Got to see this - Game Crazy Training Video

Scary Game Crazy training video!

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/08/07/psa-avoid-this-gamecrazy-training-video/

...

Where's my sledgehammer, maybe if I hit them enough they will tell me where Brad is.

Dude I couldn't watch past Zelda Scott... That was just too much.

Holy hell that was painful to watch. I have a hard time believing that wasn't tongue in cheek, but I can't see any reason to be that goofy in a training video.

The employees watching that video must feel pathetic.

I just..

I don't..

Words fail me.

Seriously, how the hell are you supposed to sit through 17 minutes of that? I took one look at the screenshot joystiq posted and closed the window.

That's a REAL training video?

I like it, tongue in cheek, makes the "fool your costumer into spending too much" that much more subtle.

this can not be real... Except for the parts where clueless consumers get ripped off

That made me want to hunt down the actors in that video and inflict horrible violence on them and their families.

To me this looks like "Five things to steer clear from when walking into game shop".

One day, I will walk into one of these places. I never have, because we don't have them here (yet). Unfortunately (for sales staff), I will be "one of those guys" that walk in, gets a new game off the shelf and walks out. I never go into a shop unles I know exactly what I want.

I would never buy used game, if there is any way to get a new one.

Oh man, that was hilarious. Made my morning. I stopped watching after Zelda did her piece, but it was worth it.

LightBender wrote:

Where's my sledgehammer, maybe if I hit them enough they will tell me where Brad is.

In another castle?

I caught this the other day on Salon.com. The funny thing about it (eye-gouging, head bashing aside) is that my metro area (Portland, Or.) houses the corporate headquarters (Wilsonville, Or.) of Game Crazy. Or, at least, they used to. I think Movie Gallery owns them now, so I'm not sure if Game Crazy is it's own separate entity or not. Anyway, point is that they're all over the place here and by far they're my favorite video game store chain. They give away free video rentals with system purchases. The one truism in that video that wasn't focused on enough is that they probably DO sell more games by establishing relationships with customers. In other words, where I live the men and women who work at the stores generally get to know you, enjoy chatting and eventually end up knowing what systems you own, what kind of games you like, etc. They're far different from GameStop, EBGames, etc. It's not just a sales job, either. Genuinely good people work at Game Crazy here.

So this video is even more horrifying viewed through that prism. Because the audience this video is playing too is an audience they apparently think is really stupid, embarrasingly so. Crass in what tactics they'll go to to get sales. It's just horrible. I've done my share of jobs that required training videos in my younger days. And this is the worst one I've ever seen. Worse than Burger King or Dominos or Little Caesars or any of the places I worked. It's awful in how stupid it *expects* its employees to be and how little it cares for its customers.

One time I was at Game Crazy here in Portland and I was thinking of pre-ordering a game. The girl behind the counter said "If you pre-order the game and actually pick it up I get a dollar" then proceeded to mock that awesome incentive. She got it. She didn't push it on me. THAT is what I expect when I go to Game Crazy. People who, yeah, have to do their job, but who at the end of the day play games too and thus don't shove things on you that don't want and that they know you know they're being forced to peddle. I appreciate that about the employees I've encountered. This video is speaking to a much different audience.

Boo-ya!

Zelda Scott wrote:

Boo-ya!

Damnit, you beat me to it.

The only thing I heard out of that white woman's mouth was "y'all". I think my brain blocked out the rest... and then my subconcious took over my hand and closed the window.

WTF... Zelda... wtf... street talk... wtf... game crazy... WTF!

-5min later-

WTF?!

I generally have a high tolerance level of pain for these kind of videos but I couldn't make it past the 2nd appearance of Zelda when she interviews Ry-Dawg and says he's the "Bomb-diggity". I broke. I think I felt part of my brain actually die.

I made it right up to "Zelda" and her BooYah!

Good god. The HUGE MANATEE!

I feel really awful about wasting 5 minutes of my precious existence on that crap.

Why is it that in a training video nobody notices the thick layer of irony and sarcasm? It's MEANT to be wrong, people!

I think the video was supposed to give the trainee a sense of the goofy work atmosphere. Still, even as a joke it was pretty horrific.

That made me want to hunt down the actors in that video and inflict horrible violence on them and their families.

Don't blame the actors, you think they actually enjoyed doing that? They did it because they were getting paid to do it, and they probably needed the money. If you want to inflicto horrible violence on someone than go after the guy who wrote that sh*t, and the executive who thought it was a great idea, those are the people that need to recieve a good helping of baseball bat to the knee!

That made me want to hunt down the actors in that video and inflict horrible violence on them and their families.

I am positive this was actually meant to be funny so that it would keep the trainees interested in the video. I also couldn't make it past the 2nd appearance of Zelda.

Oh god the Huge Manatee indeed!

Did anyone else notice that part of each person's name was a video game character (Payne, Zelda, Croft)? Ugh.

The sad thing is that the content is entirely appropriate and potentially helpful for the employees, but the presentation is so insanely horrible that it would take a person with a will of steel to watch it straight through without their brain imploding.

KillerTomato wrote:

but the presentation is so insanely horrible that it would take a person with a will of steel to watch it straight through without their brain imploding.

I am that man!

I love how every reference to players is "playas".

G-UNIT!

I liked the soccer mom. I'm kind of on a MILF kick right now. Though when she said her kid's favorite games are "Dragon games"... wtf?

I liked the soccer mom. I'm kind of on a MILF kick right now. Though when she said her kid's favorite games are "Dragon games"... wtf?[/quote]

Dragon games = FDBD....duh.

If at any point an employer required me to watch such a thing I think my response, upon its conclusion, would be "I quit."

Complete Vomitrocity.

I keep watching this over and over again.

If I could get stuff like this and "We are the Internet" every week, I would never need TV.

*Legion* wrote:

If I could get stuff like this and "We are the Internet" every week, I would never need TV.

I believe you, but when you start missing the Girls Gone Wild commercials, don't come crying to us.

Thirteenth wrote:

I believe you, but when you start missing the Girls Gone Wild commercials, don't come crying to us.

Hah! Youtube for the win!