[Blog Entry] Exploits in a Comic Store

I was hanging out at Comic Quest this evening when one of their customers approached, asking for PC CDs. And then later came back this time asking for Playstation games. Of course to the salesladies, I’m sure it’ll baffle them to receive such inquiries. I mean it is a comic shop, after all, and it’s not like they’re displaying CDs or console systems. What gets into people to ask such questions?

But strangely enough, that scenario isn’t new to me. I mean when I was working at Comic Alley (a store that specializes in anime/manga merchandise, in addition to Collectible Card Games of course) five, six years ago, I also received such inquiries from a lot of walk-in customers. “Boss, mayroon ba kayo bala ng Playstation?” (Hey mister, do you have games for the Playstation?) It’s two different shops half a decade apart, yet some people are asking the same questions. What’s up with that?

Upon further reflection, maybe it’s because of the art. I mean aside from adaptations (video game to comics and comics to video game), the one thing both have in common is really the flashy art. I mean while some games do have real people posing as characters (i.e. James Bond video games, for example), a lot are either CGI heroes (i.e. Tekken, Armored Core, Final Fantasy) or pixilated protagonists (i.e. classics like Contra, Rock Man, Pac Man, Super Mario).

Or maybe it’s because some people are just really, really desperate.