The Jorge Zone

Being and avid casual gamer and a college student, I am usually strapped for cash. So I decided to snatch up some of the games I don’t play, and head down to GameStop to, as I sometimes do during my personal economic hardship, trade in some games to get SOCOM, and reserve Gears of War 2 so I can play with my friends. I walk in with my sizable stack of games, only to discover a new policy change. Apparently in order to trade is some video games you need two forms of identification and a thumbprint.

You know, I have always criticized GameStop for screwing over gamers with drastically underpriced buy backs, and screwing over developers by selling used games at a large profit (without sharing), but I do trade-in when I have to. But friends I ask you, what is this nonsense? Am I trading in a firearm or some jewlery here? Are a couple of Xbox 360 games of such importance that you require personal information, like my address and my damn THUMBPRINT? First of all, I want to communicate how obsurd it is to even request this information for something as insignificant as a videogame. Secondly, I don’t consider a GameStop clerk to be so security minded as to nonchalantly handover my thumb print, personal information, and employer’s name over so that I can get $15 for a mint condition copy of Bioshock.

I immeadiately asked her why she needed this information, she stated that “She couldn’t say.” This is ludicrous, and frankly a vast violation of personal privacy. I urge those who read this to not do business with GameStop. This company is not a great one. It constantly undercuts hardworking gamers and developers, and now has taken this stupidity to the next level. Peace Out.