Castle Magus

Putting all this shit behind cuts, because it's mostly just a buttload of Youtube embeds.

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As of today, I no longer own any video game consoles or associated games. I sold all of that stuff to Lost Ark Video Games in Greensboro, NC. Well, actually, I do still own a Xbox 360, because Lost Ark wouldn't buy the old fat model, a Playstation 2, which I didn't even take out there to bother to try to sell because it was already on its last legs, and an old, modded Playstation 1 that I didn't even take with me to Washington when I moved out there in 2004, let alone to Lost Ark to try to sell. (EDIT) Oh, and I still have a Wii Fit board, even though I no longer have a Wii to connect it to, because I forgot to bring the stupid thing with me when I sold all the other crap. (/EDIT) Everything else is gone, though, including the handheld stuff. And, weirdly, I don't feel too awfully bad about it. I thought it would probably feel like the rough equivalent of selling one's children to do it or some such, but no... nothing all dramatic like that. (EDIT 2) I have to say that going into my Backloggery and tagging all those games with the little "Formerly Owned" ghost was somewhat sad, though. Some of them I had to actually (stealth) add as new games, since they weren't previously even in the list given that I hadn't bothered to update my Backloggery page in forever, only to then mark them as "Formerly Owned." >_> (EDIT 3) And... that was probably very close to the last time I ever even bothered to keep up with my Backloggery page, so... yeah. (/EDIT 3) (/EDIT 2)

Now, though, I still have a ton of old PC games, which Lost Ark also wouldn't buy, that I need to do something with. I'll probably end up selling those individually on eBay or Amazon Marketplace or something. I actually could have done the same for the consoles and console games as well, and probably would have gotten more money out of them in the long run if I'd done so, but I just wanted to unload them somewhere relatively convenient, so that's what I did.

I just walked in the door to my Redmond, WA condo from the airport about an hour and a half or so ago. Up until then, I'd been in North Carolina, since December 22, 2013.

What I did during the past month-plus, in no particular order:

( What I did )

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Here is what I plan to do now:

( What I plan to be doing )

Great news.

It never really made sense to me why they released the second half but not the first. The "Hitler is in the game" excuse always seemed really weak.

Glad they're including the original soundtrack as an alternative to whatever remixes they're putting in as well.

That reminds me... I still haven't gotten the PSP remake of Persona 1 yet either.

The UPS guy arrived around 20 minutes ago.

Something to keep in mind.

Number 4 is of particular interest to me. I was considering trying to make it to Target on Friday morning because of this, but now I'm a bit hesitant. This same thing is also available for pre-order on Amazon but at the normal bundle price, at least for now.

On the one hand, if there is a chance that Amazon will match Target's Black Friday price (especially given that it is Target.com/ITC that is selling the thing through Amazon anyway), then I'd just get it through that. On the other hand, if Amazon won't match that price, then there is absolutely zero reason to buy it through Amazon at all.

Either way, I'm not sure how badly I want a PSP. I do want one, but I don't know if I'm willing to either A) be at Target at 4am on Friday to get one or B) go later in the day at a more reasonable time but at the risk of there not being any left. Mostly, I just don't really want to have to make a special trip out to Target on Friday if I can avoid it, but I'm potentially willing to do so. If, however, I could get one through Amazon but at the price being offered by Target on Friday, then yeah, I'd be on that like white on rice.

For what it's worth, I've actually sent an email to Amazon directly asking them exactly this, though I don't know if I'll get a response before Friday, if I get one at all, given that tomorrow is Thanksgiving. We'll see, I guess. If I don't receive a(n affirmative) response by tomorrow evening, then I guess I will might be heading out to Target at some as of now still nebulous time Friday morning.

(EDIT)

Looks like I'm not the only one wondering about this.

(/EDIT)

(EDIT 2)

Got a response from Amazon already.

"Hello,

Amazon doesn’t offer a price match guarantee. We do spend considerable effort to ensure our prices are the lowest in the marketplace at any time. Because the marketplace is constantly changing and we strive to offer the lowest price, you’ll see some fluctuations in our prices over time.

We're searching for the best Black Friday deals everywhere--including deals other stores are planning--so we can meet or beat their prices and bring them to you even earlier. If we're able to meet or beat deals that other stores are offering, the price adjustment will be made on the website.

I'm sorry I don't have better news. We hope to see you again soon."

Mostly a noncommittal response, but a response nonetheless. They didn't say they would match the price, but didn't say they wouldn't either. Hmm. Kind of annoying, but about what I expected anyway.

Well, if they do lower it so that it's at least relatively close to the $130 range that everyone else is selling it for, even if it's still a bit higher, I'd still probably get it from them instead, just to avoid having to go out and deal with the crowds. If they don't lower it at all, then screw 'em. I'll be keeping an eye on it over the next couple of days, regardless.

Too late, already ordered it from Newegg (and for cheaper than I would have gotten it from either Amazon or the actual brick-and-mortar Target store on Friday, given state sales tax).

(/EDIT 2)

(EDIT 3)

And since I made the above edit, Amazon has indeed lowered the price to $127 now. Cool. Too late for me, but still cool.

...except, that it's apparently NOT eligible for Super Saver shipping? (Or the $0.99 release day shipping, but that's a bit more understandable, given that it is released in two days, one of which is Thanksgiving.) Well, screw that. I just plopped it into my cart on Amazon to see what the total would have been and, with cheapest available shipping plus tax, it would have come to $143.67. No thank you, Amazon. I'd have still opted to just go get it from Target on Friday, if I hadn't already ordered it from Newegg.

(/EDIT 3)