The more accurate percentage would be 50%, and they would be mainstream gamers. I wouldn't bother telling some random customer that the box art is better in america or something like that unless they were actually a hardcore nerd that would enjoy listening.

I just like how they're all supportive of platinum titles. If a game doesn't have a picture on it, it's more likely to get scratched on the top of the disc as well as the front. It's extremely annoying because the printed picture acts as a shield, like AzuraGuard does.

Like I also said in the thread, I picked up Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy X which were originals, but sold at the platinum price. This isn't the first time I've seen this happen, but I've also seen stores reject sales "just because it isn't platinum" which is rather stupid. It doesn't really matter to a mainstream gamer but if someone's collecting games they might as well avoid.

My platinum Gran Turismo 3 happens to have a few scratches on the top of it which really pisses me off because if the printed picture was placed there, it wouldn't have happened. These "Playstation 2 the Best" games aren't "best" at all, they're actually a downgrade in quality.

I don't know about in america but I'm pretty sure Greatest Hits titles also have black and white manuals, pictureless discs, etc. You pay for what you get.

Heh, if the cover bugs you that much, then just go to cdcovers website and print off the generally MUCH more aethestically pleasing Japanese covers. I did that for ICO (used the PAL cover, actually).

We can't do that here. The PS2 PAL cases are blue and having a japanese cover in a blue PAL case is a clear sign it's different. See, this is why I import my games. Not only are the american ones usually much better, but they have black cases. Black.

So 3 downsides to owning a PAL game. 1, the box art's usually butchered, 2, the spine's formatted and boring, and 3, the case is blue. Now I know these are only minor issues, but I find them annoying. Why the hell are the cases blue? And why are the spines changed? It doesn't make sense.

Actually this reminds me of a person who buys games based on box art. Moronic, I know, because he bought SSX On Tour just because he'd played SSX Tricky before and just because he liked the box art on On Tour. Funny thing was, he was an eb worker.

If you are that annoyed by the ugly boxes, why can't you keep them all separated from the game and buy a CD wallet or something to place the DVDs in? I do that with my PS2 games and the CD wallet doesn't harm them or anything like that.

Sorry if that upset you. ={

Ahh this rarely happens to me. However, i've been tempted to buy Rumble Roses on PS2 a few times, but when I look at the game, I can feel the clerks eyes on me, they burn, they know. I fear them.

When I went to buy Road Avenger a few weeks ago, the guy was all "Ahh, why are you getting this, it's one of the worst Mega CD titles!" As if I cared, it was £3 and he clearly knew nothing as Road Avenger is all kinds of awesome!

I'm actually wondering how you manage to scratch all of your CDs up. If they're not in my console or drive they're sitting comfortably in my cd-binder.

http://image.compusa.com/prodimages/...805fe6e270.jpg

These pages rule.

Because I'm sure all those frat boys all you 'hardcore' gamers hate are whacking it to the latest coverboy for Madden 2007.

I need to invest in a CD book like RR, as all my games sit on my blank spool as I don't care much for cases.

I think 25 pages is something like $20, so you can store 100 of your most-used DVDs that way in a $2 three ring binder from Staples (just be sure to give one with a pretty big spine, otherwise it's going to be blowing out the sides before you know it). I've only had good luck finding them at CompUSA, but that was a few years ago, so they might be at more places now.

I haven't had that particular experience yet, thankfully. Though one time at Gamestop, I was buying Shadow Hearts: From the New World, Call of Duty, and Fatal Frame 2 and the guy at the register told me "wow, you have an interesting range of taste for a girl!" I wasn't really sure how to respond so I just said thanks and we chatted a bit about the three games in the 15 years it took him to sell me the damn stuff.

Uh, what? This doesn't even make sense. You have mainstream gamers, collectors, non-mainstream gamers and casual gamers. It really isn't hard to tell which is which.

It's even more annoying when lousy PAL publishers ('sup Sega, Midway) use the boring PS2 spine design for their Xbox and GC games too. :(

And who's going to care about the value of a cover of a game's box fifteen years down the road other than a collector? I doubt they make up 50% of the gaming population.

I don't consider myself quite a "collector", but if I buy a game used, I expect the instruction manual included, minimal scratches if not none, and at the very least for the box to be in good condition.

Anyway, during my time at Rhino I rarely ever told anyone that a game absolutely sucked and they shouldn't buy it except for special situations like Catwoman and Dragonball Z Sagas. Especially Sagas. I used to imagine someone bringing it to the counter to buy it and I would take an epic dive out from the back in slow motion with an explosion behind me shouting "Nooo~!" and smack it out of their hands. And if I was asked for my opinion I'd tell them that it wasn't my cup of tea, but they might find some enjoyment in it, and then tell them about the 7-day return policy. Just in case.

Then your retail store would almost turn into a rental store. I'm not familiar if Rhino's is primarily a retail or rental, because I never stepped in one.

This was one of the things that EB was trying to combat, turning into another Blockbusters or Rogers, hence the newer, more stringent return policies, according to one of the managers that I chatted with.

Ive never had the employees give me the look, nor have they said anything... they don;t seem to like it when i give my full-length hatred reviews to other customers asking about a game though...

Yes it was one of the things EB tried to combat. Unfortunately (and to the sheer anger of numerous EB employees) Gamestop effectively ended that.

I'm not too sure what you're saying here. Are the EB employees not happy with the current return policies to combat "buying for the weekend-return it Monday?"

I can only speak for myself, but I know I wasn't. For over a year, I was used to one, cover-all return policy that was in all actuality a fair one. Then, I get switched over to one that's completely different. My first thought was "We're not fucking Blockbuster here. You buy, not rent. Not sure whether you'll like it? Go rent it. From Blockbuster."

It was a mindset thing, and getting adjusted to a such a change kinda sucked. I'm over it now for the most part, but I still don't like the attitude of some of the people who make a regular habit out of it.

Actually, there was a 2 game limit for the returns. If after the 2nd time you didn't like the game, you were stuck with the 3rd. It could be traded, but not for full credit like the last 2, provided you had the receipt.

I've never been given the look or anything like that from a clerk at EB or whatever.

I have given them the look before, though.

Clerk: "Would you be interested in the N-Gage?"

Me: *Gives "the look"*

Clerk: "Sir, would yo-"

Me: "No."

But only the power of N-Gage can make Puzzle Bobble completely unplayable!

http://ngagemedia.ign.com/ngage/imag...lebobble_2.jpg

How can you not be interested!

Me and EB go together like water and oil... So many bad experiences that I'm not going to bother writing all of it.

So what if I buy a DS? Is it weird that I bought the DS rather than PSP? I like my Zelda, so WHAT? I'm buying Katamari SO WHAT? I'm buying Xbox games instead of X360 games. SO WHAT????!!!

And some of the employees have NO KNOWLEDGE of games whatsoever (well, out of all the Australia, Victorian stores I've been in). Resident Evil 4 for Xbox? Katamari for GBA? WTF?

Come to think of it...

"Hey, I'm just wondering if you'll have any special deals with the Wii launch..."
"Oh, er we don't know the launch date yet, duh!!!"
"FU! The date was revealed last week!!!"
"Look, don't bother. Get the PS3. It's coming out in November 16th..."
"Idiot, it's been delayed for Europe, including Australia."
"Nuh uh!"

Why do I bother with EB???!!!

Now hey, id rather spend the money on something a bit more then the box cover like a doujin or something :biggrin:

Only time i ever had someone give me "The Look" was when i bought "ManHunt" he was possibly thinking i wasnt ready to play a game like that at the age of 15... He stopped, looked at the box and then at me and lucky my bro was with me or he woulda stopped me from buying the game and giving me some stupid lecture on getting a game more like "Elmo's World" or something!