The Reason I Stopped Shopping At GameStop

Power to the players, right? That slogan couldn’t be farther from the truth. This tale is more of a warning. A “buyer beware,” if you will. Also, for the integrity and livelihood of the employees and the location of this GameStop, they shall remain nameless.

It all started when all I wanted was to buy a DS title. It was a copy of Digimon World DS, for those of you wondering. I was rather eager to play it, so right there in the store, I put the game in my DS. That was when the trouble started.

Before I go any further, I need to explain a few things about GameStop’s policies, and how they handle things, for those of you who don’t know. There are a couple things they do that, quite frankly are not consumer friendly.

Firstly, they open games, and label them as “new” when they place them on display. Wouldn’t most of you agree that a new product is sealed in the cellophane and related product packaging it comes with?

Secondly GameStop employees are allowed to check out games, new or used. Sort of like an internal rental service. There is already something wrong with this practice, as demonstrated with what happened with me.

And now, on with the show! So, when I put the game in my DS, while still in the store, there was already a save file on the cart! A @#%$#^ save file! I was quite pissed! They had sold me a game marked as “new” when it was clearly played.

I went back to the counter and asked for a refund. Of course they refused, saying that game, once played or opened they can’t give a full refund. They offered for me to trade in the game. I shook my head, and gave them some lip. The employee who had sold me the game, no less happened to have the same name like the one on the DS save file.

Demanding to speak the manager yielded no results. So I made a point to say that I knew about their employee checkout system. They were probably a little startled, asking where I had come across such knowledge. Kotaku did a story a few years back detailing how their rental system works. At any rate, when they still refused, I demanded to speak to their regional, of which they didn’t want to give me the number. Instead they offered to refund, and save what little face they had left.

Needless to say to say, this probably won’t stop the worlds largest game retailer, but buyers beware. If you are going to buy a "new” product from GameStop, make sure that you buy a sealed copy of the game. As for me, I am not giving them the time of day anymore. I am opting for Amazon, Target, Best Buy, etc. Any place but that @#%RW$ bag of a company.

E3 2011: Looking Forward To The Future

E3 has come and gone, and there are some things that were announced that make me want them RIGHT NOW. However these things are in the far flung future. Games and hardware of the future are coming, and some notable ones I think worth keeping an eye on are listed below.


Tomb Raider


This game is still a ways off. Coming in fall 2012 what was demoed at the Microsoft press conference showed a reboot of the character. A vulnerable Lara Croft, one inexperienced in her travels. It was clear that the character was not over sexualized, and it appeared that she was learning as she went along in the demo. All in all, a great new look and feel. Fear of the unknown and survival are the name of the game.


Battlefield 3


Only having shown the multiplayer at this years E3, EA seems to be positioning this game as the ‘other’ first person shooter this fall to compete with a certain ‘Call of Duty.’ Graphically speaking this game looks astounding. Unfortunately, I am going to have to play the game first, as the Battlefield games have always made me scratch my head. This one has a strong single player focus, but at its heart the Battlefield games have always been about multiplayer. Can it compete with Modern Warfare 3 this year? Only time will tell.


ICO/Shadow of The Colossus HD Collection


I loved, LOVED this games on my PS2. And now they are getting remade in HD on PS3. One Blu-ray, higher-frame, and trophies. I cannot wait for this game. I am going to preorder it as soon as it becomes available. If you don’t know what I am talking about, YouTube is your friend. Seek out these games and just watch. There is a sense of fidelity and emotion when you play those games. Swelling soundtracks, mysterious sounds, and abstract stories make those games a wonder to play.


Catherine


Atlus was showing off this game, and it is scheduled to come out this July. A weird hybrid puzzle/dating sim game. It appears that it it will be telling the story of man plagued by nightmares, and having to decide between two women. Possibly two endings, or multiple endings. The game was lauded for its incredible difficulty when it was released in Japan, and the developers released a patch to fix the difficulty. From I gather this is actually an offshoot story from the Persona universe. Keeping my eye on this one, as it looks like a really good experience.


King of Fighters XIII


Another title announced by Atlus, this SNK fighter looks incredible. The previous iteration, King of Fighters XII, was a broken, unbalanced mess. This has more characters (Mai Shiranui returns!), complete move sets, and what appears to be a competent fighting system. This is the one fighter I am excited for, and I hope that it can compete with the likes of Street Fighter X Tekken, Super Street Fighter IV, and Mortal Kombat.


PlayStation Vita


Sony came out guns blazing with the announcement of the their new portable system. At a selling price of $249.99, its kind of hard not to be excited about this new fangled piece of tech. With enough horsepower underneath to have a similar experience of a PS3 game, two analog sticks, an Organic LED touch screen, Sixaxis motion, and a back touch pad, this system got me pumped for what was to come in mobile gaming. Several of the demos demonstrated how a person could play a game on PS3, save your progress, and then continue that same exact game on your Vita and vice versa. I can only hope that Sony gets their act together with this system, or its doomed from the start.


Wii U


This was the big mystery of E3 this year. What was this new system Nintendo wanted to show us? Could it do HD? Is the controller as crazy as the rumors speculate? Turns out both of those questions were answered with a resounding “yes.” The new system is capable of outputting in HD, up to 1080p, is backwards compatible with Wii accessories and games, and has a tablet like controller with a 6 inch touchscreen. The new controller also sporting two analog sticks, and a full feature set of buttons. The question I have to ask, will it be enough? Will people be intimidated by the new controller? Can Nintendo rope in the publisher’s needed for the system to succeed and compete with the other current consoles that Microsoft and Sony are offering?


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It has been exciting to see what is coming in the near future and I hope that games continue growing and expanding into new areas. It looks to be a rough year with all these games coming out around the same time. The competition has ramped up and gotten tougher. Many of the above titles are a little niche, but they are great games, and I plan on getting them all. Time to start saving…