Okay. Not really.

This post is just a short rant about the new speeding/racing laws in Ontario, and the complaints people have about them.

Since most of my readers are drivers as well, you should all be aware of this new legislation that states that if you exceed the speed limit by 50km/h, you will lose your license and have your car impounded for seven days.

For some reason, people believe this is both fair and unfair. They claim that it is good because it punishes illegal street racing, and ultimately cuts down on reckless driving and endangerment. And this is true. That has already been proven. However, these same people argue that it is unfair to force this law upon “good-hearted citizens” who are just going about their daily routine. They claim the law is too tough and should only apply to racing.

50km/h above the speed limit is the same speed whether you are racing or not. Any person can still lose control at this speed, and 50km/h above the speed limit is just reckless to begin with. Why on Earth are you going that fast? I don’t buy the whole excuse that this should apply to racers only, and not your average citizen. You are speeding. Deal with the consequences, or change your method of driving. The law is the law.

Recently, there has been talk of changing that legislation so that you will be subjected to this punishment if you exceed the speed limit by 30km/h. Is this unreasonable? Not at all. You are still speeding. 5km/h above or below the speed limit is okay, because it is hardly noticeable. But when you get to driving extremely fast, you also get reckless. And if taking your car away for a week will teach you a lesson, I am in full support of it.

They talked about this issue on CFRB 1010 this morning, and Christie Blacheford (sp?) of the Globe and Mail commented that this new “30km/h above” legislation was unthinkable, and that the existing legislation already made it as if we were living in a “police state”. A police state. I kid you not, she actually said that.

Talk about an overexageration. When police officers are enforcing existing laws, how can you say that is bad? They are making the roads safer. They are punishing reckless behaviour, and - traditionally - punishment can help lead to reform. If this were actually a police state, I think speeding would be the least of our concerns. In fact, CB would probably have been arrested and had a bag thrown over her head before she finished her commentary.

Last I checked, the “right to speed and endanger others in a giant, explosive, metallic object didn’t appear on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Speeding is dangerous. Deal with it. Drive safer. Leave earlier, or deal with being later. Your choice.

28 Confessions of a GameStop Shift Supervisor is the title of the article that accompanied my breakfast bagel and hot chocolate. I had noticed it last night on GameTab, but I was so frustrated with this war and the God-King’s lack of a prompt response that I ended up expending all physical and ethereal energies. That is to say, I passed out at 9:30 before reading it.

So, after checking the Dojo this morning, I delved back in to see what sort of confessions a GameStop Shift Supervisor would make, and if he truly thought they would reconcile his ties to El Diablo.

The article is humorous. Not in a way that made me laugh, but in a way that made me sneer at the fact they would actually release something so ridiculous and blatantly offensive. 28 Confessions of a GameStop Shift Supervisor makes it sound like it will be a story of lust, intrigue and scandal at the highest levels of the GameStop infrastructure.

Instead, it is merely a buyer’s guide. A guide that says “Shop at our store this way, or go fuck yourselves.”

You should already have a window open. In fact, I hope you jumped to reading it before you came here, because if you have ever purchased a game from GameStop (known as EBGames here), you will recognize most of the issues that this fellow is talking about. Let us consider some of the more obvious ones:

1) The Open Games Issue/Gutted Games

It becomes clear from the first six points of these admissions that all of the real issues will be dodged.

At EBGames, you will find that copies of certain software are often removed from their packaging so that the boxes can be displayed and examined without fear of theft. In a correlative frequency, these “gutted’ games are sold to the consumer at full price. The GameStop Shift Supervisor (I am going to call him Frank from now on) acknowledges that there are ways to verify the disc is in reasonable condition, and there are policies in place to ensure you can return a product “unopened” as you would with a factory-sealed game.

What he does not acknowledge is the fact that you still pay full price for an already opened game. You are paying the MSRP for a game that has been opened, and - for all you know - has been played by someone within the store. In fact, how can you be sure that Mr. A did not purchase the game on launch day, take it home, play it, trade it in, and now you are getting an essentially used copy of the game (while paying full price). This is the twisted and depraved world that EBGames/GameStop operates within. Conventional consumer-retailer relations are tied down and dismembered. They will squeeze any money that they can out of you.

This is further exemplified by the next issue.

2) Trade-Ins

Everybody should be aware by now that the profits from EBGames/GameStop do not come from the sale of use games. It comes from two locations: pre-orders, and trade-ins. They are essentially a gaming pawn shop, where they offer you a measly amount of cash for your valuables, only to resell them at an inflated cost.

Frank points out the issue they have with people coming in to trade off some out-of-date sporting titles (Madden 98, etc). While I will acknowledge that these are obviously not worth much, he also brings up the issue of fantastic games like Super Smash Bros. Melee. Here’s a quote:

Games in high demand are, appropriately, worth much more. This doesn’t just mean RECENT games like Bioshock and Halo 3. Super Smash Bros for the Gamecube is still trading in for fifteen dollars at the time of this writing; much more than any other Gamecube game. Games or items we are likely to resell are worth far more than ones that are incomplete, in poor shape, unpopular, or overly plentiful.

So, they will pay people fifteen dollars for a copy of Super Smash Bros. Melee. Are you kidding me? Super Smash Bros. Melee has never received a price drop. EBGames still sells Super Smash Bros. Melee at a full retail price of $49.99. Ouch. That’s gotta hurt someone’s pockets. But hey, that’s all profit for EBGames. Lucky them. Their entire business operates on a closed circuit, where the same product can cycle through time and time again while they pocket all the coin. It is absolutely ridiculous.

A tip: If you want to sell your old games, try eBay. You can make a lot more money.

3) Bad Service

This is only partially acknowledged in the article. Frank acknowledges that employees often pressure people for pre-orders because it is essential to their job security. What I have noticed from all my EBGames experiences in various areas is that you will only get assistance if you want to pre-order. Otherwise, they ignore you. When I was looking for Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (thanks again Stu for finding it), I went to the local EBGames to see if they had it. They did not. So I asked them if they could check any nearby stores. They said I could just look up their phone number and call them myself.

Thanks for the help. Especially when I have now been told that these stores are equipped with an “On-Hand Lookup” that would assist me in finding a copy. Brilliant.

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I am amazed that people decry the practices of Wal-Mart and yet they remain oblivious to the clear manipulation and extortion that goes on at EBGames.

Or so all the ads are telling me. This is great. Now us simple Canadian folk finally have access to YouTube. I can finally see all of the fads our American friends to the south have been talking about!

:)

Liam - the alleged God-King of RoboRant - has senselessly declared war on The Box. He has claimed that I have ideas of mass dissension. I can assure you this was not the intent. I am eagerly awaiting his justification that my comments were offensive, poorly-conceived and hypocritical. Until then, I have carefully obscured that post from view.

If I have indeed been offensive and hypocritical, I will certainly attempt a more tactful approach to my argument, although I doubt it will alter my opinion on the issue (which I admit may be poorly presented, although not necessarily poorly conceived).

I have been waiting since I got home from work for Liam’s response. I hope it doesn’t take too long, otherwise I might just forget/ignore these “Blog Warz” that have begun.

Oh, and most gracious thanks to ‘The Sleeping Giant’ for allying with me in this breed of conflict that I cannot comprehend.

In the past, I have commented on Andrew’s previous luck to have things he enjoys cancelled or postponed to better suit his schedule. His favourite shows and events all seem to fall tidily into place at his feet on a regular basis, which has always perplexed me.

So, Andrew must have murdered someone over the weekend, because Season Seven of 24 (likely Andrew’s favourite show) will likely not be airing at all this year. And why?

Writer’s Strike!!!

Since 24 depends very heavily on the cohesion of an entire season and the 24-hour format, they cannot function as most other shows are. Shows like Heroes and Prison Break are merely taking their mid-season cliffhanger episodes and forming them into their season finale (if the writer’s strike lasts into February). However, 24 producers do not have that option. If the writer’s strike doesn’t end by the New Year, 24 will be canned. Season Seven will not air until next year.

Sucks to be a 24 fan. Granted, I also wont be able to see all of Lost. But at least they are airing the first eight episodes. And Heroes will end at Episode 13 or 15.

The thing that really sucks is that new and interesting shows like Journeyman and Bionic Woman are at risk of getting cancelled. They haven’t built up enough of a fan base yet, and this writer’s strike is going to kill them. Seriously. This is interesting…because these writer’s are striking to get more recognition and more money, but they are also likely putting themselves out of a job for a year or so.

Another thing that will result from this strike is a lack of pilots for next season. No writers means no pilots. No pilots means no new shows.

And just when I thought television had made a huge improvement…

These videos are absolutely hilarious.

Watch them and enjoy them.

I’ve included them after “the jump” so that you do not have to wait for five Youtube videos to load. Seriously though, they are worth it.

Business Time

Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros

Frodo, Don’t Wear The Ring

If You’re Into It

Bret, You Got It Goin’ On