Patrick Elliot
Shaun InguanzoGirl in a Game Store != Easy Rip-Off
November 29th 2006 19:32
(Or "Girl in a Game Store [does not equal (an)] Easy Rip-Off for those unfamiliar with programming.)
After musing about how I'll write my experiences as a female gamer and finding out that it's pretty damn difficult to organise it, I decided to write about the incidents that stood out the most. Some will be blatantly obvious. Some will be more subtle, in which I'll include what I (and any around me at the time) have inferred from the events.
Of all my experiences, nothing beats the time I tried to purchase Thief II at Toys R Us in the "Blargh…" charts. A little background first:
When my parents bought my first computer in 1998 (for high school - even though I loved video games I was a complete computer newb and didn't really care for them to begin with unfortunately) it came with some demos. One of these was the first level of Thief. I sucked incredibly until I got used to playing with a keyboard and mouse, but I enjoyed the humour and stealth. Eventually, I bought Thief Gold a few years later, and managed to score a non-budget copy for cheap.
After completing Gold (Same as the first Thief but with 3 bonus missions), I went in search of Thief II. Because it released around 3 years ago at that point, it wasn't easy to find. There was nothing in Electronics Boutique, Target, Kmart, Myer and any other electronics/game shop in Cairns. I pretty much gave up on the idea until I came across a copy in Toys R Us some months later.
"Awesome!" I thought and immediately checked the price tag. There wasn't one. "No problems, I'll just ask the guy at the counter". Considering the age of the game, I was expecting it to be around $30-40 at most.
Guy: That'll be $99.95* for this game.
Me: What??? (I normally have more composure, but this was a huge shock)
Guy: It's a brand new game.
Me: Bullshit. It's at least 2-3 years old now.
Guy: *shifts around uncomfortably* ... You're probably right.
I left the store and decided to come back in a couple of weeks and see whether a price was placed on the game, or someone else would be there. "It's probably just that one guy that's trying to rip me off," I reasoned. Besides, it's the only place that has the game at the moment. So, I went back in a couple of weeks, and the game was still missing a price tag. There was, however, a new guy at the counter.
Me: Hey, I'd just like to know how much this game costs.
Guy: *takes a long look at me, top down, down up* It's $109.95.
Me: Riiight.
Guy: Is something the matter?
Me: The guy 2 weeks ago told me it was $99.95.
Guy: Well, he was obviously wrong. It just came in not too long ago.
I didn't even bother with what I said to the last guy about the release date. What I expected from this second encounter:
1. A more realistic price.
2. Another answer of $99.95
I did not expect the second price to be $10 higher than the last price. As such, I haven't bought a game from the store since. Perhaps they're better now, with gaming becoming more mainstream but that's one experience I won't be forgetting anytime soon.
* At the time, the PS2/GC/XBOX/DC consoles were only beginning to release in Australia. PS2 games were $99.95 to $119.95 AUD, but most games (being on the N64 or PS) were around the $70 mark at release, with the rare SNES releases being around the $50-60 mark.
After musing about how I'll write my experiences as a female gamer and finding out that it's pretty damn difficult to organise it, I decided to write about the incidents that stood out the most. Some will be blatantly obvious. Some will be more subtle, in which I'll include what I (and any around me at the time) have inferred from the events.
Of all my experiences, nothing beats the time I tried to purchase Thief II at Toys R Us in the "Blargh…" charts. A little background first:
When my parents bought my first computer in 1998 (for high school - even though I loved video games I was a complete computer newb and didn't really care for them to begin with unfortunately) it came with some demos. One of these was the first level of Thief. I sucked incredibly until I got used to playing with a keyboard and mouse, but I enjoyed the humour and stealth. Eventually, I bought Thief Gold a few years later, and managed to score a non-budget copy for cheap.
After completing Gold (Same as the first Thief but with 3 bonus missions), I went in search of Thief II. Because it released around 3 years ago at that point, it wasn't easy to find. There was nothing in Electronics Boutique, Target, Kmart, Myer and any other electronics/game shop in Cairns. I pretty much gave up on the idea until I came across a copy in Toys R Us some months later.
"Awesome!" I thought and immediately checked the price tag. There wasn't one. "No problems, I'll just ask the guy at the counter". Considering the age of the game, I was expecting it to be around $30-40 at most.
Guy: That'll be $99.95* for this game.
Me: What??? (I normally have more composure, but this was a huge shock)
Me: Bullshit. It's at least 2-3 years old now.
Guy: *shifts around uncomfortably* ... You're probably right.
I left the store and decided to come back in a couple of weeks and see whether a price was placed on the game, or someone else would be there. "It's probably just that one guy that's trying to rip me off," I reasoned. Besides, it's the only place that has the game at the moment. So, I went back in a couple of weeks, and the game was still missing a price tag. There was, however, a new guy at the counter.
Me: Hey, I'd just like to know how much this game costs.
Guy: *takes a long look at me, top down, down up* It's $109.95.
Me: Riiight.
Guy: Is something the matter?
Me: The guy 2 weeks ago told me it was $99.95.
Guy: Well, he was obviously wrong. It just came in not too long ago.
I didn't even bother with what I said to the last guy about the release date. What I expected from this second encounter:
1. A more realistic price.
2. Another answer of $99.95
I did not expect the second price to be $10 higher than the last price. As such, I haven't bought a game from the store since. Perhaps they're better now, with gaming becoming more mainstream but that's one experience I won't be forgetting anytime soon.
* At the time, the PS2/GC/XBOX/DC consoles were only beginning to release in Australia. PS2 games were $99.95 to $119.95 AUD, but most games (being on the N64 or PS) were around the $70 mark at release, with the rare SNES releases being around the $50-60 mark.
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Comment by Ahmed
Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks
*sprints away chuckling*
*pauses*
BTW, I'm subscribing to this blogs RSS< theres something fresh and original about it...
*continues sprinting into the distances laughing like a hyena*
*trips over rock*
*regains composure*
*continues running*
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
Comment by Sisi
Comment by Wendi
Any other time I'm in a game store, it's for the sole purpose of being the taxi cab and financial support for the youngins.
I'm not much into gaming outside of the SIM world, although back in the day, I didn't suck at Tetris and I kinda liked Zelda for a while.
Comment by Jessicca
Learning Something Everyday
Malaysia Found
I am not a typical gamer, but I used to get hooked up with Age of Empires. The only strategy game allowed me to play with 8 gamers in the office literally everday after work.
(Imagine working with 15 guys in the IT department - you tend to be one of them gradually)
Indeed most of the time I am not sure why guys things that it is so easy to rip off the prices. But SS, thank you so much for the information. There are still a few of female gamers I know during my Uni days who can still easily get ripped off if they are not aware of the price.
(Girls are still girls - they usually don't go and get themselves, they get their bfs to buy the games)
Comment by Sword Serenity
A Female Gamer
I have no idea about how many girls get their boyfriends to buy the games for them since I only know one female gamer offline (and she's moved back to Darwin now), though I can say that I'd feel more embarassed getting someone else to buy a game for me than going in and doing it myself (regardless of the possibility of idiots like those at Toys R Us).
I can say that generally Electronics Boutique is pretty good in terms of how they treat their customers though. I don't go in as much as I used to, but when I was a regular they employees would just chat to me (never even got a "Can we help you?", though that's simple store courtesy, the lack of it for me even for new employees shows that they know I'm in all the time and will ask if I need something), sometimes ask me to answer some customer queries about games they know I've played if they haven't... and snoop through my packages (if that shows how friendly they are).
Comment by Jessicca
Learning Something Everyday
Malaysia Found
When you are so familiar with the stor sometimes they truly take you as, "make yourself at home" and that's how the courtesy dissapears. Doesn't this sound familiar when you are at home?