I bought a "new" copy of Sonic Heroes for Xbox at GameStop today. The price sticker
said it was new, but the case wasn't sealed. The clerk retrieved the game disc from a
locked drawer and put it in the case I brought to the register. When I asked if it was
new, he told me it was and they removed it from it's case for security. I had already
guessed that they were protecting themselves from thieves. I thought that they had
factory sealed copies locked up, not the game discs by themselves.

The manual was in the case however.

Do game stores normally sell unsealed games as new? I've never bought a console
game at a proper game store before today. At least if I did, I don't remember it.

GameStop does that. when i bought viva pinata, they took it out of the case from a paper cover. when i opened it at home the disc had a very visible scratch along with other minor ones. i was pretty raged. obviously, it was a used copy. i paid for a new one.

yup, as bsu stated. the only scenario when gamestop sells new titles is during the initial month of the game's release.

afterwards, all bets are off i'm afraid.

I took Sonic Heroes out of its case and looked it over. I saw an area of dirt on the
underside. I don't know if it's from their handling or what. I have NOT tried it yet, so
I'm certain I didn't make the smudge.

I bought the story of security at first, that's partly why I went ahead and bought the
game. After awhile though, it didn't seem to add up. Why couldn't they have just kept
factory-sealed copies in a large locked case like Wal-Mart does? If space were the
issue, would it really take up less space to store the games factory sealed in the lockers
than it would this business of just keep the unsealed "display cases" on the
floor?

To me, what would have made far more sense would have been to open one or two
games, put their cases out on the shelf and kept new, factory sealed stock locked
away, along with the two discs out of the display cases. At first, I thought this was
exactly what they did, and I was just buying an open, unused display copy. Now
though, I'm not so sure.

In any case, they shouldn't have sold the display copy as if it were new, IMHO.

The clerk also claimed this was their last new copy. They had one more unsealed
case for Sonic Heroes on display, and I'm pretty sure it also said "new" on it's label.

Some people say "What's the big deal, why whine over shrink wrap?", and I suppose
that's true to an extent.

The problem is that there's really no way of knowing if a game is used once that spine
seal is broken. Games can easily be rewrapped in shrink wrap, I've seen it happen at
those "big sale" events where they sell games at supposed give-away prices. When I've
bought new Xbox games, I've found it very difficult to get the spine seal off. I'm much
more inclined to believe an unwrapped Xbox game has never actually been used if
that spine seal is still intact, though there may even be a way around that.

I cherish the majority of my games, particularly if they were difficult to find. As silly
as it may seem, I'm disinclined to put any DVD into my Xbox, game or movie, that
wasn't new and factory sealed when I bought it.

Even so, I'll probably go ahead and play this game even though it could very well be
a used copy. I doubt they'll be overly willing to let me return it for a full refund. After
all, it's already open.

At the end of the day, my biggest gripe is how easy it would be for them to deceive
me with this "unsealed but new" nonsense.

Sonic Heroes was only $10, so it's not as big of a deal to me as far as the game
itself goes. Had it been a $50 game, I would likely have said "Forget it." and left.

I've bought games from gamestop numerous times. A good number of them have been new, and I've seen this process happen. However, my discs were not damaged.
I trust them.

eb/gamestop/rhino's takes games back in from people. not everyone trades games back in with a manual or case. but doing this drops the trade-in price. hardcore gamers keep the stuff and casual ones might not.

and they do have games from the factories as well. its just that they have more used games than new ones. makes things cheaper fro when you buy games and when another person wants said game.

as for that smudge, a little alcohol and water will clean that off. or you could have asked for that new display case game.

I'm cool with that, as long as I know for sure whether the game I'm buying is new or
used.

You're right about cleaning it- I'm a bit lazy and haven't tried the game, but I plan on
cleaning it thoroughly before I do.

When you say "new display case game", did you mean I could have asked for a factory sealed copy?

He claimed the open copy I bought was "actually the last new copy they had". They
had another open case for the same game on the floor, and I think it did in fact say
"NEW" on it's label.

In hindsight, I might have at least requested an open box discount. Might not have
been much, but still something.

I suppose it's not that big a deal in the grand scheme of things. I guess really what
I'm more concerned about is that this "open box as new" business opens the door to
selling used games as new.

I'm not saying the GameStop I bought from would do that, but I can tell from looking
around their store that a large part of their business-and other game stores as well-
involves selling used items. I'm sure for some the temptation would be there to try
and make an extra buck or two.

all in all, if you want the games full-fleged value, buy them elsewhere....even online companies nowadays have good credibility on games.

Well, with stores like EB. They have a 7 day no question asked refund policy.

If they were to re-sell all the copies that were returned as second hand, they would lose a lot of money.

When I bought Gears of War, the salesman was trying very hard to find me an unsealed copy of the game. Then when he couldn't find any around, he had to get a copy from the locked display case and give me a brand new sealed copy.

He probably did that because I was refunded Spider-Man 3 Xbox 360 for Bullet Witch and Spider-Man 3 PS2. But When I saw how short and repetitive the games were I took them back in again for Gears Of War.

The stuff about removing games for security reasons is not true. It's just a way to re-sell those opened games that were returned to the store.

From my sales receipt:

"...Opened new video games, new PC games, & new systems can be exchanged for
the identical item w/in 7 days..."

Apparently, GameStop isn't so forgiving.

That begs the question, what would happen if one were to return an open game within
the 7 day period and they don't have any more of "the identical item".

Ultimately it's my fault for buying it when I saw it was an opened copy. I'm gonna give
the game a go tonight. If it's in good working order then I'll live with it.

you already know the answer to that one pixel. don't beat yourself up on it.

Well, I tried the game last night and it seems to work fine :). So it worked out OK.

I'll be more careful buying from game stores from now on though, especially "new"
games.