IainThis is actually a copy and paste job from my old Blogger page, I know Valentine’s Day was two months ago…
So as almost everyone is aware, Valentine’s Day has not only reared its ugly head but is close to swallowing us whole. So far it’s been a pain in the arse and here’s why. After much dispute with my girlfriend over the weekend as to whether we were going to buy gifts, I decided I would buy her Professor Layton and The Curious Village on DS because she’s been wanting it since Christmas and our local stores have only just started getting stock in.
Two days later
I’m walking around ASDA, perusing the games magazines for any interesting freebies when I see The Guinness World Records: Gamer’s Edition 2009. Now it’s worth mentioning here that the book was initially to be released a few days before my birthday in January but got pushed back a month for whatever reasons. So I pick up a copy, continue my shopping and then head home to tell everyone I know about my purchase. This is where my Valentine fiasco begins because the first response my girlfriend gives after telling her what I bought was “That’s fucked up my Valentine’s idea then”. Of course I offer to return the book but she must of sensed that I had no intention of doing so and decided to think of something else. I get my book plus a new present and my idea for her is still safe.
The next day (yesterday)
So I’m back in ASDA (I work near it so it’s convenient to pop in at lunch) and I’m on a mission; Pick up Professor Layton at any cost. I get to the games section and I’m in luck, they have a few copies left and it’s £5 cheaper than anywhere else in town so I buy it. As soon as I’m back at work I decide to tease my girlfriend a bit and tell her I got her Valentine’s present. She replies “please tell me it’s not Professor Layton, I bought it myself this morning”. Bollocks.
Today
So now, not only have I bought one of the few ideas for presents my girlfriend had, she’s gone and bought the present I actually got her. Now I’m not a romantic sort of guy (surprise, surprise), I’m not good at picking things like flowers or chocolates because I never know what would be best so I’m pretty screwed when it comes to finding a new present. Or am I? About 20 minutes ago, an idea struck me like a goat knocking a child over in a You’ve Been Framed clip. My girlfriend bought a 360 for her son at Christmas with the intention of playing it herself and one of the games she made a big fuss about was Dead Space. My predicament has been sorted, who needs flowers when you can blow body parts off of scary aliens?
As for Professor Layton, well let’s just say I love myself enough to justify keeping it.
Right, since I’m new to WordPress I figured I’ll cheat a little and copy some of my newer blogs over from my gamespot account (don’t worry, there’s only two).
So here is the first blog entitled “job roles”
Picture the scene, it’s Sunday afternoon and freezing cold outside but I’m in a warm game shop, looking for something to play in between dead space during the occasional underwear changes and there I see it. The ultimate anti-dead space, Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise. I own the first game and love it so I walk up to the counter, box in one hand, a small child in the other so I have a legitimate reason to buy the game. The lady behind the till puts the game in the box, I pay, give the child back to its rightful owners and run home (well ask my mum for a lift) to play Viva Piñata 2. Imagine my disappointment when I get home, open the box and find that the woman behind the counter had put the original game in the box instead. And this is where the point of this blog starts….
Is it just me or are all games shops hiring people purely because they look young and stylish? I’ve been to several games shops over the past few months asking about certain games only to get blank looks or be told “I didn’t know [insert game here] was even out yet”. I even heard one employee say to their friend “I don’t even like computer games, I just need the money” in the middle of the shop. Now I can understand that in the current economic climate, jobs are like gold dust but a niche store like a game shop needs employees who actually know about what they’re selling. If I went into a butcher asking for a lamb mince, I wouldn’t expect them to say “I thought mince only came from cows” so why when I go into a game shop should I have to hear “I didn’t know Bioshock was available on PS3″?
Update: It’s the weekend again so I decided to brave the cold and get the right disc put in my viva box, although I get to the store I bought it from only to be told they don’t have any left so now I have to go back up tomorrow with the card I bought it on to get a bloody refund
