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or not. the message after i submitted my shipping info stated i'd be informed when the discs are ready. this has become a big smurf.

wtf.

LukeLucas wrote:

my return package has shipped. oddly, they're claiming at LEAST 15 days to get here via USPS. that can't possibly be right.

It can be with 4th class shipping. They're shipping a LOT of replacements. It add$ up.

... huh. just got home from work, and what was waiting for me in the mailbox?

my Replacement Disc Claim Form and postage pre-paid disc mailer.

Bat wrote:

Didn't Major in Accounting, eh?

Dude...That guitar has to cost them $10 tops. Probably less.

I understand they're pinching pennies...I'm just saying it's bullsmurf.

After everyone dropped $90 for a flawed game, the least they could do is pony up the extra $0.50 to get it to us in a couple days, as opposed to a couple weeks. Cheap bastards.

Bat wrote:

They're shipping a LOT of replacements. It add$ up.

Not as much as you'd think.  My print shop works with a company that does bulk mailing, and it's stupifyingly cheap.  A bulk mailing permit isn't terribly expensive, and once paid for, can be used for everything you mail.  Through the company we work with, we can address and mail thousands of items for as little as a penny each (which is only for the printing of addresses from a database and the use of the sorting equipment and computers, which also sort out bad addresses; the actual postage is already paid for through the bulk permit).  The cost is broken down as a cost per thousand, and larger quantities bring the per thousand cost down more and more.  Once you hit the 50,000-100,000+ range, you're probably looking at $20-30 per thousand.  Even if Activision is having to pay a bulk mailing/sorting company $10,000 to mail out 500,000 disks, at $20/thousand, it's safe to say that, given the huge sales of GH3 for the Wii, and the profits they've made from it, Activision can certainly afford to eat the shipping costs for shipping a defective game.

As it is, $70 is way too steep for a standalone guitar.  Ridiculous, price-gougingly steep.  The Wii remote does the majority of the work.  The guitar controller for the Wii is just a plastic shell with some buttons, analog sticks, and a pretty simple spring-loaded switch for the strum bar.  I've taken the thing apart, and there's simply nothing to it.  The Wii version of the guitar has less than half the electronics that the other ones have.  It doesn't have anything to process or transmit player input to the console, it doesn't have the accelerometer-like switch for star-power activation, or anything.  Everything that the other systems' guitars have is handled by the Wii remote.  The most complex part are the electronics and cable that connect the Wii remote, and that certainly doesn't cost anything close to $70.  $30 would be great, even $40 would make sense (the whole Wii package retails for $90, the game is $50, that leaves $40 for the guitar), but at $70 they're just being smurfs.

Last edited by Twisted Guy (2008-02-17 10:47 am)

Twisted Guy wrote:

$10,000 to mail out 500,000 disks, at $20/thousand, it's safe to say that, given the huge sales of GH3 for the Wii, and the profits they've made from it, Activision can certainly afford to eat the shipping costs for shipping a defective game.

As it is, $70 is way too steep for a standalone guitar.  Ridiculous, price-gougingly steep.  The Wii remote does the majority of the work.  The guitar controller for the Wii is just a plastic shell with some buttons, analog sticks, and a pretty simple spring-loaded switch for the strum bar....at $70 they're just being smurfs.

I hadn't even considered what a killing they must have made off the original game/guitar bundle, considering the wii remote does in fact do all the work. We've been gouged from the get go...considering not only did we pay the same price for lesser gear, but the game was flawed to boot.

Lame.

Oh well. We're just consumers...we don't really deserve much more than whatever they decide is fair.

ABigSmall wrote:

mentholiptus wrote:

Bat wrote:

yadda yadda yadda.... ...yadda yadda yadda... ...

Whatever. I win.

No, I win!

http://homepage.mac.com/oatmeal/MAF/maxes/ttth.gif

Oh yeah, I forgot about those...

Bat wrote:

Mentholiptus has...

I obviously struck a nerve...

Thanks for the laugh.

Say what you will, this whole situation is BS.

Last edited by mentholiptus (2008-02-18 6:01 am)

dammit. i just realized that mail doesn't run today and i'd already sealed up the return disc mailer. now i've a whole day to do nothing.






ok, so maybe a few other things i could do, but... its my day off!!!

guess i'll go finish off No More Heroes

Last edited by LukeLucas (2008-02-18 2:02 pm)

Twisted Guy wrote:

LukeLucas wrote:

guess i'll go finish off No More Heroes

Yes!  Awesome game, that.

++

I'm ranked 5, but haven't had time to get back to it for a week. Awesome game. I got nervous when it hit the shelves...I'd been looking forward to it for months, then when it hit the streets, bozon was all bent about having to make his way around santa destroy. I held off for a week but finally broke down and picked it up. Glad I did.

That was supposed to be a 360 exclusive, wasn't it? I think it was, but once the wiimote was revealed, they jumped back to camp N. Makes me happy.

Back on topic. I registered for the disc swap.

I don't know what it actually takes to get the real ending, though, but yeah, totally worth the extra effort (if any) to get it.  Great ending.

mentho wrote:

I got nervous when it hit the shelves...I'd been looking forward to it for months, then when it hit the streets, bozon was all bent about having to make his way around santa destroy. I held off for a week but finally broke down and picked it up. Glad I did.

Same here.  Once I got into the game, I didn't really even notice the things Bozon complained about.  I really enjoyed ripping around Santa Destroy on my bike, and felt that the pseudo "open world" look and feel was more of a nod to, or perhaps even a parody/lampooning of GTA (since nearly every element in the game is a parody of Japanese and American pop culture).  The game isn't perfect, but I don't actually care about the handful of problems, because it's such an over-the-top, absurd, fun game.  I've been counting less and less on reviews in general to guide my purchases, and have just been buying what looks fun.