GameStop's president Bartel's concern is evidence of his uncertainty in his own company's future in a ever increasingly digitally accessible world. Read about it here.
If I'm buying an AAA on release day, or pre-ordering it, I expect to pay about $60 from a digital retailer. I also expect it to hold that price for a while before the price falls. I have a PC so Steam is super convenient and it beats waiting in line for hours to ensure purchase of a copy. If I ever get a console, purchasing a new release online or digitally is still more convenient then then getting my ass down to the brick-and-mortar retailers. I'm a student and I barely have enough time to play as it is much less find the time to travel to a physical retailer.
However, convenience does not trump price when it comes to deciding to acquire a game. I still have to want it, and I mean badly, in order for me purchase a game for the full $60 starting price. There have been three or four releases like that this year. As for the rest, I wait until the price lowers or I acquire the game by "other" means and then wait for the price to fall before purchasing the game. All of my acquisitions happen digitally.
Bartel's concern seems to be about the profitability of his current role in the media retail world. Maybe he hasn't noticed, but the media industry has made significant moves to make their products available online and without any indication of regressing back to the traditional brick-and-mortar stores. But his fears seem about attributed to the changing world of media and the current ability of his company to remain relevant.
That is not to say that brick-and-mortar store will completely go out of style. IF I ever buy a console, purchasing it at physical store is more secure than online. My sister's PS3 got stolen from the mail room of her apartment complex after I purchased it for her birthday. I would posit that others feel more comfortable making big purchases face-to-face with retailer rather than waiting and risking for a pricey item to arrive only to be left on the doorstep. If I buy pricey hardware online, and it’s definitely not all the time, I take measures to ensure its delivered securely. Software and games are a different story because they aren't necessarily tangible.
I used to buy my games at Egghead Software, during what at least I call the golden age of flight sims, when Wing Commander and X-Wing/TIE Fighter dominated my afternoon activity. The change of how we consume our media became instantly obvious to me once Egghead moved exclusively online and became Newegg.com. The release of Steam many years later only further cemented my perception of the paradigm change.
Bartel isn't upset that prices are falling. He's upset that people are willing to pay $60 (or any amount for that matter) for digital content over the internet than in his stores. Perhaps Bartel is suffering from some cognitive dissonance and is unwilling to accept the obvious changes that are happening around him.
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