A Gamer Scorned
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
What say you?!