What have you purchased recently?

[Worgen]

'I'm Too Young to Die' a guide to fps games.

I’m Too Young To Die: The Ultimate Guide to First-Person Shooters 1992–2002

Bitmap Books' I’m Too Young To Die delves into the early, experimental years of the first-person shooter, looking at over 180 games that defined the FPS genre

www.bitmapbooks.com

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I received my PS5, just in time for God of War to come out next week. I am quite happy.

 

[gorfias]

I received my PS5, just in time for God of War to come out next week. I am quite happy.

From where? Did you pay retail or more? The all digital one?
Amazing that we're 2 years in and I've never even seen a PS5 in person.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

From where? Did you pay retail or more? The all digital one?
Amazing that we're 2 years in and I've never even seen a PS5 in person.

I got it directly from playstation, paid retail, and it's the disk version.

I got lucky, a couple of weeks ago I woke up and was browsing reddit before work and someone had posted that the playstation website had new stock that day. I just happened to see the post at the right time to snag one.

 

[McElroy]

I must interject that I'm already seeing "Black Friday" discounts in some places. What the fuck is wrong with people?? It's three weeks away!!! Nobody has Thanksgiving here!

 

[Xprimentyl]

I must interject that I'm already seeing "Black Friday" discounts in some places. What the fuck is wrong with people?? It's three weeks away!!! Nobody has Thanksgiving here!

Black Friday as you knew it is a thing of the past. Retail has shifted, spreading their "deals" across a wider berth to avoid competition as online shopping takes a bigger and bigger chunk of the market. Retail is no longer putting its eggs in one basket, per se. They still call it "Black Friday" to trigger the FOMO response in idiots they've been used to since time immemorial.

 

[Chimpzy]

Amazing that we're 2 years in and I've never even seen a PS5 in person.

Same. Haven't seen a Series X irl either.

Black Friday as you knew it is a thing of the past. Retail has shifted, spreading their "deals" across a wider berth to avoid competition as online shopping takes a bigger and bigger chunk of the market. Retail is no longer putting its eggs in one basket, per se. They still call it "Black Friday" to trigger the FOMO response in idiots they've been used to since time immemorial.

The worst thing about the Black Friday period around these (non-US) parts is that the deals actually suck. The only stuff with decent discounts is overstocked useless garbage they're trying to get rid of, while the things people actually might want get like 10% off if anything at all. But they love to pretend like Black Friday has great savings to be had.

 

[gorfias]

Same. Haven't seen a Series X irl either.
The worst thing about the Black Friday period around these (non-US) parts is that the deals actually suck. The only stuff with decent discounts is overstocked useless garbage they're trying to get rid of, while the things people actually might want get like 10% off if anything at all. But they love to pretend like Black Friday has great savings to be had.

There were some deals to be had before Covid anyway. I recall PS4 Slim, normally $300 was $200 on Black Friday at Bestbuy. Covid made online shopping much more of a thing, though by how much I do not know. Maybe they'll work even harder to get people into brick and mortar stores this time?

 

[Xprimentyl]

The worst thing about the Black Friday period around these (non-US) parts is that the deals actually suck. The only stuff with decent discounts is overstocked useless garbage they're trying to get rid of, while the things people actually might want get like 10% off if anything at all. But they love to pretend like Black Friday has great savings to be had.

I've shared this before, but it is by far and away my favorite holiday sales meme. It's true; "Black Friday" deals are only possibly because you lot have been paying exorbitant markups the rest of the year allowing retailers to "afford" the "losses" on huge "discounts" offered for Black Friday.

There were some deals to be had before Covid anyway. I recall PS4 Slim, normally $300 was $200 on Black Friday at Bestbuy. Covid made online shopping much more of a thing, though by how much I do not know. Maybe they'll work even harder to get people into brick and mortar stores this time?

No. While brick and mortar will never go completely away, the push now is to compete online. You'd be surprised how many retailers have just accepted that they can't compete with Amazon to the point many of us (yes, my company has entertained this too) actually use Amazon's supply chain infrastructure to move our goods at a competitive pace. It used to be "buy online, get in a week or two," but when Amazon raised the bar to "buy online, and it's on your doorstep before you even finish typing in your credit card number," the rest of the retail market shit itself, and now everyone is trying to meet lofty "immediate" expectations. We're Oliver Twist asking for whatever gruel the titan of Amazon is willing to "sacrifice" so that we may live. It's organized crime, and we pay protection fees to avoid our little shop from burning down due to an unforeseen "grease fire."

Fuck, I need to get the hell out of retail. If I were any more cynical, I'd be legally obligated to have cosmetic surgery to put my face in a permanent look of disaffectedness.

 

[Chimpzy]

I've shared this before, but it is by far and away my favorite holiday sales meme. It's true; "Black Friday" deals are only possibly because you lot have been paying exorbitant markups the rest of the year allowing retailers to "afford" the "losses" on huge "discounts" offered for Black Friday.



View attachment 7339

Oddly enough marking up right before a sale is not much of a thing here. It happens, but so rarely. Well, except in clothing stores, and furniture, for some reason. Maybe because the EU is somewhat less of a capitalist dystopia and we possibly have consumer protection laws against it. The Black Friday discounts are generally actual discounts. Just shitty one.

Oh, and funny thing, we already have two traditional sales periods here, both lasting an entire month and usually offering better discounts, tho not as good as they once were. One in januari, the other july.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Oddly enough marking up right before a sale is not much of a thing here. It happens, but so rarely. Maybe because the EU is somewhat less of a capitalist dystopia and we possibly have consumer protection laws against it. The Black Friday discounts are generally actual discounts. Just shitty one.

Oh, and funny thing, we already have two traditional sales periods here, both lasting an entire month and usually offering better discounts, tho not as good as they once were. One in januari, the other july.

To be fair, the meme is an exaggeration of conditions. Retailers don't typically mark up right before the Black Friday event only to mark down to normal retail prices, but what those same goods sell for the rest of the 364 days of the year is what nets them a healthy cushion to allow for deep discounts for Black Friday. It's a psychological game we play; we buy a TV for $200, sell it for $900 most days, so yeah, you can have it for $700, but ONE DAY ONLY!! DON'T MISS OUT!! It's a symbiosis, I guess, but as an observer of the human condition, it just pains me to see the masses drawn in so easily to waste money on shit they don't need just because those with ALL the money are "letting" them do so.

I mention again the fall of JC Penney, an institution of American retail. Ron Johnson went in as CEO, and his bright idea was to eliminate sales; sell everything, all the time, at the most reasonable price that nets a profit, and let the consumers figure out that they didn't need to be "tricked" into spending. What happened? The fucking idiot consumers got their panties (purchased at Macy's, on sale for $5.99) in a twist, and the company nearly crumbled. The consumer was more comfortable buying their twisted panties "on sale" for $5.99 for the weekend at Macy's than they were buying them from JCP for $3.99 every day of the year. Read that again, and fucking happy holidays. Is 10am too early to pour a cocktail? Let's see...

 

[Elvis Starburst]

I must interject that I'm already seeing "Black Friday" discounts in some places. What the fuck is wrong with people?? It's three weeks away!!! Nobody has Thanksgiving here!

Black Friday as you knew it is a thing of the past. Retail has shifted, spreading their "deals" across a wider berth to avoid competition as online shopping takes a bigger and bigger chunk of the market. Retail is no longer putting its eggs in one basket, per se. They still call it "Black Friday" to trigger the FOMO response in idiots they've been used to since time immemorial.

I remember my time at Home Depot where we had Black Friday month in July. Let that sink in... Christmas in July? No no no. Black Friday in July. I saw the signage and was absolutely pissed that this was a thing.

Fuck, I need to get the hell out of retail. If I were any more cynical, I'd be legally obligated to have cosmetic surgery to put my face in a permanent look of disaffectedness.

Been there, got out of it when I could. Retail is truly miserable and saps the energy out of you big time. It's amazing how much less you hate your life when you don't have to deal with that kind of work day in and day out

 

[Chimpzy]

To be fair, the meme is an exaggeration of conditions. Retailers don't typically mark up right before the Black Friday event only to mark down to normal retail prices, but what those same goods sell for the rest of the 364 days of the year is what nets them a healthy cushion to allow for deep discounts for Black Friday. It's a psychological game we play; we buy a TV for $200, sell it for $900 most days, so yeah, you can have it for $700, but ONE DAY ONLY!! DON'T MISS OUT!! It's a symbiosis, I guess, but as an observer of the human condition, it just pains me to see the masses drawn in so easily to waste money on shit they don't need just because those with ALL the money are "letting" them do so.

I mention again the fall of JC Penney, an institution of American retail. Ron Johnson went in as CEO, and his bright idea was to eliminate sales; sell everything, all the time, at the most reasonable price that nets a profit, and let the consumers figure out that they didn't need to be "tricked" into spending. What happened? The fucking idiot consumers got their panties (purchased at Macy's, on sale for $5.99) in a twist, and the company nearly crumbled. The consumer was more comfortable buying their twisted panties "on sale" for $5.99 for the weekend at Macy's than they were buying them from JCP for $3.99 every day of the year. Read that again, and fucking happy holidays. Is 10am too early to pour a cocktail? Let's see...

Numbers are hard. Reminds me of a story I heard of some restaurant chain doing a third-pound burger to compete with the quarter pounder, but failed because people thought 1/3 is less than 1/4.

 

[gorfias]

Numbers are hard. Reminds me of a story I heard of some restaurant chain doing a third-pound burger to compete with the quarter pounder, but failed because people thought 1/3 is less than 1/4.

A&W 1/3 Pound Burger Failure Fact Check: Are Americans Really That Bad at Fractions?

During the 1980s, the owner of the restaurant franchise, A&W, launched a new 1/3 pound burger to compete with McDonald's 1/4 pound burger or 'Quarter Pounder.' A&W launched a 'Third is the Word' campaign to advertise their new Third Pounder. It didn't sell, even though it offered more meat f

culinarylore.com

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Black Friday is upon PS Store.
Subscribed for another 12 months to PS+, $30.
Bought TLoU2 for $10. Can't wait to set out on another adventure with Joel!

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

I bought my cat some health.

More specifically, I took her to the vet for a full checkup, since while she's overall physically healthy-looking, she went off of using her litterbox and that's usually a sign of a urinary tract infection. (Plus she's approaching being a teenager, if not there already, so a good checkup is essential.) And what do you know, that's exactly what the tests found. What they didn't find was any sign of kidney disease or other problems.

The tests and medication are going to cost me just shy of $300, but she's my kitty and she deserves it.



(Also, the vet called her a sweetheart. Because she is one.)

 

[Baffle]

Backlit gaming keyboard (tautology I'm sure) for the very boring reason that it's winter and my low-light vision is shit.

 

[Gordon_4]

Is 10am too early to pour a cocktail? Let's see...

Hey, the sun is over the yardarm somewhere and 5PM was over twenty hours ago.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Is 10am too early to pour a cocktail? Let's see...

Only if you're sleeping in until 10:30am.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

Backlit gaming keyboard (tautology I'm sure) for the very boring reason that it's winter and my low-light vision is shit.

Which one, if you don't mind me asking?