Nothing is more retarded than the "pre-order" system in gaming retail.

[Jake]

So I just called my local GameCrazy to find out if they had any copies of the newly released in the US Katamari Damacy only to be told that they had zero copies!!

Holy shit, I thought to myself, maybe they got bought out by the crazed gaming enthusiasts who in my fantasy world completely litter Santa Cruz County.

No. It turns out the store in fact STOCKED ZERO COPIES OF THE GAME because THEY GOT ZERO PREORDERS FOR THE TITLE.

What is wrong here?

How do I buy the game now? I get it online. I guess game stores aren't interested in actually CARRYING GAMES anymore. They're only interested in ORDERING THEM ONLINE FOR ME, making me COME PICK IT UP AT THEIR STORE, and CHARGING ME A PREMIUM FOR THE FAVOR.

But I already know about the game. How do new people browsing in the store discover this game? THEY DON'T, and the game goes on to sell ZERO COPIES IN AMERICA.

Will the publisher be surprised? YES! Are they retarded? YES!

FUCK EVERYTHING, WE'RE DOING FIVE BLADES!!

[Nick]

"You'll be so smooth, I could snort lines off of your chin."

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brilliance,

but yeah, that sucks ballsack

[peccaui]

Sadly, these kind of shenanigans are exactly why I pre-ordered my copy of Katamari Damacy. I wish I weren't contributing to the problem but ... I really wanted to make sure that I'd have a copy.

[ThePope]

Pre-Orders are not all bad. At www.ebgames.com they often give cool things to people who pre-order games like: Music, Posters, Comics, New never before seen trailers, etc (this stuff does not give me a stiffy, but its a nice bonus). I do see your point though.

[Chris]

Five blades indeed. That is the ultimate lose.

[Salka]

Ha ha, that's great.

They've just introduced the Pre-Order thing into Irish stores, obviously because it's so 'popular' in the US. I hate Xtravision.

[ysbreker]

OI! not a single bad word about shaun of the dead or I will be forced to grab a cricket-bat and come running at you swinging it wildy.

[Chris]

I think he's more referring to unnecessary and annoying dorky Shaun of the Dead impressions on the part of EB staff than to the movie itself. I'm inclined to agree with him too.

[Marek]

Most game stores stopped being actual stores a long time ago. Recently I went to shop specifically for games, but no specific game in mind, and once again I realized that every store that carried games had the exact same 30 or-so games for each platform. It was infuriating! Even the lower-priced "hey look we also have this stuff from 2 years ago too" games were exactly the same everywhere.

Apparently there's a games specialty store somewhere in my town. I need to find it. Alright, so it'll probably be a scary place, with erm people playing Magic: The Gathering at the back, but at least they may actually have an interesting stock of different titles, both old and new.

[Metalmickey]

... Alright, so it'll probably be a scary place, with erm people playing Magic: The Gathering at the back, but at least they may actually have an interesting stock of different titles, both old and new.

I like playing magic the gathering

[Farbror]

Everyone will so hate me and want me banned and stuff for turning this topic to something they don't want it to become just beacuse I can't keep my big mouth shut, but maybe the situation would be different if the stores were actually sure that people would go out and buy the games instead of, oh I don't know, download them...

Sorry, just had to say it, please forget everything in this post. Here's a gun, if you want to shoot me, go ahead.

[manny_c44]

Piracy is no excuse for systems like PS2, which has very low piracy compared to PC titles...if they don't stock PC titles, its understanable, but not stocking even a couple smaller-ps2 titles is just risk-averse laziness.

Another wierd thing about EB is how partisan the sales people are who work there. I had to listen to a whole rant about how Nintendo is languishing under the might of microsoft from a salesperson when i was buying Pikmin 2. Just put the game in the bag, fatty! And fuck off! I mean, shoudn't they be trained (yes, like common dogs) to be a little positive about their own products?

[Jake]

What percent of American gamers download PS2 games? Hint: less than 1%. GameCrazy, the store I attempted to get the game at, is 100% console too.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Another wierd thing about EB is how partisan the sales people are who work there. I had to listen to a whole rant about how Nintendo is languishing under the might of microsoft from a salesperson when i was buying Pikmin 2. Just put the game in the bag, fatty! And fuck off! I mean, shoudn't they be trained (yes, like common dogs) to be a little positive about their own products?

This is when I thank the GREAT LORD ALMIGHTY for my ability to be able to walk away from any kind of [otherwise] asphyxiating zeal.

My response to that poor soul behind the counter would have been: "Hey, look, man! Right outside the front door, just beyond your Xbox and PC! See that? It's called Life, and it's perfectly free and wonderful and good for your soul. You should try it sometime. See ya!"

[Farbror]

What percent of American gamers download PS2 games? Hint: less than 1%. GameCrazy, the store I attempted to get the game at, is 100% console too.

Of course, but I can imagine that the problem doesn't just exist on console level.

I Hate when shopkeepers are trying to be nice to me! When I recently bought Sam and Max/DOTT, I could see in the shop-dudes eyes that he had been trained earlier today to say something just about the cancellation of Sam and Max 2 if anyone happened to buy the game I bought. I panicked, and prayed silently "God, please shut this mans mouth quickly!". But when the man put the game in a bag, he suddenly remembered, and vomits up the most disgusting niceness I've ever heard: "Oh, yeah, you heard the sequel got cancelled, right?". I almost exploded. I wanted to shout: "YES YOU MADMAN I KNOW THE SEQUEL GOT FREAKING CANCELLED NOW PLEASE SHUT UP AND GIVE ME MY GAME SO I CAN GO HOME AND PLAY IT, YOU UNSENSITIVE JERK I HATE LUCASARTS I WILL NEVER FORGIVE THEM DON'T TALK TO ME!".

But I didn't. I just flinched and said "Mm". Then I left the store, while slowly counting to 700.

And when I even more recently bought Curse of Monkey Island (Yeah, I know, I'm a little slow), the same guy was working at the counter. And yet again, I could see in his eyes "Gee, I gotta say something, otherwise we'll lost this customer". He quickly looked at me, then back at the game, as if trying to remember what kind of customer I am or what kind of game this was or wether I would enjoy this game. He didn't remember. He didn't have a clue about anything. Suddenly he saw a tiny piece of text on the bottom of the package of the game: " A LucasArts Classic" (Or something similar, who cares).

His eyes shone brightly, he knew what to say, he knew how to be nice, a spark in his brain had started a forest-fire of niceity that would most likely make me jump for joy when I realized that not all shopkeepers are unsensitive jerks, and says: "Ooh... a classic?"

MAN, just give me my game! I'm not here for a conversation, sometimes I can understand people who downloads games, they don't have to live through all the annoying shopkeepers trying to be nice!

I just wanted to have that said.

[toblix]

You sound like a nice guy.

[manny_c44]

....uh, I don't really see the problem with that cashier, Farbor. He was just trying to inform you of the cancellation, seems like the right thing to do.

[Jake]

Of course, but I can imagine that the problem doesn't just exist on console level.

Uh, yes you're right. You also entirely missed the fact that what I said had a point. GameCrazy doesn't sell PC games, therefore piracy has, I suspect, little to no bearing on things like their preorder or return policies.

[Farbror]

Uh, yeah, sure, but they're not the only company with that kind of policies, right? I'm sure there are some stores that selll PC-games as well that does that kind of stuff, right? Or did I just embarass myself again?

He was just trying to inform you of the cancellation, seems like the right thing to do.

Nonono, he wasn't trying to to the right thing, he was trying to seem nice, so that I would do my future game shopping at the same store, and I Hate that. It's like marketing. Dangit, people, I don't buy my games at stores that have the nicest staff, but at those who have the best games at the lowest prices, stop wasting my time, you look silly! I know that CoMI is a classic, how could you miss that S&M2 got cancelled (At least if you're that kind of person that actually buys the original), if you're gonna say something, then don't say it just beacuse you can, say it beacuse it's worth saying! I'm not as stupid as I look!

[JimmyTheFish]

Fuckin a, same thing happened to me. Luckily my area has 3 fucking gamestops for some crazy reason and the last one I went to actually had it in stock. By the way, the game is insanely awesome, and was totally worth all the searching.

[toblix]

Nonono, he wasn't trying to to the right thing, he was trying to seem nice, so that I would do my future game shopping at the same store, and I Hate that. It's like marketing. Dangit, people, I don't buy my games at stores that have the nicest staff, but at those who have the best games at the lowest prices, stop wasting my time, you look silly!

Conversing with you must be like walking into a minefield. How do you know the guy wasn't just trying to be friendly? You know, during my year as a cashier, I made a point of being nice to customers, and I'd hate to think people thought I was only doing it for the business. I didn't give a rat's ass about the business, I just knew I liked it when cashiers and the like were nice when I was the one doing business with them. Of course, if it was painfully obvious the guy was just following some customer treatment manual or something, I agree it's completely lame, but I think you're wrong if you're assuming that everything nice being said by cashiers is really marketing speak.

[Chris]

Uh, yeah, sure, but they're not the only company with that kind of policies, right? I'm sure there are some stores that selll PC-games as well that does that kind of stuff, right? Or did I just embarass myself again?

Nonono, he wasn't trying to to the right thing, he was trying to seem nice, so that I would do my future game shopping at the same store, and I Hate that. It's like marketing. Dangit, people, I don't buy my games at stores that have the nicest staff, but at those who have the best games at the lowest prices, stop wasting my time, you look silly! I know that CoMI is a classic, how could you miss that S&M2 got cancelled (At least if you're that kind of person that actually buys the original), if you're gonna say something, then don't say it just beacuse you can, say it beacuse it's worth saying! I'm not as stupid as I look!

Calm the hell down, man. Most people at game stores don't give a fuck if you shop there or not, since it doesn't affect them either way. If they want to be nice, let them be nice. Saying half a dozen bloody words that have a direct connection to the game you just bought isn't doing you any harm. I'm going to go out on a limb here that you complained your ass off when Sam and Max 2 was cancelled so what gives you the right to bring it up and not a guy whose job is in the game retail industry?

[Farbror]

Right, I'm sorry if I've upset anyone, but I find it more annoying than friendly, you could really see that this guys job was to smile all day and say stuff about the games he sold, stuff that he had read in some cashier manual that "This game is exciting, this game is emotional", but he didn't really have any clue about anything about the games he sold.

*LONGEST JOURNEY SPOILERS*

Like that girl in the longest journey who tries to get you to become a colonist, this one.

Or that man in Grumpy Gamer Comic 2. He only cares about me buying the game.

And I don't mean that everyone who's trying to be nice is doing it for marketing, but believe me, this guy is doing it so obviously, and I Hate it.

I'm going to go out on a limb here that you complained your ass off when Sam and Max 2 was cancelled so what gives you the right to bring it up and not a guy whose job is in the game retail industry?

Of course, I was very unhappy about it, but I don't think I was registered at any adventure gamers/mixnmojo/scummbar/idle thumbs/anything forum back then, so I hid my complaints deep inside myself. And in a way, I could understand LucasArts, but that's mostly irrelevant.

[manny_c44]

Well if the guy was practically reading his comments off the box I can understand your annoyance...

Here's another random story about Gamestop: When I first bought a gamecube and went to buy Pikmin, I went to cashier and asked him if he had a copy of "peekmin" behind the counter. And then he gave this completely-out-of-no where sass-mouth reply "We don't have a peekmen but we have a pikmin. Do mean piiiiiikmin??"

Guess what fucker, its not real word. Give me my game.

[Chris]

I've actually read the official Electronics Boutique customer service manual, and they do in fact inform their employees about 11 year old graphics adventure games and the cancellations of their doomed sequels, and to mention these things to customers at every opportunity.