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Not What You Meant?  There are 20 definitions for Game.

GAME (retailer)

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The GAME Group plc
Type Public (LSE: GMG.L)
Founded As GAME 2002, beforehand Electronics Boutique UK 1995
Headquarters Basingstoke, UK
Key people Peter Lewis, Chairman
Lisa Morgan, CEO
Industry Video Games
Products Game Consoles
Computer Games
Accessories
Revenue £34.7 million GBP (2004)
Slogan The Next Level
Website www.game.co.uk

The GAME Group plc (LSE: GMG.L) (usually known by its high street trading name GAME) is a UK-based video games retail company. With over 700 stores across Europe, GAME is the largest retailer of video games in the continent. Its flagship store is in Oxford Street, London, although many of their best stores can be found around the country, dubbed "Centres of Excellence". The current GAME Group was formerly known as Electronics Boutique PLC, having licensed the name from the otherwise unrelated U.S. company of the same name. (GAME was originally a chain which Electronics Boutique PLC purchased in 1998). GAME opened their 500th store in Denmark in 2004. On May 2nd 2007, GAME Group announced the acquisition of rival UK specialist video game chain Gamestation, for a claimed £74 million.[1][2] GAME have stated they intend retaining the brand.[2] GAME has won at least two Golden Joysticks for "Retailer of the Year", in 2006 and 2007. GAME has opened 53 Stores in Australia with another 20 Stores expected to open within the next 12 Months.

Contents

Rebranding from Electronics Boutique to GAME

Electronics Boutique PLC (a UK-based video game retailer with stores in the UK and Ireland), purchased the original GAME in 1999. Prior to this, GAME were independently active in the UK, Swedish and Irish markets. Electronics Boutique also purchased the BarrysWorld online gaming service, the French retailer ScoreGames and the Spanish retailer CentroMAIL. In 2006, GAME acquired Australian specialty video games retailer Gameswizards and have since rebranded all Gameswizards outlets as GAME stores. Game represented 72% of European hardware sales and 65% of European software sales for the fiscal yeal 2006-2007. In 2002, Electronics Boutique stores in the UK and Ireland were rebranded as GAME, and the company name was changed. Despite the name change, a 1% sales royalty to Electronics Boutique in the United States (who they had licensed the name from and were otherwise unconnected with) remained until January 2006. Attempts to have this overturned in court in 2003 were unsuccessful.[3] GAME has just commenced operations in Australia in late November 2007 and features similar pricing to EB Games Australia and is now in direct competition with EB Games Australia.

Policies

GAME operates a loyalty card scheme for UK and Ireland customers, which offers a 2.5% cashback on all purchases (5% on games pre-ordered in-store). The card normally costs £3. It had over 5 million members as of 2004. This loyalty scheme was soon extended to GAME's website. In Australia the Loyalty Card Scheme is a little different. For every $10 AUD spent in store, Members receive 100 Game Reward Points. After 3000 Game Reward point have been accumulated, a Reward Voucher for $16.50 is mailed to the Reward Card Holder. The Reward Card is Free to sign up. The company also has a trade-in policy for used console games (but not PC games), which are bought in good condition and sold on at a profit. GAME also runs a "Deal of the Week" scheme, which allows for newly released games to be reduced heavily for a week in order to sell high numbers of stock. GAME changed its returns policy in the summer of 2006 to give customers more time to return unwanted or duplicate gifts, although it now stipulated that the product had to be unopened. Software may be returned for a refund or exchange within 28 days of the purchase date, providing that the seal remains unbroken. Goods purchased on the store's website can also be returned to GAME stores with the original invoice and credit or debit card used on the original purchase to process the refund. The GameCare extended warranty was introduced at the same time as the Playstation 3. It protects newly bought consoles from fault and accidental damage (unlimited free repairs or a replacement) for either two or three years, depending on the option chosen.

References

  1. ^ http://www.gamegroup.plc.uk/gg/media/news/rnsitem?id=1178085764nRNSB9319V
  2. ^ a b GAME buys Gamestation for £74 million. IGN. Retrieved on 2007-05-05.
  3. ^ "Game loses EB royalty case", The Register, Friday 28th February 2003. 

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GAME (retailer) from Wíkipedia. ©2006 by Wíkipedia. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. View a list of authors or edit this article.

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