The announcement that Game has been saved from the fiery pits of administration hell is great news for the UK's high streets and gamers respectively but things need to change.
Even if you, like many, have migrated online to get your gaming kit, the thought that there's one less shop to browse in and one more charity shop / coffee shop / bland restaurant ready to take their place is something that should have filled you with dread.
The UK's high streets are pock-marked enough with closed shops that seeing a company like Game and Gamestation wobble is no fun at all.
But now that they are here to stay, they really need to bring the fun.
Bring gaming to Game
Browsing is all well and good, but these stores are based around gaming and playing games should be at the forefront of the shops.
What Game needs to do is embrace the gaming massive and give them a reason to leave their consoles and PCs and head to the shops.
Current games are all about community – whether that's on Modern Warfare or a friend down the street on Fifa – and Game needs to tap into this and bring Lan parties in-store and stop being afraid to embrace the true gaming geeks.
For far too long, Game has made its money – or lost it – through second-hand game sales. This isn't a way to run a business. It annoys the games publishers for a start. Second hand takes away their chance of long-term selling of new games within a shop, and it is something they are actively trying to stop.
The rumours that the PS4 won't accept second hand games sounds far-fetched but if videogames companies have anything to say about the future of gaming, then this will almost certainly happen.
If Game offered competitions within store, where you have to purchase a new game from its shop to join, then it would not only tap into the gaming community it would get the publishers off its back. Milk as much as you can out of first-hand games and they will thank you - in short, stop looking for making a buck out of the past and make money from the present.
The more people that come to the shop to hang around, the more their loyalty will be to the brand and the more they will spend - you just have to make it easy for them.
Gaming is the biggest thing in the entertainment industry at the moment – the launch of a new Call of Duty or Halo proves this.
The gaming community is as loyal as any Apple fan and as excitable as your average movie geek. Tap into this and stop looking for ways to make a profit out of pre-owned games and you'll do just fine, Game – focus on pushing your sales digitally and make your shops hubs for gamers to hang out.
It worked for HMV back in the day with the listening posts, now we need it to work for gaming.
If it doesn't then it's definitely game over whether we like it or not.
