Rou

I read today an article about our troops in Iraq. For the most part is was a fairly masturbatory view of the war. The US is right. The troops are amazing. The strategy is sound. That sort of thing. Then he goes a little further.

He says that anyone who enlists in the military is automatically a hero.

See, that just pisses me off. It's just not true. And it detracts from those people that have actually done something heroic, in or out of uniform. I don't want to bash our troops. I'm proud of our troops and I think they are some of the best soldiers anywhere in the world. My attack here isn't on them, it's on a dumb ass author.

It's not heroic to enlist. It takes than committing four years to the military to become a hero. It takes more than serving in a combat zone.

I read a story today about a hero. 14 year old kid jumped off the station platform and onto the tracks after a man he didn't know fainted and fell down. He pulled the man back under the platform and out of the way of an on-coming train. He was in no personal danger, but he placed himself in harms way to protect another person. He displayed courage and strength of spirit to save a person he didn't know. That, sir, is a hero.

Soldiers in combat have many opportunities to become a hero. There are long lines of men in uniform that have gone above and beyond their duty to help their comrades in arms or to vanquish their foes. Men who have put their lives down to do what they knew what right. Maybe they carried wounded men out of harms way. Maybe they held their position longer than was safe because to fall back would mean death to their friends. That, sir, is what it takes to be a hero.

Being a hero is more than a simple platitude we throw down for anyone. It's means something. It's a choice made by a person that 'good enough' doesn't apply to them. That they accept the risk because the benefits are worth it. Or maybe they choose to do something dangerous because they just don't think they can live with themselves if they did nothing. Whatever the reason, they choose to do more.

This article cheapens that. It makes the very act of enlisting into a sacrifice. The act of going off to war into heroism of the finest sort.

But heroes do more than just put on a uniform. It takes more.

Ah November. The sweet spot for video game publishers. Games have gone gold and are being released at record pace for the holiday season. Gamers flock to stores to grab the latest new releases. Parents run out to grab little Johnny's top Christmas gift. My credit card screams out for mercy. Life is good in the world of gaming.

Honestly, this may be one of the better years in recent memory. Unreal Tournament 3, Assassin's Creed, Hellgate: London, Call of Duty 4, Mass Effect, Crysis, SimCity Societies, Rock Band, Half Life's bundle of games, and a huge number of expansion packs. And those are just off the top of my head.

So, if it's so great to be a gamer, why am I posting here?

Because quite frankly, I'm sick of retail stores. Is there a good place out there to buy games? I don't think so.

EB Games was bought by Gamestop. The conglomeration should have been a good thing, but instead left us with a steaming pile of dog shit. I'm so fed up with the place that I will never, under any circumstances, give the company money again. I recommend you do the same. I will not be held hostage by a company that makes the consumer feel like a beggar. If I want a game, I should be able to buy it at GAMEstop. But more often than not, that's not the case. I have to pre-order or special order or reserve or whatever the fuck the game I want ahead of time. Otherwise, they don't fucking get enough in. How a company focused on games can not have games on demand is beyond me. I've heard the drivel and frankly, they can shove it up their ass. 'We have too many stores to have multiple copies available everywhere'. That tells me you HAVE TOO MANY FUCKING STORES. Maybe if you'd consolidate them you would have more than 1 copy of each game at each store. And hey, you know what else would be nice? If that one copy wasn't already opened. I know you want to prevent theft. I get it. But you know what? When I buy a game, I expect it to... I dunno... NOT have fingerprints on it. Or worse, already be scratched because one of your employees took the game home to try it out.

Oh, and Mr. Gamestop worker, No, I don't want to reserve a game. No, I don't give a fuck if you didn't like the last game this publisher put out. No, I don't want a copy of your shitty magazine. No, I don't want a mother fucking game guide. I want to give you my goddamn money and have you give me my fucking game! I don't have any idea who came up with this model of retail store, but they should be take out, shot repeatedly in the legs and left in the Florida Everglades so that nature can dish out a fitting punishment.

That's not to say the box stores are much better. They rarely ever get games on the shelves the first day. And if you want a new game, their prices are competitive. Circuit City is pretty good about having sales on games within two weeks of release. The problem is the older games. They never seem to come down in price. A game that's over a year old is still marked at $49.99 just like the day it was released. Also, CC is famous for pulling bait and switch ads. For example, Call of Duty 4 was marketed as giving the buyer a free copy of Call of Duty 3. But the stores didn't honor it and claimed it was a typo. And heaven fucking forbid you ever want to return or exchange a game, even if it's defective. You might as well pull out all of your own teeth with a pair of pliers.

Honestly, can you imagine if all retail businesses operated the same way video game stores do? I swear there would be riots. Try telling some woman that her makeup was opened and tried on by employees. Or that you can't buy those jeans unless you pre-ordered them. Hey, we only got one iPod in stock and the manager earmarked it for himself.

The only real alternative is to order games online and have them delivered. That costs a bit more and it has the same underlying problem as Gamestop's pre-ordering bullshit. I can't just go get a fucking game. I have to know I want it in advance.

This is a great time to be a gamer. Except for the bullshit you have to go through to get them.