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Kotaku: Game retail horror stories
- Thread starter MMarston
- Start date
Carnby
Member
There's actually a law about letting people use an employee only bathroom if the person states it is an emergency. For reasons like the last story. Some people have medical conditions and NEED to use the bathroom.
Also, what kind of herb would try so hard to prevent a 14 year old kid from playing GTA? Ugh.
Also, what kind of herb would try so hard to prevent a 14 year old kid from playing GTA? Ugh.
Scientificreason
Banned
The fact that a law was even needed for that seems sad to me.
Iorv3th
Member
The kind of guy that didn't want to have a pissed off parent return the system and game then be even more pissed off when they find out they can't return it for full credit.
Do you live in Australia by chance? The game has strip clubs you can enter into and get full on lap dances where you feel up a meter by touching the dancer...... It was one of the first things I did.
chronic_archaic
Member
Biggest problem I have is most of these young teenagers are probably buying it to play the online portion or dick around. The prostitution is only mentioned once in the entire single player game and it's NEVER mentioned at all in online. I had no idea you could even do it until months after it came out. Chances are the kid would have either never done it or very rarely do it as it's not that interesting and I'm sure he knows what sex is blah blah blah you get the point 
Exterminieren
Banned
There is absolutely zero chance the parents read any of that.
Jawmuncher
Member
But if he was telling them about the game, wouldn't he just list off what the back of the box says? During retail that's the general rule I've always heard for those type of situations.
fredrancour
Member
I would imagine the answer is, They do not play games themselves, and therefore they had no concept of what those things actually look like in a game, and just assumed it couldn't be that bad. Then the video showed it was more explicit than they ever expected a game could be.
Seems like a policy set to backfire to me. I know that if I was that kid the next time I begged for a game GAME would now be on my blacklist. All things being equal my parents normally went where I asked to go.
There is also this. I know I had seen much worse stuff when I was 13-14 and that was back when the internet was primitive compared to now..
Carnby
Member
"Don't believe me?! Let me show you a video". Like I said, herb.
He didn't have to tell them anything. He literally just showed them a video of the game they were buying for their kid.
Adam Prime
hates soccer, is Mexican
LOL every thread about GTA and parenting has this response. I WAS /MY KIDS ARE SO MATURE FOR THEIR AGE.
My three old knows the difference between reality and fiction in what she sees on TV!! That is NOT an indication of maturity. You know what maturity is? Accepting NO for an answer from your parents because they know more than you, care for you, love you, and have more wisdom in this life than A CHILD WHO WANTS TO PLAY A VIDEO GAME.
Exterminieren
Banned
Well, the quote says that the dad was cool with it, but the mum wasn't sure. In that case, a visual sample of the game's content is a far better representation than listing the words on the back of the box.
He didn't show it to talk them out of the purchase, he did it to allow the mum to make a decision that she was clearly unsure about.
The kid's reaction definitely tells me that they made the right call in not buying the game for him.
Exactly, I can't understand why the clerk would think this would make any difference, preventing one kid playing a violent video game is a drop in the bucket. I played GTA as a 14yr old because I was able to separate a video game from reality and my parents knew that. Edit: I'm making no claims on maturity, I know I wasn't very mature then, and I'm probably not even now.
Then again this was never a point of contention in our house, its people who don't understand new forms of media and entertainment, and it makes them angry or afraid of it.
kingwingin
Member
I remember trying to convince my mom to buy me grand theft auto 2 back in the day. She wouldn't budge because she though the rockstar logo was the rating.
Carnby
Member
LOL. I'm dead.
Jawmuncher
Member
Just seems like an unneeded extra step. Wonder what video he even showed them.
Probably just pulled up the torture scene.
flatearthpandas
Member
I bet next time someone comes in "panicked" and having a bathroom emergency the staff lets them use the bathroom.
chronic_archaic
Member
Lap dance doesn't equal prostitution. I went to the strip club many times as a 12 year old in GTA IV and... well, yeah. Any young teenager knows what sex is. It's a non issue unless you shelter your kid to death...
The employee was informing them of the game they were purchasing for the child, the guy is doing the job the way every game store employee should. The game features anal sex, strippers, and torture. A lot of parents can get past the violence and language, nudity/sex is something almost no parent seems to let slide. Not to mention that they would want to minimize returns, as once they found out what was in the game they would probably be furious.
Adam Prime
hates soccer, is Mexican
Dude... How old are you and how many kids are you currently raising? You're unreal. "There are worse things out there, therefore this is okay." ? ARE YOU SERIOUS, or the best troll on the Internet? Holy hell.
Exterminieren
Banned
Well, it's his job to give advice on purchases, for a start.
I don't buy this argument that the Wild West of the Internet means that we shouldn't at least be keeping an eye on the content our kids are consuming, either.
Quadraphonic
Member
Watching violence and re-enacting it are two very different beasts.
Shin-Ra
Junior Member
The worst thing is, I bet he didn't wipe.When a woman has to go poop she gotta poop.
She was probably related to this guy.
I think we need to call Tina Belcher we got a mad pooper.
Scientificreason
Banned
I agree, the ' there are worst things they could see ' argument makes no sense.
One does not make the other ok.
CertifiedFP
Member
Wait, what. Weren't they still DMA Design back then? IIRC the R* name and logo didn't come along until a reprint of GTA3.
Jawmuncher
Member
![36966-Grand_Theft_Auto_2_[NTSC-U]-1.jpg](http://www.emuparadise.me/fup/up/36966-Grand_Theft_Auto_2_[NTSC-U]-1.jpg)
Silent Chief
Member
Can you imagine your kids trying to convince you to buy them material from the sex shop and a bottle of rum? My kids never tried, but they might have borrowed it when I wasn't looking. GTA, I mean.
Now, in their 20s, they liked GTAV so much that they had to buy me the collector's edition.
BlackBuzzard
Banned
I guess I will concede that the "there are worse things out there" is a weak argument, but I stand by that I think the clerk was being a busybody. Though it's not like I would of said anything if I was in that store when this went down. As it falls under my mantra of not my chair not my problem which is also why I disagree with what the clerk did.
I think 14 is old enough to play mature games. I mean GTA is the least troublesome thing kids we're doing when I was 14( kids were having sex, partying , roaming around the city Etc)
o just feel that if you have a goofy kid who's impressionable, he's gonna be goofy when he's 17 or 18 as well. Thats not a huge age difference
o just feel that if you have a goofy kid who's impressionable, he's gonna be goofy when he's 17 or 18 as well. Thats not a huge age difference
He got his punishment, then.
Metalingus5150
Member
That kid probably got GTA later at a different store. lol
Hahahha at the GTA V story, parents dont have a clue.
I can agree with this sentiment.
That women taking a shit in the store is a true horror story but i think the GTA one takes the cake. Somewhere there's a kid who was forced to buy FIFA and the only thing keeping him going is planning his revenge on the store clerk that felt the need to wash away all his hard work with one video.
Alright, I worked at a small mom and pop store that sold games and rented anime that's now closed, so let me try and dredge up some of my stories.
Eventually we branched into DVDs, and at one point this family brought in a box full of them. Opened the box, like 40 cockroaches are inside it and the box gets knocked off the counter because fucking cockroaches, and needless to say we told them to leave but ended up with a cockroach problem that lasted far too long.
We also had a system where people could rent time on a console for a minimal fee and was by no means our main source of income, but we'd have these kids that would come in fairly regularly and rent some time after school while they waited for their parents to come pick them up due to the school not offering transportation that year due to decreased funding. Anyway, we had a pizza and nobody else really wanted the last few slices so we gave it to them but they threw the crusts in the toilet and clogged it with a turd stuck in the bowl as well. The more baffling part is there's a town trash can directly in front of the building. (No trash can inside the store due to the aforementioned cockroach problem, most trash went in there or the dumpster behind the building.)
And not really related to customer experiences, but street dates are no joke. We could have had Halo 3 in a week before release for the midnight launch but got told if we sold any copies before release the fine could go up to $300,000. And, naturally being a mom and pop place, we got plenty of calls asking for various new releases before the actual release date.
Eventually we branched into DVDs, and at one point this family brought in a box full of them. Opened the box, like 40 cockroaches are inside it and the box gets knocked off the counter because fucking cockroaches, and needless to say we told them to leave but ended up with a cockroach problem that lasted far too long.
We also had a system where people could rent time on a console for a minimal fee and was by no means our main source of income, but we'd have these kids that would come in fairly regularly and rent some time after school while they waited for their parents to come pick them up due to the school not offering transportation that year due to decreased funding. Anyway, we had a pizza and nobody else really wanted the last few slices so we gave it to them but they threw the crusts in the toilet and clogged it with a turd stuck in the bowl as well. The more baffling part is there's a town trash can directly in front of the building. (No trash can inside the store due to the aforementioned cockroach problem, most trash went in there or the dumpster behind the building.)
And not really related to customer experiences, but street dates are no joke. We could have had Halo 3 in a week before release for the midnight launch but got told if we sold any copies before release the fine could go up to $300,000. And, naturally being a mom and pop place, we got plenty of calls asking for various new releases before the actual release date.
But how will he train for his revenge plan if he can't play GTA though?
Man, if a store employee had persuaded my parents not to allow me to purchase San Andreas when I was 13 I would have flipped my shit.
As it was, I lived in Belgium at the time and they don't really observe age limits there. I bought it myself and distinctly remember the cashier telling me "you seem to know what you're doing" when I demanded they give me the last English copy in stock which was in the display cabinet.
Obviously my parents had no idea about the hookers and drugs. They thought it was just stealing cars which, although violent, isn't particularly lewd. I was allowed to play GoldenEye at 7 so was introduced to shooting people in the face at a young age. The hooker stuff, though, fortunately went under the radar as that would have definitely been a point of contention.
As it was, I lived in Belgium at the time and they don't really observe age limits there. I bought it myself and distinctly remember the cashier telling me "you seem to know what you're doing" when I demanded they give me the last English copy in stock which was in the display cabinet.
Obviously my parents had no idea about the hookers and drugs. They thought it was just stealing cars which, although violent, isn't particularly lewd. I was allowed to play GoldenEye at 7 so was introduced to shooting people in the face at a young age. The hooker stuff, though, fortunately went under the radar as that would have definitely been a point of contention.
The idea the internet is a giant shithole so there is no point in being a proper parent is insane. I really do hope that some of these people never breed but we know how that will end up
BlackBuzzard
Banned
GTA kid is plotting his revenge.
"I would have gotten away with it, if it wasn't for you meddling Gamestop employees."
"I would have gotten away with it, if it wasn't for you meddling Gamestop employees."
Circle Jerk
Member
Boy that one 360 dude sure did go out of his way to make a situation worse. Also feels like a perfect example of the average Gamestop employee. Weird he hasnt figured out the dad telling corporate about the teenager quoting Chapelle is probably why he got a return and money not just going up the chain.
30yearsofhurt
Member
Totally agree.
That wasn't a horror story. That was someone doing their job properly. Kudos.
Carnby
Member
How old were you when you watched rated R movies? I was definitely watching them by age 14.
Heck, I was playing MK when I was 11. That doesn't mean I had bad parents.
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