Bioware, You Magnificent Bastards

As some of you know, I'm a huge video game geek... massive and hopeless. This year is a big year for the gaming industry with several long anticipated titles being released. One of these titles is Mass Effect 3... which I'm eagerly awaiting to reach my doorstep. I picked up the strategy guide today from the store to have a look at the game and the exciting details within... yes, I'm one of those people- book people. A lot of gamers think it is "cheating" to buy the books and somewhat frivolous seeing how someone out there will post a comprehensive wiki within a matter of days for free on the internet. I know, I know. But I enjoy having the books, holding them, and collecting them...I don't use them while I'm playing, it's more of a tool if I get stuck and something to admire while I am waiting to play the game. It's a harmless obsession and collection, so shut the fuck up and let me have this little piece of paradise. Back to the point, yeah for Mass Effect 3! The game look incredibly beautiful and masterfully put together...I'm certain the story will be just as gripping as Mass Effect and will have me crying like a baby again at the conclusion. One of the best aspects of this title is the continuing character option... your character appearance, story choices, and relationships import throughout all three of the titles. Masterfully done, Bioware. Procuring this game hasn't been without a series of struggles... which leads me to my next segment of conversation. I pre-ordered the game so I could have the Deluxe Collector Edition, two copies actually so I could own one and sell the other for twice my initial investment after a little bit of time. So about three weeks before release, I set out on a mission to place my order... unfortunately, by this time everywhere was already sold out of the Collector's Edition. I managed to find a company that had some still available for purchase and quickly placed my order. There used to be a chain of stores called Hastings, which has recently been closing down their stores and operating mainly online as www.gohastings.com. They were going to be my video game Savior in this particular crisis... or so we thought. Like I said, I placed my order and received a conformation number for my order...after a few hours of waiting for an email conformation / receipt, I decided to call the company to investigate this problem in communication. After 20 mins of being on hold and trying to locate a living person in this underground, basement operation, I talked to a nice lady who confirmed my order. Over the next few weeks I awaited the upcoming release... March 6, 2012 came and passed with still no word from Hastings, no email or shipment. So, I quelled the rage within and decided to call the company on the 12th of March... only to discover they oversold their allotted amount of Collector's Editions and my order was cancelled. I did however finally receive an email about my order being canceled the following day... no apology or compensation for this huge oversight. You worthless, fucking piece of mutilated cat shit! Fuck you Hastings, you'll never get a fucking dime from me in the future... rot in fucking hell! So after dwelling on the idea of drinking a bottle of bleach, I collected myself enough to hunt down another copy of the Collector's Edition. I did find several copies for sale on the internet for as much as $350.00... ouch! Where is my fucking lube? Anyway, I finally found a copy on www.half.com for $112.00, which is almost what I originally paid for two copies from Hastings. So I had to settle for only one copy, which I intend on keeping and never playing so I can re-sell it in a years time for twice that amount. So I'm going to wait for the regular edition to come down in price sometime around the summer so I can purchase and play it then. Thank you again, Hastings... fucking assholes. I was a little pissed off at Bioware during this fiasco for only making such a small amount of the Collector's Editions being made available... until I read a comment from them warning people around October of 2011 to place their pre-orders as soon as possible or they will miss out. You're forgiven Bioware, oh how I love you!