Episode 30 – Wrong and Right

I wandered into my local EB… or GameStop… I don’t actually know which it was and now that they are the same company it doesn’t matter any more. Either way, I walked in… and they had all three consoles lined up.

As I still have not had the opportunity to play the PS3 even though I worked the launch event I really wanted to get my hands on it. The store was pretty much empty, so it was unattended. I walked up to the kiosk and noticed that it the PS3 was not connected to the TV. The TV was on and said IMPUT 2 and I could hear the PS3’s fans were kicked on into overdrive. I picked up the controller and pushed a few buttons, thinking for some reason that it would bring the PS3 back to life. The controller was really light. I don’t trust things that are too light. I need them to make a solid sound when I drop them… because I will drop them.

I asked an employee if he could turn the system on (even though it was clearly on). He said no. I then asked if there was something wrong with the system. He said no to that as well. Ok… so now, it works, but he won’t turn it on. He then told me that if he turned it on everyone would play it.

Now, maybe it’s just me, but I always thought that was the idea of the demo. So people will use it and then maybe they will buy it. I understand there are no PlayStations to actually sell, but that’s not really the point. If you are going to have the damn thing on the floor taking up space at least let it play something, even if it’s a Blu-Ray movie. I would bet if a Sony person came in they would be furious that their console was disconnected from a television and the Xbox sitting right next to it had demo disc in it.

This is the second time in 3 days that I’ve been to an EB/GameStop where the employee denied a customer access to a demo console. On Thursday there were four kids (about 13 years old) in the store drooling over the Wii. It was about 3:30 and the store was dead empty (I was picking up 3 copies of Mario Kart DS… don’t ask). They asked for the wiimote and were told they needed to have photo ID with their address on it. The employee knew that these kids didn’t have ID. When they told him that, he yelled at them, “no id, no controller.” Wow. Way to be an asshole.

These guys need to go back to training. You never, ever, tell a customer they can’t have something that they are entitled to. These are the people who are going to be spending money in your store, and paying your wage. It bothered me even more when it’s done to kids. These kids weren’t causing trouble, being loud or bothering anyone. I even think one of them was going to buy a DS game. So, seriously, treat your customers a little better.

Ok, so that was wrong. Then there’s right…

At the same store that one guy wouldn’t let me enjoy the fruits of the PS3, there was another employee who was the most helpful guy I have ever seen work in an EB. This guy heard me talking about Halo 3, and I mentioned that you can preorder it now even though there is no release date. He quickly jumped in saying, “actually there is a release date now. It’s November 1st of ‘07.” I’ve been following this. I pretty much know my shit. There is no release date for Halo 3. His computer has one for inquiring minds. It’s Q4 of 07, yes, but there is no real date. But that was nice of him to try and help. He also quickly (he pretty much ran) got me a release date for when BioShock is coming to the 360. I wasn’t sure if there was a solid date but he assured me it was April 5th. He then asked if there were any other questions we had. I had none. I had no reason to be in there I just like to stop in and look around. It’s fun to see some of the used titles.

This guy was probably only recently hired and recently brainwashed. But he was awesome and generally interested in videogames, always a plus if you ask me. I think the only question on an application for EB should be “Please Name the Consoles You Have Owned.” If there are more than 3 on the list you’re hired. They could make it tricky and write “p0wned.” But that could hold that one for the manager’s test.