Gamestop

I remember when the GameStop used to be located in the mall awhile back. They finally moved the store out into its own area right next to Orange Leaf and one of the main roads in Ames. The interior of the store is pretty nice, and everything is nicely organized. Everything is color-​coordinated too, so if you want Xbox, just look for green, and Playstation tends to be blue. For those who have no idea what they’re doing (buying for someone else/​child/​etc.), this makes it easy to make sure you’re staying in the right system.
Staff has usually been pleasant here, and I’ve had many enjoyable video game conversations with the staff. They’re very helpful, and while I’ve seen them busy before, it seems like they still are willing to spend time with customers — especially clueless ones — to make sure they get the help they need and also answer the questions.
However, we’re really trying not to purchase from here — or any other Gamestop for that matter.
I purchased my partner a «New» copy of a video game for his birthday. While it came in a non-​shrink-​wrapped package, I was assured that it was new, since it cost the full «New», $ 40 price, but it was standard that sometimes the display boxes were opened since they don’t keep shrink-​wrapped display copies on the shelf. Imagine my surprise when my partner booted up the game on his birthday to find multiple saved games on the item. Uh, well, good story Gamestop.
No biggie. Maybe they just gave me the wrong copy. I went back to the store, and I was assured that yes, I was given the right copy, and YES, this is what can happen sometimes. They test all «new» games to ensure they work, and I was told that employees were allowed to play games which would then be sold as «new». I was told that: No game SOLD AS NEW is guaranteed to be new. So, they’re pretty much selling used games as new. Yaaaay. They were super helpful about the return and refunded my money, but why in the world would I buy a «new» game here that’s the exact same price as somewhere else — except it’s not guaranteed to be new when I buy it from Gamestop?
So, basically, they have a good used game selection, so stick to the used games. If you do buy a «new» game, ENSURE THAT IT COMES IN THE SHRINK WRAP. If it doesn’t, assume it may be a used copy and make your decision from there. As helpful as the store has been in the past and as much as we used to spend there, I’m really disappointed in this «new games» policy, so I’ll be avoiding purchasing most of my games from there.

The store is organized in a way that makes sense and the staff knows what they’re doing. Even at peak busy times, they are able to help the crowd and keep lines in check. Their prices for trade-​in are higher than I expected (we recently traded in our Wii and upgraded to the Xbox 360 with Kinect) and the staff is super friendly and helpful.

Clean, organized store. The staff is very helpful. I’m not a big gamer, but I was easily able to find what I was looking for, and any questions were answered quickly and completely.