Does this sound like BULLSHIT to you?

[Rusty Venture]

I sooo thought about that. I actually have a working PCB from some shitty NES golf game when I had to swap cases to make a working Mario 3, and I was thinking about swapping them out so he would get it home and go "awww, its some shitty golf game" and return it, at which case I would go "oh, that's funny, I want to buy it just because that's funny" and swap in the real game and walk away. It would be the greatest caper of all time.

And then you would have to receive a 40 musket shot blast to face.

But reading about the "wish-list", I don't think it is fair to other customers either....especially if they have money in hand wanting to buy something.

[Tanegashima]

IT's great working in a gun store because employees at our company (it is a chain) always get first dibs. Yesterday, a customer brought in a Colt Anaconda



a handgun I'VE been searching for for many many moons but in California they are nearly IMPOSSIBLE to come across. Our company has a consignment program and the dude comes in to sell it through us...so what do I do? I immediately offer him his asking price up front out of my own pocket to sell the gun to me.

He did...this just happened yesterday too...I love it because some stuff is SO damn hard to come by and our manager encourages us employees to take advantage of it because a) he does b) he wants MORALE to be high and told me when I got hired that if I see something I want, to hide it for myself.

His attitude is that employee dibs encourages us to both work harder and want to stay with the company longer.

So far, he's been proven correct. I think that policy is crap, I think the whole ''wishlist'' concept is crap because it literally DELAYS the ability to sell a product if the customer is a flake. If I were the manager and you offered me the money up front, the game would have been yours.

I was on a budget until I laid my eyes on that revolver and BAM I blew my saving account...but hell...its only money right?

[Metal_Sonic]

How much was it?

[Rusty Venture]

Every time Tanegashima starts talking guns, I think of the Weird Al song "Trigger Happy".

[Tanegashima]

How much was it?

900 bones, the gun is easily worth 1900 which is why I jumped on it.

[MrMatthews]

Every time Tanegashima starts talking guns, I think of the Weird Al song "Trigger Happy".

My favorite Weird Al song.

Oh, I still haven't figured out the safety on my rifle yet.
Little Fluffy took a round, better take him to the vet.
I filled that kitty cat so full of lead,
We'll have to use him as a pencil, instead

[Jesse813]

Every time Tanegashima starts talking guns, I think of the Weird Al song "Trigger Happy".

The Official Strike Force Theme Song

[David J.]

That store sounds cool... I should give them my wishlist. Anyway...

This "Contra Force" game is rare and valuable? I don't know much shit about NES games... but I thought "Stadium Events" was much rarer, despite being the same as another game with a different title/cart label.

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trk...All-Categories

You've been searching for this game for 10 years? This looks to be pretty reasonable, considering you have been searching for it for 10 YEARS!!!!!

If you want it that badly, and have wasted soooooooooo long searching for it... why not just plunk down the money elsewhere instead of being a goddamn cheapskate?

Yes, I've gotten deals that have been far, far better than the going price many times, but at the same time I have gotten screwed over quite a bit. All is fair in love and war, y'know...

[Baloo]

Well, lol @ the red ring thing, but anyway...

I think, at least in this instance (video game store), employees SHOULD get a bit of an advantage to grab a game. While I do OK since I do repairs, the normal employees are working for minimum, and its not the easiest job to do for minimum wage. We are always under staffed for every shift (in other words, 1 person working the 2nd largest Play N Trade in America) so I think its fair we are compensated with AT LEAST the ability to snipe games we want. I've thought about it on the other side too, but really, how many employees do you have to worry about? There are only really 4 major employees including the owner (not including me, I don't work the front) and then a couple standbys if no one else can work or we have lots of games that need resurfacing or something. So, worst case scenario, the game has to make its way through 4 people's hands before it gets to shelves, and only 2 of us widely collect vintage games (ok, now we're including me), meaning only 2 people have to reject it for it to get on the shelf. I think the other dude kind of ruined it for me because he will buy fucking EVERYTHING on a cartridge the second it comes in store to the point we wouldn't get new merchandise on the rack for weeks even though plenty of games were traded in. Still though, its only a matter of time before he has one of every game he wants, and then everything will end up on the shelf. Its not really a permanent thing, just a 6 month delay.

The way I see it, bottom line, it should be first come, first serve. If I spot it first, that bitch is mine, you shouldn't be able to just name the game and then permanently have it saved for you on a golden platter when someone else has a $20 bill in their hand ready to slap it on the counter. Imagine for a second if I DIDN'T work for Play N Trade, I would've been so pissed about the wish list thing I would've purposely gone to GameStop first for everything from then on out of spite.

Also, back to the way it works, I still think being able to list 2 or 3 games (or more, there isn't a limit as far as I know) discourages people from coming in to browse. Sure WE may do it (sega-16 members) because we never know what might pop up, but I guarantee alot of people would just go to Gamestop or something because they know Play N Trade will call when they get a game. Considering how many of my purchases are spur of the moment "OMG, you got that game!?" I can see alot of missed opportunities due to the wish list.

I am just so pissed about this, if I don't get this game, I think I'm just going to pay the ripoff online price for it to keep me from going insane. I've been after that game for so long, and its so damn rare I doubt I'll ever see it again at a reasonable price.

I agree to a point. I'm going to agree a ton on the fact that employees shouldn't be able to buy games before everyone else. But I also think that there shouldn't be this wishlist idea. I can just go name every last game I can think of that I want off the top of my head and I just get it when it comes in? That's total bullcrap. It leaves shitty games for everyone else to buy. I think it should be first come first served, for the customers at least.

As for EMPLOYEES, I for one think that they should have to at least put it on the shelf for a day or two before they're able to buy it. They should be able to buy it, but not when it comes right in from a trade or a shipment. If the employees at a game store sniped every last fucking game that the store gets that is good, who would want to shop there? They wouldn't even have any stock at all that anyone would want to buy, because you know that most of the people who work at game stores at least play video games, if they aren't collectors.

[havok666]

I own Contra Force complete. I even have the original receipt, I paid $69.99 on November 2nd, 1992 at Zellars. Man was I fucking disappointed with that game. I mean, it's not a terrible game and it probably would have been viewed more positively if it wasn't part of the "Contra" series.

Oh yeah, and first "dibs" on trade ins for employees is retarded. This encourages the employees to go and buy up all the good stock leaving shit games for the customers.

[17daysolderthannes]

HOLY SHIT!

short story: I FUCKING GOT IT!!!!!

long story: this is a VERY long story, from the beginning back in 1997 *flashback soft focus*

OK, 1997

I had a Mac computer growing up (still do) so all I had for games were cartridges (yes I had a dreadful N64) for christmas/birthday/good report card and game demos. Since the Mac never was and never will be a game platform, you can imagine I didn't have much to work with. One day, I go to my next door neighbors house and see him playing SNES games on his computer. I'm like HOLY WTF!! and find out its called an "emulator" and you can use them to play older video games on your computer.

From then on I spent countless hours online (dial-up, woot) searching for familiar game ROMs to fill the video game void due to not being able to have a job and buy my own games. Being aware of regular Contra, I saw Contra Force on a ROM site one day and downloaded it. I immediately fell in love with the more realistic gameplay (if doing 10 front flips in a jump can be called realistic) and the team direction aspects of it, not to mention the great Konami music.

Around the same time, a store called VGX (Video Game X-change) opened up in town. I went there for the first time and the only game I could think of that I really wanted (used) was Contra Force. The crazy looking cat lady grabbed a copy of regular Contra and I was like "not that one" wondering why any game with the Contra name wasn't more common/popular. I ended getting Shinobi for the Game Gear instead, not a bad choice. Ever since, any time I was around used NES games, I always kind of kept an eye out for Contra Force.

Years passed by and the Wii came out. I realized what a ripoff the VC was and what a joke it was to pay so much for DLC and in protest decided to buy the real cartridges instead of paying more for an electronic copy. I started by buying a couple at EB Games (before they finally said "no more retro, period") and asked if anywhere else in town carried retro games. The EB employee pointed me to a small computer repair store a couple miles away that had shelves and shelves of games all for $5 or $6 with "buy 2, get 1 free" and I started frequenting there about once a week to make a haul. After a couple weeks, I decided to make a list of every game I could possibly think of that I wanted and came up with a list of about 40 games, including Contra Force. Many of the games I simply bought from Amazon and later eBay, but I didn't buy Contra Force because of the obscenely high prices passing the $50 mark (at the time) and sometimes higher. Until now, I had never even seen Contra Force in person, and it was the only game besides Mega Man 1 and 4-6 on my original list that I hadn't bought.

Fast Forward to yesterday. A guy walks in with his kid trying to get a copy of NCAA 09 ?football? (basketball?) for PS3 and has a stack of NES and SNES games. I think to myself "hmmm, better check this stack." I start with the usual "no, no, no" and then I got to Contra Force. At first it didn't seem real, like I was imaging things and it was really another game or just regular Contra or something, but it was definitely Contra Force. I immediately claim "this is MINE" and get ready to get my wallet and pay for the game to make it 100% certain. As I'm doing that, the other person working (who also happens to be a manager, even though we have as many managers as regular employees, whatever) grabs the "wish list" receipt and says "nope, you can't, its on the wish list." After all those years of checking used game stores for that game, it was all taken away in an instant. I was like "you gotta be kidding me!?" and he basically expressed he was doubly intent on it because he missed out on Chrono Trigger and some other games the same way. So, all I can do at this point is wait for 10 PM the next day and hope the guy doesn't show up.

I show up the next day (today) at about 5 PM and look in the wish list/repair return cabinet to see if its still there...nothing. I continue to rant about how stupid the wish list is etc. but still check the computer just to confirm that it was sold. I look and see that the computer still shows 1 copy in stock. Since I couldn't find it, I figure it had been sold, and just go on starting repairs. At 10 PM, the store closes, and I say "you know what, let me make sure it was sold today" and I start calling everyone that had been in the store. I start with the person that was scheduled to work that morning, and he said he was 100% sure he didn't sell it. So next I call the owner, because I knew he had been in and he might have sold it and not told anyone; he didn't know anything about it. Beginning to go WTF, I ask the person closing if he saw it, he said no. With only one person left, I call the person working the night before if he knew anything about it. As it turns out, he had hidden it in some Play N Trade tent stake crap to keep me from buying it before the person on the wish list had a chance.

So I go to the back and find it in the box with the tent stuff, kind of LOL'ing but also feeling relieved that it wasn't sold, when he says "yeah, but you gotta make sure no one else is on the wish list for it." So the person currently working and closing out checks, and the computer doesn't print another receipt. He tries again, nothing. As it turns out, the person that hid it allegedly was also on the wish list, but for some reason must have messed up the entry so it didn't print. The reason he was being so defensive of the wish list was because he wanted the game for himself. Regardless, his wish list entry didn't print, so there was no proof, and I now have the game sitting ready to be cleaned and enjoyed. After 12 years, about half of my life, I finally have the first used NES game I had really sought out, and ironically probably one of the last NES game I'll ever buy.

I agree to a point. I'm going to agree a ton on the fact that employees shouldn't be able to buy games before everyone else. But I also think that there shouldn't be this wishlist idea. I can just go name every last game I can think of that I want off the top of my head and I just get it when it comes in? That's total bullcrap. It leaves shitty games for everyone else to buy. I think it should be first come first served, for the customers at least.

As for EMPLOYEES, I for one think that they should have to at least put it on the shelf for a day or two before they're able to buy it. They should be able to buy it, but not when it comes right in from a trade or a shipment. If the employees at a game store sniped every last fucking game that the store gets that is good, who would want to shop there? They wouldn't even have any stock at all that anyone would want to buy, because you know that most of the people who work at game stores at least play video games, if they aren't collectors.

I own Contra Force complete. I even have the original receipt, I paid $69.99 on November 2nd, 1992 at Zellars. Man was I fucking disappointed with that game. I mean, it's not a terrible game and it probably would have been viewed more positively if it wasn't part of the "Contra" series.

Oh yeah, and first "dibs" on trade ins for employees is retarded. This encourages the employees to go and buy up all the good stock leaving shit games for the customers.

I see what you mean, and I can definitely identify from being on the other side, but at the end of the day you're just mad because you're missing out on a good deal. I would rather employees snipe the games than some asshole on a wish list get it even though I'm standing there with the money ready to buy it. I would seriously stop going to a store if they pulled that on me and I was just a regular customer (not an employee), especially if I was a particularly frequent customer. Like I said, sooner or later the employees are going to get everything they really want or run out of money, so its not like EVERYTHING is going to fall through the cracks. Employees sniping games is no different than a loser that lives near the store stopping in 2 or 3 times a day and sniping them. Good games at good prices don't stick around, that's a truth of collecting. Who cares who is buying the good games, as long as they are being sold. There is a better chance that people will buy the bad games if the employees are buying the good ones. I don't think anyone will stop going to a store because of buy happy employees, it will just look like no good games have been traded in lately. Now, on the other hand, I could see someone pulling the plug on employees taking all the SF IV joysticks or something since that is something new and available from the manufacturer, not a trade in, and they want that to bring customers into the store. On the other hand, most people coming for retro games aren't going to go "well, you got my Mario 3, so how's that Halo Wars, I'm thinking of getting a 360."

The only thing that annoys me is people that buy games and then immediately resell them on eBay at inflated prices. One dude (former Gamestop employee no less) bought Chrono Trigger CIB from Play N Trade for $110 and then sealed it on some lame-o game stop shrink wrapper and sold it as sealed on eBay for $500. First of all, shame on the dumbass for not checking for an H-seam, but that's so wrong to sell something as sealed when it so definitely is not. If I had bought it and found out, I would want to kill whoever sold me that bunk sealed copy.

[Rusty Venture]

I agree 100% with the last two paragraphs 17days banged out.

I honestly don't see what the difference between an employee buying a game first, or some dude coming in 2 hours before you come in and buying _____ sitting on the shelf. The store still gets money and the window of opportunity is missed.

Abuse of getting stuff first I don't approve of. Getting in 4 copies of "Dragon Warrior 4" and holding all so you can sell them is a no-no.

But I really can't see hunting for games as a "someone took my opportunity away from me!" scenario, you gotta treat it as a "luck of the draw" type scenario.

[RowdyRodimus]

As a collector of Action Figures, I have a question.

Should an employee be allowed to only put back ONE of a rare item instead of putting them ALL back for themselves?

I ask because I see the same people doing it all the time at the TRU, Wally World and Target here and then the same three collectable shops always seem to have those same items with a double Toy Fair price sticker on them.

[Rusty Venture]

Yes. They should only be allowed one.

But game rarity isn't a constant like a rare action figure. The figure was produced with the intent that it was going to rare and sought after, while a game like "Contra Force" was not. Just because "Contra Force" is hard to find in the wild in Ohio doesn't mean it is that way in every city there and doesn't mean its hard to find in Indiana (as an example).

[17daysolderthannes]

As a collector of Action Figures, I have a question.

Should an employee be allowed to only put back ONE of a rare item instead of putting them ALL back for themselves?

I ask because I see the same people doing it all the time at the TRU, Wally World and Target here and then the same three collectable shops always seem to have those same items with a double Toy Fair price sticker on them.

I'm assuming you are meaning multiples of the same item, lets say, 4 copies of Contra Force vs. 1 copy. To that I would respond yes, employees should just be able to get one copy for themselves, not hoard. Me and the other retro collector only buy for ourselves and not to resell or hoard. Both of us just want to get our collections solid while its convenient and the prices are good (well me anyway, he's paid too much quite a few times).