GameStop/EB on PS3 Pre-Orders: "No cash….give us your GAMES!"

I talked a bit about pre-ordering the PlayStation 3 (or should I say, PLAYSTATION 3 — this is the way Sony denotes it in all of their press releases) as one of the first posts on the site. Based on the traffic, I’m not the only one who’s worried about this. Well, get ready to start worrying even more. Joystiq is reporting that someone came across a flyer from GameStop/EB Games (they’re all the same now — GameStop and EB merged late last year) that indicates a plan for both stores to take PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii pre-orders….however, they don’t want your cash. Don’t walk in the store putting $599 plus tax on the table, talkin’ bout you want a PS3. They want something else. They want the gift that keeps on giving. They want your games. They’re asking for a $50 equivalent value trade in towards the privilege of even pre-ordering either system.

(Updates to the story have revealed that while this is true, currently it’s only being “beta-tested” in Hawaii. But this looks legitimate enough (and profitable enough) to almost guarantee that we’ll see these e-mails showing up in our inboxes from EB/GameStop).

See, the deal is this: both stores realize that selling the Wii and the PS3 alone are unprofitable. The margin on selling a system is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of $5-9 per system. The margin for games and accessories is much higher (thus the reason for those 3 and 4 game bundles that we love so much.) But this is taking that greed to a completely different level. Selling used games is a huge business for GameStop/EB Games. They buy your games for anywhere from $5 – $40 (and if you get $40 or more, the game is definitely brand new or an extremely rare game.) Once they have your games, they sell them back at a profit of at least $10-25. No shipping costs. No hassle. Just pure profit.

The gaming community has had a growing disdain for EB and GameStop for a long time now. This is just about the last straw. The greed of these folks is unbelievable. Why there isn’t another gaming store that has better customer service and better consideration towards customers, I won’t understand. Just about the worst thing to happen was for GameStop and EB to merge. Now they can stick it to us without worrying about competition. I’m avidly searching for alternate places to do business. I don’t mind going online. The problem is that most companies don’t have the selection that this goliath has.

This is definitely depressing news. I think we should get together and boycott the store….let’s hit them in the pocket this holiday season. I’m calling for someone to start a web ring or a list of stores that sell PS3 and Wii systems that we can do business with. I’m sure regardless of what we do, they’ll sell out and have a great holiday season. But if we can build some momentum here, we can really make sure that have a horrible Q2 and Q3 of 2007. I’m dead serious about this one. Talk to me if you have ideas.

Story courtesy of Joystiq.com

Conclusion: People Really Love J.B. (Former Fox NFL Sunday Host James Brown)

When I posted the story about James Brown no longer hosting Fox NFL Sunday, it was simply a reaction out of love for someone who helped make my Sundays a bit brighter. You never realize what you have until it’s gone. As much as I was comfortable with J.B., had you asked me whether someone else could step in and do every bit as great a job, I’d probably say, “Well, it’ll take some time, but eventually, possibly so.” Watching this new team as they attempt to establish a rythm is kind of painful. I don’t want to rule them out yet. After all, they’ve only had two weeks of regular season coverage together, but initially it looks like they have a really long way to go.

Prior to last week, my best day on Random Digital Musings was 81 hits — and that was a day when I sent a story in to Digg.com and folks were basically coming to the site to read it. (My story never got more than 6 Diggs — something’s fixed over there! :-)) But nonetheless, I never created the site for a mass market appeal. I’m simply blogging my passions. And Football isn’t really one of my extreme passions. But I felt the need to post something about my man J.B.

Well, apparently lots of folks feel the way that I do. Sunday was my highest traffic day ever. (Well, I’ve only been going since July.) It was higher than the previous day by almost double. And Sunday is usually a very slow traffic day. But the evidence is clear — folks tuned in to see J.B. and, like myself, almost fell out of their seat to see some other dude.

Anyway, as an addendum to the original story, I’d like to direct folks to this link on the website of The New York Post where they explain the situation a bit more. It really sounds like a mess. Basically Jim Buck and Curt Menefee (former Fox New York Sportscaster) will share the role between the morning show and the evening post game wrap-up.

I’ll give the new Fox guys some time to settle in and work on their timing (and more than likely I won’t even notice after a few months). I have to say that Thanksgiving without tuning in to Fox for the Lions game and seeing J.B.’s wonderful smile and charm (unless I watch the CBS show) certainly won’t be the same.

…and thanks for the traffic, J.B.

Link to story on The New York Post

Thoughts on the Zune Announcement

On Thursday, Microsoft put all rumors to rest and had an official coming out party for their Zune media player. Lots of folks are referring to the Zune as “Microsoft’s answer to the iPod”, but perhaps that isn’t quite fair. After all, there’s enough room in the space for more competitors. And honestly, if Microsoft does well with this player — even if it isn’t quite on the magnitude of what they would have hoped — we all benefit. We benefit by forcing Apple to do even more to innovate with the iPod. As much as the iPod has evolved since it’s launch in 2001, I wonder how much further the tech might be had they been seriously challenged much earlier.

The Interface

The Zune is certainly a worthy adversary. Looking at the video of the interface, you can tell that there’s more graphical capabilities within the Zune. The transitions between screens are more akin to that of a Windows Mobile Device or a gaming device. The FM Tuner is something that is not standard as part of the iPod (you can purchase the remote that changes the screen to that of a classic FM tuner. And the ability to customize the display is a nice touch — certainly something that the average iPod user can’t do (unless they hacked the interface.) The only issue (if I’m Microsoft) is that the font is already very ordinary looking. Couple that with giving people the opportunity to customize the interface and you could detract from the simplicity that gives your player a universal appearance (like the iconic “iPod screen” that everyone can identify). In other words, there will be no real signature look to the interface that’s identifiable to the “Zune experience” if everyone customizes the screen to their heart’s content. That said, perhaps people will be very receptive to the customization options.

What’s So Wrong With "Jesus Camp"?

Some friends forwarded me information on an upcoming film called “Jesus Camp”. (I don’t want to comment much on the film since I only saw snippets — there may be balance within the film when viewed in its entirety.) From what I understand, the film shows a camp in North Dakota that is focused on Christian teachings and was probably chosen for the movie because they have practices that some may consider somewhat radical.

Here is a clip that is circulating around on Digg.com:

When I first saw the above video clip, I watched it within a frame on someone’s page (as I presume you are doing here.) However, when I clicked on the actual YouTube link and look at the comments, I was pretty disappointed at what I saw. I already understand that people become really strong and brave when they are behind a keyboard and they express thoughts that they would never dare to express in your face. But I thought that to balance out the 25 comments to this movie that I’d find at least one Christian voice among them that would try to make some sense to the non-Christians of the video. But I didn’t see one. Not one among them. And so, naturally, I was persuaded to write my own comment.

So, what exactly is so wrong and threatening about the video? I saw one image of children holding hands and praying. But of course that came at the very end of the video. Other images showed much earlier were of children crying against abortion and doing their own form of praise dancing — expressing themselves in an outlet that isn’t threatening to anyone.

I do have a few concerns about the video (and probably will share the same concerns about the movie). For one, non-Christians that view this out of scriptural context may receive this as “a bunch of crazy folks.” And that does the exact opposite of what we seek to do as Christians. No, our mandate as Christians isn’t to make the gospel attractive. (The good news of Christ and the promise that he makes is attractive enough on its own.) But hopefully this wouldn’t dissuade folks from learning more about Christ (which would help them to gradually understand why these children are this passionate.)