The Economics of Gaming

MoneyWhen I was a kid, I remember lugging around a case of 20 or so NES games with me to my day care during the summer. The place that my brother and were imprisoned at had one bonus about it: a row of NES systems to keep the kids occupied, herded like sheep and left to stare bleating in front of small television screens.

Oddly enough there’s only thing to me that’s strange about this scenario. And no, it’s not the fact that I can’t even remember anything else about this period of my life except beating Mega Man 3 in front of onlookers, or the fact that the day care had all these NES units in the first place. The weirdest part of the whole thing for me? As a little kid, how did I afford to buy that many NES games for myself?

If there’s one drawback to this otherwise beloved hobby of ours, it’s that video games don’t grow on trees or drop out of the sky for our enjoyment. These little boxes of contained and bridled joy are ass expensive, especially when you add them up over time. Continue reading The Economics of Gaming

GameFly Thief Brought to Justice

gameflyI love me some video games, but probably not enough to go to prison. Apparently that’s not the case for some people. Take postal worker Reginald Johnson, a former truck unloader for a Philadelphia area post office. Recently, the office became the center of an investigation after many GameFly packages started to be reported as missing.

It seems that Mr. Johnson loved to lift these GameFly packages and then resell them to a local GameStop. So much, in fact, that he stole over 2,200 packages, amounting to about $86,000 of video game merchandise. How’s that for store credit?

Hilariously enough, the guy crashed his SUV when the cops showed up, and took off on foot, ditching a backpack and duffel bag that had about 160 games total between them. The dude has now been apprehended and faces 12-18 months in prison. It seems to me that if you were going to try and pull this scam, that surely someone would notice after game, I don’t know, 500. To steal a total of 2,200 just wreaks of idiocy. But I will allow it since it ends with my amusement.

Source- 1UP

A Gamer Growing Older

g_simpsonAs I get older and grumpier (which some people did not think that was possible, but I got skills) I find myself changing in the way I play and look at games. I love them, but I don’t feel the need to rush out and get something on the first day or to play it over and over trying to get 100% completion. I just don’t have the time anymore or the energy.
Continue reading A Gamer Growing Older

Metal Gear Not So Solid


I am not a typical hardcore gamer nerd. I have long since accepted that while I am a huge nerd, the demands for a robust sex life call me away from my nerdly pleasures more often than not. I do not replay games on harder levels, instead preferring to move on to a new game entirely. I do not collect Achievements or Trophies, I find it as enjoyable as homework. And I do not see the big deal about a number of giant game franchises.

Continue reading Metal Gear Not So Solid

GameStop Woes

I don’t know about you guys, but almost every experience I’ve had with a GameStop store has been a negative one. At this point, between GameFly and MicroCenter across the street, I’ve pretty much been able to avoid stepping into a GameStop for months now, much to my delight.

Here’s a new video from a former GameStop employee, calling himself WhistleBlowerZero, done in the style of Zero Punctuation, the fast-talking game reviewer. It’s awesome.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byJSoWl476I[/youtube]