The New Zealand Story

I live in New Zealand but I'm forced to buy all my sealed games from the UK. It seems odd I know, both being PAL countries. But actually it works out cheaper to import my PAL games from the UK - including the postage.


The reason I do this is that it's almost impossible to purchase sealed games in NZ because all the shops open their games. They say they do it to stop theft, but I don't buy that (pun intended) excuse. Yeah sure, they have an open game on display but that's just ONE game. I'd like to know why the rest of the ones for sale aren't kept sealed?


I prefer to buy sealed games for 3 reasons;
[1] As a collector I want to keep my games sealed
[2] How do I know that the unsealed game the shop is selling me is, in fact, brand new and not pre-loved? I don't!
[3] If the shops sells me an unsealed game how do I know it's not one that's been on display and that the case and manual are still in mint condition? I don't!


ALL new games should be sold sealed in NZ, but the fact is that they're not. And sadly there're only a few of us complaining about it in a bid to change it because most people don't care they just rip the cover off anyway. And that's fine. But if I buy a game from a shop I want to know that I was, in fact, buying what I was paying for - a new game.

That's a shame that the shops in NZ open the game.
What about Australia....you also can find some bargains over there.
I recently bought a sealed Guardians Crusade for about 12 Euro there...maybe you also have a look in the Australian ebay.

You would buy sealed games from shops? I think this is too expensive. Their prices are in 95% of all cases over the worth. But you're right, they should keep it sealed.

At least you have the luck to get easily Starcraft 64 and Snowboard Kids 2 as a PAL version, or am I wrong?

Oh yes, buying from gaming shops is the most expensive way to buy - even online gaming 'shops' in NZ charge the same high price.

Naturally there's TradeMe (NZ's answer to eBay) and the games sold on there are very cheap - but they're also 95% pre-loved. There're a couple of importers but they don't sell their games for much less than 'ordinary' shops, and they don't guarantee they're sealed.


I've not thought about 'shopping' in Aussie not only because their prices aren't that much different, but because eBay and my UK contact is much, MUCH, better.

Zephyr... from the VGMM? It is a small world after all!

That really stinks about the shops opening their games, by the way. GameStop stores here do that too... what a shame.

jd-83 wrote:Zephyr... from the VGMM? It is a small world after all!

That really stinks about the shops opening their games, by the way. GameStop stores here do that too... what a shame.

Yep, the very same. I wonder if we could bumpt into each other on other forums, lol.

Really? I didn't know that. I can't work out why the shops do it :?:

Zephyr wrote:

jd-83 wrote:Zephyr... from the VGMM? It is a small world after all!

That really stinks about the shops opening their games, by the way. GameStop stores here do that too... what a shame.

Yep, the very same. I wonder if we could bumpt into each other on other forums, lol.

Really? I didn't know that. I can't work out why the shops do it :?:

The guy speaks the truth. They open the seals and such and store it behind the counter as a security measure such is the case with most stores worldwide, I assume. Then they have the audacity to sell the open game as "Brand New". You most certainly won't see me go there. Unless I've preordered a game. (those remain sealed)

And here I was thinking only New Zealand had people stupid enough to [A] sell unsealed games as 'New' and [B] stupid enough to buy them as 'New'. Obviously not.

Its impossible to find game stores that sell sealed games unless you buy just released games that they have not opened yet, usually these games are behind the counter. I cant belive why EBGames and Game does this, its idiotic, seriously i sometimes think they just do it because they want to have something to do.



When Zelda TP was released me and my mate was waiting outside when they opened the store, the first thing we noticed was that they had a big paper box with the games, and 2 employees were picking up the games, unsealing them, taking the manual and disc and putting a rubber band around them then placing them in the stores lockers behind the desk. Now they did this with all copies, not only the showing ex.


So my guess is that they do it for their own personal pleasure. But it is also so that if Game only had sealed games, people would demand a sealed game when they bought the game, but if all games are unsealed it fits more with their "return" policy, you have 10 days to try the game, which i think is good unless your the one getting a pre played copy. Also, what are the games stores on NZ, are they chains or just private ones?


With smaller private stores and the geographical position of NZ one would think these stores would be very exotic, with a mix of Jap, NA and European games;P But i guess its not.

One reason I prefer sealed games (Even ones I want to open and play) is because I like to know that everything is inside the case that is supposed to be inside. The problem you usually get with shops is they replace broken cases with new spare ones. I've seen PS2 games for sale that are apparently "New" but clearly have had their cases swapped as the hologram is in the wrong place (Some games it's on the front, others it's on the back)

I can't see why the stores can't just haveone or a few empty caseson the shelf, and keep the rest behind the counter sealed. If I owned my own shop, I would totally do this and operate it in the same manner as a 1960's local shop, where the goods are kept behind the counter. I can't see why people need something physical to touch - All they need is a list of game titles and a pricelist to accompany it, and a tongue in their mouth to ask for a specific game. Honestly, I can't remember the last time I saw someone actually "Browsing" games of a particular genre in order to find something they might like to play (Eg, looking for a driving game or FPS and checking out the screenshots on the back of the covers and thinking "Hmm, this looks good, i'll try that one...") - I would say a majority of people who buy games these days know exactly which title they want when they enter the shop, and all that concerns them is the price

Gemini-Phoenix wrote:I can't remember the last time I saw someone actually "Browsing" games of a particular genre in order to find something they might like to play (Eg, looking for a driving game or FPS and checking out the screenshots on the back of the covers and thinking "Hmm, this looks good, i'll try that one...") - I would say a majority of people who buy games these days know exactly which title they want when they enter the shop, and all that concerns them is the price

Brilliant^^

if I buy an opened game, I assume it's used no matter what.

Also, +1 about EB Games switching cases. I bought a gamecube game once and it came in a standard DVD case, an inch of extra radius where the disc went in the case and no memory card holder :S