• 9Nov 08

  Supermarkets Have The Power?

  All these new releases; how ever will we afford them all!? No worries, just drop by your local supermarket - Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda - and you're bound to pick up that brand new release for a fraction of the price.
  
  With all these new games coming out I've had to carefully pick and choose which ones I wish to buy. I decided to buy Fifa 09 as I enjoy football games and wanted a Fifa title for my 360. Me and my girlfriend then brought Fable II together because we love RPG's. I thought that would be enough for a month or so as I like to pace myself with games to get the full experience. However, I then fancied buying a new DS game and decided on Proffesor Layton, I was in Sainsbury's at the time and thought I'd check their games. There I found Proffesor Layton for a mere £23.97. "Excellent" I thought! Yet then I saw Fallout 3 for £29 and I just could not resist.

  Nobody loves a bargin quite like I do and I just could not believe how cheap it was. I work in Gamestation, which you probably would of heard of if you're from England, and we do pretty good deals but £29 for a game that is barely a week old is amazing, even we couldn't beat that. Our pre-owned would be more expensive!

  At work we were all talking about this new found power supermarkets seem to have at the moment and how Sainsbury's actually plan to offer the new release of the week for around the price tag of £29 each week. Apparently they make a loss on profits from it as it's so cheap but it's only every so slightly that it doesn't matter. Plus, it's getting people like you and me into their shop when we perhaps wouldn't be there in the first place as we'd be in Gamestation, HMV or Game.

  Is this good for the industry? Yes, in the eyes of the average consumer, as you're getting the same game for a cheaper price. And with the economy at the moment we all need our extra pennies. But you're not getting the added discussion at the tills about your purchase, are you? "Good choice, I'm playing through it myself at the moment." and general discussion like this. Also, let's face it, the people at Gamestation and Game have a passion for games, not sure about those at Sainsbury's! And of course it's not good for Gamestation/Game, as they lose out on potential customers.

  I think it comes down to where's cheapest though and if these supermarkets want to play a sneaky game and get us gamers in their stores by selling new releases for £29 a pop then they will succeed. I'll just refuse to buy anything else while I'm there!

  • Posted Nov 9, 2008 4:58 pm GMT
  • Category: Games
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• 9Oct 08

  The DSi

  I know the DSi has split opinion amongst previous DS owners and general Nintendo fans. As a lot of people have their opinion on it I'd thought I'd throw my two cents in in the shape of a blog entry...

  The DSi will be able to take photos, download games and play music. It will feature two cameras, a memory card slot and a slightly larger screen than its predecessor. It all sounds very promising and perhaps it will be a nice addition to Nintendo's success. However, I'm not overly impressed and neither am I that excited, if anything there's a question on my lips, 'why now?'. I understand that the sales of the DS Lite are slowing down but they certainly haven't come to a stand still, so wouldn't it be better to release news of it next year and then release the product the year after? Nintendo have been famous for doing this in the past and have come unstuck. Releasing products that are slight updates of existening ones in hope of a quick money maker seems like they are robbing us. Why should we support the DSi when most of us are happy with our original DS and/or DS Lite?

  I understand that although a lot of Nintendo fans may agree with me, a lot of them will buy the DSi. After all no one can know for sure what it will become. Also, as DS lovers we want the newest addition. However, I think I can honestly say I won't be buying the DSi because I'm happy with my DS. Yeah, it doesn't boast two cameras and perhaps it's got a slightly smaller screen and it certainly doesn't play music and other media. But isn't that why I own an iPod Classic? And own a digital camera? I have my DS Lite purely to play good games and that, Nintendo, is all I ask.

  • Posted Oct 9, 2008 2:02 pm GMT
  • Category: Opinion
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• 31Jul 08

  Attention: Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii fans.

  I've recently been trying to get myself into games journalism but as we all have to start somewhere I've set up a blog exclusive for Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii content.
  
  Light humor and passionate opinion. Join in on the discussion!

  http://firefly96.wordpress.com/

  Hope to see you there!

  • Posted Jul 31, 2008 8:44 am GMT
  • Category: Writing
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