In The News

• Borderlands will be sold for $39.96 by most Canadian retailers. Most, not all.
  
• There will be no Hardened edition of Modern Warfare 2 for the PC. If you preordered it, better call the store.
• A new PS3 Slim model with a 250Gb hard drive will be available as of November 3rd. US price is $349.99, Canadian price is expected to be the same.
  
• I have had way too much coffee and way too little sleep over the past two weeks.
• The sky is blue, water is wet, new games are expensive.
  

I Know Things

I'm a gamer. That means I know a few things about video games. That doesn't mean that I know everything about all video games, which is what a lot of customers expect from you when you work in a video game store. I suppose that's the same for any type of retail: I bet cashiers at Wal-Mart get asked how to work the cell phone they just bought there as often as I get asked how to sync an XBox 360 controller. However, I tend to know more about games than some of my co-workers, not because I play a lot of games (which I don't), but because I'm an information sponge and I following gaming news on my free time. Most times when I'm asked if a particular game is good or not, I can recall how well or poorly it was reviewed. I can explain to customers the details of "that NATAL thing" they heard about on Jimmy Fallon. In general, I can bullshit having real knowledge about something by recalling what I've read about it and delivering it in a way that makes me sound like I know what I'm talking about. It's what I've always done, in every job.

Then there are the things I've picked up from working at the store itself. Things such as:

• The NBA 2K series is typically the better basketball game, but the EA NHL series is almost always the better hockey game.
• If someone is new to a console and wants a good shooting game, "Call of Duy 4: Modern Warfare" is the best one to recommend.
• It doesn't matter if the game sells for $250 on eBay, odds are if you trade it in it will be worth $3 or less.
• Have patience, like a year's worth or more of patience, and eventually that awesome game you want can be had for a bargain price.
  
• Blu-Ray discs are harder to scratch than DVDs, and even harder to repair.
• Where to look on most major consoles and handheld systems to tell if they've been tampered with (hacked).

Not really sure where this post is going, but as I enter the one-year anniversary of my employment in video games retail (in what was supposed to be a temporary position), I find myself reflecting on how far I've come.

People are wierd 3

As everyone knows, every business deals with cash transactions, and no matter what condition the cash is in it is still legal tender (of course, if the bill is fake no one will take it). I had a customer come into my store yesterday asking to purchase a game, she paid in cash. When I gave her change, the $5 that I gave her was a little ripped, she was unhappy with the condition of the bill. And because I had already shut the till I could not open the till without the manager's say so (and my manager was gone for the day). So I tried my best to repair the bill by taping the rip shut, she still would not accept the bill, saying that "no one would accept this bill".

I tried (keyword being tried) to explain that the bill was still legal tender and she would have no problems using the bill at another store. She continued on her rant telling us that "we don't know what we are talking about" and that "we are bulling her" I then tried to calm her down but she then dropped the F-bomb and I told her to leave, of course she didn't listen so my colleague left to store to find security to make her leave, during which time, I was as she put it "bulling her". At this moment, I still don't know what happened.