Yesterday I was shopping in one of the two branches of GAME in my town and decided to purchase a discounted copy of Yakuza 4 on PS3. The cheapest I'd seen the game previously was £30 but GAME was selling it for £17 (new).
When I went to the counter, I asked about part exchanging a copy of Professor Layton and the Curious Village and was told I'd get £8 for it, which I accepted. I'd originally bought this copy from Oxfam for £4, an absolute bargain for what is an excellent game. One of the GAME staff members saw the Oxfam-stickered price still on the game's box and queried whether that was what I'd paid for it and I confirmed that it was. In response she said to her colleague (who was actually serving me) 'we really rip people off don't we - we're selling that for £20!'. The staff member actually serving me was a trifle embarrassed at this and pointed out that I'd doubled my money (true).
There are actually two rip-offs here - that GAME are selling a second-hand copy of a nearly two year old game for £20 and secondly that they are selling it for two and half times what they bought it off me for (a mark up of which Lord Sugar would be proud). I didn't mind the latter so much - I was getting twice what I'd paid for it after all and, although I could have got £12-13 in CeX, that store was only selling a used copy of Yakuza 4 for £28. So, I'm very happy with the deal and don't consider myself ripped off. I also don't think you can validly compare a charity store price, to a retail store price (GAME pays its employees, for a start) but I think £20 for this particular game is far too high (I would say a fair price, in a retail store, would be £12-15).
GAME does has a reputation among gamers of being a rip-off merchant though and I was amused that an employee of the store itself concurred with this opinion!
Sunday, 29 May 2011
Monday, 23 May 2011
LA Noire M.I.A
Rockstar's new game, LA Noire, was released last week. According to reports, it has sold more copies in the UK upon its release than any other new IP. I think this is partly due to its pervasive advertising campaign and partly due to Rockstar's reputation of developing, almost without exception, excellent games. Their most recent release, Red Dead Redemption, was my favourite game of last year and they are probably best known for the tabloid-baiting, mainstream-crossover series, GTA. Rockstar's name can, to borrow a movie term, 'open' a game, like a videogame Tom Cruise. Only taller.
And, unlike some of Mr Cruise's films, Rockstar has delivered - LA Noire has received excellent reviews in the gaming and mainstream press. Most of my twitter (I'm @30somethinggmr) timeline is playing or talking about the game, with all but one of those agreeing with the reviews.
It seems the only interested gamer not playing the 'James Ellroy 'em up' is me. My brother bought it for my birthday through play.com and, despite being despatched on 17 May has still not reached me by the 23rd. This is probably the only time I've ever wished games were download only, though with my broadband speed (2MB with a following wind) I'd probably still be waiting for that to finish downloading.
My/his pre-order bonus has, however, arrived - I have a, currently redundant, code for an extra mission and a code for a free download of the original soundtrack. As with last year's Red Dead Redemption, the soundtrack is excellent (Rockstar is probably the best user of music in games around), enabling me to at least imagine what playing the game is like. Here's hoping the postie delivers the game itself tomorrow.
UPDATE 24/5/11
Like Odysseus, my copy of the game finally found its way home! I think I probably could have walked it here quicker but the main thing is that it has arrived - I'll be playing it tonight after my daughter has gone to bed. 7pm seems a reasonable bed time for a 8-year old...
And, unlike some of Mr Cruise's films, Rockstar has delivered - LA Noire has received excellent reviews in the gaming and mainstream press. Most of my twitter (I'm @30somethinggmr) timeline is playing or talking about the game, with all but one of those agreeing with the reviews.
It seems the only interested gamer not playing the 'James Ellroy 'em up' is me. My brother bought it for my birthday through play.com and, despite being despatched on 17 May has still not reached me by the 23rd. This is probably the only time I've ever wished games were download only, though with my broadband speed (2MB with a following wind) I'd probably still be waiting for that to finish downloading.
My/his pre-order bonus has, however, arrived - I have a, currently redundant, code for an extra mission and a code for a free download of the original soundtrack. As with last year's Red Dead Redemption, the soundtrack is excellent (Rockstar is probably the best user of music in games around), enabling me to at least imagine what playing the game is like. Here's hoping the postie delivers the game itself tomorrow.
UPDATE 24/5/11
Like Odysseus, my copy of the game finally found its way home! I think I probably could have walked it here quicker but the main thing is that it has arrived - I'll be playing it tonight after my daughter has gone to bed. 7pm seems a reasonable bed time for a 8-year old...
Saturday, 21 May 2011
Left 4 Dead Boomer Plush!
Last Saturday, I made the title of my blog into a lie and turned forty.
I may end up changing the blog's title (eventually - I'm still a bit in denial), unless the 40-something brand has already gone. Middle-aged gamer? [shudders].
Gaming-wise, I received LA Noire (still waiting for the postman to deliver that one) and this fantastic Boomer plush. A Boomer is a special infected from the two Left 4 Dead games, whose unique move involves puking bile over the survivors, bile that then attracts hordes of zombies to those players covered in it. Nice chap.
It is an extremely well-made product (as can be expected from Valve, who made the product), topped with a hilariously smiley face and what are undeniably moobs.
It also makes sounds, when a pad inside the hand is pressed. The sounds are those made by this zombie in the game (a succession of gut-churning groans and heaves).
For a lot of the last week, my daughter has been using Boomer to puke on me, or for her to mime being sick while pressing the (hidden) Boomer's hand! Cool :)
I may end up changing the blog's title (eventually - I'm still a bit in denial), unless the 40-something brand has already gone. Middle-aged gamer? [shudders].
Gaming-wise, I received LA Noire (still waiting for the postman to deliver that one) and this fantastic Boomer plush. A Boomer is a special infected from the two Left 4 Dead games, whose unique move involves puking bile over the survivors, bile that then attracts hordes of zombies to those players covered in it. Nice chap.
 |
| Elvis had really let himself go |
It is an extremely well-made product (as can be expected from Valve, who made the product), topped with a hilariously smiley face and what are undeniably moobs.
 |
| Oxy 10's new 'before' photo went a bit too far |
 |
| Urp! |
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
Making the gamers of the future
I'm the (proud, natch) father of an 8-year old daughter, who has spent those 8 (nearly 9) years surrounded by gaming paraphernalia. My wife and I have plenty of baby photos where the backdrop to the gurgling youngster is a stack of Dreamcast games, a PS1 mouse & mat, or assorted wired controllers (before she started crawling - and chewing - obviously). On occasion when she was very small, she would rest, sleeping, on my lap as I played on my Gameboy Advance over her head. And the less said about the time I put her in a bouncy chair and showed her the bullet insanity of Bangai-O on Dreamcast the better.
Her subsequent interest in gaming was unavoidable and, in any event, encouraged by me. Pretty much as soon as she was able to hold a controller and understand the basic concept of 'press button, something moves on TV' she has been gaming. A lot of console software for very young children looks simple in the extreme to an adult but to a 2 or 3-year old, who isn't familiar with gaming conventions such as an action button or collecting objects to further progress through a level, the games act as an introductory course for gaming. The first game my daughter completed, aged 3, was Dora the Explorer: Journey to the Purple Planet, wherein Nick Jr's finest has to return some space-shipwrecked aliens (Inky, Blinky and Clyde, from memory - a nod to retro-gaming mums and dads. Maybe). It is a pretty game, with far better animation than in the TV show but, gaming-wise simplistic in the extreme, being a linear collectathon (training the Rare gamers of the future, perhaps). Between 3-5 my daughter probably completed this game 5 or 6 times, each time quicker (and with less assistance from me) than the last.
Fast forward a few years and my daughter is a gamer in her own right. When we play games now, particularly in co-op, we have the discussions that I would have with an adult co-op partner (with less swearing, admittedly). We are currently co-oping through the superb Dragon Quest IX* on DS and Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 on 360 and, particularly with the more complex former, we are discussing tactics as equals, rather than me walking her through something as an adult teaching a child. For example, we might discuss whether a particular sword is better than another on offer, whether a magical might attribute bonus from an item is better for a mage than one giving a magical defence bonus - geek central, basically. In fact, we find that we often discuss tactics outside of the game - in Waitrose, for example - if we're stuck on a boss or wondering where to go in the game world next. As a gaming dad, this is fantastic, though whether my wife thinks this is a good thing when I should be looking for tinned tomatoes is another thing entirely (to be fair, my wife is also a gamer and, if we had a third DS, I'm sure would also be a member of our DQIX party).
This progression, from watching me play, through playing pre-school games, to now being an active gamer in her own right, has been interesting to witness and I think (and hope) that gaming is an interest that will stay with her for many years to come.
*I appreciate that this game is a PEGI '12' but I don't consider that the content is any more mature or scary than in the 'magical girl' anime that my daughter likes to watch on children's TV. So there.
Her subsequent interest in gaming was unavoidable and, in any event, encouraged by me. Pretty much as soon as she was able to hold a controller and understand the basic concept of 'press button, something moves on TV' she has been gaming. A lot of console software for very young children looks simple in the extreme to an adult but to a 2 or 3-year old, who isn't familiar with gaming conventions such as an action button or collecting objects to further progress through a level, the games act as an introductory course for gaming. The first game my daughter completed, aged 3, was Dora the Explorer: Journey to the Purple Planet, wherein Nick Jr's finest has to return some space-shipwrecked aliens (Inky, Blinky and Clyde, from memory - a nod to retro-gaming mums and dads. Maybe). It is a pretty game, with far better animation than in the TV show but, gaming-wise simplistic in the extreme, being a linear collectathon (training the Rare gamers of the future, perhaps). Between 3-5 my daughter probably completed this game 5 or 6 times, each time quicker (and with less assistance from me) than the last.
Fast forward a few years and my daughter is a gamer in her own right. When we play games now, particularly in co-op, we have the discussions that I would have with an adult co-op partner (with less swearing, admittedly). We are currently co-oping through the superb Dragon Quest IX* on DS and Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 on 360 and, particularly with the more complex former, we are discussing tactics as equals, rather than me walking her through something as an adult teaching a child. For example, we might discuss whether a particular sword is better than another on offer, whether a magical might attribute bonus from an item is better for a mage than one giving a magical defence bonus - geek central, basically. In fact, we find that we often discuss tactics outside of the game - in Waitrose, for example - if we're stuck on a boss or wondering where to go in the game world next. As a gaming dad, this is fantastic, though whether my wife thinks this is a good thing when I should be looking for tinned tomatoes is another thing entirely (to be fair, my wife is also a gamer and, if we had a third DS, I'm sure would also be a member of our DQIX party).
This progression, from watching me play, through playing pre-school games, to now being an active gamer in her own right, has been interesting to witness and I think (and hope) that gaming is an interest that will stay with her for many years to come.
*I appreciate that this game is a PEGI '12' but I don't consider that the content is any more mature or scary than in the 'magical girl' anime that my daughter likes to watch on children's TV. So there.
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