Crap Stop

Another great piece of news: GameStop and Electronics Boutique Merge. Don't be confused by the word "merge" because this is basically GameStop taking over to create a video game retailer monopoly. I generally don't care about these sorts of things but EB has gotten better over the years, and GAMESTOP FUCKING SUCKS.

Here's what we can look forward to: less shelf space for games that don't light up the sales charts. Less shelf space for PC games in favor of the watered down Xbox/360 (god that is a fucking horrible name for a system) ports, more assholes trying to sell Game Informer subscriptions. What's really bad is that GI, the worst game magazine ever, will now further claim supremecy since the subscriptions will be shoveled on people who wouldn't have gone near the thing otherwise. It's a shame because "GMR" was a great magazine for the short period of time that it existed. Their special feature on fighting games was some of the most spot-on gaming journalism since the last truly great gaming magazine, Next Gen(eration), went under. Now we can look forward to GI running up the gamerankings average on pieces of shit like Mortal Kombat, buying more "exclusive cover stories" due to their artificially inflated circulation rate, and hounding websites that don't even originate in the United States about a couple of fucking image scans (as was the case with their recent coverage of Rockstar's "The Warriors"). Consumers, publishers who release innovative titles, and fans of intelligent gaming journalism just got kicked in the head today.

If there are two fringe (and I really mean FRINGE) benefits, they are: Ziff Davis being further assfucked. They lost out big time when GMR, as good as it was, failed to gain traction. Having the mag only available at EB when it should have also been at print retailers like Barnes & Nobel was a mistake. EGM will have even more worthless cover stories now, thanks to GI's defacto coup of readers who get subscriptions tacked onto their purchases. The second interesting thing is that this further validates Valve's decision to forge ahead with Steam. As mentioned, GameStop is not friendly in terms of PC game shelf space. If there is one developer that will save us from succumbing to a world of shitty "consolized" PC games, it is Valve. I can't wait to buy HL2 Aftermath on Steam, not only because it will fucking rock, but as a sign of support for what Valve is doing. They're the last hope for a future where content creators are rewarded according to their accomplishments, and where consumers can still get some multiplayer levels without paying fucking $20 for it. Rock on you crazy motherfuckers.

Last two points: I used to buy about 75% of my games at Best Buy, with the remaining quarter going to EB Games. Looks like I'll be getting everything at Best Buy now. And finally, if the console manufacturers start acting like Jews and only use DVD-ROM rather than pushing technology forward with a medium like Blu-Ray, piracy is going to skyrocket. Everybody has DVD burner these days, the blank discs have hit the commodification point just like CD-R discs did, and broandband will only become more prevelant, even at it's horribly slow growth rate (thanks to shitty companies like Comcast). I don't advocate piracy, but any of the three console manufacturers that try to shovel off a generation-old storage medium on consumers is going to get assfucked, and I can't say they won't deserve. Fuck not, lest ye be fucked.