My own personal DmC adventure!

[btmudd28]

My story!

I get the automated text from GameStop on Monday around 5 PM, "Your Devil May Cry peroder avail Tuesday AM. 25% bonus towards trade-ins. Etc." So that rules out my hopes of a midnight launch. No matter! Our 24-hour Wal-Mart shares a parking lot with GameStop, I'll go there instead!

Catch up on Modern Family to kill some time. Watch "Sleepwalk With Me" on Netflix, (which if you're a fan of Mike Birbiglia, definitely worth a watch. Otherwise, probably won't appreciate it.) 11:00 PM rolls around and I watch my weekly episode of Catfish to kill the final hour.

Head to Wal-Mart at 12 AM, journey back to the electronics where the overnight woman is putting out all the new release DVDs. I ask "are you selling the new releases now?"

"Yes," she responds.

"Great! There's a new release game I was wanting on Xbox 360. It's called Devil May Cry."

"Let's see what we got here," the woman says as she starts opening up the various cardboard boxes on her new release cart. One box after the other, nothing but DVDs and Blu-Rays. No games.

"Hmmm, let's see what we have in the back, but these are all the new releases I have," the woman says as she heads to the back. My heart sinks, "Oh no..." I think to myself. I journey back over to the display cases, "Devil May Cry 59.96," is clearly marked on an empty rack, yearning to be filled with copies of the game.

So I wait for the woman's return, and she comes back empty handed. She writes down the UPC for the game, and retreats to the stock room again. A wonder over to the strategy guides and find a copy for DmC and I start picking through the first few pages. The woman comes back with a defeated look, "It says we have 6 copies but I have no idea where they could be. Sorry."

"No, no, it's fine. Sorry for causing you so much trouble with all the back and forth nonsense," I respond. I get it, Wal-Mart has more important matters to tend to rather than worrying about a stupid video game. So on my way out, I google the nearest Wal-Mart. 26 miles away. Open 24 hours. Yup, totes worth it!

I get in my car and begin my journey to the next Wal-Mart. "Am I really going to drive 60 miles roundtrip for this game? Yeah, F it!" Finally, my rationale takes over and I figure I should probably call them first and make sure that I don't run into the same trouble as I did with this Wal-Mart. So I call, and they are clueless too. They acknowledge that it should be out, but they haven't received their copies. Cooooooool. Cool. Cool. Cool. (Abed voice from Community)

I head back home, defeated, and exhausted. This 7 minute trip to Wal-Mart to pick up a game became a 45 minute expenditure. I flop onto my bed and head to bed. However, the story is not over!! More to come in the next post...

 

[btmudd28]

I am a substitute teacher, so usually 2-4 times a week, I get a phone call at 6 or 7 in the morning asking me to sub. Tuesday morning was no different. Phone rings, and I turn down the job. Did I turn down an opportunity to work because I knew I'd be able to pick up my reserved copy of DmC from GameStop at 10 AM? Yes. Yes I did.

So I turn down the job, hang up the phone and think, "Try and go to sleep for 3 hours? Ooooooooor, head back to Wal-Mart! They are BOUND to have copies of the game out now! Plenty of people do their shopping between 7 and 8 in the morning, right? RIGHT?!" So I hop up, throw on some clothes and head back to Wal-Mart. Make my way back to the game displays. Aaaaaaaaaaaand behold! An empty display case again! I look over to the PS3 section, and have a chuckle; the spot for DmC: Devil May Cry is filled with copies of the DMC HD Collection. Silly Wal-Mart, do you know nothing?!

I go to McDonald's, smash a McGriddle, head home, watch some Mike and Mike in the Morning, watch Tina Fey's and Amy Poehler's montage from the Golden Globes, and make my way to GameStop around 9:55 or so.

Get to GameStop as the employee is unlocking the door and walk in as he walks in. Luckily, I graduated with the guy, so I'm not looked at like a complete weirdo. I ask the guy for my copy of DmC. He opens the drawers behind the register. Nothing. Opens the cabinets. Nothing. Gives this look :/ and heads to the back. Returns empty handed. Opens the cabinets again. Nothing.

Then the phone rings. He answers the phone and heads to the back again, this time returning with a box full of the games and strategy guides. Victory at last!! But wait....

"Well if the coupon says 'No DLC' then that means no DLC, sorry," the employee says to the (probably) mother on the other end of the phone. He continues to explain to the person about how coupons work, while trying to check me out and scan my card and do all the other things that should take about 45 seconds. So, naturally, it becomes about a 5 minute process, that should take less than a minute. He finally hangs up with the woman and lets out a sigh of relief,

"I know man, I worked retail for 2 years at American Eagle. People are dumb," I say in a reassuring tone. He hands me my game and sends me on my way.

TL;DR: What should have been a 5 minute trip to Wal-Mart at Midnight, became a 10 hour, overnight adventure that ended with me getting my copy at GameStop the time I was supposed to, rather than earlier like I hoped.