What the hell is EDTV??

Store: GameStop
Location: Buckland Hills Mall in Manchester, CT
Employee Description: I don’t remember, but not Thor…
Submitted By: Nick Utter

GameStop employees have to be aware of all things video game, I suppose. That can be tough in this broadband/HD/audiophile world. I actually involved myself in this conversation briefly. In short, a customer and an employee got in a conversation around televisions (as the 360 had just launched and the PS3 was believed to be just around the corner). The employee assured the customer that any TV with “Red/Green/Blue” (Component) cables in the back, was HD. It doesn’t matter if the manufacturer says it’s HD, HD Ready, or an HD Monitor; if it has spots for those cables it’s HD.

I hopped in explaining the difference between HDTVs, and HD Ready sets. I noted the existence of EDTV and that even some SDTVs had these inputs. I lost them at EDTV, I suppose. Sure, they were dying at the time, but the employee just started laughing and asking what the hell EDTV was. I let the customer know that I stand by what I said, but he was going to stick with the guy with the cash register and believe that his 4:3 set was an HDTV based on the video inputs.

Sony To Purchase Microsoft!

Store: EB Games
Location: Buckland Hills Mall in Manchester, CT
Employee Description: Too much turnover to remember
Submitted By: Nick Utter

This was right about the time that GTA was finally announced for the Xbox. I was browsing the store looking for God knows what and a mother and her small child entered the store. The boy couldn’t have been more than 10. Anyhow, mom noted that she wanted a videogame system for her boy and that he wanted two games. She looked down at him and he noted that he wanted Grand Theft Auto and Halo.

After the parent of the year ceremony ended, the clerk let her know that she’d want a PS2 for her boy. He noted that GTA was a Sony franchise and that those games weren’t going anywhere. As for Halo? Microsoft was going under and Sony was already in position to buy the rights to the Halo franchise…