Today I went into CEX to pick up a game. It's something I've wanted to play for such a long time, but I've held off on buying it, hoping that the price would come down, but it has stayed relatively high for a long time.
Sly Racoon
This is a game I know relatively little about as far as the storyline goes, but I do know that he's a thieving racoon with a few friends who spend each mission carrying out heists, working their way toward some sort of goal, or big score.
Gameplay-wise, it very much centers around stealth, as opposed to being typical action adventure games of the day, however, there are elements of action throughout, in the sense that you take out enemies when sneaking isn't an option.
In a way, the game reminds me of similar character driven cartoon style games of the day, such as Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Daxter, Spyro, or Crash.
Sly - in the minds of many - is in the same league as those other well known characters, but sort of lurks in the shadows (like a good thivius racconus should, I suppose)
It became a bit of a cult classic, over shadowed by much larger competitors, and now finds itself in the rare category as far as other games of its age go.
With the rarity status, comes a price tag, and the price tag for it.
I Nearly Had It Today
I went into CEX and picked it up. It was €45, but at this rate, I'm willing to pay that for it.
Bringing it up to the counter I asked if there was any chance it came with a manual, because, while I'm not that hung up on games being complete, I am a bit particular with games being complete if I'm being charged premium prices.
No.
I ended up putting it back. The cover was in good nick, but the box was dirty, and without the manual I just decided to leave it.
Charging €45 for something that should really be €30 incomplete is such a rip off. I can actually get it on eBay for about €40, but the seller is in England, and at the check out I was being charged £32 for the game, £12 for postage, and £11 for VAT.
I could deal with just postage and the items charge, but with the inclusion of all three charges together I was being charge around €67, granted it's only slightly over €20 more than I was going to pay in the shop, but come on.
I'm going to ask a friend if he could potentially pick it up for me if he can get it for a good price, and then just post it over as friends and family, or something.
It's a joke that we have to jump through these hoops, but I'd personally rather add in some steps if it saves me being bent over.
In the end we settled for a copy of Lost for the Xbox 360 which was €4, it's meant to be awful, but it should be a fun one to play and even potentially stream.