As soon as I finish writing this, I’m off to put Fable II in the 360. Last night I was at the shops on an errand unrelated to gaming and saw an Electronics Boutique. I rarely buy games from EB (Despite having bought my PS2 and my 360 from there over the years) mainly because the prices they charge are usually unspectacular aside form the moral reasons to avoid their preowned titles or trading games.
So Fable II was out and riddled with stickers (see picture) so rather than drive to somewhere with decent prices, I thought I’d try their price guarantee. They may have a higher price on the sticker, but if somewhere else advertises a lower price (and has it in stock), they will match the price. There was a @20 difference between JB Hifi’s price and EB’s so I asked if they might price match.
The store was utterly empty and I was alone apart from the sales clerk. It was certainly uncontaminated by customers. She said, sure but I’ll have to ring a store to see if they have it in stock. The way it works is I have to say which store I would have bought it from and they ring the exact store to see what price and if its in stock. If it was in stock, I’d get it for the cheaper price and save myself a 10 minute trip in the car.
A few years ago, a small electrical retailer got so sick of large chain stores like Big W, Target and K Mart undercutting them with loss leaders that they decided to teach the big boys a lesson. The retailer advertised Playstation 2′s for far less than the then current price. They only had one in stock and sold it quickly. After that, all customers were directed to K mart and informed about K mart’s pricing guarantee to not only match a competitor’s offer but beat by an extra 10%. K Mart was soon swamped with potential PS2 customers demanding to price match the small retailer’s offer, despite assertions they would be selling at a massive loss. Irate customers unable to access the below cost price soon bombarded the local current affairs programs with complaints. Since then, price matching offers had a rather large list of qualifications to make it more or less useless nine times out of ten.
I was in luck, Fable II was in-stock at the other store and so I would be able to walk out with the game paying 80% of the store advertised price. The only previous time I had tried this was when GTA IV came out and an even worse retailer, would not price match since the competitor had sold out in the one store he rang.
If stores near you have a “We will not be beaten on price” promotion, would you pricematch?
Focus Test#1
The one where George explains the site, Cam defends opinions and Clint queries the URL.
Let us know how you liked it in the comments
Well the storm begins this week with Little Big Planet and Fable II and next week, Fallout 3. Its not possible to play all of the big games coming out at once. So far this month I have already cut out of my ‘To Do’ list, the following big titles: Dead Space, Far Cry 2, Mercenaries 2, Fracture, Wii Music and Saint’s Row 2.
Why?
Dead Space: Because its a horror game and I can live without horror. Yes I’m a big scaredy cat.
Far Cry 2: I played a bit of the PC original and about 99.9% of Far Cry Instincts on the original Xbox. I though the PC one played a bit ‘meh’ but the console version (a completely different game) was really quite nice. Apart from that cheating bitch of a final boss who never ever died. I liked the game a lot and all I can remember is trying to beat that final boss over and over until he got stuck in the mesh and I stopped caring.
Mercenaries 2: More sandbox and no compelling reason to play. The demo promised much and delivered little. I wasn’t a huge fan of the original.
Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway: I did beat the first game in the series but never played the second, despite my professed love of WWII shooters. Its not really a shooter and its not Full Spectrum Warrior either. I played the demo and was unimpressed. I was unmoved.
Fracture: Another demo that showed off all you need to know in 5 minutes. Generic story and gameplay built around an overused gimmick.
Wii Music: If I wanted to play a music game where all the songs sounded like a Casiotone, I would have bought Casiotone Hero.
Saint’s Row 2: I played the first one even though I wasn’t impressed by that demo. I think I’m just not that keen on sandbox games per se and having played GTA IV, I think I’m done with the genre. SR1 did do some stuff that GTA IV either stole (or should have stolen) but it’s not so great and I’m not that keen to pop caps in people’s asses anymore. I was keen once, but they say you can never go back.
So what do I want to play?
Little Big Planet. One of its major selling points is completely lost on me. I was quite happy to leave all of my spore creations untextured. I do not wish to gain employment as a level designer. I do not wish to make maps for TF2. I just want a platformer. And really, there’s this and Banjo and that’s really it for this year.
Fable II. I must one of the few people who doesn’t hang on Peter Molyneaux’s every word. And hence I wasn’t disappointed in Fable- I was able to ignore the hyperbole and just enjoy what was a very finely crafted game. I only had two minor complaints against Fable 1- you could beat enemies by running circles around them, and you were likley overpowered by the time you reached the final boss. The rest of that game was so much fun I am very much looking forward to number II.
Fallout 3. I have never, ever played a Fallout game. Somehow, this looks like I might enjoy it.
So I’ll get it.
So it looks life Fable II and Fallout 3 on Xbox 360, and Little Big Planet for PS3. Wii and PC go home empty handed.
