Retail blasts 'undisciplined' Eidos over software prices

In January sales that have seen a price war sink to new lows, one retailer has stepped up to blast Eidos, a publisher it sees as too quick to "drop its pants" over the recommended retail price of new software.

Managing director of indie chain Chips, Don McCabe, says retailers are wary of buying new stock from the UK publisher, fearful it will drop in value immediately after release.

"There were a few Eidos titles that we have been disappointed with. Eidos dropped its pants with Tomb Raider Legend way to quickly, and reduced the price," said McCabe, speaking exclusively to GamesIndustry.biz.

"You get that with certain publishers that are undisciplined. It's a strange company to deal with and makes us wary of buying stock because you expect the recommended retail price to evaporate right away."

"In contrast, a company like Nintendo maintains its RRP as long as possible and is a really well-disciplined publisher," added McCabe.

For the steadily growing retailer, which boasts over 30 stores across the UK, the past Christmas season has seen strong performance following an already successful year.

"Christmas has been the icing on the cake for 2006," revealed McCabe, who's praise for Nintendo doesn't stop at its RRP policy.

"Nintendo, as a format holder, has delivered in every respect. The DS has done exceptionally well, in terms of hardware and software, and to a certain extent the Wii has too," he said.

Although not as critical as HMV regarding the allocation of Wii stock, McCabe did point out that the Nintendo console would have sold more units had there been enough to go around.

"Every unit we've had in we could have sold at twice the price if we were that way inclined. For every pre-order we fulfilled another came in, so we expect to keep selling directly to loyal customers for the next month at least," he commented.

As supermarkets, entertainment chains and specialists try to compete in a cut-throat market, McCabe is thankful that some retailers are struggling to keep up with the pace of the videogame retail sector.

"We have to thank the poor offerings from some of our competitors," said McCabe. "Some are really crap retailers - they may have good buyers with well-respected names, but there's something about their logistics that means they have a poor level of stock.

"Some act like it's still the 1950's, they have stores designed like a street market," he said.