Haha. Get Bass at EB...

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Archived from groups: rec.games.video.sega,alt.games.video.sega-dreamcast (More info?)

In article <42A87AD7.33E75582@nospam.com>,
Ted <nospamforted@nospam.com> wrote:
>Kendrick Kerwin Chua wrote:
>>
>> -KKC, looking at old Xboxes to modify...
>
>Report back on useful FAQs and such; I want to examine all those sweet
>files on Shenmue II...

Actually, as I understand it the Xbox version of Shenmue II has a pretty
high-level game engine that's cross-compatible with the data files from
the Dreamcast version. At least one hacker extracted the Japanese voice
tracks from the Dreamcast discs and inserted them into the American Xbox
game. If you're interested just in viewing Xbox disc data, the file format
is known as XISO and there are some Windows and Linux viewers for it.

Too tired to get into a deep deiscussion of the morality of console
modification, so I'll leave it alone for now.

-KKC, cutting up his EB discount card and mailing it to Pennsylvania, just
to make the point clearly.
--
--S.S.B. is the code name for America's daring, highly | kendrick @io .com
trained special mission force. Its purpose: to |
defend human freedom against al-Qaeda, a ruthless | Please don't use
terrorist organization determined to rule the world! | eBay. Ask me why.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.sega,alt.games.video.sega-dreamcast (More info?)

In article <42A879A3.5F32792B@nospam.com>,
Ted <nospamforted@nospam.com> wrote:
>Kendrick Kerwin Chua wrote:
>>
>> -KKC, who wonders where the hardcore shop if they don't shop at EB and
>> Gamestop. Not Amazon, and you know how I feel about eBay cheating me out
>> of $150. Is there a Fry's in Florida yet?
>
>There's more to the internet than eBay... NCS now stocks at least some
>domestic stuff, and I'd guess they'll order naything domestic that's
>available that you ask them to. And then there's Lik Sang...

You beat me to it, Ted. I'll be buying Stella Deus and the new Ys game
from NCS next pay day. NCS has never, ever let me down and they always do
everything to keep me happy.

>And Amazon Z-Shops are probably the best place to find deals on unopened
>big name games a few months after release (outside of eBay).Under $35
>before shipping for the deluxe Halo 2 in early January...

I have an inherent distrust of anything associated with Amazon, just
because of the way that they're partnered with Target and Toys R Us. It's
a stone's throw away from fraud the way they represent what's in stock,
even with the Z shop mechanism. But unlike eBay, they haven't actually
screwed me yet. That's only because I haven't bought from them yet, but
that's no reason not to nurse a grudge.

Back on topic? Which web storefront would you rather the combined EB and
Gamestop entity use, once the merger is complete? The one nice thing I'll
say about Gamestop is that they list every possible game they might have
in stock on their page. Just because their web warehouse doesn't stock it
doesn't mean you can't see if it's stock at a real retail store. Compare
this to EB, where jacked up prices for previously-owned copies of games
aren't uncommon. If they omit the lower price for the new copy, you can't
make a comparison.

On the other hand, the EB storefront uses pretty blue colors. Which is
only important if you're performing in a Tennessee Williams play. :/

-KKC, who should really stay away from the theatre jokes on this group.
--
--S.S.B. is the code name for America's daring, highly | kendrick @io .com
trained special mission force. Its purpose: to |
defend human freedom against al-Qaeda, a ruthless | Please don't use
terrorist organization determined to rule the world! | eBay. Ask me why.

 

[ted]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.sega,alt.games.video.sega-dreamcast (More info?)

Kendrick Kerwin Chua wrote:
>
> In article <42A87AD7.33E75582@nospam.com>,
> Ted <nospamforted@nospam.com> wrote:
> >Kendrick Kerwin Chua wrote:
> >>
> >> -KKC, looking at old Xboxes to modify...
> >
> >Report back on useful FAQs and such; I want to examine all those sweet
> >files on Shenmue II...
>
> Actually, as I understand it the Xbox version of Shenmue II has a pretty
> high-level game engine that's cross-compatible with the data files from
> the Dreamcast version. At least one hacker extracted the Japanese voice
> tracks from the Dreamcast discs and inserted them into the American Xbox
> game. If you're interested just in viewing Xbox disc data, the file format
> is known as XISO and there are some Windows and Linux viewers for it.
snip

I meant more playing as Lan Di or the other Ryo; and I don't have a
Linux boot sector on my Mac, or a Windows emulator of any power...

 

[ted]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.sega,alt.games.video.sega-dreamcast (More info?)

Kendrick Kerwin Chua wrote:
snip
>
> Back on topic? Which web storefront would you rather the combined EB and
> Gamestop entity use, once the merger is complete? The one nice thing I'll
> say about Gamestop is that they list every possible game they might have
> in stock on their page. Just because their web warehouse doesn't stock it
> doesn't mean you can't see if it's stock at a real retail store. Compare
> this to EB, where jacked up prices for previously-owned copies of games
> aren't uncommon. If they omit the lower price for the new copy, you can't
> make a comparison.
>
> On the other hand, the EB storefront uses pretty blue colors. Which is
> only important if you're performing in a Tennessee Williams play. :/

One big plus for EB is the free shipping for an order if you buy a
previously played item using "SAVER" as your coupon code... any
previously played item... including 99¢ Genesis and SNES games. This
means anytime I'm buying a new game through the site (it doesn't happen
terribly often, but I did get Spikeout from them when it was
quesitonable that it was going to be a regular release or not, and I did
buy DOA Ultimate when it was $20 new), I end up with 99¢ shipping and a
16 bit game I've never owned before.
I also did that with the $4.99 N-Gage accessory pack (which came with
the $0 or $50 original price tag still on it). They're all gone now; did
you get the last one?

But keeping GameStop's inventory checker would be nice, even if it's
wrong a bunch of the time.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.sega,alt.games.video.sega-dreamcast (More info?)

In article <42A8D27F.7D0D3BDB@nospam.com>,
Ted <nospamforted@nospam.com> wrote:
<snip>
>But keeping GameStop's inventory checker would be nice, even if it's
>wrong a bunch of the time.

This is the fault of the local store more than it is of the database,
since individual stores are responsible for keeping their stock
information up to date. EBGames online takes responsibility for the
accuracy (or lack thereof) in their retail stock locator. Therefore I have
no problem criticizing them or their shoddy storefront.

The likely scenario? The worst faults of both websites will be combined
into a single unusable moster. I say this after having days to calm down
and rationally consider whether or not to keep buying from EB Games. I
still don't want to.

-KKC, who wonders when the hell Warner Brothers got into publishing...
--
--S.S.B. is the code name for America's daring, highly | kendrick @io .com
trained special mission force. Its purpose: to |
defend human freedom against al-Qaeda, a ruthless | Please don't use
terrorist organization determined to rule the world! | eBay. Ask me why.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.sega,alt.games.video.sega-dreamcast (More info?)

Kendrick Kerwin Chua said

>
> Okay, fine, make me back-pedal. But seriously, every Electronics
> Boutique in my neighborhood has a copy of Skies of Arcadia for the
> Dreamcast in stock, but the game isn't listed on the site.

When searching for "arcadia" at the site, the DC version came up, but not
the GC version.

--
http://kevan.org/brain.cgi?name=GodMagnus

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.sega,alt.games.video.sega-dreamcast (More info?)

Kendrick Kerwin Chua said

>
> Okay, fine, make me back-pedal. But seriously, every Electronics
> Boutique in my neighborhood has a copy of Skies of Arcadia for the
> Dreamcast in stock, but the game isn't listed on the site.

Okay, I just went the the whole list of DC games, and it's listed there
too, so i'ts not something that you have to search for to get. Taking a
quick look around the site, it seems that every item is listed as shipping
within 24 hours. Do you think it could be that maybe... they don't list
itmes they don't HAVE? You couldn't find it at the site because they didn't
have it in stock when you looked.

--
http://kevan.org/brain.cgi?name=GodMagnus

 

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Archived from groups: rec.games.video.sega,alt.games.video.sega-dreamcast (More info?)

Kendrick Kerwin Chua said

> You'd think that as big as they are and in as much trouble as they're

Trouble?

> either lazy or greedy. I gotta quit thinking about this, otherwise
> I'll just get grumpier.

You gotta stop watching X-Files You're imagining all kinds of
consipiracies. The web site is run as a different company, that's why you
don't pay tax like you would at say, Best Buy's site. That's also why they
usally have different offers and prices.

--
http://kevan.org/brain.cgi?name=GodMagnus

 

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Archived from groups: rec.games.video.sega,alt.games.video.sega-dreamcast (More info?)

In article <Xns9674314E9B72Agmag@216.77.188.18>, God Magnus <g@mg.com> wrote:
>Kendrick Kerwin Chua said
>
>> You'd think that as big as they are and in as much trouble as they're
>
>Trouble?

EB fought off a class-action lawsuit regarding previously-owned games back
in 2003, and there's another fresh on in the hopper waiting to be settled
or litigated. But not wholly relevant to the topic...

>> either lazy or greedy. I gotta quit thinking about this, otherwise
>> I'll just get grumpier.
>
>You gotta stop watching X-Files You're imagining all kinds of
>consipiracies. The web site is run as a different company, that's why you
>don't pay tax like you would at say, Best Buy's site. That's also why they
>usally have different offers and prices.

Just to address this one point of yours, I have to ask... If I'm to treat
the website as a wholly different company, then why is there a mechanism
for me to check stock at the physical retail locations? Either it's the
same company or it's not, and the truth of the matter is that every store
manager can choose to adjust prices as they see fit. This is the part I'm
mad about, that the one game went on sale and was listed as available at
every EB in town, but nobody was willing to honor the sale price that
brought me to the store in the first place.

Legally, it's not fraud. It's a handsbreadth from bait-and-switch, though.
And whether or not you agree with my admittedly emotional reaction, the
result of this is that I'm going elsewhere to buy video games now.

-KKC, up too early to deal with other bureaucratic nonsense. Fortunately,
I have leftover pizza to keep me company.
--
--S.S.B. is the code name for America's daring, highly | kendrick @io .com
trained special mission force. Its purpose: to |
defend human freedom against al-Qaeda, a ruthless | Please don't use
terrorist organization determined to rule the world! | eBay. Ask me why.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.sega,alt.games.video.sega-dreamcast (More info?)

Kendrick Kerwin Chua said

> I'm willing to cross the line at this point; I'm confident that EB is
> fraudulently representing their prices in order to lure people in to
> buy the previously-owned copy for a slightly higher price.

Sometimes the price in the store is less/more than the online price. Why
is that? Prices vary from time to time due to clearance sales and other
special offers. Most often, the price for any given product will be the
same in the store and on the web site.

That's what you're mad about? You're claiming they're deceiving you, or
baiting and switching? They're not deceiving you with different prices
if they TELL YOU that the prices might be different. "Well, it happens
all the time" you say... but how often with games that haven't been
discontinued for years? I've never seen it with any Xbox or PS2 games.

--
http://kevan.org/brain.cgi?name=GodMagnus