Video games at Walmart behind glass.

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One of the things I don't like about video games at Walmart is that most of them are in a locked case behind glass. You can't pick one up and look at the back of it. And I don't really want to get an employee over to unlock the case just so I can look at the back of a game.

well, if they didn't do this, those games would be stolen.

you can always just grab your phone and google the game; that's what i do.
It'll give me more useful info, screenshots and even a review or two. That way i instantly know if i want that game or not

Yeah, they pretty much have to do that. Everyone does, mostly. The only other alternative is to do what Gamestop sometimes does, which is to actually open the packages, take the disc and other things out, and put the empty case up for display; THEN people can look at it if they want. But even then, there's restrictions on it.

It really is best to just look these up on the Net anyway. The back of the cases for many games can be misleading.

To be fair Gamestop has one box they put on the shelf for each game, with said game being put in a special container in the drawer behind the cash register.
All other copies are unopened and stored in the same drawers.

Best Buy has all their games on the store shelves in protective packaging which you grab to take the the register.
You can also read the back of the box too.

Target has one copy of the game attached to a tether so you can view the box, with the rest of the copies behind the glass.

Meijer has them on racks, which you can reverse them to see the backs, though you do need to see the employee to get them off the racks for purchase.

Who still buys games at Wal-Mart?

Amazon probably beats their price plus (most likely) free shipping if you buy more than $35 worth of stuff.

I don't know if they still do, but Toys R Us used to do something similar, but with custom printed cards instead of full boxes. The shelf had a bunch of tickets on it, and you'd bring the one you wanted up to the register to get your game.



Not by my house. All the Meijers here have most of the games behind glass, and all of the "bargain bin" stuff is loose on a shelf (or every once in a while, in a literal bin).

Never been to a Meijer. They don't have them where I live.

Kmart recently quit selling video games. I went there a while ago and the game section had gotten smaller. Next time I went to Kmart after that they no longer had video games. Like with Walmart, most of their games were behind glass. Unlike with Walmart and Target, at Kmart there never seemed to be anyone who worked in the electronics department at all times. You'd always have to get someone because no one ever would be there. At the local Kmart, they just recently removed the cash register from the electronics section. There never really was anyone who worked there anyway.

If it is MSRP, then physical retailer is the best way to go for most people.

In most states now you have to pay shipping and sales tax.

If it's an Amazon sale, then obviously it is better.
Doesn't Walmart have a rewards program?
I know Toys R Us, Gamestop, Meijer and Best Buy do.
This allows me to get many games and such at discount.


Sears Holdings (Kmart and Sears) have been struggling financially, which caused them to miss payments to many of their distributors.
This caused the distributors to cut ties with them.

Yeah, same here. That's basically how it is for every store that I've been to in the region, be it Meijer or otherwise. Nearly all of the games are behind glass, except for a very, very few that are both ancient and cheap, which are on a tiny rack somewhere.

Though it doesnt matter to me all that much really. These days I just buy most things digitally when given the chance. I hate dealing with CDs/DVDs anyway. At least with actual cartridges back in the day they didnt immediately break if you looked at them too hard.

That's a bummer, I haven't been there in a while, but the few times I do go there, I usually find a pretty good deal on something I've been after.

I remember back in the day, they used to sell used games. We got a handful of NES games from there a few years after the console had died.

Wow, all the games are kept behind glass? I've never seen that before.

I'm going to guess that most, if not all of the people who've posted so far live in the US, while I'm in Australia.

The only video games that get locked up behind glass everywhere I go are the special editions or the games that come in boxes with extra content. Most places have individual games locked up in a hard plastic case that gets opened by staff when you purchase the game, but there is still one or two places that just have games plastic wrapped with everything still inside.

It does bug me that Wal-Mart keeps the majority of their games behind glass without even having the cases out for people to look at. The only ones that aren't are mostly games based on other licensed properties like Barbie or My Little Pony, games that have been out for a long while, or PC games. At this point I'm just glad that the only video game stuff I buy from there is pretty much accessories.

Our local Walmart just recently took the glass case out and stores most of them on those plastic "shells" instead. Surprising because I hear my neighbourhood has (or had) sky high shoplifting rates. I remember one time I was buying a game at Blockbuster Video (back when those types of stores existed) and the clerk practically grabbed me once I grabbed a game out of an open case he just opened. I know they have to worry about theft but really? Am I really going to steal having my work uniform and ID badge on?

No wonder I buy most of my games online!

I knew someone once who had to go around his store, on the first day the Nintendo DS came out, offering turns to customers, with one strapped to his wrist for security, in a kind of handcuff. He heard a rumor that a gang was coming to the store with axes to chop the employees hands off and snatch the DS's. Luckily it didn't happen.

I don't really buy video games in stores, I've only bought one, but yeh, I think they should at least get a picture of the back cover and display it

- xAppleYT