UM, THAT'S WHAT YOU PAID FOR IT IN THE FIRST PLACE, DIPSHIT!
People, man.
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Really, bro?
Just had a guy get mad at me because we would "only" give him $397 for his PS4 if he traded it to us towards buying an Xbox One.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Every single next-gen customer
"I GOT THIS XBOX ONE BUT THERE AREN'T ANY GAMES FOR IT"
"Actually, there are two dozen-"
"THERE AREN'T ANY GAMES FOR IT"
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Real-time blog update
Someone is in here right now talking about an older relative she has whose hair is so long that she has to "fish hair out of her butt" every morning.
I don't know what that means, and I'm not going to ask.
Help.
Friday, February 14, 2014
Retail solidarity
I am at the airport. I realized I don't have any earbuds, so I stopped into one of the stores to get some. They were doing a fundraiser where you could buy a phone card to send to soldiers overseas.
"Sure," I said. "That sounds nice." The register jockey was surprised and delighted.
"I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR SO LONG FOR SOMEONE TO SAY YES," she said.
There is nothing more disheartening than soliciting donations at a retailer. We were doing one dollar donations for a research hospital over Christmas, and while the company did raise a lot of money, many people would throw a fit and shout things like "THAT HOSPITAL SHOULD GIVE *ME* A DOLLAR." Umm... why? For being an asshole? Not everyone has a dollar to spare, but that doesn't mean you have to be a jerk to cancer patients.
Speaking of jerks, the guy in front of me at Starbucks just now made the "IF IT DOESN'T SCAN IT MUST BE FREE LOL" joke.
Fuck that guy.
Saturday, February 8, 2014
I'm tired of explaining how electronics work to people
So, some dude was complaining about some game that's on PS4 but not PS3 blah blah blah yawn.
"MAN, THEY'RE JUST TRYING TO FORCE YOU TO BUY THE NEW SYSTEM."
"MAN, THEY'RE JUST TRYING TO FORCE YOU TO BUY THE NEW SYSTEM."
"Well, no one wants to develop for an outdated system." I didn't go out of my way this time to explain the concepts of "resource management" and "marketability," like I have to for the Wiiple.
"THE PS3 WAS BRAND NEW LAST YEAR!"
False.
False.
"The PS3 came out in 2006."
"WELL, WE JUST GOT OURS IN 2010."
I should note here that 2010 was not "last year."
"HOW LONG DO YOU THINK IT'LL BE BEFORE THERE'S A PS5? TWO YEARS?"
Nor is it two years ago.
I should note here that 2010 was not "last year."
"HOW LONG DO YOU THINK IT'LL BE BEFORE THERE'S A PS5? TWO YEARS?"
Nor is it two years ago.
At this point, I've started just walking away from people who want to whine at me about the PS4. In particular, the whiners about backwards compatibility.
Hey, guess what, whiners! Sony tried making a backwards compatible current-gen system. It's called the first generation PS3. You know why they took it out? Because sales for the first-gen PS3 were terrible, because the system was too expensive. If they had made a backwards-compatible PS4, you'd be in here right now complaining at me about how for that price, a gaming system should come with a car.
If you want to play PS3 games, keep your PS3. I mean, I have six systems hooked up to my TV, and I turned out ok.
...
Why is everybody looking at me like that?
Hey, guess what, whiners! Sony tried making a backwards compatible current-gen system. It's called the first generation PS3. You know why they took it out? Because sales for the first-gen PS3 were terrible, because the system was too expensive. If they had made a backwards-compatible PS4, you'd be in here right now complaining at me about how for that price, a gaming system should come with a car.
If you want to play PS3 games, keep your PS3. I mean, I have six systems hooked up to my TV, and I turned out ok.
...
Why is everybody looking at me like that?
Bravely Default is here!
HOORAY!
Everyone at the store has been playing the Bravely Default demo for weeks, because we're those sorts of people. We've also been telling everyone to pre-order it, because both Nintendo handheld releases and JRPG* releases in general are usually a nightmare of underavailability.
I still have lingering trauma from the Fire Emblem: Awakening release.
Anyway, I wasn't working today, so I made a super special trip to the store to pick up my reserved copy. Sure enough, the store was already sold out, because we only got enough copies to cover our reserves. As I was standing in the store, a frumpy JRPG nerd stomped up to the register.
"DO YOU HAVE BRAVELY DEFAULT!?"
"No," said bossbro. "We can order it for you, or you can download it from the eShop."
Frumpy JRPG nerd stomped his way back out of the store.
What follows is an open message to my fellow JRPG people:
Hey, ladies and dudes. You know how every time a new JRPG comes out, none of the stores have it in stock? That's because demand for these games is super low.
STOP WHINING ABOUT IT AND DO SOMETHING INSTEAD.
The stock that stores order for low-demand games is directly based on the number of reserves they get for it. My store was the only one of my chain in the entire district that got any copies of the new Project Diva game, because we were the only store that had reserves on it.
We had one reserve. We got two copies. The second one sold to a walk-in on launch day, and I haven't seen another copy since.
And don't give me any of that crap about "WELL, I WASN'T PLANNING ON GETTING IT" or "WELL, I'M JUST MAKING AN IMPULSE BUY." If you went out to buy it on the release day, then it wasn't "an impulse buy," and you are a dirty, dirty liar.
If you want more Japanese games to come to the United States, and in greater numbers, you need to commit to buying them on launch day.
Now, I know not everyone can afford to buy launch-day games. This rant is not for you. This rant is for the swarm of people I see every launch day who refuse to commit even one day ahead of time to buying a game on day one, even though they were clearly planning on doing so anyway, and complain when we don't have a pile of extra copies waiting for them.
Every retailer does pre-orders now, as do the manufacturers, typically. It's not like you don't still have a choice of whom to give your money dollars to. Most places (Amazon, StameGop) don't charge extra for pre-orders, either.
PRE-ORDER YOUR SHIT instead of complaining to me about lack of availability, for a market the manufacturers didn't know existed. With the onset of downloadable games, manufacturers have basically no reason to print physical copies at all outside of consumer demand. It's still hard to find physical copies of Fire Emblem, a year after launch. Hakuoki: Memories of the Shinsengumi barely had a physical launch at all.
I'm sure Bravely Default will be the same way.
*Today, someone asked me what "JRPG" stands for, and I said "Japanese RPG." Then Ladyboss stepped in and added "...role-playing game." I forgot to translate that part. Whoooops.
 |
| A picture of my cat, posed with my copy of Bravely Default. She's very photogenic. |
Everyone at the store has been playing the Bravely Default demo for weeks, because we're those sorts of people. We've also been telling everyone to pre-order it, because both Nintendo handheld releases and JRPG* releases in general are usually a nightmare of underavailability.
I still have lingering trauma from the Fire Emblem: Awakening release.
Anyway, I wasn't working today, so I made a super special trip to the store to pick up my reserved copy. Sure enough, the store was already sold out, because we only got enough copies to cover our reserves. As I was standing in the store, a frumpy JRPG nerd stomped up to the register.
"DO YOU HAVE BRAVELY DEFAULT!?"
"No," said bossbro. "We can order it for you, or you can download it from the eShop."
Frumpy JRPG nerd stomped his way back out of the store.
What follows is an open message to my fellow JRPG people:
Hey, ladies and dudes. You know how every time a new JRPG comes out, none of the stores have it in stock? That's because demand for these games is super low.
STOP WHINING ABOUT IT AND DO SOMETHING INSTEAD.
The stock that stores order for low-demand games is directly based on the number of reserves they get for it. My store was the only one of my chain in the entire district that got any copies of the new Project Diva game, because we were the only store that had reserves on it.
We had one reserve. We got two copies. The second one sold to a walk-in on launch day, and I haven't seen another copy since.
And don't give me any of that crap about "WELL, I WASN'T PLANNING ON GETTING IT" or "WELL, I'M JUST MAKING AN IMPULSE BUY." If you went out to buy it on the release day, then it wasn't "an impulse buy," and you are a dirty, dirty liar.
If you want more Japanese games to come to the United States, and in greater numbers, you need to commit to buying them on launch day.
Now, I know not everyone can afford to buy launch-day games. This rant is not for you. This rant is for the swarm of people I see every launch day who refuse to commit even one day ahead of time to buying a game on day one, even though they were clearly planning on doing so anyway, and complain when we don't have a pile of extra copies waiting for them.
Every retailer does pre-orders now, as do the manufacturers, typically. It's not like you don't still have a choice of whom to give your money dollars to. Most places (Amazon, StameGop) don't charge extra for pre-orders, either.
PRE-ORDER YOUR SHIT instead of complaining to me about lack of availability, for a market the manufacturers didn't know existed. With the onset of downloadable games, manufacturers have basically no reason to print physical copies at all outside of consumer demand. It's still hard to find physical copies of Fire Emblem, a year after launch. Hakuoki: Memories of the Shinsengumi barely had a physical launch at all.
I'm sure Bravely Default will be the same way.
*Today, someone asked me what "JRPG" stands for, and I said "Japanese RPG." Then Ladyboss stepped in and added "...role-playing game." I forgot to translate that part. Whoooops.
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