Sony's Latest Marketing Strategy

What is Sony doing? I can remember the times when a new console was introduced, and there were two options: either you buy it or you don't. But thanks to Microsoft starting the ball rolling on different versions of the 360, we now have Sony following suit by offering five hundred different versions of the Playstation 3. Is the 60 GB too expensive for you? Why not go for the 40! Oh wait, they gimped the set and now it's not backward compatible (but they don't make that very clear on the box or via marketing). 40 GB not up your alley? There is still the 20. Coming soon, the 22 GB set. Then then 26 GB. Then the 400 GB for the people who want to download the entire run of Star Trek starting with Shatner and ending with the last crappy movie.

Really Sony, PICK A SET AND STICK WITH IT. The consumers are getting sick of all these changes every few months trying to get a few more people to buy the console and help get the company out of the red. Or better yet, stop focusing so much on tweaking the console and get some decent games out for the thing.

Posted by:

- Postman

Guilty Gear XX Accent Core for the Wii

Anyone get this yet, its really great. Probally the best GG I have played in a while. Wii controls are interesting but I didn't try for too long. I been playing with the classic controller which is great. It plays so smooth I will be playing that way until I ger the Hori Stick next month!!!

It looks very sharp, great animation and has almost no load time. I would say none but now and than you have to wait a sec or two at the intro scenes. The game has kick-@$$ music also, lots of guitar rock.

Its a great fighter and will hold you over until SF4 comes out, get it now!

Posted by:

- Bill Jr.

Quarter Munchers Forum

Well Quarter Munchers now has a forum at our site to talk about the comic to anything else. I want to bring our fans in and become a communty where you will like to go every day to talk to people about the comic to anything else.

I am hoping this will get more people to come here and spend time. That's where you come in, the fans of our new comic, get people you know to read us and post. I know its not going to be a busy forum for a while but hopefully in a years time we will have a constant communty here. You can help us accomplish this!

If you have ideas for new forum sections, let us know, as of now we have the Quarter Munchers Chat and the Off Topic sections. I will look at ideas and evaluate if it is something that we would like to have here.

Don't forget to read the forum rules, the mods are not going to be harsh unless need be. I just ask you all to keep with in the rules and just have fun here. I hope we can provide a forum that yo want to come back to again and again.

So go sign up and let us hear from you!

Posted by:

- Bill Jr.

River City Ransom

Here we get a first look at the owner of our little software distribution facility, the Bossman. He's been doing this for over 15 years, and is a virtual treasure house of retail stories. But be warned though, aftering talking for about half an hour, any dreams you have of starting your own business or working in a retail environment will be shattered.

I got a real kick out of this story, about a kid who steps two feet into the store, contributes his lunch to the floor, and then just leaves. Is this a statement about all the violence in video games? Was he overwhelmed by the complete awesomeness of the store? We'll never know the true story.......we can only reflect on bossman's reaction to it all, "Why am I in this business?"

Posted by:

- Postman

My new gripe.....UGGGHHHHHHHHHH guys.....

I can't tell you how many times in the past month I would see someone walk in the store and just be like UGGGGHHHHHHH..... Like they are so disgusted they are in the store....and its not like a bad knock on the store type UGGHHHHHHHH but more rather a I am here buying a game or movie for myself to do nothing and not out looking for a date or hanging with my friends UGGGGHHHHHHH....

Its funny when I sit down and think about it...When it happens I dont really think anything of it...but once they leave I guess I have a habbit on making sure everything goes well for the people so I think about what just happened with the customer and can't help but laugh....
Now when they do it..I try to think of what they are UGGGHHHHHHing for.....which is most the time that they are digusted with themselves judging by the way they look....

just thought I would share =p

Posted by:

- Hunter

Quarter Munchers Blog

The Quarter Munchers blog has been moved to Blogger from the MySpace blog. We like the format a lot better, it's easier to work with and loads a lot faster, among other reasons.

The MySpace is still there so join our network and tell all your friends about us.

Thanks for visiting us!

Posted by:

- Bill Jr.

A New Use for 360’s - Another Take

I don't have a 360, and with the problems the system had, I have no problem waiting. As for other systems, all my Nintendo systems still work, YEY! My Sony systems were another issue, I can recall one problem Me and Hunter (He is my younger Brother, for those that don't know) with a PS1 and had to replace, happened once no biggie. I really wanted to talk about our PS2(s). Notice the (s) on PS2, you see we had 5 of them that I remember.

We had all the problems including the typical overheating, laser problems, etc. This has always made me wonder how many people had to buy another one or have them repaired. I always thought Sony liked this because it increased their sales. Cynical, maybe but probally true none the less.

This is a reason why I have a Wii (and the games I like the most) and not a PS3 or a 360. I can wait until all these problems are solved and the games I want to play come out and the price goes down. Ya there are a few games I want to play now, but the system I have now has the most currently. Myself, like Postman, being "weened on a NES," I know what games I need to play and want to currently play, fun games, not ths same ol' generic gameplay.

Anyway thats my 25c on the subject!

Posted by:

- Bill Jr.

A New Use for 360s

I guess you can't work in a game store this month without somebody bringing up the topic of Halo 3. It's like being a Star Trek fan and trying to avoid the Kirk/Picard question that will eventually be fired off at you. Hunter bought the game, and I was over there mid afternoon to check it out, and we said, "hey lets just marathon this sucker and bang it out." So we did, and six hours later the offline campaign was pwned. My "official" take on H3? This game serves the excellent purpose of weeding out true gamers from bandwagon/casual players. All the magazines, fanboys, Microsoft employees, etc. will tell you it's a 10/10 game, incredible, game of the century, whatever. All the "weened on a NES" players have been in agreement that Halo 3 isn't bad, it's just mediocre - same gameplay, same crappy level design, waaaaaaaay overhyped. I fall into this category. So when someone comes bopping in the store spouting off about how great Halo 3 is, my warning flag of "casual gamer" pops up.

The focus, however, should NOT be on how impressive or not H3 is, but rather what an unreliable system the 360 remains. Shortly after the largest entertainment launch known to man came the inevitable largest wave of warranty issues of Microsoft's equipment. From good ole' red rings, to disc read errors, even discs coming scratched right out of the box, Microsoft continues to dissuade me from actually buying one of their consoles by ignoring the design flaws of their hardware. And besides MS customer support, the people that bear the second largest brunt of this are the retailers. We constantly have customers bring back 360 and give us a hard time about it. Even after explaining that MS will fix the console for FREE, they state they don't feel like not being able to play Halo 3 for a month or two and want another console right this second.

Here is one good thing about not being a large chain like Wal-Mart who stocks hundreds of systems at a time. We rarely have more than one console, so the customer is forced to cross their fingers and hope MS can band-aid their smoking console back together. Remember, having the "greatest game in the history of the universe" doesn't do much good without a working system to play it on. If there is one lesson to be learned, both by this and the oh-so-many new bundles of consoles coming out, it's "Get things right the first time."

Posted by:

- Postman

Sin and Punishment

Sin and Punishment for the N64 is now on the Wii VC, now all translated in english. I imported the game for my N64 when it came out in 2000 and I love it! It is a Treasure game (Ikuruga, Gunstar Heroes, etc...) after all.

The game STILL rocks, it looks great espically with increased resoultion on the VC. It plays great too, but it does take a while to get used to, it was perfect on the N64 controller but a tad strange at first on the classic controller. I kinda hope they do an update for Wiimote and Nunchuck :) Be sure to play the tutorial and you will be good!

It's a classic N64 game, the one you probally never played, and for 1200 points (a bargin really) you can now play this classic and see what everyone has been talking about all these years.

Download and enjoy!

Posted by:

- Bill Jr.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

Well I got, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the DS, Its really good, its all touch screen controlled and for the most part rocks. It can be touchy (lol) at times, esp when trying to roll.

I have just started and I did a small dungeon and some sailing, the game is really fun. It controlls well, looks and sounds great.

I highly recommend getting the game, I can't see how you could be dissappointed.

Posted by:

- Bill Jr.

Metroid Prime 3 Update

I have now completed the game 100% and am going back to play again. Thats the thing, I almost NEVER go back to play a game more than once. This is one of those game (hell, the whole series really) which you can play over and over again. I am playing Super Metroid again as well, since I just D/L it on the VC.

Well If you can't tell I really liked the game. Its a must play. So go out there and experence the newest Metroid and be in awe like every other Metroid before it.

Posted by:

- Bill Jr.

The Last Battle

DISCLAIMER:

IF YOU HAVEN'T BEATEN FINAL FANTASY 7, JUST SKIP TODAY'S COMIC. SERIOUSLY.

Final Fantasy 7. What more could be said about this staple of gaming as we know it today. Just the fact that I finally got around to playing it about two months ago (yes, I know that's pathetic, being FIVE whole sequels behind in the series........). This game was so monumental that I had to be briefed by Hunter before playing it.

"By today's standards, the graphics might be a bit dated, but you have to remember the FMV and transitions were groundbreaking for the time." Ok, so when I played through I put myself in the headset of being back in 1997. "You need to pay attention to the story and characters, it gets pretty deep." No kidding. "Sepiroth is a total badass." Yep. So much that I'll bet he'd complain about something he bought in our store.

Posted by:

- Postman

Thanks, Nintendo

Nintendo is a great little video game company. They manufacture the consoles with the lowest failure rate in the business (*this statement isn't very scientific. I don't have any concrete data to back this up, but only personal experience. I hear about hundreds of 360s and basically ANYTHING on Sony's product list either overheating or bursting into flame if you stare at it too long. There are NES systems still working to this day.......). They gave us some of the fondest memories during the most awkward period of our thirty-something lives: Zelda, Metroid, Mario Brothers, etc. They paved the way for gaming as we know it, and now I HATE them.

Ok, hate is too strong a word. I'm annoyed with them. There is a so called "parts shortage" when it comes to manufacturing their little golden child, the Wii. This rumor, smeared in with the over-hype division of the PR machine, has created a fervor among consumers, the Wii-fever. I get at least 3-4 calles per shift asking if we have a Wii, and the answer is always NO. It's impossible for a small, indy store like us to get them in new, so that leaves only the used market, and the only used Wiis that show up now are most likely stolen. And everyone uses the phrase "Nintendo Wii", as if some other competitor has accidently come up with the same name.

People, Nintendo is yanking your collective chains. I find it hard to believe that a company with enough video game industry experience to level Link up to a 20 heart life gauge and enough money to earn x99 free Mario lives is having trouble "meeting customer demand". Now the latest word is that the shortage will extend past the holiday. So now all the frustrated, store hopping parents will be taking their anger out on game store clerks, who collectively pay the price for Nindendo's sins. Wii calls are distracting and tie up the phone when I need to run credit cards. Besides, most stores will tell you they are sold out over the phone, becuase the next logical step in the process is "OH, hold one for me!!!!" which is a no win situation. If you say no, they have a meltdown. If you hold one, you are turning down the 10 people in the store who want one and are willing to pay right now, hoping that this caller will actually show up. Nintendo, stop this phoney drought and let your console sell itself once enough people get to actually come in contact with it.

Posted by:

- Postman

The Surprise

Working at the store has its perks: I can borrow used games/movies for a day or two and try them out. The boss usually springs for meals. I'm the first one on the block to try out a new game. Someone will trade in a game I've been searching out for a while. But all that doesn't negate what I had to deal with one fatuful day. It's what I like to call the WTF moment of the year, and it's only January 6th.

There's a pile of games to be stocked on the shelves, and the boss and I are processing them: cleaning discs, checking for instruction books, pricing, etc. I come across a MLB06 The Show, and on top of the instructions is a white card. Many times people will jam receipts in a game, so I figured that's what it was. I turn it over, and to my complete dismay, it's a picture of two naked guys in a hotel room.

Now stop and read that last sentence over again. Yes, you read it right. I've read stories of traded PSPs having porn on them, but at least that make sense......it's a device that plays movies, so the media fits. Finding that picture is F'ed up on so many levels. I tried to think of every possible scenario of how it got there, and came up with these theories:

1) Someone has a grudge against the store, and was trying to sabotage us. Imagine if hadn't caught that, and little Jimmy finds it in his PS2 game?

2) They were transporting the picture to somewhere else, forgot about it, and traded the game in.

Talk about something being completely out of place......anyway after the initial shock, I got a pretty good laugh out of it. Only now I'm afraid to open game cases without parental supervision. Should MLB06 now get an AO rating?

I considered for a second being a total jerk and posting the picture. That will teach you to trade in games with naughty surprises! But common sense got the best of me, and I don't want to subject the readers to the same "easter egg" that I got. Hot coffee, eat your heart out.

Posted by:

- Postman