Alright, it takes a lot to piss me off, but this one customer I had to deal with yesterday didn't even have to try. I'll try to summarize this in as little words as possible.
The customer came into the store looking to make some trades, every single game he gave me was scratched beyond repair, but it was only when I reached his one PSP game that he actually had a comment. I attempted to remove the game, but realized that the casing was split, so I didn't bother, I explained that the game was already broken and the customer took back the game and removed the game from the case. Obviously, the game broke in his hand and the first thing that comes out of his mouth
"Why did YOU break my game?!"
Honestly, I didn't even take the game out of it's case, and he has the balls to say that I broke his game? I really hate being called out like that, take some responsibility for YOUR actions.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Realization
Today I was at a bridal shower for my fiancee, meeting relatives from her side of the family whom none of us have ever met before. There were plenty of introductions, and among them came the inevitable question of "what do you do for a living?"
Do you know how embarrassing it was to have to tell people that I make a living selling video games to people? I have a university education. I have a Bachelor's Degree in English. All this really means is that I can correct people on their uses of "there" and "they're," as well as tell you who wrote Animal Farm and 1984. I took this job to pay the bills until I could find a better one; that was almost a year ago.
It's time for me to expand my skill set. After the wedding, when I can afford it, I'm going to start taking night classes or correspondence courses so I can start a career in either software development or information management. Don't get me wrong: I love working around video games, and my job is actually the most positive work environment I've ever had. It's just so damned humiliating to look at myself now and realize that selling video games is all I really do with my life.
Do you know how embarrassing it was to have to tell people that I make a living selling video games to people? I have a university education. I have a Bachelor's Degree in English. All this really means is that I can correct people on their uses of "there" and "they're," as well as tell you who wrote Animal Farm and 1984. I took this job to pay the bills until I could find a better one; that was almost a year ago.
It's time for me to expand my skill set. After the wedding, when I can afford it, I'm going to start taking night classes or correspondence courses so I can start a career in either software development or information management. Don't get me wrong: I love working around video games, and my job is actually the most positive work environment I've ever had. It's just so damned humiliating to look at myself now and realize that selling video games is all I really do with my life.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Just My Opinion Reviews - The Darkness (XBOX 360)
The Darkness is a game I hold near and dear to my heart, not only is it my favorite comic book series, but it was also the first game I ever got for my 360.
The game is somewhat parallel to the comic book where you play as Jackie Estacado, a hit man for the Franchetti Crime Family. The game starts on Jackie’s iconic 21st birthday where he receives the living power of the Darkness (voiced by Mike Patton, lead singer of Faith No More......applause) whose goal seems to be to take over the world......now, it’s cool that they have the Darkness constantly speaking to you and guiding you down the grey path, but, the Darkness never really talked all that much in the comic book, let alone had it’s own agenda to take over the world. From the moment the Darkness takes you it’s pretty much it’s own story, that being said I had hoped to see the Angelus in a boss fight or even a nod to it’s existence. However, even though the story completely takes it’s own direction, I respect it for putting it’s own spin on the comic.
Gameplay is something I was originally worried about. I really did not know how the game was going to blend gunplay and all out anal rape with the darkness powers like in the comic. I was happy to actually feel as though I was wielding the powers of darkness while still maintaining my badass hit man status. The only problem I had with the gameplay was the fact that you really are not as powerful as your comic book counterpart.
The Audio and Video in this game are truly spectacular, the Darkness itself looks scary as hell, the environments are believable, even the sound of your dark snake manifestation eating someone's heart is disgustingly realistic. Although I kind of wished that New York (for it being the city that never sleeps) to have more than 10 people in each area.
Multiplayer is where The Darkness falls flat on it’s ass, if you go online there are about 20 people that ever play it, and if you manage to get inside a match, good luck with the massive lag.......just good luck.
Overall, The Darkness is a very enjoyable game. Even though it is far from perfection, I highly praise The Darkness for making a true horror game where YOU are the horror. If you don’t agree with my review, just remember that this is just my opinion.
The game is somewhat parallel to the comic book where you play as Jackie Estacado, a hit man for the Franchetti Crime Family. The game starts on Jackie’s iconic 21st birthday where he receives the living power of the Darkness (voiced by Mike Patton, lead singer of Faith No More......applause) whose goal seems to be to take over the world......now, it’s cool that they have the Darkness constantly speaking to you and guiding you down the grey path, but, the Darkness never really talked all that much in the comic book, let alone had it’s own agenda to take over the world. From the moment the Darkness takes you it’s pretty much it’s own story, that being said I had hoped to see the Angelus in a boss fight or even a nod to it’s existence. However, even though the story completely takes it’s own direction, I respect it for putting it’s own spin on the comic.
Gameplay is something I was originally worried about. I really did not know how the game was going to blend gunplay and all out anal rape with the darkness powers like in the comic. I was happy to actually feel as though I was wielding the powers of darkness while still maintaining my badass hit man status. The only problem I had with the gameplay was the fact that you really are not as powerful as your comic book counterpart.
The Audio and Video in this game are truly spectacular, the Darkness itself looks scary as hell, the environments are believable, even the sound of your dark snake manifestation eating someone's heart is disgustingly realistic. Although I kind of wished that New York (for it being the city that never sleeps) to have more than 10 people in each area.
Multiplayer is where The Darkness falls flat on it’s ass, if you go online there are about 20 people that ever play it, and if you manage to get inside a match, good luck with the massive lag.......just good luck.
Overall, The Darkness is a very enjoyable game. Even though it is far from perfection, I highly praise The Darkness for making a true horror game where YOU are the horror. If you don’t agree with my review, just remember that this is just my opinion.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
People Are Weird 2
A customer came in today and very enthusiastically proclaimed "I have some games to trade, and they are worth top dollar!" I thought he was being sarcastic, especially when they only ended up being worth $2.27. This didn't phase him as he picked out a $2.99 Gameboy Advance cartridge and handed me eighty-five cents to pay for the difference. When I asked for his ID (a requirement for trading in games) he gleefully skipped out to his car to get it. Then he came back and told me that he had forgotten his wallet (meaning he was driving around without a driver's license) and handed me his business card and credit card. His business card was very nice, since it had a fairly large full-colour picture of him, but neither cards were government-issued ID. When I told him I could accept his cards, he stormed out of the store. My boss shouted to him "Hey! You forgot your games!" to which he replied "Whatever, just keep them." He never came back, never took the game he bought, and didn't even get a refund.
One guy came in asking if the Dissidia game was in, and refused to refer to it or any other game in the series as anything other than "Fag Fantasy." Also, he was a huge fan of those games.
Finally, I was instructed by my boss to call back a customer who had called us earlier. He had a backwards-compatible PS3 and wanted to know how to upload his PS2 save games from his memory card to his console. I wasn't even sure if it could be done, though I had a theory about how to do it. For some reason, my boss instructed me to "not overtalk him" and that he was the type of person who "thought he knew everything." What I can't understand is why he would call a retail store for something that Sony's official support line would be more qualified to answer.
I know normalcy is a lot to ask for these days, so can I at least ask for less than this level of weird? The above image is how I feel about these customers and their inanity. Thanks to Paco for the .gif and Giant Bomb for teh funy.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
I am here now
I guess I should announce that I am the third author for "We Take Trades". I have a lot of experience working in retail, and also dealing with very wierd customers. I will be happy to share my horror stories with you guys, at least, for those who want to hear them.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Introductions...
Hello Readers!
As I'm sure most of you already may have figured, I am the other author. I'm already working on my first story for you guys but if anyone has any questions or queries about specific facets of games retail, drop us a line in the comments section!
Opening Our Doors
We Take Trades is expanding. We'll be adding at least one more author to the blog, and possibly more, all with their own stories to share from the front lines of video games retail. Plans are also in the works for a podcast. The blog may even migrate to another service. Stay tuned, folks.
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