie technology -- remember laser disc? Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are the skippable generation, too expensive and too soon after people upgraded to DVD for them to be willing to replace their movie libraries.
The NEXT technology after this, which will probably be cheaper, will catch on, and it will have been long enough that people then, "Well, maybe it's time to get rid of some of these DVDs and get some NewTech."
@TerribleDecade: Some stores do have a new DVD sales rack. Pretty good prices too. But they don't sell used DVDs anymore, so it's no surprise that they don't buy back Blu-Ray movies.
@1stMarDiv: In our case, the blu-ray IS worth the extra money. We have a home theater in our basement with a 129" wide screen. At those sizes, the difference between DVD and Blu-Ray is *very* noticeable. There are some older DVD's that we own that we can't even watch on the big screen because they're just too grainy. For us, I think it's just as big of a jump as VHS to DVD. But I understand that we are a special case.
How much does that hurt Blu-Ray? I assume they get little or no money from used Blu-Ray sales. Also I don't think it's going to affect peoples choice to buy a Blu-Ray, If I don't plan on permanently owning a movie, I'll just rent it.