Nerd rush (DSE had a sale)

So, DSE had a big sale today – stuff for super-cheap monies was up for grabs. But, due to working commitments, I wasn’t able to make it for the 9am opening rush and didn’t have any luck on the website either – that had crashed and burned under the strain of the number of fellow nerds jumping in.

So I’m not sure how I want to phrase this post, because it’s very petty to have a whinge just because I missed out. On the upside at least I wasn’t aiming to be greedy – I was after a PSP, DSi and some MS points to start catching up on some XBLA gear, but no luck unfortunately.

I guess the reason I’m a bit frustrated is the way in which my fellow gamers acted in-store – Whirlpoolers have noted that police had been called in on a couple of occasions because a few people chucked wobblies and were abusive towards staff, and stories abound of people combing stores and hoarding like a pack of greedy children let loose in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Perhaps if people had some manners and took what they wanted (versus hoarding stuff to sell for a healthy profit on eBay), I’d be a bit less frustrated.

It’s a very sad reflection on how gamers act when in the presence of a ripper sale.

On the upside, it did result in the following piece of hilarity:

Thanks to adamiam on Whirlpool for the link 🙂

For the record, I popped into a store during my lunch break today and there wasn’t much stuff left – a few games at really good prices, but I already had them so no real utility there. Props to the DSE staff though, the person who served me at the counter when I asked if I’d missed anything after a quick loop around the store was really nice and seemed genuinely apologetic that there wasn’t much left over. Considering they’d probably had to deal with a hoard of tight-arse gamers, I really appreciated the courtesy.

Hopefully in turn I demonstrated that gamers have the capacity for good manners 🙂

Segagaga Domain Store is open again!

segagagadomain-front

I’ve been thinking that quite a number of hoarding retro gamers don’t share their sources openly enough (and to be honest, I’ve been a bit like that in the past). So, I thought I’d change that up a bit and start posting about places I like to shop at online for new and retro games. I’ll also add them to the links section for easy reference down the track.

Today I’m going to talk about the work Yakumo over at Segagaga Domain (who is also the creator of the excellent retro gaming series Retro Core, a show I’ve discussed before) is doing now that he’s re-opened the online store. If I remember correctly, he used to run a similar venture a number of years back, selling Japanese Saturn and DC games acquired during his shopping expeditions as an ex-pat living in Japan. The new store he’s opened currently focuses solely on Saturn gear, with stacks of titles at great prices and very reasonable shipping costs for overseas buyers. I’ve made a few orders from there in the past and have had no issues whatsoever with the goods he’s selling – the descriptions are accurate and include all the nerdy details people like myself find important (such as stating condition/presence of everything in the set, including spine cards, and plenty of accurate photos) and everything’s been packed nicely.

As a bonus, I’ll hazard a guess that sales from the store help keep the site alive, which can only be a good thing. The wealth of content and coverage there is mammoth, so it’s definitely recommended if you’re into Sega consoles or Japanese gaming in general. Plus there’s also Retro Core, which I believe is essential viewing for anyone with even a remote interest in Japanese games. Especially the undercover videos of arcades, Japanese game stores and some of the general stuff around Japan too.

So check it out – Segagaga Domain – The Store – because good sources for gaming should be shared, not kept a secret!