Wii Q&A Thread

[CmdrSlack]

Calm yourself. Did I really need to green-test that one?

Besides, if you know the guys, that's an entirely different situation. I'm talking about the jacktards off the street who call...constantly, and ask the same damn questions:

Heh, you dropped the f-bomb first, hoss.  :)

At any rate, I get the annoyance with idiots who call and ask stupid questions.  These guys know me thanks to one day of multiple returns trying to find a refurb PS2 that worked, etc.  We got to talking and I guess they played SWG on my old server, knew about the town we had, etc.  So now they like me.

Hurrah for me....if they'd get a damn shipment.

[Roac]

I'm not sure what people are thinking calling at 4, 6, or 8 at night.

Because that's when people tend to be at home and think about such things?

[Viin]

The whole "short demand" thing pisses me off. If you really want to sell your console for Christmas, you damn well better make sure there's enough to go around. Otherwise they might as well just forget it - it's not like they are getting a cut of the exorbitant Ebay prices.

[HaemishM]

Billion dollar industries should have enough machines to make it through the first day of avaiability at least.  If your product goes on sale at midnight and the line at Walmart has sold out 6 hours earlier, or 9 am at Best Buy and it was pretty much locked up at 5 in the fucking morning something is WRONG.

Maybe companies shouldn't even have a launch date till they have a real stockpile of systems.

But that would totally fuck the entire premise the industry is built aruond now, that only the NEW NEW NEWEST STUFF is worth a shit and the rest doesn't even deserve to be sold anywhere six months after release. The whole industry is predicated around selling shittons in the first week of release, then letting that release sink to the bottom as the next new hotness comes out. That's why most companies don't offer their back catalog at discount prices (though thankfully this is changing with direct downloads). That's why abandonware is an issue. Creating artificial demand by releasing limited quantities of first run hardware also allows the company to save on CS issues when the inevitable problems with first-gen hardware crop up. There's only 100k possibly borked-up PS3's or Wiis instead of millions.

[OcellotJenkins]

Yeah, so I had the cash for a Wii, then one of my Tie Rods decided to go bad and the dentist told me my molar filling was cracked.  Hooray for dental plans that only pay $40 of a $149 filling.

Looks like the Wii will be coming from the end-of-the-year bonus or the tax return instead.  Bleah.

Heh, this made me think of Jim Anchower's latest rap.

[Strazos]

I'm not sure what people are thinking calling at 4, 6, or 8 at night.

Because that's when people tend to be at home and think about such things?

Then you know what? They're not on the ball. They're chances of getting a system this month are miniscule or non-existant.

Early bird catches the worm and all that.

[Roac]

Then you know what? They're not on the ball. They're chances of getting a system this month are miniscule or non-existant.

Probably not, but if it were THAT important to them, they'd have been in line.  Or they'd spend hours a week reading places like this.  Or they'd pay 2-5x the retail price on ebay to get it.  They don't care that much - they only care enough to call and bother people like you about it on the off chance something turns up.  Your statement is that you had no idea what they're thinking - what they're thinking is that it isn't that important to them to be on the ball, which would mean standing in line, when they disinterested in doing much more than hassling you about it.

Besides, at some point you'll say yes.  Until then you get to suffer in line for them. :)

[Strazos]

Is it really That much trouble to call earlier in the day?

I'm not saying they need to camp out in the cold, or spend hours pouring over materials. Or buy from eBay. I'm just saying that if they have to call the store, call at a time when we might actually have one. Such as when we open (well, we're not going to have them at the start of the day, because we have to get shipments in first, which is during the day), or mid-day around the time such things would actually arrive.

I don't anticipate having to tell anyone we have these things until at least some time in Janurary; they simply move too damn fast.

[Roac]

Is it really That much trouble to call earlier in the day?

For most people, no.  Again, it's just that they don't care that much, and even if you tell them they're probably not going to think about it until they get home from work.  I care because it's one of my main hobbies.  You care because it's your job.  Haemish cares because he exchanged vows with his Wii.  Most other people don't care all that much.  Sorta like the people who show up on day 3 of the decade's biggest movie and wonder, "This thing is still being sold out?  Really?"  I'm sure you're this close to clawing the office phone out from the wall for having to deal with it, but at $250, the Wii is just another toy.  Not many people do all that much to read up on toys - they just go buy them.

[Strazos]

Someone came in the other night and, after being told that we were sold out of Wiis (I had to correct their pronunciation of the word, they were saying [Why]), they asked why we were sold out.

It's not like I wanted to rant or something, but I really had to work for a split second to hold back on the incredulous expression that really wanted to come over my face. Also had to hold back on asking, "Why is it sold out? Are you retarded?"

[Velorath]

If you take a job at a game store, be prepared to field a lot of callls during the holiday season for the two new systems that being released.  That you seem shocked that people are calling all hours of the day tells me that maybe working retail isn't your thing.  From what I've seen, flipping burgers at McDonalds has more career possibilities than a job at EB Games or Gamestop anyway.

[Strazos]

Oh, I know I was going to have to take a ton of calls about the new systems. And while I know people are stupid about this sort of thing, it somehow still surprises me that people call are odd hours. I have trouble remember that these people are mostly uninformed idiots (though you don't have to work at the place to know these things).

Also, this job is by no means turning into a career. It's just one of the things I do right now.

[HaemishM]

Never let yourself underestimate the stupidity of the common man. They will always surprise you.

[Riggswolfe]

I have trouble remember that these people are mostly uninformed idiots (though you don't have to work at the place to know these things).

I'm not sure I'd go this far. They're just not nerds who follow all Wii product news.

[Jain Zar]

Oh, I know I was going to have to take a ton of calls about the new systems. And while I know people are stupid about this sort of thing, it somehow still surprises me that people call are odd hours. I have trouble remember that these people are mostly uninformed idiots (though you don't have to work at the place to know these things).

Also, this job is by no means turning into a career. It's just one of the things I do right now.

See, your view of gaming is wrong.  Why is it wrong?  Because its the fuckheaded bullshittery gamestores have been trying to push since roughly the time my beloved B Dalton's Software Ect decided to throw up a section with NES games.

An endless parade of preordering, MSRP ONLY, magazine subscription pushing, game system fanboyism SUCK.

Its the reason I buy most of my games from Wal Mart even though they are evil and destroying America.  Because they get games in stock, you go in, and BUY THEM.  They don't bother you.  Mainly because they don't really care.  They don't even know what to do with preorder cards.

"Do you want to preorder anything?"  Is one of my most hated phrases in the English language thanks to the EBStops of the world.

No.  No I do not.  You WILL stock enough or I WILL go to another store that has it.  I might want to wait for such things as reviews to come out.
Shocking, I know.  OMG GOTTA HAVE IT DAY ONE is dumb.

Maybe I am just old fashioned, but I like older stuff and don't always need or want it the first day.  I shouldn't have to know about a product 9 months in advance to salivate and babble in its forums only to finish the game in a week then get 20 bucks credit on it for some shitty gamestore chain to resell it for 45.

[stray]

When I went to EB yesterday, the clerk tossed a big folder of "games to preorder" before me as he went in the back to find the game I came to get. Then when he came back, he starts chatting me up about it. I didn't even ask for the damn thing.

[Strazos]

See, your view of gaming is wrong.  Why is it wrong?  Because its the fuckheaded bullshittery gamestores have been trying to push since roughly the time my beloved B Dalton's Software Ect decided to throw up a section with NES games.

An endless parade of preordering, MSRP ONLY, magazine subscription pushing, game system fanboyism SUCK.

Its the reason I buy most of my games from Wal Mart even though they are evil and destroying America.  Because they get games in stock, you go in, and BUY THEM.  They don't bother you.  Mainly because they don't really care.  They don't even know what to do with preorder cards.

"Do you want to preorder anything?"  Is one of my most hated phrases in the English language thanks to the EBStops of the world.

No.  No I do not.  You WILL stock enough or I WILL go to another store that has it.  I might want to wait for such things as reviews to come out.
Shocking, I know.  OMG GOTTA HAVE IT DAY ONE is dumb.

Maybe I am just old fashioned, but I like older stuff and don't always need or want it the first day.  I shouldn't have to know about a product 9 months in advance to salivate and babble in its forums only to finish the game in a week then get 20 bucks credit on it for some shitty gamestore chain to resell it for 45.

One, you still have not demonstrated how my view of gaming is "wrong." I didn't even post my "views", so I don't even know what you're getting at.

Two, why such a beef with reserves? It's not like you're paying extra or something. Go to Walmart if you choose, because no one cares where you get your gaming stuff at. Me? I perfer to stay out of that dump if I can help it, so I usually just go to my local Gamestop. And if there's a game coming out that I know I'm going to get, I'll just reserve it. If I'm not sure I'm going to want it, I won't. At least with reserves, you Know you're not going to have to run around for the game.

Really, I wish we could stock enough Wiis so I wouldn't have to keep telling people to call back and ask about it. And in that same fantasy land, I wish I got paid a lot more to talk about games and shit. But that's not reality, and reality is all I deal in.

Also, I don't know about the people you deal with, but I don't try to shove shit down people's throats. When people buy new hardware, I ask if they want the warranty (I usually try to get it on all my good electronic toys). Lots of used stuff? Ask them about the sub, which is really about getting more/paying less with used stuff and not so much about the dumb mags. Buying something new? Depending on the person, I may or may not ask about a reserve. I probably do if they're picking up one to begin with. Person doesn't want any of it? No problem, just asking.

[StGabe]

"Hi, welcome to EBStop where you can buy and sell used games.  Would you like to pre-order a copy of Suckfest '07, the thrilling new game from BigSuckGames?"

That is the usual greeting at an EBStop around here.  Grrrrrr.  I always just look at the guy like he's crazy and then hand him the game I want and a credit card.  But I usually go to Best Buy anyway.  Instore pickup for the win.  If I have to talk to someone it's to say, "do you have a pen?"

Anyway, yeah, people call when they get off work, an hour before when they're bored, waiting to get off work, when they get home, when their kid asks them again if they are getting a Wii for Christmas, when they see an ad, when they drive by a store ......... or just generally whenever some random thought makes them think about it.  That's generally how I've been about calling places (I just called to see if something was in, in response to reading this thread).  I'm not sure why this would be surprising.  Also, if the retail stores just had a decent way to tell when they'd be getting in shipments, we'd check that.  But they don't.  So we don't.  I know that's not YOUR fault as an employee but it's what WE are dealing with as customers and you're just the guy who gets to talk to us.  I don't get off on feeling like I'm part of the special EBStop club.  I'm not going to come into the store and maybe get sucked into buying something just because your company is too retarded to inform me of their shipment status on their website.  I'm going to do what is convenient for me not for EBStop.

[Strazos]

Do they seriously give you a spiel like that when you physically walk through the door? That's pretty obscene. I just say hello and ask if they need help with something. I'm a fan of no-hassle shopping. Also, I don't try to "suck" anyone into buying anything, and I don't advise people to buy something that I myself would not reasonably buy.

And yeah, I seriously wish there was a way for people to simply look up when we get our shipments. Instead, I just tell everyone the info when they call. Also, I wish we could put "No Wii/PS3" signs on the door, and have automated messages saying as much when people call.

[schild]

Who gives a fuck? I mean, really. Their just teenagers robots. Let them do their thing.

Let society kill them if it already hasn't.

As for preorders, ehhhhhh, I do it. Gets me tons of free shit and it's not like I can't part with 5 bucks to guarantee a game on day one less than a minute from my house.

[Miasma]

"Hi, welcome to EBStop where you can buy and sell used games.  Would you like to pre-order a copy of Suckfest '07, the thrilling new game from BigSuckGames?"

That is the usual greeting at an EBStop around here.  Grrrrrr.  I always just look at the guy like he's crazy and then hand him the game I want and a credit card.

Do you want to buy that used?? We have it used, you could save a few dollars?

No? Okay, well you want to buy the strategy guide of course, it's only $25 and tells you all the secrets of Halo, like how to point and click on the enemies.

Oh, well okay, your loss, now I'm sure you'll want to be buying our warranty on this game so that you can get a years protection on it even though you will finish it this weekend right?

Did I already ask you if you wanted to preorder anything?

...

Not to mention it takes twenty minutes to get through a line of four people as they rummage through the entire fucking store trying to find that used SNES game some out of touch parent is buying for their kid.  The only time I buy something from EBgames is if everyone else in a ten mile radius is out of stock.  Note that I'm not really blaming the kid asking the questions either, I'm sure it's corporate or the store manager telling them to push this crap.

[Trippy]

Oh, well okay, your loss, now I'm sure you'll want to be buying our warranty on this game so that you can get a years protection on it even though you will finish it this weekend right?

I usually just chuckle when they say that but I actually stopped and thought about it when they said that when I was buying Guitar Hero with the guitar and I ended up coughing up the extra $5 or whatever just in case I break that thing.

[geldonyetich]

My PS2's Warrenty ended up being worth the money.

But yeah, a warrenty on a game?  Jebus, the stores around here don't do that.

[Trippy]

But yeah, a warrenty on a game?  Jebus, the stores around here don't do that.

I might do it if I was a parent and buying a game for my young kids.

[Alkiera]

As a brief counter point....

At the EB in the mall here I get the kind of interaction Strazos said he uses... a 'Hey there' when I walk in, to which I either nod in response or say hi back, and then I walk around to look for what I want.  Usually the employees are talking about some game or another, or personal/store politics, so I browse around, sometimes I join game discussions, if I ask about something, they're happy to tell what they know.  I've not really bought anything at the GameStop that is in the same mall, tho I've walked through it.  The people there are always talking about something, and I don't know that I've ever been spoken to by an employee.

Prices between the two stores are slightly different, sometimes, despite them being in the same building, maybe 150 yds apart.  Wacky.

[stray]

The worse EB rep I've dealt with wasn't about preorder shit, but some kid who kept following me around trying to tell me about World of Warcraft. I finally told him that I thought WoW sucks, and he looked stunned. Then he proceeded to try selling me a copy of "Matador". Wtf?

Oh wait. I think it was about preordering. He was trying to sell me Burning Crusade.


Also, when I went yesterday, I could hear the employees masturbating over some "news" that WoW was coming to the 360. "WTF?" to that as well. Where do these guys get their info? This isn't the first time I've heard them yapping about the nonsense either (I distinctly recall a Phantom related discussion at one point in time as well).

[Strazos]

But yeah, a warrenty on a game?  Jebus, the stores around here don't do that.

I might do it if I was a parent and buying a game for my young kids.

Though I haven't tried to sell a game warranty myself yet, I can definately see how it can be useful. I boggle at some of the trade-ins I see.

Oddly enough, the vast majority of the discs that look unplayable are actually playable, or usually repairable.

Completely unrelated, but I don't try to sell strat guides. At all. I don't even mention them. Yes, with some you get something like a 20% discount when buying the game at the same time, but I really hate those things, so fuck it. People are there to buy about $50-60 worth of stuff if they're just getting one new game, not $70-100. They get price shock or something.

Also, I don't push used really. When someone asks if we have a game, I ask if they're looking for new or used, but if they say they want it new, I give it to them new. Sure, the store makes boatloads from used stuff, but I'd rather see some kickbacks to the devs.


Anyway, I don't have time to hassle people when they come in about buying used or any of that silly stuff. I spend too much time as it is explaining the Wii, or comparing/contrasting the 360 vs PS3.


PS: Stray, I think you're dealing with a dumb EBstop. My store typically talks about shit that makes sense.

[schild]

Also, when I went yesterday, I could hear the employees masturbating over some "news" that WoW was coming to the 360. "WTF?" to that as well. Where do these guys get their info? This isn't the first time I've heard them yapping about the nonsense either (I distinctly recall a Phantom related discussion at one point in time as well).

It's not the first time you've heard it. I've heard things as well. There's more reasons that Vanguard and True Fantasy 360 were canned by MS than just "suckage."

[Margalis]

I bought a used X-Box and it didn't work. Then I traded it in and they gave me one with a really shitty controller. I bought Smackdown vs. Raw 2006 used and they gave me an older version, had to return it and get the newer one.

The $10 off is not worth the hassle.

It is quite a racket though. Buy a used game for $5-$10 and sell it back at $5-$10 below sticker price?

[stray]

It is quite a racket though. Buy a used game for $5-$10 and sell it back at $5-$10 below sticker price?

That isn't worse than Half Price Books though. Those guys are dicks.

[Strazos]

Yeah, some of the turn-around prices on the used games are pretty obscene. Trade in a new-ish 360 game and get about $33. We sell it used for like, $45+ or so.

[Hokers]

I have a Game Stop and an EB Games in strip malls accross the street from each other here, made more sense before the merger.  The shoping experiences are quite different.

At the Game Stop:  Nice frendly employees, don't try any hard-sell or value-added selling.  Once told me to look online at redoctane.com for a second guitar since they didn't have any in stock.  Have my loyalty.

At the EB Games:  Always ask if I want to preorder, want a waranty (every time they ask this I wonder "What do you think I am going to do with this?"), want a strat guide, want to join the frequent buyer/seller club...  They have my hatred.

I don't think it has to do with the names on the stores, since I have been in a different Game Stop that had the hard sell.  I think it is most influenced by the store manager.

[Strazos]

Yeah, I try to only sell stuff that makes sense. Warranties on games, for most people, is fucking retarded. Warranties on consoles (handheld or home units) does, because shit happens. Shoving a strat guide down someone's throat is, to me, insulting; "What, I'm not good enough to beat this game without being led by the nose?" Only ask people about the sub when they're dealing with used. If you buy/trade used games enough each year, it IS actually worth it.

And the mags make usable toilet paper in a pinch.

[Morfiend]

Do you want to buy that used?? We have it used, you could save a few dollars?

No? Okay, well you want to buy the strategy guide of course, it's only $25 and tells you all the secrets of Halo, like how to point and click on the enemies.

Oh, well okay, your loss, now I'm sure you'll want to be buying our warranty on this game so that you can get a years protection on it even though you will finish it this weekend right?

Did I already ask you if you wanted to preorder anything?

This is what they bombard me with also at my local EBStop. I have a very strong aversion to strategy guides, I think they are ruining gaming (thats for another thread), and damn do they push them hard. Usually I just say "No Thanks" but some times the clerk will go so far as to grab one and open it up and *show me* the beautiful "full color" maps, and give me that look like, "what do you mean you dont want it, are you some kind of retard?" Grrrrrr. I said I dont want the fucking thing. This is usually about the time when I inform him that stratgey guides are a horrible waste of money, cause you get less out of your game in the long run. And that because of them pushing strat guides, companies have to make game artificially harder, since the guide completely nullifies any actual puzzles. I hate that look.

Oh yeah, I hate that stupid warranry they try and push also. I SAID NO. Dont ask me 3 more times if I really do want it.

[HaemishM]

Do they seriously give you a spiel like that when you physically walk through the door?

It's what they say when you call, and it's what they say when you come up to the counter. It's only the really insane district manager types that give that spiel when you walk in the door.

Hell, I came in to EB the day before the Wii preorder day just to ask the details, and the assface behind the counter repeatedly tried to goad me into pre-ordering a game any game THAT VERY DAY. I was not impressed.