Free stuff drives people nuts.......

So, with the other day being the first of Spring, Rita's gives out a free waterice. Why am I mentioning this? Because there's a Ritas two shops down from us in the same shopping center. This creates stress for several reasons.

First I can't find a place to park. Our center is small enough already, trying to get out when another car is coming in involves compicated hand signals and extensive communication. Now increase traffic by 40%. Ugh.

That traffic translates to a line around the center, which blocks our door. So you need to brush people out of the way just to get in or out of the store. "But wait, doesn't that mean more customers coming in to browse, and an increase of sales?" No, becuase it's mostly 9 year old kids with no money in the first place, and people with the "FREE" mindset aren't in the mood to spend.

Second, these people in line tend to stare at you through the store windows. I will never look at animals at a zoo in the same light, becuase I felt like I was in a human zoo. All the Fwicers (that's short for free water icers) are watching me watch TV in the store, bored during their 10 minute wait for flavored ice. I almost felt like dancing around and trying to entertain them, just to see what kind of reactions I'd get.

It still wound up being a slow night, so I rushed to close as fast as I could. With this much of a mass of humanity around, the chances were too great that someone would wander in three minutes before closing and want to dig through the discount movie pile. Needless to say, I didn't get a free waterice.

Oh, and lest the blog stray too far away from pure video gaming, God of War 2 rocks! I just beat Titan mode, which is quite the challenge. If you have a ps2 system, you must play through GOW 1+2. Good stuff.

Facing the slow times........

I've been getting some hours during weekdays recently, and Al Bundy just about sums it up here as he's waxing retrospective about his job. Although I, unlike Al, try to find something to do - sometime constructive, sometimes not - to pass the time. Here's what I've been finding myself doing lately:

- Sorting through the discount DVD bin (around 150 or so movies) only to take off the annoying SECURITY DEVICE ENCLOSED plastic strips on the top and bottom of the cases. These should be fully removed when you first buy the movie - people as so lazy these days.

- Making sure all the paper money in the registers are facing the same way. They say this makes it easier to spot counterfeit bills, or psychotic employees.

- Picking out used movies for the "cheesiest DVD in the universe EVER". Right now I've got it narrowed down to the Stallone classic "Deathrace 2000" and "Snakes on a Train". Yes, TRAIN.

- Performing amateur handwriting sample analysis on credit card receipts. "Sure Mr. Valez just spend 128.54 on his credit card, but his shaky lines and unclosed "A" indicate he couldn't afford it."

Potpourri

I don't have any material that will be enough for a full blown post, so I'm just going to throw together some small things that happened throughout the week:

- One customer entered the store and asked me if I knew music pretty well. Just the older stuff I told him, not the current bands (I'm over 30, and like the classic rock era....I just don't get the new bands at all). "George Thorogood....." he starts to say, so I chime in "yeah, Delaware Destroyers, I'm with you so far....."

"You know that song they do - keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel......."
Oh, no you didn't. The Doors are my favorite band, please tell me this guy didn't mix up Geroge Thorogood with the DOORS! I went on to explain to him that James Douglas Morrison along with the rest of the Doors did that song, called Roadhouse Blues, and it's on the Morrison Hotel CD. Just because Thorogood sings about beer doesn't put him on the same level as the Doors. Needless to say that put me in a bad mood....

- Speaking of bad mood, a young boy and his mother come in to sell a Gamecube. I ring it up and ask for ID. The mother doesn't have any so they leave (we require ID for all sales, just for protection.) They come back in the next day, same situation, only now with ID. So when I ask for it again, the woman starts playing 20 questions. They start out simple, then get absurd.
"Why do you need ID?" "Why do I need to sign the paper?" "Where do you store the ID?" "What happens to it in the end?" Here's my favorite: "What kind of security system do you have?"
I told her about the motion sensors and the alarm. "That's fine if you're closed, but what about during the day? " I pointed to my eyes and said "state of the art monitoring equipment." "How many employees are in the store? Will someone always be watching?" Nobody is going to jump me and wrestle past just to get your ID lady, relax. Eventually she broke down and sold the Cube.

- I sold a Sims Gamecube to a woman one day, without instructions. Bad move. She calls an hour later wanting to know how to play. I don't play the Sims, so I sent her over to Gamefaqs. Gamefaqs is your solution to just about 95% of customer questions - it has walkthroughs, instructions, cheat codes, it makes my life easier. Only this time, it only lists PS2 version controls. She calls back in another hour and says she can't find help on the site. She then asks me to fax the instructions to her. Ummmm.......I don't have them to begin with. And only the government should be able to fax things......the general public shouldn't be trusted with such technology. I googled around a bit and read her the controls over the phone. I remember a time when games were A=shoot and B=jump. Those were happier times.

- And finally, on a funnier note, I had a cute couple come in and head for the retro section. They finish up with a handful of NES games, and ask for some obscure game show port, I think it was "Remote Control". Remember Remote Control with Colin Quinn? Of course I don't have it, and they start to cute couple play fight. "Luck he doesn't have it, I'd have to kick your ass like in the other games." The girl replys, "I destroyed you in Blades of Steel, so don't go there......" Then the guy drops this bomb:
"Oh yeah, you can't even find the whistle in Super Mario Brothers 3".

Ouch.

Burned. She laughed and walked away, so I warned the guy that this pile of games might eventually lead to a break up. He laughed, and she came right back over and said "what are you laughing about?" Cute couple.

Messing around with my Wii

I've had some playtime with the Wii now, enough to give it a fair evaluation, and I think if they don't make some extremely high quality, call-out-of-work-to-play-this-game level material, the Wii is going to totally fizzle out. Some of the more recent games, such as Wario Ware (pictured)and Elebits are fun for a short while, but the heart of the game is just exploiting the Wii hardware for what it can do. Wii Play has been called a Wiimote with a tech demo packaged along with it, and I have to agree. Think of the Wii as the hot chick you spot at some social event. She's elusive and hard to find, and when you do work up the nerve to talk to her, after 20 minutes you realize she's a complete moron. She functions, can hold a conversation, and makes a good first impression, but when it comes time to talk about important things, she just doesn't show up.

So how do I score the "next gen" as of now?
Wii - Fine for casual play, but not serious gamers. Hopefully Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3 will change my opinion a bit.
360 - Still in Beta testing. Seriously Microsoft, we don't want to rent a console for $400 for a one year term. Know why they call it a 360? Because that's it's shelf life before it dies on you.
PS3 - I honestly think Sony is TRYING to fail with this thing. Just today I read that Europe is getting a downgraded ps2 compatibility system. The list of Sony screwups keeps getting longer and longer......

My solution? Enjoy the ps2 for now, and the great library it has to offer. Four words for you if you disagree: God of War 2.

The Dreamcast Kid

Last night I got a visit from one of my favorite customers, the Dreamcast kid. Let me see if I can adequately put to words what this youngster is about:

To start he's about 9-10 years old. To understand his personality, you need to feed a child that age a large amount of crack, then give him a six pack of Red Bull, a giant size Hershey bar, a 2-liter of Coke, and a bottle of maple syrup to wash it all down with. Yes, he's that hyper.

There are two people browsing the store, and he opens the door and bolts in, cutting through the couple like a linebacker and saying "scuse me" after getting 5 steps past them. He's now at the back wall, literally bouncing up and down looking through the retrogaming racks. He then runs up to the counter and starts yelling at me "do you have any Sega Dreamcasts in?" No, I tell him. "Do you have any Sega Dreamcast VMUs?" No, I tell him, to which he then comes around the counter and points at a pile of memory cards I have waiting to be put out. "There's one! There's one!" Actually it's a N-64 rumble pack, but he swears it's a VMU. "Do you have any Sega Dreamcast power packs? I need one." No, I tell him, only a handful of Dreamcast games back on the wall.

Then he does a few more laps around the store...and by now his dad comes in. His dad actualy buys something, but I can't remember what it was, becasue for the whole rest of the time the kid just rapid-fires questions at me, one right after another.
"Is that a Plasma TV?"
"When's Halo 3 coming out?"
"Do you have any Wii's?"
"What's your favorite Sega Dreamcast game?" (he always says SEGA Dreamcast).
"Can you order any Sega Dreamcast power cords?"

I felt like I was on a quiz show - he wouldn't even give me time to answer any of the questions......I fear for my life the day when I actually HAVE some Dreamcast items and the kid really gets excited!

Guitar......Zero?!

Well, looks like I have to settle for second place at the GH compo. About 10 people showed up to compete, with a few more to watch.

I had a bad feeling when I stopped in earlier in the week to ask about the setlist. "Six, Jordan, Psychobilly Freakout, Hangar 18, etc." Wow, they weren't messing around. I thought you would at least start slow and work your way up, but they jumped right into the hardest tracks in the game.

First round was Hangar 18, and one loss knocked you out of the compo. Each set of two players would stick with this song until the next round. I wasn't too worried when I noticed most of the beginning players weren't even using star power. Two players looked like serious contenders though......Next was Psychobilly, which I felt good with, but when my turn came to play they switched it up to Six. I thought I was toast until the other player said he didn't even know that song.....guess he didn't venture into the bonus material at all. I fumbled my way through it but still managed to rock just a bit harder.

So by the third song two guitar heros remained standing, and I'm dreading the final song. Automatic assumption is Freebird, but no, they decide to go with Jordan, which has insane solos. And guess what, the other guy could handle them pretty well. We stated out even but I fell apart midway through the song. Having a differnet song might have produced different results, but HOPO's were the death of me. It was fun just to compete and hopefully competitive gaming will become much more popular in the future.

Shoot The Core update and game T-shirts

My other website, Shoot The Core, just underwent a huge redesign. So if you like shmups at all, you should go check it out. Or if you don't know what a shmup is, go check it out.

Also, to celebrate, I'm offering STC T-shirts pictured above. It's gaming related, so readers of ADITLOVG might be interested.

The store has been relatively normal lately. I sold about 4 used PS2s yesterday, and almost all of them were replacement models for systems that had worn out or broken. Granted one was a brick model that they probably had since launch, but with all this Microsoft bashing, I can't let Sony feel left out and find them crying in the corner due to lack of attention.

The 5 Commandments of Retail

I couldn't come up with 10 at the moment, so I'll start out with these five general rules of retail, and probably add more later.

1. Somebody will always come in 5 minutes before you close, especially when you have somewhere important to go after work. I even had someone call and after finding out that we close at 9, inform me they would be in at 8:50 because that's when the bus schedule worked out for them. At least this time I had fair warning.

2. Don't go in to work on your day off. Once I had to stop in for a memory card or something stupid, and it turned into 45 minutes of answering questions about the 360 for customers and digging through inventory for one lost movie. And the fun part? You don't get paid for that time.

3. Don't hold up the line trying to find exact change at the register. Seriously consumers, I know you get warm and fuzzies thinking your 37 cents will save me from having to give you change, but we're well equipped to handle payments that are over the invoiced amount. In the four minutes it took you to dig through the purse, count the change, drop the penny, chase the penny across the floor, pick up the penny, then recount all over, I lost a customer who got tired of waiting.

4. Don't leave ANYTHING lying around the store that doesn't belong. The reason for this is the "small child from hell" will pick it up and cause trouble. We have metal doorstops near the front door for nice days, and during one busy session I remember looking up to see a monster kid running around with it and poking at his brother. The mental picutre of a metal doorstop stuck in some kid's eye socket flashed before me, so I grabbed it and hid it behind the counter.

5. Be ready for stupid, general technical questions that have nothing to do with your store. One guy called me, said he bought a game online and it's not working for him. He then went on to explain that it says PAL on the cover, and what's that mean? I said it was the European version of the game, and started to look up our Amazon records to find out how we sold a PAL game through our Amazon business. He then said he bought it on ebay. So......rather then contact......I dunno.......the SELLER of the item, why not try a game store to figure out your problem. Or just ask the guy pumping your gas. How about writing a letter to the president of the United States? He can help.....

But I'm with the Band!

One of our competitors has announced a Guitar Hero 2 contest. Having earned a battleaxe in both GH 1 + 2, I figured I had to give it a try. After checking out the website, a sinister sounding text tried to trick me into signing up for additionial information, but if you read the fine print:

By clicking below you acknowledge that any information you submit may be used for marketing purposes.

What?! How evil! I want to service society by rocking and you want to give my information out to people other than groupies! Being totally turned off by that, I went to my local you-know-where and asked about the compo there, expecting to get a blank look. The clerk however handed me this cool looking all access pass, and said that his store was one of the torunament locations and that he can only accept 10 Eddie Van Halens to compete. So I'm in! Nobody knows how the details pan out yet: What songs we're playing, if it's head to head or highest score based, or even what the prizes are, but it should be lots of fun. I'll let you know how things turn out.

In related news, Red Octane announced Guitar Hero: 80's version. I hope they don't include a manual, cause I don't need no instructions to know how to rock.

360 woes

Seems like everywhere I look these days, someone is mentioning an X-Box 360 that has died on them. I've read it on a few gaming blogs, I had a customer bring back a red-ringed set the other day (what a hassle this is - first you suggest for them to contact M$, then when they don't feel like doing that, swap the set for another one and send it back to M$ yourself, or lose several hundred dollars.) What ever happened to product quality? I remeber back in the 90's buying video games was a complete 100% no-hassle deal. I buy a SuperNES, it works, I take it home and play it. End of story. Granted systems were not mini computers like they are today, but it seems that as "progress" increases, the frequency of headaches rises proportionately.

I've been holding off buying a 360 as long as possible - since I'm a huge shmup fan, the deciding factor is Treasure's upcoming project, which probably won't go cross platform. I've got my fingers crossed that the new wave of 360s will fix all its woes and make it a console I can rely on.

The WTF moment of the year

Working at the store has its perks: I can borrow used games/movies for a day or two and try them out. The boss usually springs for meals. I'm the first one on the block to try out a new game. Someone will trade in a game I've been searching out for a while. But all that doesn't negate what I had to deal with yesterday. It's what I like to call the WTF moment of the year, and it's only January 6th.

There's a pile of games to be stocked on the shelves, and the boss and I are processing them: cleaning discs, checking for instruction books, pricing, etc. I come across a MLB06 The Show, and on top of the instructions is a white card. Many times people will jam receipts in a game, so I figured that's what it was. I turn it over, and to my complete dismay, it's a picture of two naked guys in a hotel room.

Now stop and read that last sentence over again. Yes, you read it right. I've read stories of traded PSPs having porn on them, but at least that make sense......it's a device that plays movies, so the media fits. Finding that picture is F'ed up on so many levels. I tried to think of every possible scenario of how it got there, and came up with these theories:

1) Someone has a grudge against the store, and was trying to sabotage us. Imagine if hadn't caught that, and little Jimmy finds it in his PS2 game?

2) They were transporting the picture to somewhere else, forgot about it, and traded the game in.

3) Is this the opposite of the hook us up girls?

Talk about something being completely out of place......anyway after the initial shock, I got a pretty good laugh out of it. Only now I'm afraid to open game cases without parental supervision. Should MLB06 now get an AO rating?

I considered for a second being a total jerk and posting the picture. That will teach you to trade in games with naughty surprises! But common sense got the best of me, and I don't want to subject the readers to the same "easter egg" that I got. Hot coffee, eat your heart out.

Douchebag of the day!

Today is a 70 degree day in the middle of winter so i expected it to be slower than normal because people are prob enjoying the weather. Although we had a good day number wise so far its because mostly of big hit sales....then tons of sitting around. Its boring but i get to catch up on news and things like that to keep myself ahead of the game when people ask questions about games. Of course though this is usually a magnet for something strange to happen.

I'm sitting around preping movies for our automated rental machine in the back of the store and this couple walks in they ask if we have Tiger Woods 2007 and i told them where it was and they brought it up to buy. They traded about 4 games in....games we normally wouldnt take..i basically gave em a gift to make some money in the store. Everything was fine and good until they wanted to use our value card.

He asked how the value card works...i explained how he could get trade depending on how much he spends. Then he asks how come he doesnt get the points for the trade in. And i explained that when he bought the games here he got the trade in for them. but he said he didnt buy them here so i explained that u only get the points when you buy games from us. His girlfriend unstood...but he seemed to have issues and get really pissed off at me.

Now let me sum this up a little bit....he wanted to trade 4 games which i gave him 14 dollars in trade...he wnated to get a used tiger woods 07 which we have for 20 in the store...i gave him the 20 credit on the value card for the game...but he wanted the other 14 for trade in from the games which we dont do. so he wants 34 points when he only pays 20...

Ok so now he is pissed at me...and doesnt understand why i wont give him the 34 points...so i say to em..you didnt buy the games here so why should i give u any points for the games. Obviously i'm getting upset at this point..and i sent the hint to em...and he shrugs it off with..you shouldnt be in this buisness if you cant help the customer. No.....i can help the customer..i cant help retards who cant think for themselves...His girlfriend is next to em saying its okay its okay i understand...and he is there not being able to comprehend i cant do anything for him cuase he didnt buy the games here. So then he looks up at our TV on the wall...(the one pictured in Postman's post about the ps3) and goes..oh now i understand...you get one of these TVs and your all smug...i wanted to laugh..So of course i throw in..yep..thats how it is man...and then he goes back to the card and is like..well if i cant get the points for my traded in games then what do i need this card for and throws it on the table. Then I say okay..i obviously cant do anything about that. He then wants to talk to a manager and i say thats me....then he wants the corporate number...and i tell him thats us...then i offer my boss's card to him..if he wants to call and complain about me. And he yells at me saying you dont even care if i never shop here again and lose my money. No...i really dont wanna deal with a complete asshole who cant figure things out on his own and needs his girlfriend to tell him whats going on cause he is making a complete douchebag outta himself.

Through this whole thing i was fustrated about how stupid this guy was but in no why was i trying to be mean..i just answered his questions and it seemed to make him more mad everytime i told him i wouldnt suck his dick for em. So he gets a refund on his game..which i gave him happily...and then he left..5 minutes later he came back in and rebought the game and left without saying a word......go figure....then some lady who was in the store came up to me and was like is that guy for real..and we had a laugh about it...

about 10 minutes later he called on his phone to file a complaint...haha...asking for my boss...i dodnt even think he realized it was me on the phone.....and every minutes that goes by i thank myself i dont have to deal with that douchebag ever again...i'm not for kicking people out or banning them..but if your going to act like a complete dick then goodbye...have a nice life cause i dont wanna deal with your ass anymore.

Great way to start the year...

few added notes....he spend 14 dollars in this store...big loss there....
the games he wanted trade in were...Starsky and Hutch, Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm, Wakeboarding Unleashed, Tiger Woods 2001......14$ is very good if u ask me...

The Prices Are Right!

We have this guy who is in his late 30s...he comes and says nothing. If you say hi to him...nothing...ask him for help...nothing. I hate when people don't answer you when you try to be nice and say hi....but anyway.

He has never bought anything in the 4 years i been here....and he comes in at least once a week.... So of course i always wonder why he even bothers to come in... But....one day he comes in..and brings a gameboy advance to the counter. Needless to say i was shocked...i start to ring it up..then i look at the price...and my boss who put it out forgot a number...usually we sell them for 49.95.....but this one was marked 9.95....and so...i now understand why he comes in. Of course i told him no....and he gives me a hard time...but i win of course...its not like the guy is our best customer or something and actually spends money. So i told him no and he left mad. Two weeks later..hes back at it...acting like nothing happened.

To this day everytime he comes in and leaves without brining something up to the counter we know "The prices are right! woohoo!" I been here 5 and a half years now...and he still hasnt paid a penny in our store...and he comes in every week...i dont get it...i guess he must be bored or something....and it makes me wonder what other stores he goes to and does the same thing...

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 07 everyone! It's been mad busy at the store, but that's a given with the holidays upon us. Not only has it been hectic with Christmas, the frenzy has carried over to the new year since people now have gift cards and new consoles they need to feed games into. I'd have to say that Nintendo is the big winner this season - everyone coming into the store is either looking for a Wii or a DS Lite. First runner up is the PSP - there's a sudden explosion in that area too.

While on the subject of the PSP, could Sony make that thing any more complicated to use? I had a customer in asking how to use the PSP remote play feature with a PS3. I only used our demo monolith set to play Resistance, so I have no idea, but told him I'd research it on the net and get back to him. I printed out THREE pages of instructions on how to set up PSP wireless networks and input the SSID codes and calculate the DHPC key rounding off to the nearest whole number and answering the questions three and dodging the posion darts to put the replacement idol on the PS3 stand so the giant Sony boulder doesn't roll over you. Sony needs to understand that this is America. Most people can't handle something more complicated then turning on a power switch. What they need is a little icon of a PSP with an arrow pointing to a PS3 set and a big happy face. One click on that should set up remote play.

Anyway, have a great new year everyone, we've got a lot of gaming to do, with the Wii and PS3 just getting off the ground, and the 360 hitting stride with Gears of War and Halo 3.

Call of Booty

Since a game store falls into the realm of bartering more than most other retail outlets, you get your share of people trying to haggle you for every penny they can on traded material. Most of the time this won't work very well, since prices are set in the computer. However there are some hot items that merchants will pay a little more for, and there's always that rare game you want for yourself that you are willing to spill the beans for - but you can't let it show.

And let's not forget the female customers that try to charm the pants off you. A store about women manipulating game store clerks? Yeah, lets go there.

These two girls come in the store with a stack of DVDs looking to sell. Keep in mind these movies are the usual crap that we already have sitting in the bins - Hellboy, Shrek, Spiderman, Harry Potter, and Star Wars Episodes I, II, and III - stuff I'm really tired of looking at. These girls talk to me a little bit, and then they're like "Yo dude, hook us up a bit." Here's the pitch, it's a fastball right down the center of the plate.

Now any female attention is nice, but I had to call these sirens out on their bluff. I explained to them that I could give them a little extra, but where would that leave me? We're running a business to make money, and after I overpay for crap movies that I already have ten copies or more of, I'll never see you two again. Know what the response was?

"We'll stop in and visit you......."

Yeah right. Every week you're going to remember to go visit the video game store to fulfill a non-contractual obligation that binds you into spending some time with the guy who gave you a few extra bucks for DVDs. I highly doubt that. After paying them the usual price, they came back with "I guess we're just not cute enough for him then." I could almost see :( appearing above their heads. And truth be told, not only were they of average looks, checking their ID for trading showed they were also 10 years my youngers.

And I never saw the "hook us up" girls again. Same response as if I would have hooked them up or not.

Retrogaming Rules!

It's amazing to me how much we still sell from our "retro corner" at the back of the store. I'd have to say that it's pretty close to being a 1:1 ratio between customers coming in to ask about the PS3/Wii, and the 30-somethings who want the NES cart of Tecmo Bowl because it bring back memories of playing it daily after school. While other big name gaming chains are turning away from carrying older NES, Genesis, and N-64 games, we are blowing them out the door. I even mention to NES buyers that the Wii will be able to play them via the virtual console, and the responses I get are either "too expensive", "Wiis are unavailable", or "I want the original cart and controller, it's nostalgic."

Nintendo has really struck a nerve with both that generation of gamers, and the simplistic yet fun games it released. Perhaps when facing the high prices of next-gen gaming, the short suppliy of consoles and uncertainty of developer support of the PS3, backward is the only way to go for consumers.

To get you into the retrogaming mood, check out some classic NES soundtracks done in the rocked out style by either the Minibosses or the Kode.

I have too much time......

Yes, I'm a straight man who likes to watch Gilmore Girls, deal with it.

When things are slow and there's not much to write about, expect more Photoshop fun like this.

Why? Way? WEE? Wii?

We been really busy here lately(note lack of updates by me) and of course a lot of the buzz is for the new systems. So far it seems like Nintendo is cleaning up and Sony is crying. I get calls every single day to buy a Ps3. At first we were buying them for 800...so when we got about 5 or so and were still getting calls I told my boss that these things are so easy to get...now we are paying 600....offering people their money back for those who dont actually want the system and got it for selling on Ebay.

Apprently everyone had the great idea to make a buncha money on Ebay and now the market for it is total crap. Thus the reason we are getting so many in. Wii on the other hand..we cant get enough. We cleaned house on the 11 wii sets we had making some nice money. but, we get no one asking to sell their Wiis....everyone just wants to buy them.

Seems like we have a changing of the guard on the system front. I guess no one console can stay in front forever.....and Sony's arrogant bastard staff helped destroy the console IMO. I played the set for 4 hours here at work messing around and learning the system for furture questions and help people may need and the 'killer app"? for the system...resistance...is nothing more than a call of duty clone IMO...but worse....My verdict is wait a few months on the PS3...not a bad system but nt ready for the market yet...

Getting back to the selling of the Wiis...its so funny listening to all the people and how they ask for it....excuse me..do you have a nintendo why? Yeah i'm looking for a Nintendo Way? Do you guys have a WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE? Yes....i really got that.....haha...its funny...people are coming up with all new stuff everyday. Its enjoyable. One thing i noticed is people of all ages and boys and girls alike are all coming in for em. Congrads Nintendo...seems like ya got a winner.

The monolith has arrived!

So we finally get a PS3 in the store, and the source is a customer who wanted to sell one second hand already. I assume they needed the money........(cue the 2001 Space Odyssey music - this thing looks like a monolith, only does a lot more).

First on my list is registering my gamertag. Of course I go for Postman, and after going through all the information to set it up, the network tells me it's taken! You've got to be kidding me! Out of the whole 20 people in North America that bought a PS3 and didn't sell it yet, one of them thinks they are the real Postman! Oh, well.......I settle for Postmanjr and mess with the system interface a bit.

The web browser looks great in high def, but is hard to navigate. I was having a blast checking out Day in the Life and Shoot the Core on a ps3 set.......hopefully you have a USB keyboard sitting around somewhere, you'll need it. I bookmarked all the necessities (Ebay, Google, etc.) and went to try Blast Factor. It's yet another Geometry Wars clone, which was fun, but played out. There was a small breath of fresh air when tilting the Sixaxis produced a wave across the playing field that knocked enemies over, but it really wasn't too exciting. The demo ended right at a boss fight.....EVIL! The other demo was a Smash TV ripoff, Cash Guns Money or something like that......

After that foreplay, I jumped right into testing the games, Resistance first. Know what? It's your typical FPS. I wasn't blown away like the guy in the Maxwell commercial by the killer next gen graphics. Impressive, mind you, but nothing to go shoot people standing in a Best Buy line over. Genji felt like Onimusha with improved graphics, but was also underwhelming. Maybe I'm being a bit too critical of launch titles (which always suck), but right now I'm not obsessed with owning a new PS3. Add to that the fact that new games won't be appearing until something like March, and my Sony balloon just got deflated.

Buying a next gen console: The RPG

I am so tired of all this retail bull that goes along with launching new consoles. The waiting, the shortages, the jacked up ebay prices......why can't I just walk into a store, throw down some cash, take the console home and play it? As frustrating as this may be, I had the thought that it would make a great RPG.
Chapter one: The lineup.
Assemble your party of as many people as you can, and take them to the local merchant. This must be an MMO, since there are already tons of people hanging around this shop. I hope you fought enough slimes on the way and have 50 or 100 gold to throw down on a "slip of promise", or "slip of promise +15" for the 60 GIG model ps3. Only the most valiant warriors (the first 10 or so to show up) will be able to continue their quest.....

My real life counterpart to this was fairly simple for the Wii - I took off from work and hit the mall in time to secure a console. The ps3 was more difficult though.....I read on the internet THAT MORNING that the preorders would start, got to the store late, and the woman in FRONT OF ME got the last pre-order. If she actually has the console or if she got shorted is another story. I was up early on Nov. 17, so I figured I'd go to the store the public masses would overlook: Gamecrazy. Got there 6 AM, no line!!! Around 7:30 AM, one other woman showed up, who then talked my ear off until 9:30 when the Gamecrazy employee arrived to tell us they got 1 set, and it's already gone (i.e. his). But I could write a book about this woman's problems, she told them all to me.

Chapter two: The pre-order.
It's important to remember that the clerk, while pretending to be your friend delivering the console, is really your mortal enemy. Collecting personal information, trying to sell you games and accessories you don't want, and maybe even pulling your chain the whole time because he/she already knows they won't have enough consoles to go around. Keep reducing those HP untill revealing the final TRUE form! You might even run into a battle with some of the other patrons, be sure to equip strong weapons and armor.



Chapter 3: The pickup.
After two weeks of gaining exp. points, leave the Inn around midnight and head back to the shopkeep in the northwest section of the town. While they turn away most people, set the slip of promise to your item button, and use it on the clerk. He will then move the bookcase behind the counter and allow you to pass. Go down the stairs, and you'll see a chest on the right. Open the chest, and bingo! CONSOLE GET!

My RL counterpart to this was fun - a midnight launch at the mall. Some retailers really go crazy though....they took attendance and called everyone's name - reminded me of SCHOOL. All this just to get new technology. We even tried a few other stores on Wii launch day. One Sam's Club was interesting - you had to ask at the customer service desk for a Wii, which was sold out, but she did mention they have games by the registers. Upon asking at checkout, they had to page a person to come over, who escorted us to a locked fenced area. He moved a few boxes around, and found two boxes of games which we were allowed to look through. Now THAT's a real life RPG moment.

At the end of it all, I did score a Wii, which I will probably end up selling. I played my friend's set, and had lots of fun with it, but I think the smartest thing to do is wait a year for the bugs to get worked out of a system (looking in YOUR direction, Sony). The games for both new systems don't impress me much yet, so patience will rule the day today. And just remember people, when playing the console hunt RPG, it's all in good fun and by middle of 07 stores should have ample suppily, so don't kill anyone over it (unless it's a metal slime).