Topic: Official Push Square Xbox Thread

@Tasuki yeah but i think they are stopping soon, at least my store is

@JohnnyShoulder true but like i said they was old stock with no cases so they couldn't sell them to the public and there was a huge pile of about 50 games there but i only had a fiver on me

@FullbringIchigo A lot of Supermarkets will still sell Video games - maybe not in-store but online. Tesco Direct for example still sells Video games and takes pre-orders. Poundland (now incorrectly named as a fair few products now cost more than £1) sells video games too - limited selection and 'old' stock but you may find the odd bargain if you missed these releases.

I have seen Supermarkets sell off games without official boxes and or paraphernalia that comes with them. Often the take the game out of the case for display and some 'idiot' steals those boxes (maybe for some cosmetic DLC code or because their box/code was damaged/used) and so the supermarkets are left with just the game. Therefore they sell the games off cheap rather than lose money completely. It may not matter to some that the game doesn't have a box or come with any 'codes', but I could never buy these. It messes too much with my OCD as I like to see my games collection grow with the 'official' boxes and box art.

@Tasuki Doesn't Walmart sell Video Games? Isn't that a supermarket? Supermarkets here don't just sell 'groceries and household cleaning products' but also clothes, TV's and other electronics inc Beauty, mobiles etc. It does depend on the size of the store and these can vary from a 'small' convenience store up to a massive 'department' warehouse so it can depend on location but they also have online ordering with different 'departments' - like a grocery section, a clothing section or an electronics (that also include gaming) section.

@BAMozzy Here in the US the word Supermarket pertains to stores that sell primary food items and household items like cleaning supplies, and paper products like napkins, paper towels, paper plates etc. They also sell stuff like pet food. Some my sell videos on Blu-ray and DVD but it's a small assortment mainly stuff like Disney movies or the latest Blockbuster like Avengers for example but that's only for a short amount of time not continuously like say an electronic stores.

Walmart is considered here a discount department store and not a supermarket, yes they do sell food in it but as you stated they also sell clothes, electronics, hardware such as tools, paint, sporting goods stuff you don't find in a supermarket at least here. Also with Walmart everything is in it's own department which is ran on it's own. As I said you have an Electronic Department, Sporting Goods, Men's fashion, Woman's fashion, Grocery Department etc. Also the grocery department doesn't have as much variety as say a Supermarket due to having a limited amount of space, where as a Supermarket is dedicated mainly to food.

Now Walmart does have Supermarkets that are called Walmart: Neighborhood Markets and those are Supermarkets, the don't have electronics or hardware or clothes just food.

But yeah here in NA Supermarkets don't sell video games. Only department stores, electronic stores like Best Buy and of course places like GameStop. I remember when I was a kid supermarkets did have a small area for renting games and movies but when video stores died so did those and now you have Redboxes in their place. Now Redbox does sell games but as you know that's separate from the store.

Hope that was easy enough to understand.

@Tasuki I understand - but here in the UK, our supermarkets are like Walmart - in fact Walmart own Asda here. Thet can range from a 'small' convenience store all the way up to a 'department' store. Some sections do have their own department - depending on the store and you can just purchase from that department and some departments may only sell those items in that section - for example if they only have the game boxes on display, then you may have to buy in that department because they have the games there - not at the main cashier.

As I said though, it does depend on the size and location of the store as some may only sell groceries and household products (inc Paper towels, lightbulbs, cleaning products etc) but the main ones (Tesco, Sainsbury, Asda) also sell electronics (inc Games) as well as kitchen, beauty, etc, Kitchen goods (cutlery, plates, cooking/baking utensils etc), have their own clothing labels and shoes, sell furniture and home furnishings, sporting goods, have their own mobile networks (although these are piggybacking on a mainstream network), have there own pharmacy, offer financial services - like loans, credit cards, home insurance etc as well as offering services like Gas/electric supply too.

Online shopping with these do tend to separate things up a bit and you often have to order from separate departments - for example if you want some 'clothing' with your groceries, you may have to make two different orders and get two different deliveries but if you go to a bigger supermarket, you can probably get all of these in one place. The size of the store tends to determine what products they sell and how much of their 'full' range (whether clothing, mobiles, TV's etc) they have in that store.

Anyway, if you hear 'supermarket' from a UK person, think Walmart which, like our Supermarkets, does have smaller stores like the Neighbourhood Markets but can also be like your 'discount department stores' too. Its mostly the out of town or Mall stores that are the big department stores with the smaller ones around for 'convenience' - those that may not want to travel 'miles' for the pint of milk and/or loaf of bread. Most (if not all) department stores in the UK don't sell 'groceries' - that's the main difference in the UK.

@BAMozzy Ok I see what you're saying. It's very interesting. Yeah we have Department stores here too like Sears, Macy's, J.C. Penny's and those dont sell food at all. They mostly sell clothes but do have electronic, home furnishing, hardware, hardware etc. but as I said no food. Those are practically dead here though as places like Walmart, Target offer more variety in goods and better prices, in fact my local Sears is closing this July. As I said before Walmart and Target is what we call discount department stores.

I am not sure why places like Sears don't sell food and Walmart does or why Safeway (a Supermarket chain here) don't sell video games. It might just be a culture thing as that what American's are use to or some kind of law or tax purpose.

But yeah in the end here in the US Supermarkets are food stores primary, Safeway, Kroger's etc. and places like Walmart, Target are discount department stores and then places like Sears, JC Penney's are department stores.

@Tasuki Our department stores don't sell food but they do sell the high-end and big brand products - and that includes clothing, electronics etc. Our supermarkets may well sell clothes but these are on the lower end of the price scale - not necessarily cheap but their own lower cost compared to the more expensive branded products you see in department stores. Its the same with a lot of their other products they sell so they are not necessarily in direct competition with the 'department' store. If you wanted say branded footwear, you don't go to a supermarket. Its ok for everyday or your basics but if you want something 'better', you go to department stores or specialist retailers. Department stores here are like having a 'Levis' store, a Nike store, a Apple store a toy store, a bed store etc all under 1 roof - not necessarily on 1 floor either where as a Supermarket could sell all the same product and 'occasionally' may have a certain Levi, Nike etc product for sale but generally will sell their own 'cheaper' version of these - like the shops own version of Heinz or Cadbury product. Some products they don't make their own version of - like mobiles for example but they do have them on their own 'network' or PAYG on others.

Supermarkets and Department stores are more likely to kill off the small separate and/or independent stores rather than compete with each other because they are aimed at different markets. There is some cross-over of course like buying some big name after-shave/perfume in either but you will be much more limited on choice in a Supermarket (even the very big ones) and if you are after a specific one, then the department store will certainly offer it. If you want a pair of Levis/Wranglers rather than some 'no name' brand jeans, a pair of Timberland boots instead of some generic boots, you don't go to a Supermarket but can get those in a department store.

As others have said, the games (if sold) are more likely to be the current top 10-40 (depending on store size) with a few older, cheaper games that they may have had from when they were popular or happened to be a 'bulk' supply/surplus stock. If you wanted a specific game that may have been popular 6months ago, it may not be available in your local/preferred supermarket but could be in another but its still luck if you find one - its more for current games and impulse buys rather than the place to go for a specific title.

I hope that clears things up anyway. The big difference is that department stores don't sell groceries etc and are more 'high-end' and with better branded/label products. Even if they have their own brand products, they are more high end too rather than 'budget' and comparable to the more well known better brands.

I like a good George polo shirt lol.

@BAMozzy Ok so your "Supermarkets" are what we would call Discount Department Stores, as I said your Walmarts. Where as our "Supermarkets" just sell food and items that would be used in conjunction with food.

@BAMozzy @Tasuki Their (US) Supermarkets are like our Iceland, Farmfoods etc. and our Asda, Tesco etc. are their Discount Department Stores.

The clever thing about our Supermarkets (UK) stocking and selling games is that it’s convenient that we shop there for our weekly shopping and while we are there we may pick up a game that we didn’t get on release or we just happen to be doing our shopping on the games release date. I bet a lot of mothers buy a new Call of Duty game on an annual basis while doing their shopping for when their kids finish school or to put away for Christmas, I can definitely believe that happens.

With the recent closure of Grainger Games, Asda is now the only store close to me that sells games, otherwise is about a 10 minute drive to GAME, but this doesn’t affect me as I’ve been buying digitally for a long time now and rent with Boomerang Rentals, also with these closures of dedicated video game stores like Grainger Games and the like, I believe physical copies of games are going to be a thing of the past in the near future anyway, it would save gaming companies a fortune not having to pay for packaging, discs and all the logistics and distribution, it makes sense for them for people to just buy their games digitally with a click of a button, those with poor internet connections who don’t want to go digital are sadly going to be in the minority I’d imagine.

@MaccaMUFC I can't see 'Physical' disappearing in the near future - maybe in a few generations time but its still the most popular format for video games on consoles. Whilst you may get say 40% of all games bought being digital - that also includes all those digital only releases but where games are sold physically too, the difference is a lot wider with the majority of games being more 70-30 or more. You may get the odd 1 that hits 35% digitally but most don't reach 30% sales this way.

You also get a lot of those 'special' editions - whether its just a steel book case and some 'digital' extras or the ones with statues, art-books etc which are very desirable (for collectors) and lucrative for publishers too. These often sell out long before a game actually releases too so I can't see Publishers really wanting to push everyone to Digital. Not only that, as much as they may hate trading, there is 'less risk' for consumers and may well buy more games because they know if they don't like it, can at least get some money back.

Even if we do see a time when Digital is the most popular format and as significant as Physical is now, I still see the Publishers happy to release Physical games - If you have a game that sells 5m for example 2m of those could still be Physical - maybe even just special collectors editions too that are most profitable (as far as Physical goes). Its also unlikely that the consoles will be without a disk drive. It adds more functionality (not just gaming) to the console. As good as streaming is, there are a LOT that want the 'highest' quality they can and until Streaming can deliver uncompressed, high quality content, then Physical will still be the 'enthusiasts' choice. HD streaming isn't as good as Bluray, 4k HDR streaming isn't as good as 4k HDR blurays. Even though Streaming has had a 'big' impact on both audio and movie sales, Vinyl, CD's, Blurays etc are still selling and until the market is virtually dead - like we did see with Cassettes (whether audio or VHS) - then it will always make sense to offer customer choice. I know gaming may not be a 'quality' issue like audio or visual content but there will always be those that prefer physical format - just like there are those that prefer digital too so its better to cater to both. If there were those that didn't buy Vinyl, then that would no doubt disappear but its actually doing very well.

@MaccaMUFC I don't think physical versions of games are going away anywhere soon. Look at CD and vinyl they are more popular than digital downloads, even if streaming is taken over as the most popular 'format'. Thing is games are a lot more complex to download/stream than films and music so I think physical versions of games will be around for a lot longer than some people think.

I must say - this is a very interesting xbox discussion

@NecuVise I thought this was the supermarket discussion thread?...

@JohnnyShoulder guess it went of course, kind of like a Supermarket Trollie with a wonky wheel

@KratosMD The couple of reviews ive read say that it needs a lot of work and is riddled with bugs, so beware before buying if you are not into that sort of thing.

@JohnnyShoulder You also forgot repetitive too but then some people find that with big AAA games - I have heard some say God of War's combat gets quite repetitive. This isn't a AAA priced game and offers more than 'most' indies. It is more a 'larger' indie game than a scaled down AAA game (like Hellblade for example). Maybe too ambitious for the team in the way No Mans Sky was...

I admit that State of Decay didn't really interest me. Days Gone has much more appeal although that is also more 'story driven' and of course 'Single Player'. Obviously Xbox owners won't get Days Gone either and if you enjoyed the original, then State of Decay 2 probably won't disappoint.

@BAMozzy I didn't mention that it was repetitive for that very reason, it is very much subjective and down to individual, more so than most things in games. Games by design are repetitive, it is how the developers hide it that makes the great games stand out from the average ones.

@KratosMD Not the first time Halo has been developed into an 'Arcade' game but maybe the first time its actually going to be in an Arcade - seems like a Operation Wolf, House of the Dead or Virtua Cop type thing set in the Halo universe. I don't know if it will be adapted for the home market too but games built for 'light guns' don't always translate as well. It may work well in VR of course as its on rails anyway...

@KratosMD Calling it now, Halo 6 coming out in 2022. You can say my claim is ridiculous, but I will stand by it diligently.

Games with Gold for June 2018...

Well it was inevitable that the 3rd and final AC Chronicle game was free. Not bothered about Smite (Gold Bundle) at all so can't say the XB1 offerings are 'great' this month. On Backwards Compatibility 360, we get Sonic and all-stars racing and Lego Indy 2. I won't bother with Sonic but may add Lego Indy 2 - jusr because I have the first.

Not a great month in my opinion - lets hope E3 has some great news for us XB1 owners...