afrika on ps3

One of the major issues I take with game reviewers online is that sometimes it seems like they judge all games against the standards of the most fun, most mainstream, most popular game to have come out recently rather than fairly judging a game against its own standards. If a game sets out to entertain you for hours with bloody and crazy first-person shooter fun, then judge it to that standard. If it instead sets out to teach you something, or help you lose weight, or make you relax or think, these are the standards it should be judged against! In particular I am seeing this happen with a new Playstation 3 game called Afrika. Afrika seems pretty much like a realistic safari version of Pokemon Snap - you cruise around the African plains as a professional photographer shooting prize-winning photos of African species on the Serengeti. This game is suffering from the fate of a wide disparity between critics' scores and user scores, and I think the problem is the one I outlined above. Of course if you are a huge fan of Halo 3: ODST and you compare Afrika to that you will probably think it is boring! I haven't tried Afrika yet so I guess it could totally suck but I just can't believe that it deserves IGN's score of a 3.5 "Bad". Lucky for me I still get my GameStop privilege of "signing out" a game for a few days like a free rental - I think this game is the perfect candidate as, well, it's just not a good time to be spending $50 on a glorified Pokemon Snap!

Anyone out there tried Afrika yet? What did you think?

this is kind of an outrage

Nintendo is probably my favorite of the Big Three game publishers but I'm a little pissed off this weekend after discovering two pretty annoying slights that they've pulled with regards to Wii Sports Resort and the MotionPlus Controller. First, don't get your additional MotionPlus at GameStop (as we did of course); turns out Nintendo is pricing the controller add-on at $25 at GameStop whereas every other freaking retailer is selling it at its MSRP of $19.99. Hella lame. Second (and more grievous in my opinion) offense: when we bought our copy of Wii Sports Resort, it came bundled with one MotionPlus and we bought one extra for the above ripoff of $24.99. Now, not even a month later, there is a "limited" Wii Sports Resort bundle for $60 with TWO MotionPlus controllers. As it should have been originally considering that WSR's true value definitely comes in multiplayer mode. So being the loyal Nintendo brand fans and Wii players that we are, we dropped an extra $20 overall on our purchase of WSR and the MotionPlus add-ons that supposedly will be an important feature of tons of new great Wii games. So anyway, like with many other annoying life-isn't-fair moments, lazy gamers who don't want to support new innovative products are getting rewarded for holding their money until the companies have a chance to respond to the dumbass decisions they made in the first place. Hella. Laaaaaame. Boo on you, Nintendo, I hope this isn't a trend you're adopting.

the 3 types of game store customers

I've got to preface the article I'm going to post here by saying that I really do enjoy my job selling video games at the retail level to customers - it isn't my life's aspiration but I'm pretty sure I've got time to work on that. Interacting with appreciative customers and helping people find the stuff they're looking for and make smart buying decisions is actually quite rewarding. Still, I have to say I completely and totally agree with the three types of customers outlined in this article. I would add a fourth column of "doesn't mess up your day" because really, there are plenty of them. Maybe I just get lucky in that I'm a pleasant, polite female and people don't usually mess with me too badly. But I have for sure seen my share of the following three types of shoppers and dealing with them truly is one of the greater challenges of video game retail work. The article I'm linking may be old but it is in no way outdated - I'm lucky to deal with mostly confused and bizarre and less angry but they show up in every store and sometimes it does make you wonder how these people get through life on a daily basis. Anyway, here are Something Awful's three types of GameStop shoppers:

The Confused

"By order of the We Hate Retail Employees Organization, these people are never allowed to directly answer questions like "Any idea what you're looking for?" or "Would you please stop drooling all over the carpet?" Instead they must stagger around the store with the precision and grace of a pregnant hippopotamus while leaving a trail of knocked-over display boxes, misplaced games and crying employees in their wake."

The Angry

"Under no circumstances should you attempt to combat his insane ramblings with logic, because doing so carries a significant risk of making the Angry Customer level up and evolve into his upgraded form, the dreaded Really Really Fucking Angry Customer."

The Bizarre

"These can range from people who stare at your nametag and then proceed to call you by the wrong name, to people who make some very specific and strange requests when looking for games. 'Hello, do you carry any games where you grow larger with food upgrades from three-legged Eskimo fairies while speeding backwards through Atlantis on a giant piece of cheese?'"

Something Awful: Working at GameStop

gamestop's july video game sale

As with many other retail industries, video game sales often slump in the summer while people are out, well, doing more important things like lying on a beach, getting drunk at barbecues and skipping out of work to enjoy the weather. Luckily for gamers this means time for big sales going on and GameStop's July Sale has some good offerings this month. In addition to knocking $100 off Guitar Hero band kits, the retailer is listing tons of games for under $20. Some of the big scores (in my opinion anyway) are Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles for the Wii for just $17.99, Spore down to $19.99, and Shaun White Snowboarding on the 360 and PS3 for $19.99 as well.

gaming news from all over

BioWare creative officer says violence not required in games with good stories, but seems to occur more often than not. I think the distinction between games involving some fighting and games with realistic violence is an important one here.

Police are still searching for 2 gunmen implicated in video game store robbery. The men stole merchandise and over $1,000 in cash from a GameStop just before closing time armed with a rifle and a pistol.

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite is setting PSP sales records. The Capcom title has sold over 3.5 million copies since its release in October 2008 and is the first PSP title to reach this sales level.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars will be Adults Only in Japan. The M-for-mature DS game will be the first title on Nintendo's handheld console to receive the Japanese Z rating when it launches there this fall.

Sony CEO Howard Stringer dismisses claims that the PS3 is still too expensive. "I [would] lose money on every Playstation I make," Stringer responds to calls for a price drop.

used games helping gamers spend less

There are many expenses in my life that I have chosen to be more frugal with than I am with my video game spending. Still, I will admit that the prospect of buying used games has become more and more appealing to me, and apparently to a lot of other people judging by the kind of record numbers GameStop has posted this year thanks to used game sales. Some people are worried that the used game market is negatively affecting sales of new games on market, which is unfortunately probably the truth. Still, a video game is enough of an investment that most gamers want to make sure they get their money's worth, and game developers haven't exactly been delivering 100% amazing games that are worth their new retail price on shelves. For me, GameStop's policy of allowing used games to be returned within a week if you don't like them makes buying used games a win-win situation. I get to save money and make sure I like a game while GameStop profits on a copy of a game most likely sold at least once or twice already and destined for more if I trade it back to them afterwards. I think used game sales should be a wake-up call to game developers and publishers to start making games that fly off the shelves new and stay in people's collections longer than a week!

Video-game players take a shot at being frugal

gaming news from all over

Best Buy is testing out used video game trade kiosks in stores in Austin, TX. Walmart is trying this as well. The games are redeemable for gift cards assuming they pass a test to be working. We'll see if a kiosk can compete with GameStop's solidly established retail trade-in services.

Penn and Teller will add video games to their list of topics to address on their Showtime show Bullsh*t! this season. The new season starts June 25th and unless the video game clips show up on Youtube I doubt anyone will ever see them.

The NPD Group will no longer release weekly PC sales charts documenting the ups and downs of the PC sales market. Sims 3 and Ghostbusters top the Direct2Drive chart while Left 4 Dead, Empire: Total War and Prototype are the top 3 on Steam's monthly chart.

Final Fantasy VII is the fastest-selling classic game download ever. The RPG for original Playstation has sold over 100,000 digital copies for play on the PS3 or PSP since being added to the North American Playstation Network at the beginning of June.

xbox 360 project natal bundle?

Rumors are flying when it comes to discussion of the future release of Project Natal for the Xbox 360. Now it looks like there will most likely be a newly released 360 bundle that comes with Natal and some minor system/hardware upgrades, but that Natal will also be compatible with existing 360 units. I hope this is the case because it will suck if Natal doesn't work with current 360s. Either way, I think we can expect to see some serious trade-in deals from GameStop on upgrading to the new hardware, plus it would certainly make sense for the standalone 360 units still selling to get another price drop, in my opinion.

Aaron Greenberg, director of product management, told Eurogamer: “I think part of the excitement about this announcement is that in many ways we are delivering a next generation experience this generation. With that said, I can confirm that Natal will run on Xbox 360 so no new console investment will be necessary.”

Rumor: Speculation Surrounding a New 360 Gets Added Fuel

gamestop posts record sales

Despite the economy's many twists and turns in the last year, game retailer GameStop is reporting record sales numbers for the first quarter of 2009. New game sales were down but sales of used copies of games were way up, accounting for the positive report. While some criticize the company for what many see as undercutting the major game companies selling their new products, others see it as a matter of supply and demand in today's rough economic times. Personally I blame game companies making crappy games that drive people to want the safety net that buying used games with an open-game return policy provides. $59.99 is more than a drop in the bucket for a lot of people, especially these days...

GameStop Reports Record Quarter As Used Game Sales Flourish

gaming news from all over

Interested in the hot topics going on in the video gaming industry right now? Check out these news stories:

GameStop faces competition from Wal-Mart in used game trade. Apparently there are vending machines you can stick your used games into and get compensated in credit ranging from 50 cents to up to $25 for more in-demand games.

Video game sales dropped 17% over April 2008. I have a feeling numbers are going to spike over the next few months due to the many hot titles being released this year. April was kind of slow for new releases.

The sad story of Ottumwa, Iowa, once declared 'the video game capital of the world'. I would totally visit a video game themed amusement park.

game retailer scandal!

What an incendiary headline, right? Anyway, here is an interesting article regarding a situation with a policy at a certain video game retailer. All I can say is... no comment!

The alleged practice of GameStop lending new copies of games to employees at their stores and then later selling those games as new, unused copies, may be a violation of federal law.

GameStop's "check-out" policy, confirmed to Kotaku by a number of the chain's managers and employees, could fall under scrutiny of the Federal Trade Commission.

GameStop Sells Played Games As New, Sources Say, Practice Could Be Illegal

gamestop game days sale is on

GameStop's huge annual sale has begun and you can get a few good titles for really good prices if you're looking for some good deals. The highlight of the sale I think is Guitar Hero: Aerosmith for the 360, which is marked down to $9.99 and comes with a free white wired guitar controller. Other steals include the Playstation 2 trilogy packs like the Mortal Kombat Kollection and Resident Evil: the Essentials for $19.99. Check out the full list of Game Days sale titles at GameStop.

employment is a good thing

Well, I went from having no job to having two of them and my free time has become a precious commodity so I will no longer have all day to post about games. Sad face! I have no intentions of letting this blog die a sad death though so I will still be attempting to post at least once a day or at least as many posts in a month as there are days in a month. Yeah. Oh, one of my jobs is totally with a certain vendor of video games (you might say you would Stop there to buy a Game) so hopefully I'll have tons of new material to write about. Until then I will leave this post with a query: did anyone out there know that there is an Ed, Edd & Eddy game? Because there totally is.

gamestop buys french company micromania

GameStop has announced that it will be acquiring French game retailer MicroMania for $700 million including debts. This move allows GameStop, based in Texas, to gain a presence in France, and gives the company over 5,000 retail locations worldwide.

France: GameStop Acquires Chain