posted by Chris on April 14, 2008 4:18 PM in Podcast
Who knew what kind of effect Animal Crossing could have on a man? In this week's podcast, Qais recounts his harrowing tale of Tom Nook-related horror, joined by Chris and Ross who laugh in delight at his misery. Nintendo's E3 debut of a new DS is discussed, as well as Bad Company's weapon conspiracy, indie games relying on old school art, video game retail stores that look like Borg ship interiors (and how awesome that would be), and Motley Crue is made fun of for being old. Your questions are also answered within as the mailbag is opened and not mocked in the slightest.
Download the podcast here and subscribe to the feed! Show notes after the jump.
continue reading "Podcast for 04-14-08 | Animal Crossing Flashbacks"
Read More:
Animal Crossing
,
Borg
,
DS
,
GameStop
,
podcast
,
Rock Band
comments (4) | permalink
posted by Chris on June 12, 2007 6:28 PM in Podcast
Making up new words for the English lexicon just for you, The Weekly Geek listener. This week features Chris, The Geek and Colette running up an ever increasing ramp of offensiveness. We hear a fantastic short version of all of the pent up angry from the last show, Halo 3's beta ending was also discussed, which produced much anger. Then it's on to anger focused at used game stores, and a little bit of anger towards television networks towards the end. But it's not all cantankerous podcastery this week, no! The Star Wars TV series may actually be good, Rock Band rocks (inside sources say) and Cthulhu finally meets his match. Download the show now or subscribe in iTunes!
Thanks to Joystiq for the Podcast Rodeo shoutout!
continue reading "Podcast for 06-12-07 | Vagoos Are Sensitive Too"
Read More:
anger
,
Cthulhu
,
Gamestop
,
Rock Band
,
Sherlock Holmes
,
Spock
,
Tivo
comments (0) | permalink
posted by Grant on April 14, 2007 8:23 AM in Rant
We all know that large chain game stores are pretty much the bane of gamers. It's a fairly universal experience among our kind to receive crappy treatment at our local GameEBcrazystop. Once in a while, you'll run into a few decent employees peppered around these franchises, but for the most part, people who work at these stores annoy you with constant pushing of pre-orders and membership cards. Many times, they'll hassle you for returning or exchanging a game even if you do it within the limited guidelines of their own store policies. I've even heard stories of game store employees telling their customers that their choice of purchase is stupid and that they should get something else. On top of all this, their used games programs are pretty much just thinly veiled extortion, buying used games from you for 10-15 bucks at most and selling them back to someone else for only 5 dollars less than new.
However, depending on participation in your area, there is a small, petty yet satisfying and legal way to get back at them.
continue reading "Sticking it to the man."
Read More:
free
,
games
,
Gamestop
,
store credit
,
trade
,
unethical
,
Wii
comments (3) | permalink
posted by Chris on February 13, 2007 9:47 AM in Rant
We've all had awful experiences at Gamestop and EB Games. These juggernauts of corporate greed have pushed out all the "mom and pop" game stores and taken over the used game market. They are notorious for buying low and selling high. Got an Xbox 360 game you're bored of? Take it to Gamestop! You'll get $20 for it! 'Course, they will turn right around and sell that game for $55, but what do you care?
You should care. These games have already made Gamestop money! If you shop there regularly and purchase new games from them, Gamestop already made their $5 profit. They squeeze every last droplet of sweet, sweet cash out of the game industry, and they'll treat you like dirt each time. We, as gamers, love the convenience of being able to drop a load of old games and get a new game in return, but we are getting ripped off. Yet we keep coming back, and fueling the machine.
Gamestop and EB Games are both broken, and I have some solutions as to how to fix them.
continue reading "Gamestop is Broken, Here's How to Fix It."
Read More:
broken things
,
EB Games
,
Gamestop
,
trade in
,
used games
comments (12) | permalink
posted by Nevery on January 15, 2007 9:32 PM in Games
Well, I can no longer brag about my adventures of being a Blood-Elf Paladin while everyone else plays End-Game or trys to get to 60. That's right, Burning Crusade is here and you can get your grubby little hands on it starting about a half hour ago. I went to my local Gamestop/EB Games to check out the festivities and I have to say I was impressed. Their process to purchase seemed painless... Once you got to the store, before midnight, you could walk in and pay for your copy and just hang around until midnight came. Midnight hit and everyone gathered into their smelly, nerdy, and sexually aroused lines. It wasn't as crazy as I thought it would be, but it was interesting none the less. Click the jump for 2 (yes only 2) pictures of the fun.
continue reading "Gamestop Midnight Burning Crusade Launch"
Read More:
Burning Crusade
,
Gamestop
,
Launch
,
Warcraft
,
World of Warcraft
comments (1) | permalink
posted by Nevery on January 15, 2007 12:59 PM in Games
Tonight's the night kids! At midnight tonight you'll be able to go get your copy and maybe even get the collectors edition without paying double. Of course, Ebay whores are snagging up the collectors editions and selling their presells to gamers like us for our souls and some ass raping with no lube. Ok... Really they're selling for an average of about $200. Apparently, some retailers in the UK have broken the street date along with some retailers around the US who just made the mistake of not informing their workers. Gamestops around the country are having midnight launches and you can find one for you here. Happy huntings and good luck!
Read More:
Burning Crusade
,
eBay
,
Gamestop
,
greedy bastards
,
Warcraft
,
World of Warcraft
comments (0) | permalink
posted by Chris on September 21, 2005 12:30 PM in Rant
I call myself a gamer. That is my label. I don't really think of myself so much as a nerd or a geek anymore, Gamer seems to fit just fine. This is why it pisses me off when I talk about mainstream gaming these days. This is something that I identify with, just like someone who enjoys attending plays calls themselves a thespian, just like how someone who enjoys gourmet cooking calls themselves a foodie. I am a gamer, I live to play video games. For people like me, our hobby has been under attack for a number of years now, at least since this last generation of consoles. Our gaming ideals have been swept aside, and our pleas for anything but another Madden game go unheeded. Hot on the heels of The Geek's last post, I am here to talk to you today about how game store managers hate you.
I went into my local EBGames the other day to pick up World of Warcraft (you may have heard this story on last week's podcast), and the instant I step into the store I get the feeling of dread. The feeling that I don't belong. The feeling of being in some sort of odd gaming graveyard. Behind the counter is the store manager, an overweight, unkempt man of about 40, who is balding yet still seems to manage to sport a ponytail of no discernable shade of brown. His polo shirt is tucked nicely over his gigantic belly and he gives me no better than a sneer as I walk through the door. The other store employee behind the counter, a tall disinterested guy in his mid 30's, is arguing with some crazy cracked-out lady about how much cash he can give her for her copy of "Pokeymans". I look over and literally she has 40 Gameboy Advance games stacked on top of each other, apparently trying to just cash them out. It looked like she broke in to some 12 year old's backpack and ran off with all his fun things in life. In the back of the store was the local uncomfortably unfortunate man, ranting about various games to himself and stinking up the place. He walks over to a stand of Everquest pre-paid game cards and yells "WHEEE!!!!". Does this sound like an environment you'd like to stay in for any period of time? This, in addition to the fact that if you want to trade in your games (which sounds like a great deal in theory), they only give you about a tenth of what they end up selling it for later. Game stores exist to rip you off. Why is this? Why can't we have a game store that exists because games are good? Why can't we just have a game store that realizes that they make enough money off of selling new games that they don't have to rip us off when we try to trade in our old ones? Why aren't game store employees fans of games and gamers and why do they keep trying to sell me the damned one-year guarantee on games? WHY WOULD I WANT TO BUY THAT?!
I walked into a Game Crazy yesterday to see if they had We <3 Katamari in on the release day. Games are released on Tuesdays, and most likely game stores should have them (even if some people say that that is just the ship date). The guy behind the counter looked at me as if he had never heard of the game, and told me that if I didn't preorder it, it wasn't there. They only recieve as many games as they have preorders for the day the game is shipped, and then it is about a week afterward when they get actual stock. No one had even preordered the game at the store I went to. What is wrong with people? The guy behind the counter was unwrapping a giant box of X-Men Legends 2, but no We <3 Katamari?
Today I went back to the first EBGames I talked about and they had three copies of We <3 Katamari. That was the extent of the stock they ordered.
It is up to the game stores to push innovation. The game stores are only interested in selling the next GTA clone or version of some shitty-ass sports title to some baggy pants wannabe asshole shithead who has too much money on his hands because mommy and daddy pay for everything. What the hell happened to my hobby? These were the people who used to pick on me because I played games, because I had Super Mario school supplies. Now because these people have gone to video games in droves, the gaming industry is no longer interested in courting me, the player who appreciates the games as an art form, the player who appreciates the games that challenge you, that innovate.
Hopefully Nintendo is going to save the gaming industry (again) with the Revolution. Say all you want naysayers, but the Revolution is going to be crazy amounts of fun no matter what. Nintendo is consistant, unlike other game companies, which is why I cannot fathom why people are saying things like "Nintendo is doomed" and "teh revolution controller sux". It is going to be amazing, and hopefully places like EBGames and Game Crazy put their full weight behind it to show people that it is beneficial to the gaming industry to try new things, and not fall back on old standards.
I just want to know, do any of you have a good game store near you that doesn't treat you like crap? Post it in the comments please, I'd love to hear your good game store stories.
--Frodo
Read More:
EB Games
,
Game Crazy
,
Gamestop
,
Madden
,
pokeymans
,
World of Warcraft
comments (3) | permalink
posted by Chris on September 18, 2005 12:07 PM in Rant
Here's a thought I had regarding the Revolution (or the N5, which many people are calling it, since Revolution isn't going to be the final name).
Depending on the price and availability of NES, SNES, and N64 games for download, Nintendo could seriously undercut the used games market.
Could there be a backlash from major game store retailers such as GameStop? We all know that they make a fair chunk of money by ripping you off; buying your used games for a nickel and then selling them back to someone else for 40 bucks. If Nintendo's Virtual Console takes away from their bottom line, would they be motivated to "discourage" sales of the N5? I know that NES, SNES, and N64 games aren't the biggest part of their used game sales, but it's probably still a decent amount.
--Geek
Read More:
Gamestop
,
Revolution
,
Virtual Console
comments (1) | permalink
