My RSS Feeds
Finding console games when you live in a small town
I used to avoid the Civilization games, because so many people I knew were completely obsessed with them and played constantly. However, the FreeCiv game in Linux finally sucked me in. After a few years of playing that on and off, I find myself repeatedly playing the Civilization Revolution demo I downloaded off the PlayStation Network. After getting frustrated at being cut off after reaching a certain point, I finally admitted to myself that it was time to buy the game.
Then I had the fun of trying to find the game. I live in a smallish town and for a while the only way to get a PS3 game without driving at least an hour was Walmart. While I'm not a fan of Walmart, it's also a big waste of gas (even though we drive a Prius) and resources in general to drive a two-hour round-trip just to avoid a particular store. Unfortunately, while they had the game for the XBOX 360, they didn't have the PS3 version, and an employee told me (I have no idea if this is true) that she has no control over what games they carry, the vendors just show up when they feel like it with the games they feel like bringing. As friends of mine would say, "weak sauce."
However, a new store had opened the week before so it seemed time to check it out. Calling ahead to find out if they had the game proved to be a good idea, they had exactly one copy left and were willing to set it aside for me if I was on my way to get it. Given my shock that a business in this town was actually open after 8pm I just couldn't resist. I tell myself I was rewarding them, but really, I just wanted the game.
And when I got there, I got it. I really love the store, you can try out games from all the major consoles right in the store before you buy. It's owned and operated by women as far as I can tell, which amuses the heck out of me. They even give coupons to students who can show that they got good report cards (now only if they'd give 'em to adults who got good annual reviews!)
So ends the saga of getting my hands on a game in a small town. Makes me glad for little services like the PlayStation Network where I can just download things!