The lights are on
I just got my finalized flight information for E3 from Popzara Press, along with my hotel reservations and preliminary news of some appointments that have been booked for me. The next 14 days are going to be full of preparation, travel, walking, socializing, networking, and information.
I covered the earnings call for Take-Two and found something very interesting.
It's been a long time. A lot has happened since I posted here last. KmartGamer folded, I tried my hand at another blog that didn't work out, and I had basically thrown in the towel on writing in general. I turned 40 in April. I applied for financial aid to go back to school in the fall and just might get it.
First off, thanks to all of you who left comments on my original post about my recent GameStop experience. It really fosters a sense of community here and it is good to read positive GameStop experiences. I know that these experiences exist and mine is an uncommon situation, but it's also a shock as someone who used to work for the company back in Arizona in 2010 and 2011. I know what the ideal experience is supposed to be like, and it's unfortunate that this one was so negative that I had to share it.
GameStop has been running a Buy 2, Get 2 Free promo for pre-owned PlayStation 2 games and I decided to look into it. It had been some time since I had added some games to my PS2 collection, and the corporate website indicated that a local store had a copy of a game that I'd been looking for (NHL Hitz 20-03) in stock. After using the PickUp@Store option on the website, I got an e-mail back within 15 minutes stating that it could not be found. Intuition told me different and I drove down there, thinking that I might find a few other games to pick up while inside.
It seems to be a common theme for analysts and some mainstream writers to start digging a grave for portable gaming. You've read the articles and have either angrily commented or bit your tongue and wondered what was wrong with these people. Perhaps the most egregious offender is this Forbes article, which was published on December 20th.
Earlier this month, I posted a column on KmartGamer with some loose predictions for 2012. As we get closer to the year change, I figured that I'd go a bit further out on a limb and make more bold predictions here. If I'm right, I look like a genius. If I'm wrong, I look like Nostradumbass. My prediction correctness ratio for 2011 (from 2010) was about 50%, so that's not a terrible average.
As Game Informer's Jim Reilly posted earlier, the launch numbers are in for the PlayStation Vita.
There's going to be a lot of excitement today as tons of PlayStation Vita videos go up all over the internet, looking to cover what Sony hopes will be a smashing successor to the PlayStation Portable. If you're a Sony fan, you're probably not swayed too much by the arguably high asking price ($250 plus the price for a memory card)... but for those who are on the fence, take these things into consideration that were discussed this weekend on Twitter:
"I hope digital distribution stabs the used game market in the heart."
It's commonplace to complain about SpikeTV's Video Game Awards. I'm not a big fan of the annual event myself, as it really doesn't have much appeal for me. The presentation seems aimed at a different audience, the awards are usually debatable, and the trailers are hit-or-miss. In short, the VGAs are not for me.
Now that we've had a weekend to digest the NPD data for November, it's time to talk about some observations that I took from the numbers. I put together full data and analysis over at KmartGamer, but wanted to do something special here.