Reformed Gamestop-Basher

[swivel]

Man, I used to rag on Gamestop so much. I hate how pushy their sales kids are, how fanboyish they tend to be, how uninformed on all things gaming. I hate pre-ordering almost as much as I hate to be asked to pre-order something.

None of this will change, buy my outward hostility is gone, replaced with a zen-like state of tranquility. I now peacefully co-exist with my local Gamestop. A relationship that I was forced into recently with a move to Boone (sans Bestbuy/Circuit City), and now embrace.

Here's what happened: My wife and I are moving into a smaller home and getting rid of tons of our stuff. I was going through our storage unit today when I came across tons of old games that I will never play again. It gave me an idea: why not trade them into Gamestop and let them make some cash off of my bad-habit of collecting games, while screwing the game developers out of a sale in the process?

So I grabbed all of my old games. ALL OF THEM. God of War. Final Fantasy XII. Shadow of the Colassus. Ico. Jade Empire. Animals Crossing. Nintendogs. Everything from the last generation of gaming. Pixelated treasures that have now turned to junk by the glory of my new 1080p habits. 86 games in all.

I walked into Gamestop in our tiny mall right after 10. I was greeted like a war hero by the eager sales boy who started making tall piles of my gaming greatness around two very happy registers. For the next 2 hours, the kid entered in every game, chatted with me, rang up customers (hence the delay), and marveled at how nice a blowjob from his manager was going to feel after seeing the new stock of used (200% markup) games.

I was expecting $120 or so. I mean, there were quite a few sports games that will hardly get you a buck. And they were all last-gen, right? Two free games if I'm lucky. The kid freaked out when the system halted at 80 games and said that it was the max on one ticket. A second transaction began. Then he finally hit the "Total" button... processing... Your total is...

$544.28


:eek:

Uh.... I'll take your last XBox 360 Elite and a copy of Mass Effect, please.

Everyone in the store was agape. Fumbling for cell phones so they could text a friend. I just walked in with a pile of games I would never boot again, and walked out with a console and a game that I will play all weekend.

I Am Legend.

[Mr_Vindictive]

Swivel,

Holy fucking shit, friend. That's awesome. 544 bucks? That is well worth the 2hr wait.

PM over your XBL gamertag once you get one setup. I'll add you.

[swivel]

My gamertag is my first and last name. I am not going to be getting a Gold membership, and won't be playing any online games. I doubt I'll ever even hook up the headset and chat. Sooo... I could give it to you via PM if you like, but I really won't be online except to get updates and the like.

I plan on flashing the firmware of my BenQ drive this weekend so I can play "backups". That feature is more important to me than getting shot in the back by a camper while they call me a "faggot ******".

And yeah, hanging out in a retail space for 2 hours has never been so much fun. You should see my gaming setup right now. Wii, PS3, 360, PC, HD-DVR... it is very sickening.

[Mr_Vindictive]

Don't brag so much or anything. ;)

As for "backups", don't you have to install a mod chip or is there something I'm unaware of?

[swivel]

Nope. You just hook the DVD drive up to your SATA port on your PC, type a few things in a DOS window, and you are done.

I think taking the Box apart is the hardest bit.

Of course, you are voiding your warranty, and so you live in eternal fear of the RROD. I figure if I can play 8 games before that happens, I can afford to buy another system.

[Mr_Vindictive]

Meh.

I'll probably do it after my three year warranty is up. I am always afraid of the RROD and I'm not one to tempt fate. My luck = shit most of the time.

[I am Legend]

Man, I used to rag on Gamestop so much. I hate how pushy their sales kids are, how fanboyish they tend to be, how uninformed on all things gaming. I hate pre-ordering almost as much as I hate to be asked to pre-order something.

None of this will change, buy my outward hostility is gone, replaced with a zen-like state of tranquility. I now peacefully co-exist with my local Gamestop. A relationship that I was forced into recently with a move to Boone (sans Bestbuy/Circuit City), and now embrace.

Here's what happened: My wife and I are moving into a smaller home and getting rid of tons of our stuff. I was going through our storage unit today when I came across tons of old games that I will never play again. It gave me an idea: why not trade them into Gamestop and let them make some cash off of my bad-habit of collecting games, while screwing the game developers out of a sale in the process?

So I grabbed all of my old games. ALL OF THEM. God of War. Final Fantasy XII. Shadow of the Colassus. Ico. Jade Empire. Animals Crossing. Nintendogs. Everything from the last generation of gaming. Pixelated treasures that have now turned to junk by the glory of my new 1080p habits. 86 games in all.

I walked into Gamestop in our tiny mall right after 10. I was greeted like a war hero by the eager sales boy who started making tall piles of my gaming greatness around two very happy registers. For the next 2 hours, the kid entered in every game, chatted with me, rang up customers (hence the delay), and marveled at how nice a blowjob from his manager was going to feel after seeing the new stock of used (200% markup) games.

I was expecting $120 or so. I mean, there were quite a few sports games that will hardly get you a buck. And they were all last-gen, right? Two free games if I'm lucky. The kid freaked out when the system halted at 80 games and said that it was the max on one ticket. A second transaction began. Then he finally hit the "Total" button... processing... Your total is...

$544.28


:eek:

Uh.... I'll take your last XBox 360 Elite and a copy of Mass Effect, please.

Everyone in the store was agape. Fumbling for cell phones so they could text a friend. I just walked in with a pile of games I would never boot again, and walked out with a console and a game that I will play all weekend.

I Am Legend.

not quite. that was indeed a sweet pull, but legend are you not.

[swivel]

not quite. that was indeed a sweet pull, but legend are you not.

In Boone, NC: I am Legend.

Small pond. Biggish fish.

[KillBill20]

Holy shit! That rules? So.... did the guys at GameStop fuck up and give you more money or did you really have that much in used games? Either way... I think it rules!

~Kyle

[swivel]

Holy shit! That rules? So.... did the guys at GameStop fuck up and give you more money or did you really have that much in used games? Either way... I think it rules!

~Kyle

I traded in over 80 games. About half XBox games, about half PS2, with a few DS titles mixed in.

They wouldn't take my burned Wii games, which pissed me off.

[mrbishop77]

I traded in over 80 games. About half XBox games, about half PS2, with a few DS titles mixed in.

They wouldn't take my burned Wii games, which pissed me off.

I used to be like that, and to an extent still am with the really old stuff, but now since the little Bishop is here and the budget is tight, I trade in games I know I will never play again regardless of how much I liked it, all the time. It's a nice feeling when you get more than you expect. But most of the time they shove their fist up your ass, rip out your innards, and spell "I just ripped you off" with them. Fucking gamestop. I stopped getting their discount card when they upped the price the last 2 years and kept it still a measly 10% off. That company thrives on our addiction and laughs it's way to the bank.