I spend several thousand dollars each year at Gamestop. I always make an effort to visit other Gamestop locations when I am out of town. I was in New York City on May 29 and had the distinct displeasure of visiting the E 14th Street location.

I have been, conservatively, to dozens of different Gamestops, and I can say with some certainty that the E 14th Street location is among the worst Gamestops on the face of the earth.

If you’re interested, the only other Gamestop that I recall being this horrible is located in the shopping mall in Charlottesville, Va.

The used PS2 games (which is usually the section I look at first) were disorganized and stacked on racks that did not allow you to view the spines of the cases. There were a disproportionate number of games missing artwork, compared to other Gamestops. One would have to “flip through” to see what was there, which is time-consuming and a practice I have not seen used at other Gamestops.

The employees could not find three of the items I was looking for. One was a Gamecube component cable, which the online store tracker said was in stock. There was a Buy 2, Get 1 free sale on used games, so I picked out 3 titles. They could not find one of the games. (I forget which one it was.) Normally this wouldn’t be such a big problem, but because of the B2G1 sale, I had to find another game to take advantage of the sale. So for my second choice, I picked Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence. The employee couldn’t find that one either. So I had to go back to the rack yet again. Finally, I decided on a disc-only copy of Magna Carta for PS2. The case was literally snapped in half, outer plastic and all. The only thing holding it together was Gamestop’s paper insert with the title.

I didn’t have any particular conflict at this location. It seemed like my rather poor, time-consuming experience here was “average” for the E 14th Street location. And if this was in fact average, I would hate to see what a “bad” customer experience at the E 14th Street location would be like.

How can the E 14th Street Gamestop improve?

Get racks for PS2 games that allow the customer to browse the covers or spines of the games. Most other Gamestops have this. Overall, get better organized. Items that show up as “available in store” on gamestop.com should be findable in store.

I just found something interesting in that $5 box of Sega junk I bought on Saturday: a multi-screen Pinball Game and Watch. Condition is pretty bad and it’s missing the battery cover. I’ll find to find some batteries to see if it works. Hopefully it’s built like a tank like most other Nintendo hardware.

I had a pretty successful yard saleing day yesterday.

• Nintendo Power #173 with Eon Ticket intact — $0.10 (This should be good for a modest 80000% profit.)
• Kessen III — $2.50
• Sonic Mega Collection GC — $2.50
• Paper Mario GC — $2.50
• Upwords board game — $1
• Banjo-Kazooie — FREE (lady said she didn’t know if it worked)
• Jade Cocoon PS1 (missing manual) and Time Commando disc — $2.50
• Super Mario World SNES — $0.50
• The Beatles Yellow Submarine (OOP) — $0.50
• The Wizard of Oz (OOP) — $2
• New PS2 replacement power cable — $0.50
• 3x Xbox store kiosk demo discs — $0.50 ea
• Myspace Tribute to the Smashing Pumpkins promo CD — $1
• Box full of “junk” including a Sega Master System II and a Master Gear Converter (play Master system games on Game Gear) — $5 for all
• NES controller — $0.50
• Ape Escape — $2.50
• Nightmare Creatures II soundtrack — $0.50
• Casio fx-7400G Plus graphing calculator — $5 (August back-to-school flip)

• PS2 with controller, no cords, $10
• PS2 with controller, all cords, network adapter, and ATV Offroad Fury 2, $25 CIF
• Animal Farm DVD new $1
• Pandemonium PS1 mint $1
• Nascar Racing 2003 Season $1
• Not pictured: two tall CD wire racks for $5 ea (needed them cos I’m running out of places to stash games!)

I found the second PS2 at a church sale fairly late in the day (by yard sale standards), around 11:15. It was tagged at $40. I would have totally passed over it if it weren’t for the network adapter. I CIF’ed $20 and the lady asked me for $25, which I agreed to.

If you don’t know why I picked up the Nascar game, you need to look at the Amazon prices. It was Sierra’s last Nascar game and there is a huge modding community for it.

Yard sale and pawn shop finds from yesterday:

N64 system w/ RAM expansion
2 controllers
2 rumble packs
1 memory card
Goldeneye 64
Perfect Dark
V-Rally 64
NASCAR 99
Monster Truck Madness 64
$2.00

I really don’t like picking up systems these days because they’re such a hassle to store or sell, but this one said “Make offer.” I threw out a lowball offer of $2 and the lady took it without hesitation, because it’s missing the AV cord.

Master TV Game Famiclone
2 wireless controllers
1 “Super Fighters TV Game”
$1

I like famiclones. I don’t know why. Something about a pirated Nintendo 8-bit appeals to me. I actually passed up a different famiclone later. I figured 1 was enough for one day. Also, the “Super Fighters TV Game” has some SWEET Engrish on it.

When the most beautiful things,
silence, and justice are being
challenged by bad elements, you
could not hide and away. You should
brave them with your intelligence.

Fight for the Peace!

By “intelligence” here, I think they mean punch some mofos in the face. It’s a very loose definition.

Casio fx-7400G Graphic Calculator
$1

This will be a good flip come August.

Sony Walkman Psyc
$2

Nyko Airflo Wireless PS2 controller (with inner fan) (not pictured)
$5

$5 is a lot more than I would usually pay for a controller at a yard sale, but I really like Nyko’s Airflo controllers, and I’ve already worn out 2 of them previously.

Pawn shop finds:

Shadow Hearts Covenant $5.99
Ys Ark of Napishtim $5.99
Super Bust-a-move $5.99
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II $5.99
Dirt PS3 $14.99

Today I wrote these comments in response to a Paypal survey, and I thought it might be useful to some readers to republish them here:

What are the pros and cons of Paypal?

Paypal has pros and cons, both of which I would mention if recommending it to others. Its largest pro is convenience, hands down. It is by far the easiest way to accept an international payment, and for that service (at least), I am satisfied with the fees. I remember selling things online in the late 1990s, and dealing with things like International Money Orders was a pain. On the other hand, I would remind someone that accepting a money order or check from another person is “free” for a seller (whereas a Paypal payment deducts ~3%). Worst of all, I have read far too many horror stories online (eg, www.paypalsucks.com) about Paypal freezing accounts (and the funds in them) without recourse for the account owner. I firmly believe Paypal ought to be subject to stricter government control due to instances like these, for the protection of the account owner.

How could Paypal be improved?

Give more leniency to sellers regarding “proof of shipment” for international transactions. Both international buyers and Paypal alike are ignorant of the fact that the US Postal Service does NOT offer tracking numbers for First Class International packages (under 4 pounds) — and yet we are required to furnish them in order to receive any protection in a dispute. A customs form number (or perhaps a scanned post office receipt), on the other hand, will show shipment from a post office, and should be accepted as a “proof of shipment.”

I noticed today my local Walmart has rearranged their gaming section for the first time since it was built (sometime around 2003-2004).

The PS2/PS3 and Xbox/360 had been in the front section for the last 5 or so years. Now the PS2 is moved all the way in the back (and whatever original Xbox games are left are on the clearance shelf in an even more remote, unkempt aisle).

What’s up front? Wii and DS have an entire, spacious aisle with bright-white Wii fixtures, while PSP, PS3, 360, and PS2 are all packed into a second, plain aisle.

While it’s not breaking news, it does concretely signify how far Nintendo has come since the Gamecube era, and how the company’s two innovation-over-horsepower wonders are currently at the tip of average American consciousness.

I found some oldies-but-goodies today at the local pawn shop. This is pretty much the only local shop that still carries PS1 games, at a flat price of $5 apiece. I’ve found some good titles here in the past year: Mega Man Legends, Final Fantasy VII, and Xenogears have been among the highlights. (In the past few years, I’ve found Valkyrie Profile and Suikoden II as well.)

Today brings us…

• Resident Evil PS1 longbox — $5
• Jumping Flash PS1 longbox — $5
• Mortal Kombat 3 PS1 longbox –$5

All are complete without any breaks in the longboxes. It’s especially nice to find Resident Evil in this condition, considering that the longboxes are irreplacable once they’ve cracked or broken.

I nearly passed on MK3, but I figured $5 was worth it for a complete copy in pretty good shape.

Some Cheapass Gamer forum members posted in earlier threads (namely the 50% off Xbox/GC/GBA thread) that they found some random PS2 games marked way low (Gradius V for $4.99, etc.).

I noticed while shopping over at Wherehouse.com (also owned by TransWorld, parent company of FYE) that the “New” prices on games were recently changed to match what CAGs had reported finding at FYE. Since Wherehouse and FYE are both owned by the same company, the new prices listed at Wherehouse.com *should* match up with FYE in-store. (There are a few exceptions, see the end of this post.)

As best as I can tell, FYE quietly marked down hundreds of older (mostly released in 2000-2005) PS2 games in the past month. I compiled the following list “by hand” by checking individual prices on http://www.wherehouse.com .

Many of these titles are quite old, so finding any one individual title will be YMMV. (Good luck on finding Ico, Suikoden III, etc.!) However, if you have a well-stocked store, you should be able to find a few in the list.

ALSO, one of the two stores I checked out just had a MASSIVE restock of old games, some of which I have not seen new in years (.hack//OUTBREAK, Dual Hearts, etc.). The manager said that they got a lot of stock in from closed stores, so it may be worth rechecking stores that previously had nothing.

FAQ Time!

Q: How do I check the price of a game not in the list below?

A: Go to http://www.wherehouse.com and search for the game. Click through to the game’s individual page. The “new” price should match the “new” price in-store at FYE. (There are a few exceptions, see the end of this post.)

Q: How do I check the price of a game in stores?

A: You can use the kiosk stands that have headphones. For more info, see my blog post on GameHoarders.

Q: Which stores will have these prices?

A: These prices should be good at any TransWorld-owned store: FYE, Sam Goody, Wherehouse, Coconuts, Strawberries, etc.

Q: Will Backstage Pass take another 10% off?

A: Yes.

This list is INCOMPLETE and consists only of titles that I’ve looked up myself. Check Wherehouse.com if you’re looking for a specific title. Also post below if you find anything that I missed.

And now, as I noted above, I have found at least one game so far that had a higher price in-store than on Wherehouse.com:

Please post if you find any notable titles that I have missed, post em and I will update the post. Also, if you find any exceptions like Zatch Bell, post those as well.

Happy hunting!

This is a Public Service Announcement to all parents. Parents, don’t buy the “game system” you see at at left for your children when they ask for a Wii. I don’t care how young your kids are — they’ll know the difference.  Neglecting to buy your child the system they want for Christmas may cause long-term emotional scarring. As adults, they may feel a permanent emotional void when it comes to video games, causing them to become obsessive, insatiable video game collectors. You’ve been warned.

I spotted this rather craptacular Wii clone, the Zone Wireless Gaming, at a local discount store. The remotes are the big knockoff giveaway — it could have slipped my eye otherwise. I love the nonsense upselling text.

• “THIRD GENERATION GAMING!” — I think this is a sly way of saying “This is no better than a Genesis.” I think.
• “RCA INPUT JACKS” — What exactly are we inputting here? I’m pretty sure the Zone does not double as a Slingbox.
• And of course, seven, count ‘em, seven “GAME SPORTS PACKAGE,” including “BOXING,” “TENNIS,” “GOLF,” “BASEBALL,” “TABLE TENNIS,” “TEN PIN BOWLING,” and “SOCCER.” Eat it, Wii Sports!
• Bonus points for the ESRB-like 5+ rating from Kazakhstan.

Overall the box doesn’t try very hard at making it look fun. At least overcaffeinated Chinese children can make the Vii look downright spasmodic.

My favorite part is that the whole package rattled around like a box of puzzle pieces. Oh, and the price? $39.99. I guess at a price that low, asking for styrofoam would have been downright selfish.