Comments on: Sony’s PlayStation Holiday Preview ’09

By: Russ

Russ — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:28:27 +0000

I'm sure there will be an Uncharted 2 review soon enough, but I wanted to vent my frustration at picking up my copy yesterday…..and if you hate to read someone bitching and moaning, this comment probably isn't up your alley.

I pre-ordered it from EB Games a long time ago….let's say May. I had it fully paid off too. Sometimes I prefer to do this as it then feels like you're getting a free game by the time it comes out.

Yesterday I zip home from work, head to EB, and the store is closed. It's 5:45pm. I walk up to the door and there's a note that they've written that says "We're having issues. Be open soon". I could see them stickering games inside and eating McDonald's, so I knocked on the window. The guy comes outside, asks me if I noticed the sign (jerk) and then says "we should be open in about an hour". I told him that I just wanted Uncharted and he suggested that if I couldn't wait, I could always grab it at another EB. I informed it I had it fully paid off here. He basically shrugged and shut the door.

Skip ahead an hour, I return to a line of about 20 people, all who had it pre-paid here, all of them pissed off. 30 minutes later the store opens, no explanation as to why it was closed (ok so I guess they really don't need to explain, but it would have been good customer service), and they start rolling through the customers.

When I reach the counter, they let me know that they actually overcharged me $10 when I paid it off and that they'll need my gift card in order to return it. Sure enough, their system isn't working and they can't refund me the money. The guy actually says to me "well, if you buy the protection plan and then put $5 on another game, it should add up close to the $10 we owe you". After all this frustration, he seriously expected me to pre-order another game?

End result is that I had them put it on another gift card (which seemed to be an entirely new concept to them), and I got home with my game.

That really soured me. Here I was in a plaza with Future Shop, Zellers, Wal-Mart, and Best Buy all within a walkable distance. My own stupidity in pre-ordering had me held hostage at this one store.

I will not be pre-ordering a game again. It's pointless. I actually can't believe it took me this long to give up pre-ordering.

/rant

By: [ROLO]

[ROLO] — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:31:35 +0000

yup, I like to play with friends by my side while having a beer… also most of my real-life friends don't even have a gaming console.

By: Matt Brett

Matt Brett — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:57:57 +0000

Wow, really? I didn't realize local multiplayer was still a big deal for people. Figured it's all about online these days. While I do enjoy local co-op with my wife. Any more than 2 players isn't really a huge deal for me.

By: Matt Brett

Matt Brett — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:57:04 +0000

I'm not surprised that you aren't more excited about the PS3, since you haven't played many of the top tier games. The big PS3 exclusives have this sheer feeling of quality that you don't often witness on the Xbox 360.

The Japanese games I saw were all dance based games, or some based on japanimation series. I didn't see any JRPGs there.

Crazy that you're so into Army of Two. It didn't do that much for me, although I did enjoy it.

By: Matt Brett

Matt Brett — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:54:33 +0000

I actually watched it being played quite a bit when I first walked in, as I had no idea what it was. It wasn't until they paused the game and I saw the game's title on the screen that I clued in. It looks pretty rad, though! I was surprised when I found out what it was.

By: Matt Brett

Matt Brett — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:53:33 +0000

I had access to the Uncharted 2 multiplayer beta back in June, but I never bothered to check it out. I really don't want anything spoiling my experience with that game. Even as much as seeing the title screen and hearing the music there would be too much for me. I remember falling in love with Uncharted the moment the title screen loaded, and I'm hoping for that same reaction with the sequel.

By: [ROLO]

[ROLO] — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:11:01 +0000

hmmm I didn't know Modnation Racers is only 2 player it's ridiculous cause Mario Kart had 4 player split-screen since 2 console generations ago… well at least 1 game less to worry about maybe I'll pick it up when it's cheap

By: Rockers Delight

Rockers Delight — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:35:37 +0000

Army of Two: The 40th Day! AoT was one of my favourite gaming experiences of the past couple of years, so I'm pretty excited about the sequel whenever it's released (though I'll be picking it up on Xbox naturally). Also, you passed by the Japanese games? Matt, you know I love me some JRPGs! Any idea what they were demoing?

I have to say, reading through this has made me glad I own a PS3, something which hasn't happened too often since picking one up back in June. MAG sounds crazy!

By: Chris Radsby

Chris Radsby — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 03:20:06 +0000

Really nice post Matt, so did you get a good look on the new Alien vs Predator game? I've been wanting to see a new game in the series since the release of Monoliths Alien vs Predator 2.

By: Ben Lilley

Ben Lilley — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:13:23 +0000

Thanks for the overview Matt.

So stoked for the line up of games coming up for the PS3, it's going to be a great gaming season! I'm ridiculously excited for Uncharted 2 though. I've played the multiplayer beta which was excellent and just got me even more excited for the full game. Looking forward to reading your review on that one.

Interesting the games you covered in more depth as well, none of those were really on my radar so will keep an eye on them. It's about time we got a good cart racing game too.

Cheers